Unconventional Suitors 02 - Her Unconventional Hero by Ginny Hartman Read Free Book Online Page A

approached?”
    Adel rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. Perhaps the fact that the orchestra struck up a waltz at that very moment was purely coincidental.
    He continued, “Why are you so adverse to dancing the waltz with me?”
    Adel tried to ignore the way his warm breath caressed her face as he spoke. “Because I do not wish to be held so intimately in your arms. I would hate for you to get the wrong impression.”
    She knew it wasn’t just her imagination, for surely his grip on her tightened just then. “You consider this an intimate embrace, my lady?” He purred huskily in her ear. She couldn’t help the shiver of delight that started in her chest and slithered down her entire body. Why was he doing this to her, the rake? And why was her body betraying her?
    When she didn’t answer him, he laughed lowly, “Perhaps your silence speaks louder than any words.”
    Refusing to analyze her body’s foreign response to the vexing man, Adel shook her head clear and snapped, “I refuse to discuss this with you. The only matter I wish to discuss is the name of the lady you were previously dancing with.”
    Lord Straton led her around another couple to avoid an embarrassing collision before he responded. “You refuse to discuss my marriage proposal. You also refuse to discuss my intimate embrace—your description, not mine. What if likewise, I chose to be just as uncooperative, refusing to discuss the lady in questions name?”
    Adel stopped in her tracks, pulling Lord Straton to an awkward halt.
    “You cannot make a scene,” he said after the briefest of pauses before pulling her effortlessly back into the dance. “You will keep dancing lest you draw unwanted attention to us both.”
    She knew that he was right, though it vexed her that she had to comply with his demands. “But we had a deal, my lord. A dance for the name. If you refuse to cooperate, I refuse to finish this dance, consequences be damned.”
    This time it was Lord Straton who stumbled, clearly affronted by her unladylike language. “You don’t really mean that.”
    “Oh but I do,” she assured him.
    “Finish this dance without another slip of your tongue and you will have the information you wish.”
    “Very well,” she reluctantly agreed, though she didn’t feel a bit contrite.
    Adel remained silent as Lord Straton continued to lead her across the dance floor. She was desperately trying to ignore the way his large hand seemed to singe through her gown where his thumb, every so often, rubbed small circles between her shoulder blades. He smelled of clean linen and a musky scent that was uniquely his own and which she found highly distracting. Surely this was the longest waltz in all of history, she thought as she kept waiting for it to come to an end.
    “Have you not been sleeping well, my lady?” Adel was startled by the intrusion of Lord Straton’s deep voice upon her thoughts.
    “Why do you ask?” she snapped coolly.
    “I can’t help noticing the dark circles under your eyes.” When Adel blushed, he quickly added, “Do not worry, they aren’t noticeable from a distance. Perhaps I am only noticing them because I am holding you so closely, so intimately .”
    “Am I to believe you are actually experiencing some concern for my sleeping habits? Or are you just gratified by your ability to point out one of my numerous flaws?”
    “Is it so hard to believe that I may be concerned about you?”
    “Actually, my lord, it is. I find it quite out of character for you.”
    “Just the other eve you accused me of interfering too often in your life, now you are dismayed by the fact that I am expressing some genuine concern for your well-being. You are a confusing woman, my lady.”
    “No more confusing than you, my lord,” she snapped childishly.
    Ignoring her petulance, his voice turned warm. “Instruct your cook to make you a hot milk posset before you retire to bed. It will help improve your quality of sleep immensely.”
    “I may