Read Online A Lady Never Surrenders by Sabrina Jeffries - Free Book Online

he offered her his arm. “How good of you to accept.”
    As he led her to the floor, she cast a furtive glance back to where Mr. Pinter was watching her and Lord Devonmont with his usual impenetrable gaze. It made a shiver skitter down her spine.
    Then the waltz began. Lord Devonmont was an excellent dancer, thank heaven. She enjoyed dancing almost as much as she enjoyed shooting. It was physical and energetic, and she was rather good at it.
    They took a few turns in a comfortable silence. Then she couldn’t resist peeking in the direction of the Kirkwoods to see if Mr. Pinter had noticed her skill at waltzing. But he wasn’t with them anymore. Had he finally gone off to do his job? Was he even now slipping into Lord Devonmont’s room?
    “Looking for someone?” Lord Devonmont asked.
    Oh, dear, she’d been too obvious. “Certainly not,” she said lightly.
    He raised an eyebrow. “So you weren’t watching for Lyons?”
    That startled her. “Why on earth would you think that?”
    “You’re in the market for a husband, and Lyons is unattached.” His voice deepened. “As am I.”
    Blast, she couldn’t have him catching on to her plans so quickly. He might bolt. “Really, Lord Devonmont, it’s not what you—”
    “Call me Pierce. We’re practically family.” He said it in that husky, roguish voice her brothers used to use on women they wanted to bed. Her brothers hadn’t always been discreet in their flirtations.
    Coming from Lord Devonmont, however, it took her completely by surprise. Surely he wasn’t trying to … seduce her. “You’re a second cousin to my brother’s wife—that’s hardly a family connection.”
    “Then call me Pierce because we’re friends.” He bent in close in the turn, eyes gleaming as they dropped to her lips. “ Intimate friends, if I get my wish.”
    This time there was no mistaking his meaning. But he was so practiced and smooth that she couldn’t help herself—she laughed. When that made him frown, she tried to suppress her amusement, but that only made her laugh harder.
    “What’s so funny?” he muttered.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, swallowing her amusement. “It’s just that I’ve heard my brothers make such insinuations to women in that tone of voice for years, but I’ve never been on the receiving end.”
    Pierce’s sensual smile would rival that of Casanova. “I don’t know why not,” he said in a lazy drawl. His gaze raked her appreciatively as they swirled about the room. “Tonight, in that purple gown, you look particularly fetching. The color suits you.”
    “Thank you.” Minerva had been trying to get her to stop wearing browns and oranges for years, but Celia had always pooh-poohed her sister’s opinions. It was only after Virginia had said exactly the same thing last month that she’d begun to think she should listen. And to order new gowns accordingly.
    “You’re a lovely woman with the figure of a Venus and a mouth that could make a man—”
    “You can stop now.” Her amusement vanished. She’d be flattered if he meant a single word, but clearly this was just a game to him. “I don’t need the full rogue treatment, I assure you.”
    Interest sparked in his eyes. “Hasn’t it occurred to you that I might be sincere?”
    “Only if you’re sincerely trying to seduce me.”
    He cast her a blatantly carnal glance as he held her tighter. “Well, of course I’m trying to seduce you. What else would I be doing?”
    She pitched her voice over the music. “I’m a respectable woman, you know.”
    “What has that got to do with anything?”
    She arched an eyebrow at him as they moved in consort.
    “Even a respectable woman might be tempted into, say, slipping out with a gentleman for a walk in the moonlit courtyard. And if said gentleman should happen to steal a kiss or two—”
    “Lord Devonmont!”
    “Fine.” He smiled ruefully. “But you can’t blame me for trying. You do look ravishing this evening.”
    “There you go