Read Online A Matter of Choice by Laura Landon - Free Book Online Page B

beside David’s desk and poured a rich amber liquid into two glasses. He handed one to her.
    “Here. Drink this.”
    She reached for the glass, but her hand halted before it touched his. His long, sturdy fingers held the delicate crystal as easily and as expertly as she could imagine him holding a deck of cards or caressing a woman’s flesh. A picture of him touching her and holding her flashed through her mind, sending a molten shiver that oozed through her.
    She reached out her trembling fingers and took the glass from his hand. Without thought, she took one long swallow that made her cough and gasp for air.
    “Easy. Don’t drink it so fast. It will only make matters worse.”
    “I doubt that is possible.” She lifted the glass to her mouth again, then stopped. He was right. She was the only one who would suffer by downing the liquor like she was a hardened drinker.
    “I don’t want to marry you.”
    “I know.”
    She expected to see anger but didn’t. His lips curved into a smile that caused her heart to skip a beat, then he sat on the corner of the desk in front of her. His nearness disturbed her, but not in a way she could explain.
    “You don’t want to marry me either,” she said, then watched to see some sign of affirmation.
    His brows shot up. “Don’t I?”
    “No. I doubt you want to marry anyone. Men like you don’t consider settling down unless it is forced on them.”
    A corner of his mouth curved upward as he casually crossed his arms over his chest. “Would you care to explain what you mean by ‘men like me’?”
    “You know very well what I mean. Men so handsome they cause women’s heads to turn; men who have never felt the desire to search for that one perfect match because there have always been so many women offering themselves there has been no need; men who do not know the difference between love and lust, nor do they want to discover it. Men like you are never satisfied with just one woman. And pity the woman who gives you her heart for safekeeping.”
    Montfort took a swallow of his drink and stared at her, a serious look of contemplation clouding his dark features. “I see you have a very low impression of me, my lady.”
    “Not a low impression, my lord. Only low expectations.”
    “And would you find marriage to me that repulsive?”
    Allison didn’t answer; couldn’t answer.
    “Do you find me that repulsive, my lady?”
    Allison lifted her gaze to meet his. “No. You know I don’t.”
    “Then what is it? Why do you find marriage to me so distasteful?”
    Allison didn’t like this. She didn’t want to be made to feel that the fault was hers because she didn’t want to marry him. She didn’t want to answer for shortcomings that were plainly his. She didn’t like being accused of being unreasonable when her requirements for a husband had never been a secret.
    “I do not want to marry a man so handsome every woman in Society sees him as a challenge.”
    “A challenge?”
    Allison couldn’t sit beneath his gaze any longer. She couldn’t have him look down on her while she was at her most vulnerable, with her fears so exposed. She got to her feet and faced him squarely.
    He remained on the corner of the desk and their eyes were level. “I do not want a husband who cannot be content to stay in his own bed. I have three sisters whose husbands married them for their dowries. Husbands very much like you, more handsome than most young women dream will ever ask for them. And all three of my sisters have held their heads high for years while everyone knows their husbands spend more time in someone else’s bed than they do in their own. I am not nearly so good at pretending I either don’t know what my husband is doing, or I don’t care.”
    “You think I would be the same?”
    “I think I am not brave enough to marry you to find out. I have already survived one scandal with the man I chose to wed. I do not want to risk another.”
    “But you think Lord Archbite is