Read Online A Matter of Sin by Jess Michaels - Free Book Online

peevish tone. “As are you, in case you have forgotten.”
    Seth rolled his eyes. “You keep saying that. But what makes you think I have forgotten this duty laid at my feet?”
    Jason examined him more closely. “Have you any interest in any of the suitable young ladies paraded before you as potential brides? I haven’t seen you look twice at any of them. The only one you’ve expressed an interest in is a chaperone . And there is something in your eyes that tells me the altar isn’t where your interest truly lies, especially with Isabel.” Jason folded his arms. “But perhaps I’m wrong.”
    Seth pushed to his feet and paced away. His friend saw too much, but Seth couldn’t admit to his failings.
    “You are wrong,” he insisted, more to convince himself than his friend. “I could no more forget my duty is to marry than I could forget my name.”
    Jason paced closer. “But will you pursue duty at the expense of your own happiness?”
    Seth pivoted to face his friend with a snort of derision. “Oh, please! As if you care a whit for my ‘happiness’. You only care that if I marry you might lose a gambling partner.”
    To his surprise, Jason began to laugh. “That may be true.”
    Seth grinned, glad that the tension between them had been cut a fraction. They were treading too close to emotions he spent a great deal of time ignoring.
    Jason clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I hope you don’t truly believe that I care nothing for your happiness.”
    “We have been friends too long for me to ever believe that,” Seth admitted. “You care for me in your own utterly selfish way.”
    Jason chuckled. “Indeed. I would like to say one thing more about this subject and then I shall let it go.”
    Seth sighed, but waved his hand for Jason to continue if he must.
    “When your brother died—”
    Seth flinched.
    Jason’s tone softened. “When all this responsibility became yours to bear, I saw you change, and not only in good ways. I hope you don’t give up all that you are for a title that was never meant for you.”
    Seth stared at Jason. They had been friends for almost as long as he could remember, but this was a new development.
    “I’ve never heard you speak like this,” he said.
    Jason shrugged, but the more serious expression was gone from his face. “I have surprising depth, you know. Now, let us join the ladies for luncheon on the veranda. Perhaps you are right that Lady Avenbury and her sister are not the ones for me, but there must be some woman in this group who will entertain me.”
    Seth followed his friend from the room with a laugh, but it hid his concern. Jason had hit closer to the mark than perhaps he knew with his words about Lady Avenbury. And after last night’s kiss, Seth realized his life had just become infinitely more complicated.
    Grace smiled at Isabel. “You needn’t look so pensive, my dear. Your sister is making a very good impression.”
    Isabel started as she actually focused on what her empty eyes had been staring at. She was looking at Serena, who was standing across the sunny veranda chatting with some of the party attendees. She was smiling and laughing and being utterly charming. Grace was correct—her sister was making the best of impressions.
    And yet, as much as Isabel should have been celebrating that fact, it had not been the thing on her mind. No, her treacherous brain had instead been focused on other thoughts. Sinful memories of a searing hot kiss that had tempted and taunted her and kept her up to toss and turn in her bed before she finally gave in and pleasured herself.
    Her cheeks heated at the mere thought of such a thing, warm enough that even the cool breeze coming through the trees couldn’t ease her.
    “Isabel, are you well?” Grace asked as her slender, elegant fingers tightened around Isabel’s arm for support.
    Isabel jerked out a nod. “Of course I am. And you are—you are correct. Serena is doing very well. I’m not worried about her future