Read Online Badcock by Debra Glass - Free Book Online Page A

relative, perhaps a lover. If he’d known Wisbech was her fiancé and that he was willing to trade her virtue for a damned bauble, Jack would have put a bullet through the bastard’s cold heart.
    Jack’s gaze drifted down her lace trimmed sleeves to the hand holding her champagne glass. She wasn’t wearing that damnable ring now. A murderous sense of possession welled in him that he quickly tamped down.
    He reminded himself that he was engaged. So was she.
    But another memory reared. Sophia with her back against a tree, her skirts bunched up around her waist…
    His gaze dropped to her narrow waist. He’d been reckless. Still, the thought of siring a child in her caused conflicting emotions to rise in him. Emotions that made him want to march through the merry line of dancers, take Sophia in his arms and claim her as his own. Then there was his cooler side. He tried to will that part of him to the forefront.
    He’d lived a capricious life on the continent until his father’s death last year. Now he was the earl and with the title came vast responsibility, not only to his family name but to the many people who lived and worked the lands he controlled.
    His engagement to Hilda von Kesslering would increase those holdings both in England and abroad as well as the Stafford bloodline.
    If he were wise, he would leave this place. He would never speak to Sophia Astley again or interfere in her life.
    But right now, Jack was far from doing what was wise.
    The music stopped and a new quadrille was announced. Wisbech tugged at Sophia’s elbow. She shook her head no even as he wrenched the champagne glass from her hand and thrust it onto a nearby servant’s tray.
    This was Jack’s chance. His gaze searched the sea of faces, stopping on a girl who smiled invitingly at him. Ah, yes. He started toward her. “Would you like to dance?” he asked gallantly.
    She giggled as Jack took her hand and led her to the line. “Excuse me,” he said, wedging into the dancers so that his turn to dance with Sophia would come up soon. He stared at her. Tonight, she was dressed in a gown of pale yellow and cream. Her black hair had been coiffed loosely with two ringlets descending enticingly into her décolletage. She was magnificently dressed but her beauty could not compare to the sensual vision in his memory of her naked with her hair tumbling in disarray about her shoulders.
    Her gaze caught his and she looked away quickly. A blush pinkened her lightly powdered chest. Jack did not look away. He watched her as he executed the steps of the dance, as he moved down the line with his partner, as he turned and stepped back.
    Not a moment too soon, his turn came to dance with her. Her eyes grew wide as they came together and when she put her hand in his, a little shock jolted through him.
    “Meet me on the terrace after this dance,” he said intimately.
    The dictates of the dance left her no time to refuse.
    Still greeting guests in the receiving line, Elinor gloated. It wouldn’t be long before the two lovers would chance a meeting. She’d watched how Jack had chosen his partner and even more carefully had chosen his position in line so that he could speak to Sophia.
    How terribly sad it would be , she thought with glee, if Jack were to lose his German countess and Sophia were to lose her duke.
    The dance ended and Elinor’s lips twisted into a smug smile as she watched Sophia Astley hurry toward the terrace doors.
    * * * * *
    Sophia’s heart thudded so hard against her rib cage, it hurt. She tried to breathe in the cool evening air. She willed herself to be calm. It was impossible.
    She looked around the wide terrace. A couple spoke in hushed voices on one side. Steps led down into an immaculately manicured garden lit with festive paper lanterns.
    Where was he?
    She clutched the balustrade, leaning against it for support.
    A noise in the shrubbery caught her attention and she looked up to find Jack. He motioned for her to come down and