Read Online Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh - Free Book Online Page A

up, “everything is appropriate.”
    She crossed her arms over her flattened chest. “I get the feeling that the opposite is true.”
    â€œAnd your name shall be—­”
    â€œMaximus Sinclair,” she said.
    â€œNed Fribble,” he declared.
    Her lips pursed. “I will not be Mr. Fribble.”
    The earl gave a sigh of forbearance. “As you like. Ned Sinclair. From Lincolnshire. A young man of uncommon shyness. But try to make the family proud.”
    â€œI can’t bring any more disgrace on them than you already have.”
    That seemed to startle a laugh out of him, and his expression turned puzzled. “I have the oddest feeling that I’m going to enjoy tonight.”
    â€œMe, too, my lord,” she confessed.
    â€œYou’ll have to address me as ‘Ashford’ for the duration of the evening. It’d seem suspicious if my relative addressed me as ‘my lord.’ ”
    â€œI could call you by a nickname,” she suggested. “Ashy.”
    He scowled. “Nobody ever called or calls me ‘Ashy.’ Everyone knows me as ‘Ashford.’ ”
    â€œEven your closest family? An aunt, perhaps?”
    He glanced around, as though someone might be listening in. “When we’re alone, my godmother calls me . . . ‘Danny.’ But only her,” he added hastily.
    Danny. How ridiculously, utterly adorable. Especially given that the man seated opposite her seemed the very opposite of that childlike name. She tucked the knowledge away, hoarding it like ammunition. Or something even more precious.
    â€œAre we headed toward the gaming hell, Dan—­Ashford?”
    He didn’t rise to her attempt to bait him. “It’s too early. Donnegan’s doesn’t even open its doors until ten, and even then, the crowds will be thin until midnight.”
    She checked her pocket watch, enjoying the novelty of pulling the timepiece from her waistcoat. Ten o’clock was three hours away.
    â€œI already have our evening’s agenda planned,” he continued. “First, we’ll take a stroll on Bond Street. You’ll get a chance to practice being a man before heading into the lion’s den of iniquity.”
    â€œBut it will be just as likely that my true sex would be discovered on Bond Street than at the gaming hell.”
    He adjusted his cuffs, his movements sleek and controlled. “Foppish behavior is generally more expected where shopping is concerned.”
    â€œFoppish!” Too late she realized that her voice had come out on a very feminine sound of outrage.
    He smirked, his point having been proven. “After a few turns up and down the street, we’ll take our supper at the Eagle, my favorite chophouse.” Realizing his mistake too late, he sent her a piercing look. “The Eagle’s a haven for me—­even more than White’s. If, after our arrangement is over, I see one reporter there, spying on me, I’ll go to The Well-­Informed Londoner and have them print a retraction and complete disavowal of the article series. Wouldn’t be so difficult for me to blackball your paper.”
    She didn’t doubt that. And while she had to admire the lengths to which he’d go to protect his privacy, it chilled her how easily, how readily he wielded his power over her and ­people of her station. In the face of a nobleman’s strength, there wasn’t anything one of the middle or lower classes could do.
    â€œThe Eagle will be forbidden territory,” she added, just to be sure he trusted her, “and I won’t mention it by name when I write the article about tonight.”
    He exhaled, seemingly mollified by her concession.
    â€œOnce we’ve dined,” he went on, “then we’re on to Donnegan’s for some gambling until the doors close for the morning.”
    â€œMy,” she murmured, “you truly do have the whole of