Read Online Master of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle - Free Book Online Page B

I’m not exactly a good investment for a man like you.”
    An inexplicable look of withdrawal overtook his gruff features. “I wish to assure you, Miss Webster, that I’m not in a position to make those sort of advances. Not that you aren’t attractive. You are. I simply will have to return to my regular way of life at sea. I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
    Annoyingly, her cheeks grew hot. “I’m not disappointed.”
    “Good.” He tapped the banister with a fist, no longer meeting her gaze. “So who lives on King Street?”
    She stiffened. He was referring to their conversation from two days earlier. When they first met. “Why do you ask?”
    He kept tapping. “Why did you think this gentleman sent me to pay your debts? Who is he to you? Your brother?”
    Heaven forbid. “No. I never had any brothers. Or sisters, for that matter. My father never remarried after my mother died. He was very devoted to her memory. Which, of course, my aunt always scolded him for, claiming such sentimentally only perpetuated pain. She was very bitter about relationships. She had been abandoned at the altar twice. By the same man, no less.”
    His brows came together. “You answered every question but the one I wanted to know.”
    Oh, for heaven’s— Her mind these days. “Forgive me. I always say more than I should.” She sighed. “Annoyingly, I’ve known him for a long time. His name is Ryder William Blake.”
    “And who is he to you?” he pressed. “Why do you associate with him? Any particular reason?”
    For someone who wasn’t interested, he was interested. “Yes. He is the father of my…son.”
    “I see.” He hesitated. “Are you and he still together?”
    “No.” Thank God.
    “Why aren’t you and he together?”
    This one just got curious. “I thought you weren’t interested.”
    He gave her a withering look. “I’m not.”
    “Clearly you are. You’re asking about my life and former lover. Why?”
    He shifted his jaw, pulled out his watch again and glanced at it. “I have to go.”
    “Have to or want to?”
    He tucked the watch away. “Both.”
    “And I thought I was wary of the opposite sex.” She eyed him. “Who was she?”
    His features tightened. “Pardon?”
    She softened her voice. “Don’t deny it. I know a broken heart when I see it.”
    He set a large boot on the stair between them with a glorified thud. “I appreciate your concern, Miss Webster, but I haven’t associated with enough women to let them break anything. I’m too smart for that.”
    “Really? Then why are you so skittish?”
    He lowered his chin. “I’m not skittish. I’m simply a touch confused as to how an attractive, self-assured woman like yourself would have permitted any man to seduce her. You don’t appear to be the sort. You seem more intelligent than that.”
    He was accusing her of being stupid. “If you’re interested in specifics, Lord Brayton, which you clearly are , you may be astounded to find that he and I were engaged at the time. So I don’t appreciate you—”
    She gripped the banister harder in a riled effort to remain calm. There were times when she surprised herself into not even thinking about what happened. And then there were times when she disappointed herself and thought about nothing at all. “If you’ve never suffered from a broken heart, my lord, consider yourself lucky. It’s like watching yourself bleed to death, but for some reason, you keep breathing.”
    His harsh features softened just enough to reveal the real man beneath the jagged scar: one capable of genuine understanding. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Forgive me.”
    Leona picked at the seam of her apron, shrugged and admitted, “There is no need to apologize. Because you’re right. I was stupid. I was stupid to think his growing popularity as a pianist would have allowed us to ever marry. He and I were friends for a long time. Which was the problem. Friends first and lovers last. We used to get along very