Read Online Promises Reveal by Sarah McCarty - Free Book Online Page A

anything but just sit here quietly beside him and ride to their honeymoon. The man drove her crazy with contradiction.
    “Don’t look so indignant. For a bright woman, you’ve pulled some stupid stunts.”
    She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. There was definitely a come-play-with-me invitation in that grin. What he wanted to play, and the rules of the game, were still up for grabs, but he wanted her along. Her irritation dissipated in the wake of that knowledge, but the urge to kiss him lingered. She studied his mouth. It’d taken her a month of trying before she’d caught on paper the sensuality that was reflected in the chiseled shape. A month of sketching and wondering. And tonight, all that wondering would come to an end. She’d know the nature of his kiss. It seemed like forever until tonight. Of course, she didn’t have to wait. She could always initiate a kiss.
    She wondered what he’d do if she gave in to the impulse and leaned over and kissed him. Probably die of shock. She tucked the urge away with her hankie. Belatedly, she noticed he was studying her just as hard as she was studying him, but he wasn’t being at all discreet about it, surveying her with the fervor of a fox perusing his next meal. A little shiver sneaked down her spine.
    “I have not.” None that she was confessing to anyway.
    “What about the other night at the Pleasure Emporium?”
    Oh shoot. “Who tattled on me this time?”
    “Everyone was happy to tell me.”
    “Everyone’s always happy to point out my mistakes.”
    “Now why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about the harebrained plan you came up with?”
    “It wasn’t harebrained.”
    “Did it have you going within twenty feet of a whorehouse at night, unchaperoned?”
    He knew darn well it did. “Yes.”
    “Then harebrained covers it.”
    There was only one more house before they left town behind. A pretty two-story with quaint gingerbread trim on the porch. Where on Earth was he taking her? “Those women need help.”
    “Those women aren’t my concern. You are.”
    “That’s all you’re going to say?”
    “Beyond the fact that you can put the idea of divorce out of your mind? Pretty much.”
    With a jerk, Brad released the brake. She clutched the cape, unease digging deep in her gut as he clucked to the horse. It sighed but didn’t move. Brad tapped the reins against its flanks. It leaned into the harness with a snort. The buggy surged forward. “Where are we going?”
    With a flick of his finger he indicated the road ahead of them. “That way.”
    She set her teeth. “Do you go out of your way to aggravate everyone, or is it just me?”
    The corner of his mouth twitched. In humor or anger? “At the moment, I’m focusing on you, as you’re currently my biggest irritation.”
    That was not good. She flopped back against the buggy seat. “It was just a painting.”
    “That you created to kick up a bit of a fuss.”
    “Life around here is so stifling.”
    “So you set out to stir it up.”
    He didn’t have to be such a know-it-all.
    “And now I’m married. The thing I never wanted to be. You might be right. Harebrained does cover it.”
    “Don’t sound so despondent. Marriage might have a few pluses.”
    She wiped at her face again. “It’s prison, with the husband as jailer.”
    “That’s a bit extreme.”
    “That’s how it feels to me.”
    “Well, then, I’ll try to live down to your expectations.”
    “Don’t bother.”
    “It’d be my pleasure.”
    That’s what she was afraid of. “I don’t understand you.”
    “I’m a pretty straightforward man.”
    “No, you’re not.”
    That got his gaze off the road.
    “You act like you are, but there are too many contradictions.”
    “Do tell.”
    There were some things she didn’t want to reveal. “I don’t think I will.”
    His eyebrow went up in that provoking manner. “I could order you to. As your husband and number one jailer, I have the right.”
    “Go right