Read Online Seven Secrets of Seduction by Anne Mallory - Free Book Online

pretend to attend to their pursuits and estate business. And Downing seemed to frolic a lot, if the ink on the gossip pages was any indication.
    A large desk took up the space in front of a series of heavily draped windows, opened only enough to allow a sliver of light by which to see. As if the room were afraid of being exposed. The desk was trimmed in spiraled carvings of lions and chimeras midroar.
    It too had an unused quality. As if someone might sit on the other side only to interrogate anyone who dared enter.
    The room was intimidating. For what did one expect from someone unable to be pinpointed as anything other than dark and unexpected?
    Only the red vase bent the mood. She walked over to examine it further.
    â€œDo you like it?”
    She spun to see the viscount leaning against the wall twirling a pocket watch. A normal man might have blended into the dark decor dressed as he was, but the viscount just made the shadows longer and more pronounced.
    She turned back to the vase and tried to stay her breathing. He was the same man who had entered her shop, unknown at the time, she tried to convince herself. Out of her realm of experience even then, but now?
    She concentrated on the enameled pottery in front of her. The vase was a lovely piece, actually. Red and gold intertwined with fleur-de-lis scrolls. The one spot of color, and also the one piece that held life. “I do.”
    â€œAnd the room?”
    She faced him again, holding the package as calmly as she could against her chest—a shield in front of her even though he was ten paces away. “It is a nice room,” she said diplomatically.
    â€œNice?”
    â€œIt is startling,” she admitted.
    â€œâ€˜Startling’ is quite different from ‘nice.’”
    â€œIt is.”
    â€œBut do you like it?”
    She inclined her head. “Does it matter?”
    He smiled and pushed away from the wall. “At the moment, very much.”
    â€œAnd in the next moment?”
    He walked by her slowly, behind her, brushing the edge of her dress bow so that it tugged at her waist in a slight caress.
    â€œWe shall see.”
    He continued to the desk, and she turned to face him. “Is your lordship amused? Playing with the lowly shopgirl?”
    â€œI hardly think you a lowly shopgirl. You have funds of your own, do you not? Perhaps not enough to live on your own, but enough to refuse my offer the other day.” He sank into his chair, the action nearly liquid.“Or am I such a bear that it was a refusal of me?”
    He idly twirled a paperweight. The look in his eyes seemed to belie that he thought that possible.
    â€œHave people found you a bear in order to lead you to such a conclusion?”
    â€œI am generally found to be quite pleasurable company.” His eyes traveled her. “Or at least I haven’t encountered complaints yet.”
    She clutched the package tighter.
    â€œOr maybe it is because you hold books in such high esteem that you can’t bear to part with one before you are done.”
    â€œAnd how will you ever deduce which is the truth?”
    â€œI already know which is true.” He smiled. “I asked someone with keen knowledge on the subject.”
    She wondered whom he had asked—her uncle, Peter, Georgette?—and when he had done so. “I see.”
    He placed the weight on the desk, arranging it in a sequence with a pen, a piece of paper, and the pocket watch. “Do you?”
    No, she didn’t. “You are having some amusement. Playing with the not-as-lowly-as-first-supposed-but-still-lowly shopgirl.”
    The flash from the first night flitted through his eyes again as he looked up. He settled back in his chair, hands clasped together. “I do so hope so.”
    â€œWhy?” she asked baldly.
    â€œBecause you intrigue me.”
    She watched his eyes, trying not to pay attention to the way her organs seemed to fight to cross an unknown