Read Online Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas - Free Book Online Page B

carriage for you tomorrow at ten.”
    â€œI won’t come,” Amanda muttered, her body rigid except for the slight, luscious quiver of her breasts, encased snugly in beaded black silk. The sight gave Jack an immediate shock of awareness. Heat seemed to dance beneath his own skin, until his body began to awaken in dangerous places. Some unknown emotion surfaced in him, something like possessiveness, or excitement…or even tenderness. He wanted to show her whatever small scrap of goodness he might find at the bottom of his soul, to entice and tempt her.
    â€œYes, you will,” he said, knowing somehow that she could not resist him any more than he could resist her.
    The guests proceeded into the dining room, a large mahogany-paneled room filled with two long tables, each set with fourteen places. Four gloved, liveried footmen bustled quietly around the tables, assisting guests to their chairs, pouring wine, and bringing out huge silver-plated platters of oysters. Next came sherry and bowls of steaming turtle soup, followed by turbot fish dressed with tart hollandaise.
    Jack found himself seated next to Mrs. Francine Newlyn. He had a feeling that Francine had designs on him, but though he considered her attractive, she was hardly worth the trouble of having an affair with. Especially if one didn’t care to have one’s personal life revealed in detail to a horde of gossips. Still, her hand kept sliding to his knee beneath the table. Each time he brushed the hand away, it returned to explore further territory of his leg.
    â€œMrs. Newlyn,” he muttered, “your attentions are most flattering. But if you don’t remove your hand…”
    Francine’s hand slid away, and she regarded him with a catlike smile, her eyes round with mock innocence. “Forgive me,” she purred. “I had merely lost my balance and was trying to restore it.” She picked up her small sherry glass and sipped delicately. The tip of her tongue retrieved a golden drop that clung to the rim. “Such a strong leg,” she commented softly. “You must take exercise quite frequently.”
    Jack suppressed a sigh as he glanced at the other long table, where Amanda Briars had been seated. She was involved in an animated conversation with the gentleman on her left, something about whether the new serial novels published in monthly installments were truly novels. The debate was currently a popular one, as several publishers—including himself—were launching serial novels without much success so far.
    Jack enjoyed watching Amanda’s face in the candlelight, her expression by turns thoughtful, amused, and lively, those gray eyes gleaming more brightly than the polished silver.
    Unlike the other women present, who picked at their food with appropriately feminine disinterest, Amanda displayed a healthy appetite. Apparently it was one of the privileges of spinsterhood, that a woman could eat well in public. She was so natural and straightforward, a refreshing change from the other sophisticated women he had known. He wanted to be alone with her. He envied the man seated next to her, who seemed to be having a better time than anyone else present.
    Francine Newlyn persistently pressed his leg with her own. “My dear Mr. Devlin,” she said silkily, “you can’t seem to take your gaze from Miss Briars. But surely a man like you couldn’t entertain an interest in her.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    A laugh came sputtering from her lips. “Because you’re a young, full-blooded man in his prime, and she…well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Oh, men like Miss Briars, certainly, but only in the way they would like a sister or an aunt. She’s not the kind who would arouse a man’s amorous instincts.”
    â€œIf you say so,” he replied blandly. The woman clearly considered her own attractions far superior to Amanda’s, never dreaming that a man might