Read Online The Pirate Next Door by Jennifer Ashley - Free Book Online

have been told I am handsome.”
    “Yes, indeed.”
    He turned his head at the shy words. She was gazing at him from under her lashes, her eyes all sparkling.
    Common sense suddenly intruded. What was he doing? He had no business including himself on this list, as lush and inviting as this woman was. He had business to conduct, a king to find, Maggie to provide for, and a devil’s bargain to keep. He had no time to flirt and play with a lady he could not possibly have. And yet—
    Let me , said his thoughts, just for a little while . Let me bask in her elegance, in her innocent chatter of soirees and suitors and gowns. Let me stay in this place so removed from my world, just for a little while.
    He smiled up at her, then snaked his arm about her waist and pulled her gently down to sit on his knee. She smelled so good, all cinnamon and honeysuckle. He was right about the opals. They would shine white and soft in her red-brown curls. They had been made for her.
    His arousal began to request attention. Her soft littlebackside on his knee, her sweet-smelling hair brushing his cheek, and her lovely round breasts so near were stimulating him. He was a man, after all, and she was a most intriguing lady. Nothing else seemed important.
    But things were important. He made himself return his attention to the list. “What are minuses?”
    She shifted a little, which only brushed her softness closer. “Deficiencies in character,” she answered.
    “I see. Then I will not have any of those. And the crosses?”
    Her fingers twitched. “Merits.”
    “Hmm.” The duke, he noted, damn it, had seven. He touched the pen to them. “Why does St. Clair have so many?”
    “Well, he is a duke.”
    “Well, I am a viscount. Excellent.” He gave himself a cross. “What else?”
    “He is a family friend—”
    “I live next door.” Another cross to Lord Stoke.
    “I have known him a long while, and he has proved his kindness many times.”
    Grayson contained the snarl that built inside him and continued to make crosses by his own name until he came to the edge of the paper. “I seem to have many merits,” he said.
    She did not answer. He looked up. She was studying him, her lips pursed, inviting him, though she did not know it, to kiss her. And kiss her.
    When she spoke, her voice was very soft. “Are you proposing to me, Lord Stoke?”
    He quirked his brow. “Proposing?”
    “You are claiming that you are the best candidate on the list. Does that mean you wish to marry me?” Her eyes became quiet, and realms of emotion he’d not seen therebefore suddenly opened to him. “Or are you mocking me?”
    He studied her cool brown-green scrutiny. Somewhere deep inside this woman lay hurt. Grayson had led a brutal existence among brutal people. But that meant only that he had learned to drill down through many layers to find the truth of a person. With Mrs. Alastair, he did not have far to go to find sorrow. His far neighbor, a baronet who obviously loved gossip, had told him that Alexandra’s first husband had been little short of cruel. Theo Alastair had dressed Alexandra in silks and jewels and let her adorn polite company while he rampaged through the town making the beast with two backs with everyone from penny prostitutes to the wives of prominent gentlemen. Mr. Alastair had kept several mistresses and did not much care who knew. Most embarrassing for the poor gel, the elderly baronet had explained. Relief when he died, don’t you know.
    This list meant she was trying to avoid an embarrassing mistake the second time.
    He looked into her clear, waiting eyes. “I regret—” he began slowly. He realized, no matter what his arousal was screaming, that he did regret it. Profusely. Why now? Why did I have to find her now? “That I cannot marry.”
    The open spaces inside her suddenly shut with a snap. She closed her mouth, firmed her lips, and seemed to move ten feet away, even though she remained most snugly on his lap. “Then