Read Online The Princess & the Pea by Victoria Alexander - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Victoria Alexander
Ads: Link
She paused to consider her next words, then recklessly plunged onward. "Or a woman either, for that matter."
"Women? Work?" His startled expression intensified.
"Oh dear, now I've shocked you," she said.
"I'm beginning to believe nothing you say could shock me," Jared said wryly. "Please, do continue."
"It simply makes sense." Enthusiasm colored her words. "Women are every bit as good as men." She hesitated at the look of doubt on his face. "Not physically, of course, but intellectually. Why, your own country has been ruled by a woman for nearly sixty years now."
"I can't argue with that. But why on earth would a woman want to work? Isn't marriage and motherhood the dream of every female?"
She sighed at this strictly masculine interpretation of life. "Not every female. Most have no other options."
"Why aren't you married?"
The unexpected change of subject caught her by surprise and she shrugged. "I've simply never met anyone I wished to be shackled to for the rest of my life." Not, perhaps, until now.
"Shackled?" He laughed.
"Yes, shackled," she said, a resolute tone in her voice.
"I doubt your parents are in agreement with you on that topic." His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she resisted the temptation to reach out her hand to smooth the wary expression from his face. "That reminds me: Do your parents know where you are?"
"I certainly hope not." Cece shook her head. "Mother would no doubt have some sort of apoplectic fit and Father would surely shoot you or worse." She grinned. "I discovered long ago that they are ever so much happier when they're not informed of my activities."
Jared groaned. "Bloody hell, Cece. You've gone out, at night, to meet a man who's practically a stranger." His forehead farrowed in a forbidding frown. "A stranger, I might add, who doesn't even know your surname."
"Jared, there's more than enough time for mundane details at some later point. Besides," she said primly, "we still have not been properly introduced."
"Properly introduced?" He gazed at her in astonishment. "I believe my original assessment of you was accurate. Even you must realize it's extremely foolish to engage in clandestine meetings with men you barely know. Men whose primary purpose might well be to take advantage of your virtue."
"Jared." She laughed softly. "Now you're being foolish."
"Foolish," he sputtered.
"Yes, indeed." She nodded vigorously. "You see, I already know one more thing about you that I've failed to mention. You are undoubtedly a man of honor."
"A man of honor?" He repeated her words as if he couldn't quite grasp their meaning.
She sighed patiently. Evidently, he was going to need a bit more of an explanation. "A man of honor would never take advantage of me. Although I am obviously intelligent, and noticeably self-assured, it is also painfully apparent that in the ways of men and women I am an innocent."
"An innocent." His voice was little more than a strangled gasp.
"I've shocked you again, haven't I?"
"My dear woman." Jared said slowly. "I believe we have gone past simple shock and into the realm of sheer astonishment."
"Do you need to sit down?" she said anxiously.
"No." He pulled a deep breath. "I'm quite all right. But tell me, how can you be so sure that I am an honorable man?"
"I have always been an excellent judge of character." she said confidently. And I do know you, Jared Grayson. You may well be my destiny.
"Do you have any idea what could happen to you if you were wrong?" His eyes glittered in the lamplight. "If I were the kind of man to take advantage of an innocent?"
"I can imagine," she said quickly. I can more than imagine.
"Can you? Can you imagine such a rogue would first put his arms around you, like this?" Jared wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Her heart thudded in her chest at the unexpected contact. She hadn't fully realized how much taller he was than she, or the hard, muscled strength belied by the gentleness of his embrace. "He would hold
"Women? Work?" His startled expression intensified.
"Oh dear, now I've shocked you," she said.
"I'm beginning to believe nothing you say could shock me," Jared said wryly. "Please, do continue."
"It simply makes sense." Enthusiasm colored her words. "Women are every bit as good as men." She hesitated at the look of doubt on his face. "Not physically, of course, but intellectually. Why, your own country has been ruled by a woman for nearly sixty years now."
"I can't argue with that. But why on earth would a woman want to work? Isn't marriage and motherhood the dream of every female?"
She sighed at this strictly masculine interpretation of life. "Not every female. Most have no other options."
"Why aren't you married?"
The unexpected change of subject caught her by surprise and she shrugged. "I've simply never met anyone I wished to be shackled to for the rest of my life." Not, perhaps, until now.
"Shackled?" He laughed.
"Yes, shackled," she said, a resolute tone in her voice.
"I doubt your parents are in agreement with you on that topic." His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she resisted the temptation to reach out her hand to smooth the wary expression from his face. "That reminds me: Do your parents know where you are?"
"I certainly hope not." Cece shook her head. "Mother would no doubt have some sort of apoplectic fit and Father would surely shoot you or worse." She grinned. "I discovered long ago that they are ever so much happier when they're not informed of my activities."
Jared groaned. "Bloody hell, Cece. You've gone out, at night, to meet a man who's practically a stranger." His forehead farrowed in a forbidding frown. "A stranger, I might add, who doesn't even know your surname."
"Jared, there's more than enough time for mundane details at some later point. Besides," she said primly, "we still have not been properly introduced."
"Properly introduced?" He gazed at her in astonishment. "I believe my original assessment of you was accurate. Even you must realize it's extremely foolish to engage in clandestine meetings with men you barely know. Men whose primary purpose might well be to take advantage of your virtue."
"Jared." She laughed softly. "Now you're being foolish."
"Foolish," he sputtered.
"Yes, indeed." She nodded vigorously. "You see, I already know one more thing about you that I've failed to mention. You are undoubtedly a man of honor."
"A man of honor?" He repeated her words as if he couldn't quite grasp their meaning.
She sighed patiently. Evidently, he was going to need a bit more of an explanation. "A man of honor would never take advantage of me. Although I am obviously intelligent, and noticeably self-assured, it is also painfully apparent that in the ways of men and women I am an innocent."
"An innocent." His voice was little more than a strangled gasp.
"I've shocked you again, haven't I?"
"My dear woman." Jared said slowly. "I believe we have gone past simple shock and into the realm of sheer astonishment."
"Do you need to sit down?" she said anxiously.
"No." He pulled a deep breath. "I'm quite all right. But tell me, how can you be so sure that I am an honorable man?"
"I have always been an excellent judge of character." she said confidently. And I do know you, Jared Grayson. You may well be my destiny.
"Do you have any idea what could happen to you if you were wrong?" His eyes glittered in the lamplight. "If I were the kind of man to take advantage of an innocent?"
"I can imagine," she said quickly. I can more than imagine.
"Can you? Can you imagine such a rogue would first put his arms around you, like this?" Jared wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Her heart thudded in her chest at the unexpected contact. She hadn't fully realized how much taller he was than she, or the hard, muscled strength belied by the gentleness of his embrace. "He would hold
Similar Books
