Read Online Trouble With Harry by Katie MacAlister - Free Book Online Page B

an introduction to Plum tomorrow at tea.
    India was examining his new wife, her brows drawn together, her hands on her hips in a pose that was very much like Beatrice’s whenever she had been displeased with him. “Is that her, then?”
    He frowned. McTavish might not know better, but India certainly did. “Plum, this young woman who has apparently lost her manners is India, my daughter.”
    â€œA daughter.” Plum blinked a couple of times, but didn’t demand an immediate annulment, something Harry was profoundly thankful for. “You have a daughter. Named India. What an unusual name. Good evening, India. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
    He could have kissed Plum, he was so grateful. She didn’t rail at him, she didn’t accuse him of not being truthful about the children, she just cast him a curious glance and went forward to give India one of those polite little hugs that women who don’t know one another well give each other. Yes, she deserved to be kissed, and he was just the man to see the job done.
    â€œYou’re Plum?” India asked, her eyes meeting Harry’s in surprised horror as Plum hugged her.
    Kissing his wife was his duty, after all.
    Plum stepped back and divided a bright, sunny smile between India and him. “Yes, I’m Plum. Your father didn’t…er…that is, I hadn’t expected to meet you tonight, but I’m so glad you came in to say hello.”
    Kissing her would tell her just how much he approved of and appreciated her.
    â€œWe must have a good long chat in the morning. I know some very fetching hairstyles that I’m sure will make you even prettier than you already are.”
    Oftentimes, kissing led to other, more full-bodied experiences.
    â€œMy niece, Thom, will want to meet you, as well. Thom has curly hair, like yours. I’m sure she’ll have some advice as to the best way to wear it.”
    Plum liked kissing him; therefore, he would be selfish to keep such a pleasure from her. Cruel, even. Harry was not a cruel man. He might not be madly in love with Plum, but he liked her, and he wanted her happy and sated. Particularly sated. Although happy was good, too.
    â€œPapa?” India said, her eyes huge as Plum lifted her braid and wrapped it in a coronet on the top of her head, prattling all the while about hair-related subjects that were so dear to the female heart.
    â€œYes,” Harry said, agreeing to whatever it would take to get India out of the room and Plum into his bed.
    â€œYes?” India dipped away from Plum, unwinding her braid and giving his wife an outraged look.
    â€œYes.” He glanced at Plum. Both of her deliciously straight brows were raised in mute surprise. Evidently yes wasn’t the answer she expected him to give. “No,” he corrected himself. Plum’s eyebrows lowered to their normal straight line. He smiled at her, pleased he got the answer right.
    â€œPapa!” India gasped as Harry grabbed her arm. He opened the door to the hallway, and still smiling at Plum, tugged his daughter out. “Papa, you didn’t even hear—”
    â€œWe had an agreement, didn’t we?” Harry whispered, leaning close to India’s ear. “You agreed not to disturb me tonight for anything short of death, dismemberment, or the apocalypse, and in return I will buy you the Hamilton’s gray mare with white stockings. That was our agreement. I have your signed statement, which I do not hesitate to point out is binding in any court of law.”
    â€œYes, but—”
    Harry gave her his best annoyed father look, the one he kept in reserve for emergencies. India, an intelligent little whelp, knew that she hadn’t a leg to stand on, and after uttering a word he would take up with her another time, and stomping her foot perilously close to his bare toes, she huffed off. Harry lost no time in zipping back into the bedchamber and