Read Online Wed Him Before You Bed Him by Sabrina Jeffries - Free Book Online Page B

face. But at least she sat down again.
    â€œI’ll be right back,” he added, then hauled Giles out the door, shoving him toward the stairs.
    As soon as they were near it, Giles wrenched himself free. “What the devil was all that about?”
    â€œI want to spend time alone with Charlotte.” David hurried up the stairs as Giles struggled to keep up. “You are not going with us. Understood?”
    â€œI thought you didn’t want to marry her,” Giles said peevishly.
    â€œI haven’t decided. But having you around isn’t helping.” David strode into his bedchamber.
    Giles came in behind him and sank into a chair. “You’d better decide fast. They’re leaving day after tomorrow. And judging from what she’s said about that damned cavalry officer, if you don’t secure her before they leave—”
    An unaccountable jealousy seared him. “What has she said?”
    â€œEnough to make it clear she’s hoping for an offer. I think she was trying to discourage me.” Giles chuckled. “As if I would settle for one chit’s field when there’s a whole world of females out there waiting to be plowed.”
    Frowning at his brother’s crudeness, David peeled off his dressing gown. “Plow where you will, but I’m warning you now—don’t dally with the maids. A gentleman shouldn’t piss where he sleeps.”
    Giles waggled his eyebrows. “I’m not planning on doing any pissing.”
    â€œI mean it, Giles,” David ground out. “If I have to, I’ll go to Father about it.”
    Giles collapsed into a sulk. “You can be such a stuffed shirt sometimes.”
    How Charlotte would laugh to hear that. She thought he was a rogue through and through.
    A rogue with no sense of fashion. David tossed his dressing gown at Giles. “Here, this ought to cheer you up. I don’t want it anymore.”
    A laugh erupted from Giles. “I take it that Miss Page doesn’t like it.”
    â€œShe called it ‘garish,’” David admitted, still annoyed by how she’d laughed at him.
    â€œAnd pleasing her means so much to you that you’ll get rid of your favorite dressing gown? Sounds to me as if you have decided about Miss Page.”
    David said nothing as he dragged on his freshly pressed riding coat.
    â€œI’d be careful if I were you,” Giles went on. “She’s not the kind of female you can toy with. If you don’t mean marriage, then—”
    â€œStay out of it, Giles. I know what I’m doing.”
    But that was a lie. All he knew was he had to be alone with her again, get to know her, see if he’d lost his bloody mind by considering marrying her.
    Half an hour later, as he and Charlotte rode out with the groom, he realized that his plan might prove harder than he’d thought. She had come along with ill grace, and she sat the bay mare like a haughty queen, her aloof facade firmly in place.
    He fell back a little, as if to speak to the groom trailing behind them, but really so he could watch her ride. Whilehe’d been arranging for the horses, she’d changed into a riding habit, and by God, she was fetching in it. At least he had his answer to what one part of her looked like, for her habit was nipped in at her natural waist. Her nicely slender, natural waist.
    She was a fine rider, too, with a good seat, her body moving in perfect time with the horse’s gait. She looked as comfortable in the sidesaddle as on a settee.
    â€œNow that you’ve bullied me into this,” she called back to David, “where are we going?”
    â€œI didn’t bully you into anything.” He spurred the horse forward to take the lead, then turned down a path that led to one of the more secluded roads. “You like to ride, and you know it.”
    â€œI still don’t see why Giles couldn’t come along,” she