Love's Misadventure (The Mason Siblings Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

thought about her luscious lips. Did she taste as sweet as she smelled? He wanted to run his lips down her neck and dip his tongue in the crevice between her breasts. Her perfect, full, rounded… He shifted in his chair as his cock sprang to life.
    Now is not the time.
    He puffed on his cigar as a kitten leapt to his lap, making itself comfortable as he absently stroked its fur.
    This sudden realization posed a great problem. What if his physical difficulty continued? What if he could never father children? Annabel deserved better than that. She deserved better than him . He could never court her.
    Damn it, he could never be with Anna.
     

Chapter 3
     
     
    Annabel covered a yawn with the back of her hand as she entered the morning room. The scents of freshly prepared toasted bread, ham, eggs, and an array of other alluring aromas teased her senses. Her stomach rumbled loudly in response. She covered it and fought a blush. Thank goodness it was just her parents in the room.
    “Good morning, Papa.” Anna bent to kiss her father on the cheek, then turned to her mother and did the same. “Good morning, Mama.”
    “Good morning, my dear.” Mama spread some marmalade on a piece of toast, and her father grunted his greeting from behind the newspaper.
    She went to the sideboard and selected an assortment of fruit and toast.
    “You appear tired this morning, Annabel. Did you stay up late reading again?”
    Anna covered another yawn as she took her seat at the table. “The book was just too entertaining to put down. I started reading, and the next thing I knew it was nearly dawn.”
    “Oh, bother.” Her mother took a sip of tea. “I do hope that will not affect you at the ball this evening.”
    Anna hid a frown. “Bother. I had completely forgotten about Almack’s.” She detested the pretentious display she always saw at Almack’s. The young ladies acting like witless, tittering fools in order to attract a husband, and the men who expected the women to be witless, tittering fools.
    She sighed. She could not avoid it; last week at Miss Rockton’s musicale Anna had promised a waltz at Almack’s to Lord Anthony Walstone, Viscount Boxton. He was handsome enough, but in desperate need of a dowry to pay off his father’s gambling debts.
    Anna had a dowry…a handsome one, at that. Could Lord Boxton have a genuine interest in her? Ask yourself the question that matters, Anna . If he spoke to her father to request permission to court her, would she be amenable to such a match?
    She did not have a long enough acquaintance with him to know whether or not she enjoyed his wit or conversation. It was commonplace for husbands and wives to spend very little time in each other’s company, so she supposed that would not be problematic.
    It was a simple enough matter. Anna dreaded spinsterhood. She had spent far too long pining over a man who did not share her intimate affections. She may not love Viscount Boxton, or be particularly fond of him, but if he wished to give her his name and was willing to father her children, she would accept his proposal without a moment of doubt.
    “Do not fret, Mama. I will take a nap this afternoon in preparation for Almack’s. ”
    “Be sure to not nap too long, Annabel. Your mother and I would like to have an early repast before we depart. The fare at Almack’s is abysmal.” Her father, Joseph Bradley, youngest brother of the Marquis of Greydon, put down his newspaper and stood. “If you will both excuse me, I have a meeting with my solicitor.”
    “Have a pleasant day, Papa.” Anna poured herself a cup of steaming tea.
    “Until supper, Joseph.”
    “Annabel, Margaret.” He gave them both a kiss on the forehead before quitting the room.
    Anna added cream and sugar into her teacup and took a sip. It did not satisfy her proclivity for sweetness as well as her favourite hot chocolate, but it was pleasing nonetheless.
    “Good morning, mother!” A booming male voice echoed in the small