Love's Revenge (Entangled Scandalous) Read Free

calves.
    When the waltz finally came to an end with the couple in front of him, he came face to face with perhaps his most dangerous foe.

Chapter Two
    “Katherine, how lovely you look tonight. Enough to distract any man from serious thinking.” As Benjamin Ward spoke, he extended a hand to guide Katherine into their little circle.
    “Viscount Montgomery, may I present the bright, accomplished, and exceptionally lovely Miss Katherine Barker.”
    Katherine could not catch her breath or her wits. Viscount? It was the last thing she had expected. While the stranger outside had barely left her thoughts, she was totally unprepared to come face to face with him.
    Winded from the dance, she was still unable to speak as the viscount bent slightly to acknowledge the introduction. The air stirred and she could smell him. The impact of the soft warm scent of hair balm and cologne, of fine wool and starch, was startling. It made his presence felt in a new tangible way.
    He was even more handsome than she had thought. The man looked as if he had just stepped in from the London social season. He moved with a certain elegant grace that was as natural to him as his sun-bronzed skin.
    It was no accident then—their encounter outside. Instinctively, she knew that now. But was it fate, or something planned?
    The viscount seemed to take in every aspect of her hair and costume appreciatively. His eyes betrayed a hunger that sent a rush through her. She spoke to stop her imagination from carrying her into danger. “My lord, it is a pleasure.”
    She extended her hand and he took it, enfolding it in the long elegant fingers she had admired earlier. The rough calluses on the pads of his fingers surprised her, but only for a moment. The warmth of his breath on the back of her hand and the whisper of his lips across her sensitive skin immediately drove the thought away. He looked back up at her. It was almost as if he were teasing her.
    “Miss Barker, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you.” His voice was like honey, deep and rich. It coated each word and left them hanging deliciously in the air.
    “We were just discussing metallurgy.” Benjamin Ward laughed as if it were a private joke. “Perhaps he might consult with you on the terrible grime that is a part of our life here.”
    Kate could feel the heat in her cheeks. It was not a subject she found comfortable discussing, certainly not with this stranger. She had tried over and over to prevent the family’s business from adding to the filth that hung over the city of St. Louis, but she was at a loss. “I have tried, but we have yet to come up with a suitable solution.”
    “Perhaps if soft and inferior coal weren’t used in the smelting process, the city might end up with a more habitable environment.” The viscount’s deep voice floated across the small space that lay between them, wrapping itself around her once more. She was only vaguely aware of what he was saying.
    “Ah, Katherine. Be careful of the viscount. He seems to know of what he speaks.” The attorney bowed slightly and added, “And on that, I will leave you young people to yourselves. If you’ll excuse me.” The man exchanged a nod with the viscount before he headed toward the refreshment table. She watched him go, slightly puzzled.
    “I gather we are to be left to our own devices.” His words were barely above a whisper, but deep and suggestive. He stood slightly behind her. His breath warmed the bare flesh of her shoulders. The heat of his body ran along her entire length.
    His voice coated her anxieties until they were nonexistent. There was only this man. This mesmerizing, tantalizing man.
    She turned to him and smiled. “Would you care to dance, Lord Montgomery?” If he was at all surprised at the impropriety of her invitation, he did not show it. He returned her smile with a devastating one of his own.
    “I make a point of never turning down invitations from beautiful women.”
    “That must be a