Never Tempt a Rogue: A Rogues' Rulebook Novella Read Free Page B

,” his father used to say. Or at least it had been the Evering way until Henry’s death.
    “Pardon me, my lord.”
    Alex choked on an inhale at the woman’s call.
    Mercy, his aunt moved quickly. Had it already begun? Was sending a young woman out to him the first salvo in her campaign of reform? A test of his gentlemanliness.
    He braced himself as he would for a battle. Not that he’d ever fought any battles beyond those with his brother.
    The woman’s voice was husky, somehow titillating in its imperiousness. Odd that a lady’s tone could be both alarming and arousing at the same time.
    He turned to face her and summoned a bland grin, mimicking an expression he’d seen his father wear a thousand times. A look that said, You matter not at all, but I will be civil and endure you. Alex had spent his whole life receiving such looks from his father.
    “Did my aunt send you?”
    If she had, Aunt Georgianna couldn’t have chosen better. The young woman was so lovely that, for a moment, he felt a surge of pleasure at her interruption of his brooding. She was beautiful in a striking way, with a strong jaw, high rounded cheeks, fiercely pale eyes, and wavy hair of honey and cream. The lady had a face he wouldn’t soon forget. And she was tall. To meet her gaze, he had to adjust his line of sight. Alex was used to looking down into feminine eyes, tucking a lover’s head under his chin when they embraced. This woman could meet him toe to toe and look him in the eye.
    While she scowled at him, he allowed his gaze to wander. Despite her long limbs and height, the lady was graced with curves in all the right places, ample hips and a blessedly full bosom.
    Her foot began tapping out a frantic beat. His appreciative gaze seemed to stoke her anger. Frost blue eyes narrowed to slits, and her full peach-ripe mouth flattened into a grim line.
    “Lord Lindsay, we have not yet been formally introduced, but I must have a word with you before the party begins.”
    She said the word party as if it was distasteful, and Alex immediately thought of some of the rowdy events he’d attended in London. This little country house get-together wouldn’t be anything like those, and yet this woman seemed to disdain the festivities already. Or perhaps she just disdained him. Loathing glittered in her aquamarine eyes as she stared at him.
    “Very well. You seem a diverting interruption. I will allow it.” Teasing only made her eyes flash more, and he liked causing those tiny flares of blue far too much.
    She squared her shoulders, lifted her adorably dimpled chin, and pinned him with an outraged glare. “You can have this back.”
    When she shoved the piece of paper toward him, Alex sucked in a breath, hoping she might touch him. But she didn’t, of course. She was a lady, and he was expected to act like a gentleman. Not tomorrow. Not someday. Now.
    “Lord Lindsay, there will be no more of these. If you send any further unwanted communications, I will tell Lord and Lady Forsythe of your outrageous behavior.”
    He was surprised she could say so much when fury stiffened every line of her body.
    Perhaps he was as debauched as he pretended to be in The Rogues’ Rulebook , because her ire aroused him. He liked the way it made her lips quiver and infused her cheeks with blood. When her eyes sparked, he could smell anger curling off her like the burn of an electric charge after a lightning storm.
    “I have no idea who sent that or what it says.” He didn’t need to examine the folded missive to know it had nothing to do with him. “I assure you, I’ve only arrived half an hour ago and spent much of that time on this balcony. I haven’t sent a note to anyone.”
    She faltered, her sensual mouth quivering even more in her uncertainty. A mad impulse made him want to claim those lips, use her trembling moment of doubt to break through her fury. Now, when he might taste all that passion.
    Unfolding the letter in her hands, she held it up in front