Reckless Viscount Read Free

thoughtless,” Leif replied with a grin. “I never make promises I am unable to keep, and I’ve never left a lady with a broken heart.”
    He didn’t feel it necessary to clarify that the women of his intimate acquaintance had hearts far too sophisticated to break.
    The young lady sighed. It was a heavy sound that echoed from a place far deeper than he imagined might exist in one so ingenuous.
    “There you go again,” she muttered, “thinking me a fool.” She tipped her head to the side, peering at him again in that keen way that had him wondering what she saw. “I suspect your charm gets you into far more trouble than it gets you out of. In spite of your declaration that you are otherwise, it is clear you are a very dangerous sort or you never would have approached a woman completely unknown to you and behaved in such an outrageous manner.”
    Leif was at the same time pleased and perturbed by her observation. He grinned and brushed his knuckles along the underside of his jaw as he eyed her thoughtfully. Her gloved hands were linked together at her waist. So tightly the pure white fabric was deeply creased.
    A barricade against him? Or an indication she was holding something back?
    “Outrageous, am I?”
    “Most definitely.” She nodded.
    Leif pushed off from the door and straightened his posture. He fairly loomed over her diminutive stature. The position gave him a pleasant view of her softly curved cleavage and a distinct physical advantage that did not go unnoticed by her. Her eyelashes fluttered against her fair cheeks.
    “Let me ask you this, Irish.” His voice dropped to an intimate murmur. “Though I am denying nothing, if I am as bad as you claim, why have you deigned to converse with me as long as you have?”
    Her striking sea-green eyes flew up to meet his and she drew a swift breath as if to protest his insinuation. Then just as quickly, she snapped her mouth closed and narrowed her gaze as she appeared to reorganize her response.
    Leif experienced a sharp stab of regret that she hadn’t gone through with her initial reaction. He suspected it would have been far more amusing than what was to come.
    “You make an excellent point,” she agreed. “It is most certainly in my best interest to bring this…unusual interview to an end.” She tilted her head and eyed him with a blend of caution and query in her gaze. “I suppose I have no choice but to trust you will not speak of my indiscretion here.”
    “No need to worry, Irish. I am not one to carry tales. Besides,” he added with a jaunty nod of his head as she stepped away from him and started across the library, “we have not exchanged names. I haven’t the slightest idea who you are.”
    For some reason, his words gave her pause. She stopped and glanced back at him over her shoulder. Then a gentle smile crept across her full lips, as if she had just discovered a delightful treasure she intended to keep all to herself.
    “Again, you are quite correct,” she replied after a moment, “and isn’t it lovely.”
    The dancing lilt of pleasure in her voice was unmistakable, as was the jubilant little spring that lightened her steps as she continued from the room.
    Leif watched the delicate sway of her backside until she was out of sight. The unique sound of her voice flitted through his brain like a trapped butterfly and the scent of her lingered in the atmosphere where he stood. It took him another moment to free himself from the sensual snare the unusual woman had caught him in without even trying.
    Then he chuckled. An odd little creature indeed, and one he hoped to encounter again. Shaking off the last of his distraction, he turned toward the door at his side and pressed his ear to the solid wood surface.

Chapter Two
    Abbigael Granger waited until she was out of view of the library before she sprinted across the grand hall to the main stairway. In her agitation, she took a wrong turn at the top of the stairs and had to backtrack to find