The Duke of Daring (The Untouchables Book 2) Read Free Page A

Daring?”
    She cast him a sideways look. “It fits, doesn’t it?”
    He chuckled, surprising her. “I suppose it does. Makes me sound rather dashing.”
    “As if Dartford does not. What kind of name is that anyway?”
    “It’s a village in Kent. My family seat is there.”
    She knew that, of course. For some reason, she wanted to provoke him. He seemed up for the challenge. Her mother had always said she should’ve had younger siblings to taunt—and to love. But the only other time Mama had been able to carry a child, she’d died, leaving Lucy to rely on her father and, thankfully, her grandmother, who was now her sole remaining family.
    “You didn’t answer my question,” he prompted. “Have I earned a nickname? I’ve never heard anyone say that before.”
    “Yes, well, it’s employed by a…select group.” Lucy and her two best friends, precisely.  
    “I see. May I ask which group?”
    It wasn’t as if they were a formal organization, but perhaps they should be. Yes, they needed a name, just as they’d recently adopted a designation for Dartford and his like—The Untouchables. They’d actually borrowed it from their surprising new friend, the Duchess of Kendal, a former spinster as Lucy was destined to be.
    Lucy turned onto Jermyn Street, and Dartford followed her. “It doesn’t signify,” she said. “Anyway, you undertake a number of exploits—racing, gambling, a variety of sporting events. I hear you’re quite good at bowls.”
    “Indeed I am.”
    “And that you sometimes play in Hyde Park very early in the morning.” A somewhat scandalous situation, according to Society.  
    “I do.” His lips curved into a captivating smile, and Lucy had the sense he could charm anyone. She would have to be on her guard.
    She decided this was the only opportunity she’d ever have to confirm one of Society’s most outrageous rumors. She turned her head toward him for a few steps. “Is it true you’ve swum nude in the Thames?”
    He tripped slightly, and Lucy smiled.
    “We, ah, shouldn’t discuss that.” He coughed.
    “We shouldn’t be walking alone together either, but that’s not stopping us. Furthermore, as someone who doesn’t seem to care about Society’s rules, I’m surprised you’d hesitate to brag about your endeavors.”
    “Gads, am I a braggart too? The Duke of Gloat, perchance?” He looked askance at her. “You do realize that I’m not even a duke.”
    She appreciated him poking fun at himself, but didn’t say so. It made him seem less of an Untouchable, which was preposterous. They might be alone together at night on a London street, but he was as unattainable to her as any earl or duke or other nobleman. “Yes, well, it hardly matters to those of us in the lower echelon.”
    She expected another quick rejoinder, but he was quiet for several steps. To the corner of Jermyn Street.
    “I suppose we’re going to walk on St. James’s, despite the fact that you’re a woman?” he asked, pausing.
    She peered up at him from beneath the brim of her hat. “I’m Davis Smith, remember?”
    “Just so.”
    They turned onto St. James’s and walked toward Piccadilly.  
    “Why are you dressed up as a man and gambling in hells?” He threw her a beleaguered glance. “And please don’t say it’s none of my affair. Of course it isn’t, but I should like to know just the same. Perhaps you have other options.”
    She laughed, but the sound was hollow. “I’m an unwed woman with no marriage prospects. My options are all but nonexistent. I require funds, and unless you’re prepared to make me your countess, mind your own business .” She quickened her pace and looked both ways up and down St. James’s before dashing across the street.
    He crossed right behind and came up alongside her. “If you’re hoping to evade me, I should think I’ve made it quite clear, I won’t allow it.”
    “Just like an Untouchable,” she muttered. “Of all the arrogant,