To Seduce a Rogue Read Free Page A

His brother’s death had killed two in Adam’s heart, for he had stopped loving his father the very moment Eaton drew his last breath.
    All the love in his body had poured out of him like the blood from his brother’s.
    Love. Bitterness welled inside him as the word circled his mind. His cheroot dropped to the coverlet. With a muttered oath, he grabbed it, but not before a black-edged hole appeared.
    He cursed and stood. With an angry twist, he threw the smoking stub out the window. He rested his hands on the frame and gazed over open fields awash in silver moonlight.
    He needed to get this assignment finished and leave. Soon. This town—the serenity it evoked—was going to make him restless. That would make him think. He did not want to think. There were too many painful memories chasing him.
    It was all he could do to stay ahead of them.
    Maybe a woman would help. Maybe the blond in the Four Leaf Clover. But there was no quickening of his blood at the thought of bedding her .
    A vision jumped into his head, and he immediately experienced a warm response.
    Oh, no, Chase . No way, no how.
    Charlie Whitney was too bold for her own good.
    Surely she had a husband to keep her in line. Although what man would let his wife go into a saloon? Adam’s hands tightened on the window frame as he scowled.
    Please, God, let her have a husband .

Chapter Two
     

     
    Anger
    A strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong.
     

     
    Charlie increased her pace, humming a tune her mother had sung to her as a child. She was a little late for Sunday dinner with Kath and Miles. They lived a mile away, on the main road that led past her house and into the hills.
    But she had taken her time, because the walk was lovely.
    The day had turned out to be a beautiful one; the sun shone as bright as a brass lamp and there was a glorious breeze that cooled the skin with ease considering the heat. It felt wonderful to escape her house. She had been lonely, and bored, without the newspaper to occupy her this week.
    For the first time in months, an emotion close to happiness filled her. She knew it was foolish to delight in a trifling dinner at Kath’s, but there were so few things lately to rejoice about. She had decided to wear her new green dress and, to suit her whimsical mood, had twined matching ribbon through the handle of the basket she held in her hand.
    The pale yellow ribbon binding her hair had fallen out as she walked, allowing strands to tumble about like long, flowing banners. The ribbon now lay in the bottom of the basket, between two jars of preserves.
    As she reached the house, she took the porch stairs two at a time and burst through the door without knocking.
    “Hello,” she called from the entryway.
    Charlie liked the home Miles and his father had built. They had planned for a family when designing it.
    She walked to the kitchen, heading for the best feature of the house: the pantry. It was large enough to hold food for the entire winter. Charlie stored her preserves there, when her tiny cupboard got too cramped. “Kath, thank goodness Sunday finally got here. I’ve been absolutely crazy in that house. I brought peach preserves, which I hope turn out better than those god-awful others.” She plopped the basket on the kitchen table. “And look at this gorgeous basket I got from the Yankee trader who traveled through on Friday. Imagine, I swapped a sketch of his wagon for the basket and two spools of thread.”
    Kath turned from the stove with a weak smile. “Charlie.”
    Charlie followed Kath’s gaze, an apprehensive tingle raising the hairs on her neck. She backed out of the kitchen and crept along the hallway, tilting her head to the side as she advanced upon the sitting room, which she had passed during her mad rush inside. Her steps slowed.
    If she was careful, she could just peek in.
    Lean, long legs. Muscular brown arm thrown casually along the settee’s back. Whiskered face. Deep, deep