Unconventional Suitors 02 - Her Unconventional Hero Read Free

so he asked his sister, Aunt Tabitha, to act as their chaperone.
    Aunt Tabitha was nearly as ungainly as Katherine was, but her father’s implicit trust in his spinster sister broke no room for argument from Adel, and wishing to please her father, she agreed to have a season. Tonight, not for the first time, she heartily regretted giving into her father’s wishes without putting up more of a fight. He and Aunt Tabitha had warned her and Katherine to be on guard for those men who would pursue them solely based on the size of their gratuitous dowries, but no one had warned her about men like Lord Straton, and so far, in her experience, he was proving far more dangerous than any would-be fortune hunters ever had.

Chapter 2
    Benedict took slow sips of his tea, staring at his wife sitting across the table from him as they broke their fast. He would never grow tired of beholding her exquisite face, a face that at the moment was scrunched together in concentration. He had just told her of his promise to Griffin to have his bride picked out sooner rather than later, meaning they would have to make their decision speedily.
    After several more seconds of nibbling on her bottom lip, she looked up at him and asked, “Are you still convinced that Lady Adel and Lord Straton would suit?”
    “I am,” he said confidently. Then to reassure her he added, “And had there been any doubt left in my mind, seeing the look on his face upon his return from the balcony last night would have sealed his fate completely.”
    “Are you absolutely certain it was Lady Adel with whom he had been conversing?”
    “Positive, my love. I strolled by the open doors shortly after he disappeared to see for myself. She was the only one out there.”
    “But I’m not entirely certain that the idea of a marriage to Lord Straton will be pleasing to Lady Adel.”
    Benedict reached for her hand, rubbing slow circles on her delicate palm in an attempt to assure her of his choice. “My darling, do you not remember that she finds him to be handsome?”
    Gillian let her mind wander back to the conversation months ago where Lady Adel had indeed proclaimed Lord Straton to be handsome, albeit insufferable. “But finding his appearance pleasing is not the same as being in love.”
    “No, but it is a start. I see the way that Griffin looks at her, and it reminds me very much of the way you look at me.”
    “Oh?” she questioned, one eyebrow raised in a delicate arch. “How is that?”
    “Like you want to devour me,” he purred lowly so the servants wouldn’t overhear him.
    Gillian’s eyes snapped up to his, as a devilish grin splayed across his face. “I daresay that is how you are looking at me right now,” she countered.
    Benedict didn’t bother arguing with her; instead he pushed back from the table and made to stand. “Perhaps this conversation can be discussed later. I suddenly recall some important business I need to attend to in our chambers.”
    Even after several weeks of marriage, her husband’s boldness could still make her blush. She ducked her head to her chest as a heated blush stole over her cheeks. “As you wish.”
    Benedict chuckled lowly as he helped her from her chair. “What a sweet, obedient wife you are,” to which she promptly laughed, for they both new it wasn’t entirely true.
    Quite some time later, they found themselves in Benedict’s study, Gillian sitting across the large mahogany desk from her husband, watching as he pulled a sheet of parchment from a drawer. He reached for his quill and drew a line down the middle, the entire length of the page. In one column he wrote Griffin, Warren, and Marcus before turning his eyes up to Gillian and saying, “I feel much refreshed after our vigorous morning exercise. We should consider making that a part of our morning routine.”
    Gillian laughed, “We already have. Now try to focus on the task at hand. You are insistent that Lord Straton be paired with Lady Adel, but what about