Her grey eyes sparked a challenge at him. “And yet you have conformed enough to come here tonight.”
He noticed that her cheeks were colored a faint, delicious pink and surprised himself by wondering whether her blush went below the neckline of her silk gown as well as above it. He could see the swell of her breasts over the top of her dress, the way the rose silk nipped into her small waist, and he found that his imagination was quite good enough to visualize what she looked like without her clothing.
Could he marry Lady Averil Martindale for her fortune? Always assuming she would take someone who was an outcast from society! For a moment he allowed himself to imagine pursuing her, wooing her, making her fall in love with him, wedding her and bedding her in that order. Or maybe the wedding and bedding could be interchanged, if it became necessary.
And afterward?
Damned and blasted misery for them both, more than likely.
No, it would not do, and he must stop thinking that it would. Lady Averil was no solution to his troubles, no matter what James might think.
“Lady Averil,” he said, bending his head to be closer to her. “I visited St. Thomas’s for you last week, aware as I was that you were incapacitated. I hoped you would be glad of my help.”
“Hush!” She put her hand upon his arm to stop him, evidently innocent of the fact that it was unseemly to touch a man such as he. “This is a private matter, as I said before.”
There were tears in her eyes.
Something in his heart gave a little tremor, but he ignored it and continued on.
“Lady Averil, I can help you in this matter. Indeed, you would be doing me a favor if you allowed me to help; I need a distraction right now. And I know those streets well. At one time I worked for the government. I was the man who delved into the dark places of London for all the missing people no one else could find. I promise you that I will find your sister.”
She put a gloved fingertip to her cheek and quickly wiped away a tear that had escaped her long lashes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I am offering you my help,” he said, his voice utterly sincere. “Say yes.”
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from Falling for Owen copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Ryan.
Excerpt from The Valentine’s Day Disaster copyright © 2014 by Laurie Vanzura.
Excerpt from Rushing Amy copyright © 2014 by Julie Revell Benjamin.
Excerpt from Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress copyright © 2014 by Sara Bennett.
THE RETURN OF BRODY MCBRIDE. Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Ryan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition MARCH 2014 ISBN: 9780062305954
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062306029
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