His Reluctant Lady Read online

  ***

  Agatha had just sat down at her desk when the door flung open and Lord Pennella barged into the room, followed by an apprehensive Christopher. Startled, she rose to her feet.

  “Lord Pennella?” She walked around the desk and glanced at Christopher before turning her gaze back to him. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  “I surmise the pleasure will be all mine,” Lord Pennella said with a smile that unnerved her. He turned to the butler. “We won’t be needing anything at the moment. Please close the door and be on your way.”

  Her jaw dropped as the butler obeyed. “Who gave you the right to come into my house and tell my staff what to do?”

  “Oh, I have far more rights than that.”

  Christopher stepped between them. “This will stop at once. All you do is bully people when they do something you don’t like.”

  “What is this about?” Agatha insisted, trying to peer around Christopher’s shoulder, but he placed his hands on her hips to keep her behind him.

  “I thought you were perfectly fine with another gentleman touching your wife,” Lord Pennella said.

  “What?” Agatha demanded.

  “You will not lay a hand on her,” Christopher told him.

  “But what if she chooses it?” he asked.

  “She won’t. You will leave at once.”

  “I will? Are you going to force me out?”

  “If I have to,” Christopher said through gritted teeth.

  She shoved Christopher’s hands away so she could finally face Lord Pennella. “What is this about?”

  “Agatha—”

  “Wait,” she interrupted, ignoring Christopher’s pleading tone. “This involves me. I have the right to know what is going on.”

  Lord Pennella clasped his hands. “Your husband just promised me a night of pleasure in your bed.”

  “I did not!” Christopher glared at him then turned to her. “I never said any such thing.”

  “He said it’s all right with him if you take lovers.”

  Before Christopher could reply, she asked, “What is this really about, my lord?”

  “I think you know,” Lord Pennella replied.

  “Don’t listen to him,” Christopher told her. “I never said he could spend any time with you. You know I wouldn’t say that.”

  Yes, she did. And from the look on Lord Pennella’s face, she guessed he was there to finish the conversation he’d had with her at his ball. “So you’re here to see if I’m willing to take you as a lover? Was this something you wished to ask at the ball?”

  Lord Pennella reached out to caress her arm, but Christopher shoved him away. “I told you not to touch her! Do we need to go to a duel for you to get the message?”

  “Christopher!” She stopped him before he could push Lord Pennella again. “He’s not worth a duel. Now, let me handle this.”

  Christopher remained still for a long moment, his body tense as he stared at Lord Pennella, but he finally relented. “All right.”

  “Thank you.” She turned her attention back to their unwanted guest. She was beginning to understand how Christopher got into so much trouble in the past. He had a tendency to let his emotions override good judgment. All a duel would do was get him killed or in trouble since it was illegal. Placing her hands on her hips, she directed her gaze at Lord Pennella. “We both know I’ll never take you as a lover, so stop wasting my time and tell me why you’re here.”

  “Money,” Lord Pennella snapped.

  Her lips formed a tight line. Money. Why did so many things always have to come down to money?

  “You give me what I need,” he continued, “and I’ll forget what happened at White’s.”

  “What happened?” she asked. “Did Christopher lose to you in a game?”

  “Nothing so simple.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “So you’ll pretend ignorance, just as your husband did?”

  She groaned. “I tire of this game. Why don’t you just come out and say it?”

  “Fine. There’s a lot more to you than people realize. I’ve been watching what you’ve been doing, and I discovered something very interesting about you. You enjoy morsels of gossip when they come your way. In fact, you enjoy them so much, you can’t help but pass those morsels on to others.”

  She took a deep breath, forcing her mind to reason through this situation. She already deducted that he knew she had a hand in exposing his wager with Lord Davenport. But apparently, he wasn’t going to let the matter go. He was going to insist on restitution, and in this case, restitution involved money. Well, she wasn’t one who could be manipulated. If she gave in now, who knew how much more he’d demand? For all she knew, he’d keep coming after her for money for the rest of her life. She couldn’t accept that possibility. She had to stop it now, before it got any further.

  After a moment, she figured out her best option. He had other things to hide, much more pressing things that only someone writing for the Tittletattle would know, though she hadn’t disclosed it publicly since it would be dangerous. With more courage than she felt, she straightened her back, refusing to give her apprehension away.

  Taking a deep breath, she said, “I hear Spain is nice this time of year. In fact, there’s a little town of special interest. It’s not far from Madrid. Does the name Raquel mean anything to you?”

  A moment passed between them, one in which time itself seemed suspended. The tension in the air was thick. Behind her, Christopher stepped toward her, his presence comforting despite the circumstances. Her heart raced but she lifted her chin and kept eye contact with Lord Pennella, refusing to blink. There had been a rumor about the lady he secretly married and kept hidden.

  But as she stared at him, she knew it hadn’t been a rumor. It was the truth. Had it not been for his brother, she never would have heard about it. Disguised as Gerard Addision, she had found his brother lying by an alley, intoxicated and rambling on about it. At the time, Agatha thought it was the alcohol making him say those things, but now she knew better. The only reason she hadn’t put it in the Tittletattle was because she hadn’t been sure if it was accurate.

  And now, as she played the only card she had to get Lord Pennella to leave her and her husband alone, she hoped her maneuver would work. “I’m willing to overlook it, of course,” she began, sounding more confident than she felt, “if a certain wager at White’s can be forgotten?”

  After a long pause, he finally offered a stiff nod.

  She released her breath and swallowed the lump in her throat. Good. Her ploy worked.

  “Just know one thing, one thing no one else would believe if I told them,” he said.

  Her body tensing, she waited for him to continue.

  “I was never going to marry Miss Giles.”

  She watched him as he strode out of the drawing room, wondering why he felt the need to tell her that.

  After a moment, Christopher turned to her. “Lord Pennella has a wife?”

  “Apparently so, but for some reason, he doesn’t want anyone to know.”

  “It never ceases to amaze me how much you learn about people.”

  Shrugging, she said, “It comes from reporting gossip in the Tittletattle.”

  “Are you going to report the news about his wife?”

  “No. I reported the information about the wager because I didn’t want the gentlemen to make a fool of Miss Giles. She had a right to know what was going on.”

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and gave her a kiss. “Who knew that under that stony exterior is a lady who uses gossip for good?”

  She gasped, feigning indignation as she turned to face him. “I don’t think that’s very kind of you to say.”

  His eyes widened in mock innocence. “You take offense to being told that you use gossip for good?”

  “No, I take offense to being told I have a stony exterior. I much prefer the word ‘tough’.”

  He studied her, his eyebrow raised as if
trying to determine if she was joking or being serious.

  Unable to stop the smile that tugged at her lips, she playfully jabbed him in the side. “Come now, Christopher. Certainly you can tell when I’m teasing.”

  “Ah, but you are tough. You make it hard for people to get to know you.”

  “What would be the reward in knowing me if I made it easy? I have to say I’m rather disappointed in you. I thought you enjoyed a good challenge.”

  He pulled her into his arms and grinned. “I do. I also enjoy watching a lady who knows how to handle a tyrant like Lord Pennella.”

  “Everyone has something they won’t risk losing, no matter how much they have to sacrifice to keep it.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I thought it was very noble of you to step in and let him know you wouldn’t let him take advantage of me.”

  “I’m a selfish gentleman, Agatha. I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

  “And you’ll never have to. The invitation to my bed is only for you.”

  With a smile, he asked, “Care to extend the invitation now?”

  “Not right now.” Noting the disappointment on his face, she added, “I have something I need you to do in this room first.”

  “Oh?”

  She gave him another kiss, this time letting her lips linger on his, knowing full well it would arouse him. When she pulled away from him, she winked and went over to her desk where she sat on it and offered him a generous view of her legs. “Why don’t you lock the door and find out what I have in mind?”

  “My love, it will be my pleasure to do your bidding,” he replied then turned to lock the door.

  Coming Late 2013 or Early 2014

  The Earl’s Scandalous Wife

  Perry Ambrose, Earl of Clement, is notorious for not being able to secure a wife. Attempts to win over the graces of young ladies in the past have failed miserably, and the ladies who have had a spark of interest in him ended up marrying other gentlemen instead. Having failed at every turn, he is ready to give up when fate steps in and gives him the chance he’s been hoping for. But it’s in a way he least expects.

  List of Romances by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Regency Collection

  The Earl’s Inconvenient Wife

  Her Counterfeit Husband

  A Most Unsuitable Earl

  His Reluctant Lady

  Nebraska Historical Romance Collection

  Her Heart’s Desire

  A Bride for Tom

  A Husband for Margaret

  Eye of the Beholder

  The Wrong Husband

  Shotgun Groom

  To Have and To Hold

  His Redeeming Bride

  Isaac’s Decision

  South Dakota Historical Romances

  Loving Eliza

  Bid for a Bride

  Bride of Second Chances

  Montana Historical Romances

  Mitch’s Win

  Native American Romance Series (historical western)

  Restoring Hope

  Brave Beginnings

  Bound by Honor, Bound by Love

  A Chance In Time (novella) – main characters show up in Restoring Hope and Bound by Honor, Bound by Love)

  Virginia Brides Series (historical)

  An Unlikely Place for Love

  The Cold Wife

  An Inconvenient Marriage

  Romancing Adrienne

  Other Historical Western Romances

  Falling In Love With Her Husband

  Meant To Be

  Contemporary Romances

  With This Ring, I Thee Dread

  What Nathan Wants

  Substitute Bride

  Across the Stars Series (Contemporary)

  Suddenly a Bride

  Runaway Bride

  His Abducted Bride