Tempting a Devil Read Online Free

emotions from her past. It was very unsettling.
    “Why don’t you name some of the men you were considering, and I’ll tell you if they’re a good idea or not?” Roger seemed very pleased with his suggestion.
    “Roger,” she said impatiently, “I don’t know anyone in London yet. I’ve only just arrived. This is my first time in town.”
    “You’ve never been to London?” Roger frowned. “How is that possible?” He looked her up and down. “I can see your pockets aren’t to let, so you must have married well. And since you were invited here this evening, you must have some connections.”
    “My late husband despised London. He refused to bring me. His sister, Lady Lockerby, however, has been helpful with introductions since my arrival.” Harry refused to discuss the subject further. “So you must guide me in my choice, Roger, or you must be my first lover. Which, really, makes perfect sense.”
    “No, it does not. Why are you so eager to take me as a lover?” Roger asked, his earlier suspicion rearing its head. “We haven’t seen each other for years. You’d all but forgotten my existence until a few moments ago. I agree I have a certain charm, but hardly enough to warrant this dramatic seduction scene.”
    “I haven’t perfected my performance yet,” she said as she stood. Clasping her hands behind her back, she began to pace in front of him, apparently giving up her pursuit of him for the moment. Roger was glad. He’d felt a little foolish playing a grown-up game of here-we-go-around-the-bramble-bush as she’d stalked him around the clearing. “Truly, Roger, I’ve only just arrived in London. I don’t really know many people here.I’d never met Dumphrees until this evening.” She stopped and met his gaze. “I am desperate for a lover, Roger. Surely it wouldn’t be too awful for you?”
    She didn’t sound desperate. She sounded as if she was asking for a lamb shank at the butcher.
    “What are you up to, Harry?” he asked again, realizing he knew as little about her now as she knew about him. “And why do you need a lover so desperately you’d proposition two different men in one night?”
    Harry scoffed unconvincingly. “You’re being overly suspicious, Roger. I’ve told you what I want. A lover. You.”
    “When it comes to you, Harry, I have my reasons for being overly suspicious.” He was more amused than angry now, which was good. “The last time I let you trick me, I ended up concussed and missed my first term of school. You turned so cold and uninviting over there by the tree”—he pointed—“that I thought you could be a marble statue. So I don’t believe uncontrollable desire has you begging me to be your lover. Come on, spill. Are you in trouble?”
    “I have no idea what you mean.” Roger just waited, saying nothing. Finally she shrugged. “My immediate surrender would hardly have intrigued you. I’m sure there have been many women who leapt into your bed at the slightest show of interest on your part. I seem to recall that was the case when we were younger, as well. Rebecca Tidwell would have committed any number of cardinal sins to earn merely a smile.”
    Roger smiled at the memory of the oldest daughter of Mr. Tidwell, the local vicar in his youth. “We committed several sins together,” he confessed. “Although none of them cardinal, I don’t believe. Purely pleasurable.”
    Harry snorted. “Precisely. Why should Rebecca Tidwell receive that which I am denied? Weren’t we friends, Roger?” She’d begun to sashay back to where he was sitting and he jumped up, pacing around the fountain again and keeping the distance between them.
    “Friends? Not exactly. You followed me around like an irksome puppy, and I was constantly getting you out of one scrape or another. And when you are young, an age difference of five years eliminates the possibility of friendship.” He cocked his head to the side as he regarded her curiously. “You are still reckless