Read Sin With a Scoundrel: The Husband Hunters Club for Free Online

attract a man like Horace. It would only prove to him what he already thought of her: She was too innocent to be of any interest.
    Did courtesans blush?
    Stop it. Concentrate. Tina took a deep breath and looked up into his gray eyes and smiled.
    “Oh yes,” he breathed. “That’s very good, Miss Smythe. Try again.”
    She didn’t really need to do it again, but he was enjoying it so very much he couldn’t resist. His praise drew a smile that dazzled him.
    “Very good indeed. You’re a fast learner.”
    “Perhaps you’re a good teacher, Mr. Eversham.”
    “Well, we’ll be able to see whether that’s true or not from the results, won’t we? Do you think we can dispense with the formalities now? I prefer to be on first-name terms with my clients. There are no lords or ladies here; we are simply client and teacher.” He held out his hand. “Richard, at your service.”
    “Clementina. That is . . . my friends call me Tina.”
    He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “Tina.”
    His voice was deep and quiet, and it made her shiver inside. His lips were warm and intimate, and that shiver intensified. Despite their being nearly strangers, she felt close to him, as if they shared a secret.
    Which of course they did.
    Although for the moment Tina wasn’t certain she completely understood just what that secret was.

Chapter 5
    “A rchie, I have to go out. Business.”
    The accompanying lift of Richard’s eyebrows spoke volumes about the nature of his business. Guardian business.
    “Very good, sir. Would you like me to accompany you?”
    “No, I won’t need you this time. I’m just doing a little reconnoitering. I don’t expect to find out anything of importance. Or get into any trouble.”
    “If you say so, sir.”
    “Have Samson saddled.”
    Richard caught Archie’s smile as he left the room. It was true there had been times when his work with the Guardians had resulted in a black eye or a bloody nose. And one memorable evening he’d sustained a blow to his head that had laid him low for days. Anthony had died on a mission.
    He tended to be more careful now. Although he wanted to avenge Anthony’s murder, he also wanted to live to experience the satisfaction of the moment.
    His thoughts drifted into more pleasant realms.
    While he didn’t expect to be out of town for long, he’d written a note to Tina Smythe for Archie to deliver to Mallory Street. He pictured her now in the clothing they had planned together, the dark green dress with the cream lace and the low décolletage, clinging to her sweetly rounded bosom. Why, he wondered idly, hadn’t he thought of employing his skills with young ladies before? They were considerably more stimulating than the gentlemen he usually dealt with. But then again was stimulation necessarily a good thing?
    Richard also remembered he’d decided on an extra pair of eyes to keep watch in the Smythe household.
    When Archie returned to tell him that Samson was ready, Richard said, “Archie, I have a job for you. Well, two actually. I want you to deliver this note to Miss Smythe.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And there is something more while you’re at it. A little mission.”
    “A mission, sir?” Archie’s eyes twinkled. “I hoped you might find something for me. What is it?”
    Richard explained the situation.
    “Ah. You think there might be a pretty maidservant I can win over to our side?”
    “That did cross my mind, Archie. Do you think you’re up to it?”
    Archie grinned. “I may not be as young as I used to be, sir, but I’m not in my dotage yet. I’m told that now I have turned forty years of age I have a certain gravitas.”
    “I’ll leave it to you then.”
    S amson was saddled and ready, and Richard lost no time in setting off. He was heading out of London, going southeast, on the road that then turned into the major coaching route to Kent. However, Richard wasn’t intending to travel far. His destination was a popular inn situated