Read To Catch A Spinster (The Reluctant Bride Collection) for Free Online

him as he slowly bent his head and touched his lips to hers. He gently flicked her upper lip with his tongue, expertly guiding it in at her gasp. His tongue flicked hers playfully.
    Olivia grasped his lapels, breathing faster, daringly touching her tongue to his.
    “Oh, Nathaniel. That is pleasant.”
    He traced the back of her corset, sliding his fingers under her arms, tempting himself. She murmured something and stepped closer, crushing her chest against his. Nathaniel traced the rise of her breast and groaned.
    Olivia’s maid called out and he pushed her away quickly. Her chest heaved as she tried to gulp down air.
    “So, this is the fascination with gazebos.”
    “Yes, but we may be seen at any moment by someone other than your maid.”
    “I think that is part of the fascination.”
    He smiled as they exited and found her maid waiting, pointedly looking at the trees.
    “Well, my dear. I believe you requested an escort to the opera. Will you join me?”
    She wrinkled her nose, then squared her shoulders. “I did want the full experience and a night at the opera does seem de rigueur for courting couples. Thank you, Nathaniel, that will be...wonderful.”

    He had lost his mind. Or rather, he kept losing it whenever he went near Olivia Blakesley. He had meant to talk her out of getting seduced, not talk himself into it. But here he was, courting her, wooing her.
    Taking her to the opera!
    The last time he’d let his pants do the talking for him, he’d been eighteen and had come home with a black eye. If he continued with this mad scheme, he’d be coming home with a bullet in his gut from one of her brothers-in-law.
    Madness. She was a gently-bred woman. An oddly-reared, stubborn, passionate, intelligent woman.
    And he couldn’t help but feel that if he refused her, she would find some other man. Another man who might hurt her or her family.
    He shook his head in disgust. He was grasping for straws here, any excuse that would let him do what he wanted.
    Because he wanted her. Wanted her more than he’d wanted a woman in a very long time.
    He had not felt so excited to be alive since his father had died. She shocked him, amused him, aroused him.
    He wouldn’t hurt her, as some other men might. He would give her what she wanted; an experience to last a lifetime. No one would know, no one would be hurt. He could go ahead with his conscience clear.
    And he would gag the voice in his head that was telling him that this would be the final nail in her spinster’s coffin.

    Mary arrived later that evening to join them for dinner and stole up to Olivia’s bedroom to hear all the juicy details one couldn’t tell one’s mother. Since there were far too many juicy details one couldn’t tell one’s sister as well, Olivia glossed over her morning outing and went straight to the next planned encounter.
    “You want to go to the opera?” Mary looked at her oddly. “Since when?”
    “Since a handsome man asked me to attend with him.”
    “Ah, of course. I should have expected that. Well, I’ll certainly join you, and Rufus, too. He loves the music.” Mary looked at Olivia’s pained face and laughed. “You did know there was singing involved, didn’t you?”
    “I suspected. Is it awful?”
    “It’s nothing like Prudence and her screeching, if that’s what you’re asking. You should ask Rufus to explain it before you go. I’ve actually started to enjoy it.”
    “Poor Rufus, to be married into our unmusical family.”
    “Mmm. Perhaps I should warn your Mr. Jenkins.”
    “Perhaps I should bop you over the head with my telescope.”
    Mary tsked at her. “So violent. Never fear, I won’t say a word to him about that. What will you be wearing? Mama says she almost got you to the dressmakers this week, but lost you to a bookseller on the way.”
    “I told her before we went I didn’t need any new dresses.”
    Mary looked down at Olivia’s gray bombazine and raised an eyebrow. “Gray is not your color, Livvy.