A Little Bit Scandalous Read Online Free

an affair with Lord Rochester’s brother,” Finley said. “She’s twice his age.”
    The door connecting the main room to the back room opened. Normally, the only people who crossed that doorway were employees of Rodale’s. At the moment, though, another man stood in the room. A hush fell over the floor.
    “What the devil is he doing on this side?” Finley asked.
    “Looks gentry. Perhaps he’s looking for you,” Cabot said with a chuckle. “Have you been gossiping about him? Who is he?”
    Finley ignored Cabot.
    The man’s large frame was imposing standing there in his greatcoat, waistcoat, and cravat. Cabot was correct in his assumption. This man was quite obviously a gentleman. From where Caroline sat, she could not clearly make out his face.
    “Your Grace,” another dealer said. “I believe you’ve come through the wrong door.”
    The man shook his head. “No, I’ve come to play. Where’s the boy?”
    His voice carried across the room and seemed to echo in the silence. Caroline knew that voice. Nerves fluttered to life in her belly. Her mouth went dry. She fought the urge to gather her winnings and run out of there. There, standing in the same room as her, was Monroe Grisham, Duke of Chanceworth, and her legal guardian. The man she’d once tried to give her heart to. The man who had turned her down flatly with nothing more than a no.
    Ah, the foolish fancying of her youth. Thank goodness she had recovered from that particular folly. Still, she hadn’t seen him since she’d left London nearly six years before. But there he was, the very man who had taught her how to play this game.
    The boy . She was the boy.
    Damnation! Roe Grisham had come to play her.
     

Chapter Two
    Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat.
    “The boy?” the dealer asked him.
    “Yes, the one who has been called the best in this room. Where is he?” Roe asked, surveying the room.
    “That’s the Duke of Chanceworth,” Finley said through his teeth.
    She looked up just as her dealer put his hand in the air motioning to their table, and Cabot came to his feet, swearing.
    “There’s no need to bring the boy into this,” Cabot said. “I know you’ve truly come to see me. Of all the arrogant things to do, come in here to play! Of course you couldn’t be a true gentleman and invite me to your table out front. Nonetheless, I’ve told you, several times, that I will not work for you.”
    Roe turned his attention to Cabot. Roe’s brows rose slowly. “And you would be?”
    “B.D. Cabot.”
    “Ah,” Roe said with a slight nod. “Yes, well, it is nice to finally make your acquaintance in person, but I believe you are mistaken. Your reluctance to work with me, admittedly, is peculiar, but I shall not beg you. That being said, I came tonight to play the best.”
    Caroline’s heart thundered. She’d heard people say that of her, that she was the best, but she hadn’t known the tales had breached the door into the big room where the entitled sat. Roe stepped further into the room and she was finally able to see his face.
    Her breath caught.
    She felt as though the past six years had changed her dramatically, not merely in appearance but her person as well, her character. But those same six years hadn’t changed Roe at all. Nor, sadly had the time altered the affect his appearance had on her.
    That square jaw, covered in just enough stubble to give him that devil-may-care attitude, framed his lips. He kept his brown hair short, almost Roman in appearance. His aquiline nose and thickly lashed green eyes completed the picture of his very aristocratic face.
    “The boy is here, Your Grace,” the dealer said.
    Those green eyes narrowed in on her and she had to fight the urge to reach up and check her hat, ensure her hair was still well hidden. She had known it was a risk to play at this particular gaming hell, knowing she could very well run into either Roe or his half-brother Justin, who was the namesake and owner of