Conspiring with a Rogue Read Online Free Page B

him.
    “I’m not feeling myself,” he muttered, rolling off the bed, gaining his feet and stalking toward his clothes. Forgetting Whitney and becoming a debauched rake was going to take more effort than he had estimated. He could do it, though. He’d start tomorrow after a good night’s sleep and a request that he not be paired with yellow-haired women ever again.
    He jerked on his clothes and strode from the room before the gaping woman could stop him. Without a backward glance, he wound down the dark corridors toward the main dining room. He was stronger than the hurt that plagued him. Tomorrow, Whitney would become a distant memory.
    He passed an open bedroom door and stopped at the lyrical laughter flowing out of the room. After turning slowly around, he peered into the door. A naked woman was dancing in front of a half-dressed man, her blond hair flowing freely in the candlelight. She turned, revealing a single pink rose tucked behind her right ear. His gut clenched as he gripped the door ledge. What the hell?
    “ Whitney ?” He lunged into the room without a single care for the consequences.

 

    Whitney stared at the ledger in front of her and attempted to tally the figures, but Lady Audrey’s voice rose in song in the next room. The discordant sound interrupted her concentration and reminded her of the enormous problem her blurted offer of marriage—born out of sheer desperation—had landed her. A most unwelcome state she had dwelled in for two weeks now. Lady Audrey twirled past the door, her song deafening in volume.
    Whitney rolled her eyes at the lustful singing,
but she couldn’t contain the smile that pulled at her lips. “The Ladies’ Case,” indeed. She knew the ballad well. She had sung it herself on several occasions. And therein lay the problem. She and Lady Audrey were too much alike. Trouble leading trouble, though she would admit it only to herself. Lady Audrey was a detriment to Whitney’s frail new world. Whatever else happened, she had to avoid adding any more complexities to her ruse and rid herself of the current, gaily singing one.
    The uncharitable thoughts disturbed her. She liked Lady Audrey and understood all too well what ailed the woman. Not having the freedom to choose one’s husband or even the course of one’s life bothered any woman of real intelligence. Lady Audrey needed an understanding husband, and Whitney supposed the task to find her one now fell in her lap since she was temporarily affianced to the woman.
    Whitney shook her head and redirected her attention to the numbers. She could balance these numbers, and she could maintain her ruse as Mr. Wentworth.
    All she had to do was unknot the tangled mess she had created for herself—or rather the mess Mrs. Blightson had created for her when the woman had threatened to destroy Drake.
    “Drake.” Whitney sighed his name, threw her pen down and leaned back in the chair. She should not let herself think of him, but then again she knew by now she was fairly powerless to stop the thoughts from coming. The best she could do was not dissolve into a fit of melancholy over the loss of him.
    Since the thoughts were there, and for the moment she was quite alone, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to picture his intense coffee-colored gaze. Was he still so driven as he had been six months ago? God, she certainly hoped so. His determination to build his shipping empire was the main reason she had not told him about Mrs. Blightson’s threats. His pride was the other factor.
    Drake would have lost the company he built from scratch before taking monetary help from her or any of his friends to keep the company afloat when Mrs. Blightson made good on her threats. And Whitney didn’t doubt the crazy woman would have succeeded to do as she promised and have her husband call in the note Drake’s company owed Mr. Blightson’s bank.
    Whitney opened her eyes and stared gloomily at the cream ceiling. Why was her life such a