Kiss From a Rogue Read Online Free Page B

about some of Nick’s past adventures, then switched to the trip he was about to depart on, a counterclockwise sail around the coast of England, until their order arrived.
    The serving wench flirted outrageously with Nick after she set down the plate of biscuits and gave him his cup, staring at his black hair tied back in a queue, mesmerized by his gold earring and dark blue eyes.
    She finally tore her gaze away to set a cup in front of Alistair. He brushed the light brown hair from his eyes and smiled his thanks at her. One, two, three…there it was—the hitch in her breathing as she stared into his blue eyes and angelic face. The wench smiled back, ready to melt in a puddle at his feet. Or his lap. “Anything else you gents be wanting?”
    Tony cleared his throat and pointed at the third cup, still in her hand.
    “Oh, right, so sorry, sir.”
    Tony gave her a wry grin. She blushed and gave a slight shrug. No, of course she couldn’t help herself. After facing the full force of Nick’s allure and Alistair’s unconscious charm, one right after the other, any woman would be flustered. Tony, with his brown hair, brown eyes, and smaller frame, seemed almost innocuous in comparison.
    Almost.
    Nick dunked a biscuit in his cup, splashing coffee. “Are you still leaving tomorrow?”
    Alistair nodded. “Traveling on foot, I’ll have just enough time to see a few sights and take a roundabout way to William Herschel’s.”
    Tony stirred sugar into his coffee. “Tell me again why you finagled an invitation to visit him. What’s so special about his forty-foot telescope?”
    Alistair spoke slowly. “It’s forty feet.”
    “So you’re saying size really does matter?” Nick sat up and puffed out his chest.
    Alistair took another bite of biscuit. “So, Nick’s sailing in a few hours, I’m leaving on a walking tour in the morning…what are you up to?”
    “Has your brother called you out?”
    “No.” Only two biscuits left. Tony grabbed one.
    Alistair snatched the last biscuit from Nick’s fingers. “Then you lead a charmed life.”
    “Ben doesn’t get angry—he finds solutions .” Tony told them about the offer with Lord Dunwood.
    “A nice, steady position sounds just the thing. You’ll always know what to expect of tomorrow.” Nick brushed the crumbs from his cravat.
    Tony snorted. “This, from the man who can’t wait for tomorrow and has to sail toward the horizon to bring it closer?” He turned to Alistair. “How would you like to know what you’re going to do every day? The same thing, day after day?”
    Alistair shuddered.
    “Exactly.”
    “A living death, to be sure.” Nick drained his cup. “So, you’re going to take the job, right?”
    Tony sighed. “Probably.” He could turn it down with a clear conscience if he had an alternate plan. Any plan.
    “I do know what I’m going to be doing fourteen days from now,” Nick announced. “Getting reacquainted with the fair Esmeralda at the Duck and Drake Inn at Weymouth.”
    “You’re still seeing her after, what, three years now?” Alistair’s brows rose. “I must meet this paragon of womanhood. I’ll see you in Weymouth in two weeks.”
    “You can meet her, but her heart is already spoken for.” Nick held his hand over his chest.
    Alistair snorted.
    Soon after, they walked Nick back to his ship and saw him off. Alistair left to finish packing for his journey, and Tony was left to contemplate the fact that he was about to accept a boring job instead of setting off on an adventure of his own.
     
     
    “Elliott will be waiting out front to drive you to the City,” Ben said as Tony lingered over a cup of tea with three sugars at breakfast the next morning.
    His appetite suddenly gone, Tony set the cup down. “Right, no sense me hiring a hansom cab when you have no need of the coach yourself.” He doubted Ben had set foot out of doors since the wedding, though he was certainly still getting his exercise.
    Ben’s only reply was a