Undeniable Rogue (The Rogues Club Book One) Read Online Free Page A

me,” she responded with a rueful laugh. “I cannot afford to be. I am sick unto death of poverty. I must keep food in my children’s bellies, clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads.”
    She could have no idea how much he respected her resourcefulness and determination, but he was mightily frustrated that she resisted the attraction sparking nearly to flame between them.
    “Children?” he asked, only now absorbing her words. “Plural? Do you think, perhaps, you will have twins then? You certainly seem bi—er capable enough, though I am no expert.”
    Her eyes widened to saucers. “Not a—I hope not.”
    For his sanity and to keep from kissing her, after all, Gideon placed her hand on his arm and started them strolling again. “When is he due?”
    “Two weeks.”
    Gideon stopped, surprised. “Your bridegroom is not due for two weeks? I, ah, must have misunderstood.”
    She smiled. “Oh. No, my baby.”
    Gideon cursed his revealing slip and sought to recover himself. “You hope for a boy then? That surprises me. I would think that, with no heir required of you in this instance, you would long for a girl.
    “My sister-in-law adores dressing her daughters in lace and ruffles and setting them out to be prodigiously admired by the rest of us. Said daughters, however, manage always to ruin their perfection with spilled jam and paw prints. And sometimes, I must confess, I become too spirited a pony for them and jiggle their curls askew.”
    Sabrina’s laughter effervesced Gideon’s heart in the way their near-kiss had quickened his body, yet something different, longing perhaps, hazed her eyes for a blink before she checked it.
    Score one for him.
    “Perhaps after your marriage,” he said, bringing home his point. “The Duke of Stanthorpe will become your son’s first pony...if Stanthorpe is capable...at his advanced age.”
    Sabrina released him and returned to studying his grandfather’s portrait. “Even if he is not capable, he will do.” She sighed audibly. “Today is nearly over. He said he would arrive today.”
    Gideon stepped behind her. “What would you do, Sabrina, if he did not come?”
    “Wait for him,” she said, turning. “What choice do I have?”
    “Would it be so very terrible, if he never came?”
    That stubborn chin of hers went up again and all trace of vulnerability disappeared from her expression. “If the Duke of Stanthorpe refuses to marry me, Mr. St. Goddard, I will be forced to bring forth this child by the side of the road.”
    “Poor as a church-mouse, are you?”
    His jest did not in the least ease the lines between her brows, as he intended. Instead, she nodded in all seriousness. “A mouse without so much as a feather for her nest.” Fact, plainly stated, with no room for self-pity.
    Gideon’s respect for her increased tenfold, as much as hope for himself dwindled. He had set out to inspire a degree of attachment in her, for him, without monetary cost, though he should know better than to expect success on that score. Fine, then, their relationship would have to remain on a par with every other in his life.
    Gideon stepped back, disconcerted by a sudden, wild notion that theirs, of all relationships, merited better.
    He shook of the burdensome fancy, ran a hand through his hair, and bowed. “I pray then that he will come.”
    * * *
    Left alone in the huge picture gallery, mourning a loss she could not name, Sabrina sought the nearest gilt chair. Lowering her trembling and ungainly body into it, she did not allow herself the luxury of resting against its tapestried back.
    Strong. She must remain strong.
    Stanthorpe would come. He would come.
    She regarded the Duke’s portrait without emotion. Tomorrow would be their wedding day. She would marry a...mature, dependable man, and see an end to her struggles.
    Nevertheless, panic rose in her like bile, and when a vision of Gideon St. Goddard came to her as a possible form of rescue, she forced herself to rout