Lady Laugherty's Loves Read Online Free Page A

Olivia play it. He crossed his arms over his chest
and listened as she played it to the end.
    When she was done, he clapped his
hands softly and let his presence be known by walking into the
room. She jumped and placed a hand to on her chest. “I didn’t
realize anyone was listening,” she said softly.
    He sat down beside her on the bench.
“No one is. It’s just me and a few smiling house maids.” He grinned
at her. “Where did you learn a tune like that?”
    She shrugged. He knew she’d grown up
with brothers, and felt certain they often came home singing such
songs after a night of drunken revelry. “Here and there,” was all
she’d admit. She smiled at him impishly as she trailed her fingers
down the keys slowly.
    “It’s perfectly scandalous,” he said
as he brushed a lock of hair from the side of her face. “Why did
you come inside?” He had a feeling he knew. But he’d like to
discuss it with her.
    She shrugged and let her fingers walk
the opposite way down the keys.
    “Do you know why I’m here?” he asked
over the tinkling of the piano as she hit the high
notes.
    She stopped playing and gazed at him.
“I wish I did,” she sighed.
    He would never make her unhappy. Not
for a day. Not for a moment. Not for an hour. If that meant
stopping this game of seduction, he’d stop.
    “I thought it was for my house party,
but now I’m beginning to think there’s more to it.”
    He covered her nervous hands with his
and turned her toward him. He’d never said the words he was about
to say to anyone. Yet he had a feeling she needed to hear
them.  “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you,” he said
softly.
    Her mouth fell open as her eyes grew
wide. He shushed her.
    “You danced with me and let me hold
you in my arms, and the feel of you there touched something within
me. I never, ever wanted to let you go.”
    She wouldn’t look into his
eyes.
    “You don’t have to tell me that you
loved me at first sight, Olivia,” he said as he grabbed her chin
and turned her to face him.
    “I love Avery,” she said softly, a
sorrowful look in her eyes.
    “I know you do,” he said to appease
her. “And he loves you.” He had to know. “Did you feel anything for
me at all when we met? Or was I the only one affected? I felt like
a bolt of lightning had cleaved my heart in two pieces the first
time you smiled at me. And only you could put it back
together.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her eyebrows
drew together in confusion.
    “You didn’t answer my question.” He
raised one brow at her. “Did you feel anything for me?”
    “I did,” she said softly, her voice
breaking as her eyes filled with tears.
    “Oh, God,” he soothed as he thumbed a
tear from her cheek.  “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I couldn’t bear
it.”
    The tears stopped falling, but she
looked sad. “Then I met Avery.”
    He nodded, hoping she would
continue.
    “And he affected me the same way you
did.”
    His heart soared. He’d
never have dreamed he could be so lucky. She did have feelings for
him. That meant she could have even deeper feelings for him. “I was so torn.
Because when you held me when we danced, I felt like everything was
right with the world. And I felt right with him, too.”
    “Then there’s his bloody fortune,”
Ellis joked. “I couldn’t compete with that.”
    ***
    Avery stood outside the parlor and
listened. He shouldn’t. But he did. He told himself he was giving
them time to talk and making sure the servants didn’t hear them by
standing watch but, in truth, he just wanted to hear what they had
to say.
    “His bloody fortune made a difference
to my parents,” Olivia admitted. “But not to me.”
    Ellis nodded. He was a wealthy man in
his own right. His investments were sound and his portfolio
continued to grow. But it couldn’t compare to Avery’s earnings. It
had always been a source of contention for Ellis, Avery
feared.
    “I thought it had to be wrong to want
to be with you both. It