Samantha Kane Read Online Free Page B

a startled glance his way.
    “I dare say they should not,” Lady Vanessa agreed stiffly.
    “Although they surely wil.”
    “Although they surely wil.”
    Oliver laughed. “Let them talk. Come.” He began walking again
    and Nick fel into step on the other side of Lady Vanessa. He
    said nothing, clearly letting Oliver lead the way.
    “Are you enjoying the holiday season?” Oliver asked, keeping
    the conversation impersonal. For now.
    “Yes,” she replied politely. “Although it has only just begun.” She
    cast an amused look his way. “Truthfuly, I would prefer the old
    ways, I think. Games, Yule logs, Christmas candles, mummers
    and greenery.” She blushed on the last.
    “Mistletoe?” Oliver teased.
    “And others,” she said sharply. “Rosemary and holy, ivy and
    bay.”
    “Of course,” he murmured. After a minute or two of silence he
    tried again. “I enjoyed our dance immensely,” Oliver
    commented, watching Lady Vanessa nod politely to just about
    everyone they passed. “Do you dance often?”
    “I like to dance,” she answered simply. “I do not get the
    opportunity as often as I would like.”
    “Why not?” Nick asked, startling both Oliver and Vanessa. His
    voice was low and harsh. “Why did no one ask you tonight?”
    Lady Vanessa’s hand tightened on Oliver’s arm. “I’m sure I
    don’t know,” she replied, her demeanor composed. “Why don’t
    you inquire of the men in attendance?”
    “I think they’re frightened of you,” Oliver said sincerely. “You
    are too self-possessed for a woman. It unmans them.”
    She turned shocked eyes on Oliver. “What?”
    “He’s right,” Nick agreed. “You gaze at them al as if daring
    them to approach you. Not many men are up to a chalenge of
    that sort.”
    “Just Mr. Gabriel?” she asked lightly, not looking at them again.
    “I cannot resist a chalenge like that,” Oliver murmured, not
    wanting to be overheard. “You dare a seduction of the most
    dangerous and rewarding kind.”
    She stumbled and then quickly righted herself. “I do no such
    thing,” she argued just as quietly. “Pray put it right out of your
    head. I desire nothing of the sort.”
    Nick laughed, a quiet huff that drew Lady Vanessa’s eyes.
    “Don’t bother to deny it or try to circumvent it,” he advised her.
    “Simply accept that the attempt wil be made, and try to resist it.”
    “Resist it I most certainly wil,” she said in steely tones. “Believe
    “Resist it I most certainly wil,” she said in steely tones. “Believe it or not, other men have tried and failed miserably, as you wil.”
    Oliver and Nick both laughed this time.
    “What is so amusing?” she demanded, stopping to glare at them
    both, once she determined no one was near to overhear them.
    Oliver exchanged an amused glance with Nick. “I never fail
    where I am determined to succeed,” he told her, not caring how
    arrogant he sounded.
    Nick nodded. “Never.”
    Her eyes narrowed and a smal smile curved her delicious, pale-
    rose-colored lips. “Neither do I,” she said firmly.
    The gauntlet was thrown.
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Chapter Three

    Vanessa scanned the room as soon as she entered. It had been
    seven days since the Shelbys’ Christmas Eve dinner party. In
    spite of her original plan to stay at home this holiday season,
    Vanessa had gone out every night. And at each party she’d
    attended the determined faces of Mr. Gabriel and Mr. Wilkes
    greeted her. It was both irksome and flattering.
    With a disgusted huff she forced herself to stop looking for them.
    Let them dance attendance on her in an embarrassing display of
    interest and possession. She needn’t play along. Seduction
    required two parties. Or, in this particular case, three. Which
    was quite disconcerting.
    Vanessa was not ignorant of those sorts of relationships.
    Through their mutual charity work, she had grown quite close to
    Veronica Tarrant, who, with