The Third Duke's the Charm Read Online Free Page A

less.
    Fool
.
    Lucien gazed into those emerald green eyes. Shouldn’t he be able to sway her? She wasn’t a seasoned, jaded society favorite, used to dispensing her favors with calculated intrigue. She was . . . genuine.
    Was that it? Maybe. She wasn’t sophisticated but neither was she a simpering miss. Vivian was unique.
    He somehow found his voice. “It isn’t just for you, as I said it is for me also. I’m not selfless. I truly think this is best. Do you not agree?”
    Not selfless? That was hardly a lie. Even now he wanted to abruptly sweep her into his arms, carry her upstairs to the closest convenient bedroom and shimmy the gown off her tempting body to see what he’d been imagining for the past six years.
    Actually, he didn’t have to rely strictly on imagination. He’d seen her undressed once before; he just wanted a repeat performance.
    A summer night. Moonlight. A dare over who could swim across the lake fastest. She’d been all of sixteen and Charles a year older . . . she’d taken off her gown and slid into the water in just her shift, her dark hair trailing, streaming over those pale, perfect shoulders . . . she’d won the impromptu race, and risen from the water like a goddess, her laughter intoxicating as a drug, both fresh and feminine . . . and something had happened in that moonlit moment . . .
    That night she’d caught his attention, and unfortunately she had held it ever since. Neither she nor Charles had ever known he’d stumbled across their impromptu swim. Lucien had to admit he’d assumed then they were already lovers, given his brother’s inclinations toward beautiful women, but perhaps he’d been wrong. Vivian was certainly tempting enough and Charles wasn’t exactly an angel, but then again, with the wisdom of age came a slow recognition that lust did not require love and so maybe love did not require lust. Their friendship appeared platonic. His brother had told him outright he’d agreed to the engagement to spare her another season.
    Quite a profound thought.
    “You could have anyone.”
    His head came up at that quiet speech and Lucien smiled with no trace of humor. “Apparently not, your hesitation a case in point. We all have choices. My brother is a bit of a fool in my opinion to choose someone else, but then again, it’s his life.”
    “You are trying to charm me.” Vivian sat very upright, her graceful spine straight.
    “I’m trying to
convince
you. It is different.”
    “How so?” Her answering smile was fleeting.
    “Charm often lies. I am only telling you the truth.” Lucien sighed then and then set aside his glass impatiently. “Your engagement to Charles is not meant to be. Our families are unhappy on both sides right now, and this marriage would satisfy everyone. You were willing to marry my brother, why not me?”
    Why not
me
? he thought.
    A warning voice cautioned Lucien that he sounded much too sincere, too involved, too damnably importunate. Like a lover—and a jealous one at that.
    It fit.
    And it wasn’t him, not the persona of the duke’s reputable son, the responsible heir who believed in making sound choices to the benefit of all, rather than indulging his own desires. Unlike Charles, he didn’t think seduction was a sport best played by skilled athletes that rigorously trained in aristocratic boudoirs and exclusive ballrooms, where men and women danced in formality in one setting and in delicious horizontal informality in another. Love wasn’t a game. Not to him.
    It was ironic to realize he was a romantic. Considering his life was filled with practical matters: business, politics, and obligation, his day-to-day routine didn’t reflect him as a man. No one truly knew him, and as ridiculous as it sounded, he thought it was possible she might be the one who could connect with his soul.
    So he needed to actually convince the one woman he truly wanted to marry. No doubt it was easier said than done, but then again, he had never