Page 17 of The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes
“Why wouldn’t I?” She tilted up her chin.
“Because... because you’re...you.” When she continued to gaze levelly at him, he went on, “Gaming hells and dissolute parties aren’t where good girls go.”
“There’s so much in that sentence I hate.” She made a face as if eating an unripe persimmon. “Firstly, I am three and twenty, and well past girlhood. Secondly,” she said, planting her gloved hands on the table, “I amso tiredof being ‘good.’ Everything about it is suffocating. But you wouldn’t know anything about being forced into a tidy little pen, like a prized pig. You and your brother and my brother can do whatever you please, whenever it pleases you.”
He could hardly believe the diatribe pouring from her in a hushed, urgent whisper. Still, he felt compelled to say, “Not anymore.”
She rolled her eyes. “Up until now, and that would have continued in perpetuity if you and Finn hadn’t idiotically shoved Dom out the vestry door. Yet the fact remains,” she continued determinedly, “that you’ve lived a life completely unencumbered by expectation and obligation, unlike me. For years, I’ve heard and read about your exploits but haven’t ever had an exploit of my own. But if you agree to my terms, all that is going to change.”
A shocked, pleased laugh burst from him. It was more of a shout than a decorous chuckle, which caused many heads to turn in his direction. In response, he leaned back in his chair, his legs sprawling wide, the picture of insolent indolence.
“I’d no idea,” he said after absorbing her words. “Never had I suspected that beneath Celeste Kilburn’s sedate exterior beat a wild heart.”
“There are many things about me you don’t know,” she answered crisply.
“So it appears.”
“If you truly want to amend your public reputation,” she said, her brow arching, “you’ll stop your impression of a dissolute rogue and sit up like a gentleman.”
His first impulse was to slouch lower, but she did have a point. With great reluctance, he straightened in his chair and planted his feet on the floor. He exhaled once he’d corrected his posture. This wasn’t so bad.
“There’s the matter of your reputation,” he pointed out. “If I take you, an unmarried woman, to some of London’s more notorious places, your standing will be damaged. Even if that damage isn’tirreparable, it would still take considerable time to remedy it.”
“A disguise shall conceal my identity,” she replied primly.
“You’ve given this thought.” Which made it all the more difficult to dissuade her from holding him to his end of the bargain.
“Considerable thought.” She leaned forward, her expression grave. “I don’t expect you to understand how much Ineedthis. But I do, Kieran. Very much.”
He studied her, this woman he hardly knew. Her eyes were filled with yearning and demand, the depths of which he hadn’t expected. She was Celeste Kilburn, societal paragon, as esteemed as she was proper. Yet the stipulations she insisted upon indicated that there was far more simmering beneath her reserved surface than he’d ever believed.
Resolve also shone within her gaze.
“If I said no...” he ventured.
“Then our business with each other is concluded,” she answered firmly. “You’ll have to find some other woman of irreproachable character to gain you entrance to Society.”
He rapped his knuckles meditatively on the tabletop as he pondered. She’d been made aware of the risks, but was determined to carry out her scheme. He trulydidn’tknow any woman who could vouch for his character, so his alternatives to help pave his way into the good graces of the ton were exactly nothing.
“What choice do I have?” he said under his breath. Then, louder so she could hear, “I agree to your terms.”
“Excellent,” she said with the kind of trim propriety that didn’t indicate the scandalous nature of their bargain. She pressed her lips together as if fighting a smile.
Relief poured through him, cool and reviving. Having Celeste’s assistance would be invaluable, and he could marshal himself for the time it took to locate a suitable bride. Yet the relief was tempered by the fact that he’d just entered into an outrageously improper agreement with his best friend’s sister.
If anything was to happen to her, if her reputationwashurt because of this... no amount of penance could undo that.
He’d simply have to be very, very careful. For the first time in his life.
She studied him. “Do youwantto marry, or is your bride hunt impelled by no other reason than our families’ ultimatum?”
“In truth,” he said, tracing his finger on the lacy table covering, “I’ve no eagerness to wed.”
“A rake’s prerogative,” she murmured. “Why tether yourself to one person unless by necessity?”
“You must be getting second thoughts about me,” he said with the smile he used often to get what he wanted.
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Debating. “You’ll always give me second thoughts and third ones, and fourth ones, too. But I’ll do what you ask, so long as you do whatIrequire in exchange.”
