Love's Misadventure (The Mason Siblings Series Book 1) by Cheri Champagne Page A

speak through the growing fury in her chest, he was her closest friend—or so she had thought—and deserved to be heard.
    He sighed, as though in relief. “These are not the men that I hired.”
    “Who are they?”
    Lane shrugged helplessly. “I do not know, Anna. I truly do not know. But this is most certainly not what I had orchestrated.”
    Anna chewed on her bottom lip as her anger began to ebb. She did not know what to think, what to feel. If these were not the men that he had hired, if this was not his scheme, then they were precisely where they were before his confession; kidnapped by blackguards with no knowledge of where they were headed and what was to happen to them.
    Lane watched her uneasily for a reaction, his posture stiff.
    She took a deep breath and released it slowly. She had no reason to be cross with Lane for their current circumstance. Thank goodness .
    “What was your plan?” she couldn’t help but ask.
    His gaze was wary, as though fearing a trap.
    She clucked her tongue. “I believe you, Lane. I believe that you would never hire men to abuse us in such a way.”
    He sighed gustily, relief written on his features.
    “If you will not tell me what your plan was,” she murmured, “at least do me the courtesy of telling me why you arranged the deception.”
    He held her gaze, though she could sense his great desire to look away.
    “I wanted to give you an adventure, Anna.”
    His admission took her aback.
    “I knew you intended to accept a proposal of marriage from Lord Boxton, should he ask. I merely wished for you to first experience something grand. Something about which you might read in your books.”
    Anna gazed at him in silence, her heart thundering in her chest.
    He stepped toward her. “Annabel, there is something else I need to discuss with you.”
    His neck and cheeks turned a ruddy rouge. Anna kept her jaw from dropping. Is he blushing?
    Suddenly, Billy snorted, falling in a heap to the floor with a winded oof . Heavens , he’d made the ground shake!
    “Wha’? Whazzit?” He rose clumsily, blinking his eyes in the dimness of the room. “Oi!” he shouted at Lane, pulling a pistol from his pocket to aim it at them. “Back te yer own room! Y’ ain’t gonna plan no escape on my watch. Off! Go!”
    With one last, enigmatic glance at Anna, Lane quit the room, closing the door behind him.
    What was it that he had wished to discuss?
    “Git some sleep, girl. The Boss ’spects us te be there on time. Ain’t no one crossed The Boss an lived te tell the tale.” He resumed his position in the chair blocking the door and closed his eyes.
    Anna curled on her side, resting her head on her arm, unwilling to put her head directly on the mattress. Her thoughts were consumed with their circumstance. How were they to escape? Would they find an opportunity? What was it that Lane had originally planned for her adventure ? Why had none of these men attempted to harm her? She was eternally grateful for their restraint, but what did that mean for their intent?
    Was it wrong for her to feel flattered that Lane had thought to orchestrate an adventure for her? Did it mean anything more than a gesture of friendship?
    Her thoughts wandered from one question to another until she finally drifted into a fitful sleep.
     
     

 
    Chapter 9
     
     
    Anthony Walstone, Viscount Boxton, leapt fluidly from his chestnut gelding and stalked up the front steps of the Bradley family town house. He had not received a single letter or note from Annabel over the past two days, and he was getting fed up with this entire charade. He would rather tup the plump wench, force her to wed him, and get his hands on her satisfyingly large dowry.
    If it were not for the stipulation in his grandfather’s will that he marry a well-bred, untarnished female in order to receive the vast estate outside Bath, Anthony would continue to fuck his way through the ladies of London until his cock shrivelled to nothing. Unfortunately,