Rapturous Rakes Bundle by Georgina Devon Nicola Cornick Diane Gaston Page B

that she had just enough stock to cover the
    order.
    ‘You have made a good choice,’ she said. ‘And the
    design?’
    Lucas frowned slightly. ‘I am not certain...’
    ‘I usually advise clients to choose a design that has
    a significance to the recipient,’ Rebecca said hesi-
    tantly. ‘Flowers for a gardener, or a ship for a sailor,
    for example.’ She looked at him. ‘A kestrel for the
    Kestrels, perhaps?’
    The lines about Lucas’s eyes deepened as he smiled.
    ‘What a splendid idea, Miss Raleigh. A kestrel it is,
    then.’
    Rebecca put her head on one side and did a rough
    drawing of a bird of prey in flight, proud and preda-
    tory.
    ‘How appropriate,’ she said softly. She looked up
    to find Lucas’s eyes upon her, bright and hard. For a
    moment their gazes locked and held.
    Then Lucas said, ‘So, how much are you going to
    charge me, Miss Raleigh?’
    Rebecca tore her gaze away from his. For a brief
    moment, trapped in the compelling power of his eyes,
    she had forgotten everything else. She plucked a figure
    at random.
    ‘I...erm...twenty guineas, my lord.’
    Nicola Cornick
    61
    Lucas looked astounded. He straightened up.
    ‘Twenty guineas? That is ridiculous, Miss Raleigh.’
    Rebecca was shocked. She had not anticipated that
    he would argue over cost. Plenty of people did, but
    she had not imagined Lucas Kestrel to be a miser. She
    supposed that twenty guineas was a little expensive,
    but she was not backing down now. She raised her
    chin in a determined fashion.
    ‘Twenty guineas it is, my lord.’
    ‘I will not give you a penny less than sixty.’
    Rebecca recoiled. ‘Sixty guineas for six glasses? Do
    not be so foolish, my lord!’
    ‘It is sixty guineas or nothing, Miss Raleigh. Not a
    penny more and not a penny less. If you do not wish
    the commission...’
    Rebecca had also got to her feet by now. She faced
    him across the desk. ‘This is idiotic, my lord! Most
    people negotiate downwards, not upwards!’
    Lucas looked down his nose. ‘I am not most people,
    Miss Raleigh.’
    Rebecca glared at him. ‘You do not understand. I
    have given you a fair price for the work.’
    ‘Must you sell yourself short? You will never make
    enough money to survive if you do not value your own
    work.’
    Rebecca shook her head with frustration. ‘It is the
    market price, my lord. Allow me to know more about
    that than you do. Only Adams or Woolf could com-
    mand such prices!’
    Lucas shrugged. ‘Do you accept the commission,
    Miss Raleigh?’
    ‘Of course, but—’
    62
    The Rake’s Mistress
    ‘Then you must accept the sum I offer.’
    Lucas came around the desk and stood in front of
    her. His dark gaze scanned her face, softening slightly
    as it lingered on the indignant colour in her cheeks.
    He shook his head slightly. ‘Pride, Miss Raleigh, is
    one of the seven deadly sins. But then—’ he took a
    step closer and his fingers brushed her cheeks with a
    featherlight touch ‘—so is lust...’
    Rebecca went hot all over, then cold. Lucas’s gaze
    dropped to her lips and she knew with a certainty and
    a tingling anticipation that he was about to kiss her.
    She backed away until she came up the hard edge of
    the desk and put out a hand to ward him off. ‘My
    lord—’
    ‘I am still not sure about you, Miss Raleigh,’ Lucas
    said slowly, ‘despite your claim last night that your
    association with the Archangel is entirely innocent.’
    His fingers drifted down the line of her throat and
    rested momentarily where the pulse beat hectically in
    the hollow at its base.
    ‘I am not at all sure whether you are as virtuous as
    you claim to be...’ His hand was sliding to the nape
    of her neck now, tangling in the curls there, stroking
    softly. His tone was hypnotic and so was the intent
    look in his eyes. Rebecca felt her knees tremble. The
    desk creaked as she unconsciously leaned against it
    for support.
    She put up a hand and tried to push his aside. It
    seemed to take an inordinate