When Seducing A Duke by Kathryn Smith

before her and worship her as he did.
    Forget his obsession with her; he respected her as well. He’d watched her go from a spoiled girl to a brave young woman who stood beside her father during his ruin. A woman who had helped nurse him after his attack. A woman who’d supported her mother when they both lost the only man they could depend on. So Grey had stepped into that role, because he’d never had anyone love and need him like those women had loved and needed Charles Danvers. Taking over their care had done so much more for him than he would ever be able to do for them.
    Rose toyed with an unopened envelope, her fingers tracing the edges. Her gaze fell to the table before her, then up to meet Grey’s own. This time at least she didn’t look so hesitant, but there was still a trace of defiance in her gaze that puzzled him.
    “My requirements in a husband are simple,” she informed him smoothly. “All I want is a man who will hold me above everything else, including his horse, his fortune, and his pride.”
    Hearing that simple yet seemingly impossible declaration was like a blow to Grey’s solar plexus. She was going to be so disappointed, the poor thing. How perverted was it of him to secretly rejoice over her wants? She might find a man who could love her more than his horse, perhaps even more than his fortune, but never would she find a man willing to sacrifice his pride—not without that same man coming to hate her for it eventually.
    “More than his horse?” he joked. “My dear girl, you ask too much.”
    He flashed a bright grin to let her know he was only teasing, and it seemed to do much to warm her toward him. He’d never felt this withdrawal from her before. They’d always been such good friends despite the torment it gave him. So, when she returned his smile with a tentative, then full-fledged, one of her own, it was like a gift from heaven.
    “Perhaps I could be persuaded to overlook that requirement if the gentleman is handsome enough.”
    The three of them shared a chuckle, and soon settled back into an easy companionship. Grey snatched another sandwich and watched Camilla make a plate for her daughter.
    “You have to eat something, Rosie. I won’t have you wasting.”
    “Wasting?” Her daughter laughed at the notion. “If I want all the gowns Grey bought me to fit properly I shall have to be very careful what I put in my mouth.”
    Immediately Grey’s gaze dropped to that mouth. A sweetly curved upper lip rested tenderly above a full, pouty lower. He could think of at least one thing he’d like to slide between those lips.
    Christ, he was such a cad. A despicable cad. It was thinking of women this way that got him in trouble years ago, but it seemed he had yet to learn his lesson. He might not whore around like he used to, but his libertine ways hadn’t been completely obliterated.
    Rose indulged her mother and took the plate of sandwiches and biscuits she offered. She even went so far as to eat a little of it before setting it aside to return to her invitations.
    How many of them were from people who were sincere in their request for her company? Probably less than half. Some would have acted out of a sense of what was expected of them given that Rose was the daughter of an earl—albeit a ruined one—and, thanks to Grey, had a large dowry. Others would simply view her as a way to gain a little titillation by using her as a way to find out gossip about him. Those people would no doubt be sorely disappointed. His lovely Rose was nothing if not loyal. She would not talk about him—not in the way society would relish. In that way she was one of his most steadfast friends. One of the few people who refused to turn against him even when it would have been in her best interest to do just that.
    His attack happened before Charles lost everything, so it hadn’t been a sense of self-preservation that drove her loyalty either. She was simply not capable of turning her back on someone she