Читать книгу An Ideal Husband? - Michelle Styles, Michelle Styles - Страница 2

Richard reacted instinctively. He swung her back into the shadows, up against the hedge, and stood between Miss Ravel and the light.

‘Follow my lead and keep silent,’ he murmured against her lavender-scented hair.

‘Your lead?’ she asked, attempting to peer around him. Her skirts brushed his leg. ‘Should I trust you?’

‘Do you have a choice?’ He took a glimpse down at Miss Ravel, seeing her clearly for the first time.

Her lips hovered a tantalisingly few inches beneath his. Her deep blue eyes looked up into his, trusting him to get this right and protect her. Truly Cinderella after the ball, missing a slipper and in need of a prince.

Richard resisted the urge to crush her to him. Another time and in another place he would have given in to temptation, but this closeness was far from a prelude to seduction—it was instead a means to prevent Miss Ravel’s ruin. He had to hope that whoever it was would observe the niceties and simply walk on past.