She cupped his cheek, love shining in her eyes. “I wholeheartedly approve.”
Thankyou so very much for readingDuke with a Reputation! When I first wrote Lottie and the Duke of Brandon years ago, I had no idea how many readers would reach out to me, asking for their story, and I thank you all for caring so much about these two and wanting their story to be told. Giving them their happily ever after at last, along with their children and mischievous pets, was a true delight for me. I hope you loved them all. Do read on for a sneak peek of Duke with a Debt (Wicked Dukes Society Book 2), featuring Miss Rosamund Payne and the Duke of Camden. (And we can’t forget Megs, of course.) Theirs is an enemies-to-lovers marriage of convenience tale you won’t want to miss, filled with revenge, betrayal, mystery, and steam. And if you’re looking for Hyacinth and Viscount Sidmouth’s happily ever after, you can find it in Her Virtuous Viscount.
Please stay in touch! The only way to be sure you’ll know what’s next from me is to sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dyJSar. Please join my reader group for early excerpts, cover reveals, and more here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/scarlettscottreaders. And if you’re in the mood to chat all things steamy historical romance and read a different book together each month, join my book club, Dukes Do It Hotter right here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hotdukes because we’re having a whole lot of fun!
Now, do read on for that sneak peek of Duke with a Debt I promised!
Duke with a Debt
Wicked Dukes Society
Book 2
Stuart Gilden, the arrogant and cold Duke of Camden, is suffocating beneath a mountain of debt caused by his wastrel father and gambling brother. To make matters worse, he’s being blackmailed by a mysterious enemy who has threatened to destroy him. Enter Miss Rosamund Payne, London’s greatest heiress, who has the wealth Camden so desperately needs. There’s just one problem: she’s his scoundrel brother’s former fiancée.
For years, the unassuming Rosamund has been plagued by fortune hunters, but one hurt her more grievously than the rest. When that rogue’s brother comes to her with a shocking proposition, she’s cautiously intrigued. Soon, Rosamund finds herself exchanging venomous barbs and searing kisses with the insufferable duke, lured by the prospect of revenge and the undeniable heat smoldering between them.
With their marriage of convenience secured, Camden’s problems should be at an end. But in truth, they’ve just begun. Because his enemy has only grown bolder and more dangerous. And the once unwanted wife beneath his roof is proving a maddening temptation he can’t resist, no matter the cost.
Chapter One
The African greyparrot balanced calmly on its perch was glaring at him.
“Gormless shite,” the bird pronounced, flapping its wings as if to punctuate its words.
Stuart Gilden, Duke of Camden, glared back at the feathered creature who had just paid him insult, walking slowly toward it, hands clasped behind his back. He stopped before the parrot, cocking his head and holding its unique silvery stare.
“Do you know,” he said pleasantly, “I could wring your neck with one hand?”
“Landlubber,” the parrot squawked. “Pistols at dawn.”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you just challenge me to a duel?”
Incredulousness rose within him. This was indeed the strangest bird he had ever met. Intelligent, complex, and just a touch mad. Rather like its owner, whose presence he was awaiting.
“Megs want a biscuit,” the parrot told him.
“I haven’t a biscuit,” he said. “And to be perfectly candid, if I had one, I’m not sure I’d share it with you. You’ve been rather rude thus far, haven’t you?”
“Gormless shite,” the parrot said, extending its wings again.
“Megs, my love, I’ve told you about your language.”
The familiar, feminine voice had Stuart turning away from the feathered menace to find Miss Rosamund Payne gliding toward him. It had been some time since their paths had crossed, for their circles had only overlapped thanks to Wesley. But little had changed since he had seen her last.
Her hair was the same, indistinct shade of neither gold nor red, but an odd color all its own. Her eyes were sharp and dark in her pale face. Her chin was stubborn and pointed, her forehead high. She still had the mouth of a courtesan, the only overtly sensual feature she possessed and quite incongruous with her unassuming spinsterish air. Her figure was trim and not overly curvaceous as he preferred, her breasts small and hidden in her modest silk bodice, her height slightly taller than most ladies’ and yet still no match for his. No one could ever call Miss Rosamund Payne a great beauty.
Still, there was something compelling about her. He had always found her presence magnetic in a painfully unwanted way. She had been meant to be his sister, and it hadn’t been his place to notice her. Yet, notice her, he had.
But she scarcely seemed to notice Stuart now as she bustled past him to her infernal parrot.
“Do be a good parrot, and I’ll give you a pistachio,” she purred in a tone that would have been better suited to a lover than a feathered beast.
“Megs want pistache,” the African grey declared.
Stuart stepped to the side, granting Rosamund and her bustle more room, trying not to take note of her perfume, which also had not changed—a decadent blend of rose, violet, bergamot, and ambergris that was rich and alluring.
“Will Megs behave?” she asked the parrot, holding up a small pouch.
