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    The Wager
    The Wager
    The Wager
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    The Wager

    By Lily Maxton

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    About this ebook

    London, 1818. Anne Middleton never plays by the rules. She is willful when she should be obedient and unabashed when she should be decorous. Worse still, she can never resist a good wager... or a naughty book. And Confessions of a Courtesan is about as sensational and risque as a book can be.

    Michael Grey - Earl of Thornhill - had once courted Anne's sweet sister. But while Anne is certainly no lady of decorum, her bold impulsiveness slips through his armor, and propriety is forgotten. Now he too is immersed in the book of forbidden delights, where each page is an invitation to sin and a guide to pleasures unknown...

    Roused by heady desire, Michael tempts Anne in a way she cannot resist: a wager. Thus begins a game of chance, where coins have been replaced by a currency that is far more illicit. And the stakes of seduction are dangerous indeed...

    The Sisters of Scandal series is best enjoyed in order.
    Reading Order:
    Book #1 The Affair
    Book #2 The Wager
    Book #3 The Love Match
    Book #4 The Mistake
    Book #5 The Improper Bride

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateAug 11, 2014
    ISBN9781633750517

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      Book preview

      The Wager - Lily Maxton

      A seductive wager... winner takes all.

      London, 1818. Anne Middleton never plays by the rules. She is willful when she should be obedient and unabashed when she should be decorous. Worse still, she can never resist a good wager... or a naughty book. And Confessions of a Courtesan is about as sensational and risque as a book can be.

      Michael Grey - Earl of Thornhill - had once courted Anne’s sweet sister. But while Anne is certainly no lady of decorum, her bold impulsiveness slips through his armor, and propriety is forgotten. Now he too is immersed in the book of forbidden delights, where each page is an invitation to sin and a guide to pleasures unknown...

      Roused by heady desire, Michael tempts Anne in a way she cannot resist: a wager. Thus begins a game of chance, where coins have been replaced by a currency that is far more illicit. And the stakes of seduction are dangerous indeed...

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

      Copyright © 2014 by Lily Maxton. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

      Entangled Publishing, LLC

      2614 South Timberline Road

      Suite 109

      Fort Collins, CO 80525

      Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

      Scandalous is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

      Edited by Nina Bruhns

      Cover design by LJ Anderson

      ISBN 978-1-63375-051-7

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      First Edition August 2014

      Table of Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Epilogue

      Acknowledgments

      About the Author

      Discover the Sisters of Scandal Series

      The Affair

      The Love Match

      The Mistake

      The Improper Bride

      Get Scandalous with these historical titles...

      His Forbidden Lady

      The Irresistible Miss Peppiwell

      The Duke’s Shotgun Wedding

      An Unexpected Sin

      The Duke’s Quandary

      Engaging the Earl

      A Little Bit Scandalous

      Romancing the Rumrunner

      For my mom.

      Once, long ago, I made fun of you for reading historical romance novels. Then you lent me a Judith McNaught, and I’ve never looked back.

      Chapter One

      London, 1818

      Anne Middleton threw herself behind the billiards table just as the door to Lord Fairchild’s library opened.

      Damnation! she cursed under her breath, listening to muffled footsteps cross the red-and-gold Persian rug that rested in the center of the floor. The faint, haunting sounds of a Beethoven piece drifted down from the drawing room.

      This was all Olivia’s fault. Anne’s younger sister had been telling her about a scandalous novel called Confessions of a Courtesan, which was all the talk of the fancy London soiree they were attending. She and her sister had entered a not-entirely-appropriate conversation about whether their portly host, who liked to extol proper, virtuous behavior in ladies, possessed a copy of the book.

      Olivia had said he wouldn’t. Anne had been adamant he would.

      So, of course, they’d made a wager.

      Not a large one—just a shilling. To Anne, wagering was far more about the satisfaction of winning than the money itself.

      Unfortunately, one of them had to search through the man’s study to find the damn thing. Which was why Anne was now crouched behind the billiards table in this masculine space of mahogany furniture and red-painted walls, interrupted from her task of perusing the bookshelves by an unforeseen visitor.

      It was probably for naught. If Lord Fairchild was indeed a lecher, she didn’t doubt he kept the book tucked under his pillow for nightly readings.

      She heard the creak of the door opening again.

      My lord, said a breathy little voice. I hoped I would find you here.

      A hesitation. Indeed, Miss Richards? And why is that?

      Anne frowned. The voice—she’d heard it before, but it wasn’t Lord Fairchild’s distinct nasal-tinged tones.

      Oh good Lord! Had she been caught in the midst of someone’s assignation?

      I ardently admire you, the feminine voice declared. My feelings will not be repressed! This was followed by an excited moan and what sounded like a scuffle.

      Miss Richards. I must insist you stop this. The man sounded breathless, but not in a swoony way like his companion—more as if he’d just exerted himself fighting her off and was at the last thread of patience. If I’ve misled you, please forgive me.

      But…b-but… she stammered. You danced with me at last week’s ball. Twice!

      I’ve danced with more than one lady twice. A pause. It’s best if you go. I should hate for someone to find us here and think I was trying to lure you into a compromising position.

      The lady gasped, as though the notion was entirely shocking. Anne thought it rang a bit false. But, my lord, the feelings between us—

      I insist, he said, an edge to

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