London, 1839
Scandal-prone Cassandra Burroughs is determined to expose the outrageous secrets of Jocelyn Eisley, the man responsible for her familyâs disgrace. Her method? Seduction! She just never factored in being so outrageously attracted to this devastatingly wicked rake herself.... After only a brief encounter with Jocelyn, Cassandra is left wondering: Who is really being seduced? And when pleasure is this good, is this a game they both can win?
Rakes Who Make Husbands Jealous
Only Londonâs best lovers need apply!
Authorâs Note
Jocelyn and Cassandra are kindred spirits set at opposite ends of a conflict. Both of them are a little wild, a little headstrongâwell, all right, not a little, but a lot. And theyâre both used to getting what they want. Now, theyâre faced with a situation where what they want is not going to be easily achieved. In fact, if it is achieved at all, it will be with great risk and at great expense. Jocelyn risks his longtime friendship with Channing Deveril, the League and his own reputation in order to trust Cassandra. Cassandra risks being abandoned by her family and left to her own penniless devices in order to trust Jocelyn.
Both sides of the story are reminders of my two favorite motivational phrases: âI didnât tell you it would be easy, I told you it would be worth it.â And âto get what youâve never had, youâll have to do what youâve never done.â
Enjoy discovering how Jocelyn and Cassandra get what theyâve never had!
Dedication
For Ro who is starting to see the fruits of his long years of labor in the pool pay off and who continues to do what heâs never done before. Keep it up, my boy,
because the big time awaits and your chance will only come once. Be ready and seize it.
Chapter One
One visual sweep of the ballroom was enough to confirm Cassandra Burroughsâs initial suspicion, but she looked twice just to be sure. She only needed one, as long as he was the right one. In this case, the right one was Jocelyn Eisley, heir to an earldom. That was the reason every woman in the ballroom was looking for him. But not her. She was looking because he was the key to her uncleâs revenge. First, she had to find him.
Cass ran through the checklist in her mind; broad-shouldered, blond, taller than most, full-bodied in a muscular robust way familiar to those who are acquainted with the well-built Englishman in his prime. Sheâd never met Eisley before, but surely sheâd recognize a man in possession of such a stunning array of attributes on sight. He shouldnât be hard to spot, especially against the rather dismal backdrop of men on display in Lady Martin-Burkeâs ballroom. Unless, of course, such a man didnât exist or her uncle had exaggerated his physical attributes.
The latter would be most disappointing. The thought of a man meeting Eisleyâs purported description was a rather exciting one. Men were usually predictable creatures; flatter them and theyâd do anything for you. Even the newest of debutantes knew that much. Eisley might prove to be refreshingly different. Hopefully, not too different though. She had a job to do, after all. It would be a bonus if Eisley turned out to be the stuff of dreams in the interim.
Not that it mattered. Cass immediately dismissed the thought as disloyal. Having an affinity for the so-far-elusive Eisley was definitely an inappropriate attachment of her emotions. Whether she liked it or not, she owed her loyalty at present to her uncle. It was her uncle who had called her up to town for the Little Season and who was paying for her expenses, wardrobe included. Otherwise, sheâd still be languishing in the Dorset countryside, a casualty of her own headstrong nature and the quirk of fate that saw her father born the second son of a baron and not the first. She was twenty-one. She would soon be on the shelf and there just werenât that many men to pick from in Dorset. Although all it seemed London had on Dorset at the moment was quantity, her uncle had given her a second chance.
In return, she was to ferret out Eisleyâs supposed secrets, of which her uncle was sure there were many. Her uncle had given her an agenda: to determine Eisleyâs association with the scandalous and currently absent Nicholas DâArcy and by extension, the truth behind the rumored existence of the League of Discreet Gentlemen, an organization reportedly dedicated to the fulfillment of a womanâs pleasure. Last spring, her uncle had been cuckolded in his own home by DâArcy, and DâArcy hadnât been seen in London since, although news of his sudden marriage to a fabulously wealthy Sussex heiress had circulated through the ton at the end of the Season.
That had been in August. Now it was November, the Little Season; one last chance for parliament and society to gather before Christmas holidays drove everyone to their country estates. Her uncle was certain with society in town, the league would be busy and visible, thus the need for her presence. She was to be Eisleyâs enticement.