Free A Brazen Lady And The Shunned Duke (Faces of Love Series #3) by Jessie Bennett Page A

his hands defensively. “I just ate on the way, which was too fast.”
    “Are you sure?” she looked at him suspiciously.
    “I'm sure,” he said, and indeed, he did look fine. With color in his cheeks and a sparkle in his eye, Jerrico attract ladies wherever he went. However as a King's Guard with a secret, he didn't feel that he could offer them a stable life. As far as Loyalty knew, there had never been a serious woman in his life. “Besides, Nathan is due to arrive today, isn't he? Wouldn't it damper the mood if I was here?”
    “Are you insulting my virtue, sir?” She raised an eyebrow. She knew he was teasing, but it was hard for the two of them. Without being married, she and Nathan even holding hands in the street put her virtue at risk, and she didn’t want that. Even if it meant standing slightly apart from Nathan, she tried to remain respectable when she could.
    “Since you're not a princess, does it matter?” he teased right back and she rolled her eyes. “Seriously, from what I saw Charlotte go through, you are quite lucky that you don't have to worry about any of the things she does. She had all of us in a tizzy because she couldn't find a muff that she had thrown out last month and forgotten about since.”
    Loyalty was well versed in Princess Charlotte's ridiculousness. The only child of the Crown Prince, Charlotte was Jerrico's favorite to tease. She was spoiled, stuck up, and enough to drive anyone mad. Since she had passed away in childbirth, it seemed Jerrico spoke of her with a little more fondness. However, he had teased her in life, and he wasn't going to let up now, although it was clear that he missed having someone young around the palace, even if it was just to guard them. Court life in itself was full of gossip and things far less virtuous than Nathan spending the night with Loyalty before they were officially married, and she reminded Jerrico of that, making him laugh.
    His eyes sparkled as he glanced at her. “And since you are not a princess, the only thing that matters in that respect is whether I can steal him away for an hour tonight for a drink.”
    “No, you cannot,” she replied as she moved the bags closer to the fire, where she would eventually dunk the clothing into boiling water. “Not on the first night he's home and I don't care how close you two are. Although,” she straightened and brushed the hair out of her eyes. “I am glad that you are, though. Friends, I mean. My two worlds have collided happily.”
    “Of course we are,” Jerrico bestowed her with another smile. “We both love you, don't we? Now,” he took out a sack of coins, her payment for the laundry, and handed it over. “Don't spend it all in one place. I should get back. I'll be by tomorrow then, if you like?”
    “I can cook dinner, if you can behave,” she replied, putting the coins into her apron pocket. She was grateful for the prompt payment, although she didn't let on how grateful she actually was. Without it, the only thing she would have had to feed Nathan was thin cabbage soup and crusts from last night. The palace contract seemed to be the only thing keeping her going.
    “I can't promise that, but I will be back,” Jerrico said, taking her hand and kissing it. “Milady.”
    “Go away,” she said, and he laughed, heading out the door and leaving her to her thoughts. He obeyed, heading off to work. It wouldn't surprise her one day if Jerrico was Captain of the Guards, and if Nathan's brilliance made him captain of a ship.
    Two captains and a laundress weren’t exactly the types of stories that bards sang about, but it was going to have to be enough for her.
    She knew his ship wasn't due in until midday, so it meant that she had some time to start the laundry, and hang some of it to dry. Not that Nathan would have minded if she had some work to do while he was here--he usually had mounds of paperwork to do. Nathan was being fast tracked for a strategic officer’s position, and he