Free His Perfect Lady by Jenn Langston Page A

marginally altered his friends. Although Jonathan had no intention of following them into a wedded state, a pang of jealousy struck him. He had a cold bed awaiting him while his friends had a warm woman.
    Images of Catherine filled his mind. Last night, she’d been so sensitive to the slightest touch. After the dance he’d almost led her somewhere private to take what she would have willingly given. However, the magic of the night had stopped him. Lady Laramie’s ball had seduced her, not him. He refused to do anything she’d regret the next day.
    “Has any more trouble arisen at Ravenhurst?” Richard’s question pulled him from his fixation with Catherine.
    “Not since the two of you left. Just a little more proof that everyone likes me best.” Jonathan grinned as he leaned back and put his hands behind his head.
    “I’m sure that was the problem,” Greyson murmured in a dry tone.
    “Why don’t you tell me—the happy unattached bachelor—how your leg-shackling is going. You both look miserable.”
    To his surprise, both Richard and Greyson smiled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Greyson show such a joyous face. Relief engulfed Jonathan to see both his friends so pleased. The three of them had become so close over the years that Jonathan was content to share in their happiness.
    “Brianna is still as calm and obedient as ever. She simply sits at hand all day awaiting my beck and call,” Richard boasted with a straight face, sending Jonathan and Greyson into a round of laughter.
    Richard’s wife was the most wild and unpredictable woman Jonathan had ever met. Although he liked Brianna, he preferred his women more tame, someone with Catherine’s temperament.
    “And you?” Jonathan turned to Greyson. “How are you treating my dear, sweet Abigail?”
    “She’s keeping me in line. I never should have taught her how to play cards. When she wants something I’m not too keen on, we settle it with a game. Typically it ends with . . . Well, she gets her way.”
    Jonathan smiled, glad to hear Abigail had come out of her shell. When Greyson had been recovering from a bullet wound, Jonathan had gotten close to her and witnessed the woman she hid on the inside. Luckily Greyson possessed the patience to coax her to be herself. Catherine would never need to be cajoled to act naturally, and he appreciated that about her.
    Taking a deep breath, Jonathan tried to clear his head. He needed to cast Catherine from his mind. For some reason he automatically compared all women to her. Everyone paled in comparison.
    “And what about ‘premature’ baby Joseph?” Jonathan asked Richard, anxious to change the topic.
    “He’s over one now and as much of a troublemaker as his mother. Most times, I’m not sure who the instigator is between the two guilty parties.”
    “Probably Brianna. She’s a bad influence on that boy,” Jonathan teased.
    Richard grimaced. “Unfortunately I think she passed her temperament on to Joseph.”
    An image of Catherine holding a child flashed through his mind. What qualities would she pass on? He hoped the baby would get more from her than him.
    What was wrong with him? Lifting his brandy, he finished it in one gulp. He needed to get a grip on himself. Catherine was nothing to him.
    “Are you all right?” Greyson asked. “You don’t look too well.”
    “Perhaps I overindulged at Lady Laramie’s ball last night.”
    “Didn’t we all? Brianna made me perform the morning tasks for Joseph so she could sleep longer.” Richard glanced down at his pocket watch. “Speaking of him, I should return home before he is put down to bed.”
    “Abigail will be expecting me as well,” Greyson added, anticipation shining in his eyes.
    After Jonathan bid his friends a good night, he thought about his cold bed at home. He knew he could fill it in a matter of minutes, but he couldn’t bring himself to make the plan. His body burned, but only one woman would satisfy the ache within