Free A Gentleman's Kiss by Kimberley Comeaux Page A

it?” His father eyed him keenly.
    “Yes, and I have to try with George because this is something that is very important to Claudia.”
    “If you marry the girl, it will present a problem having her own grandfather as her butler. You could, of course, have him run that shelter of yours and act as its president.”
    Cameron jerked his gaze back to his father. “You know about the shelter?”
    “When I was alerted to how much money you were spending, I had to find out if you were gambling away your legacy or spending it in some other unsavory pursuit,” his father said. “You could have told me, you know.”
    Cameron winced at the censure and hurt in his father’s voice. He had spent so much time away from home that he didn’t know his father well at all and couldn’t say how he might have reacted. He should have known the duke would be keeping an eye on his son’s portion. “I see that now,” he admitted. “I find great reward in working there.”
    “You’re a good boy, Cameron. You always were. I’m sorry I didn’t spend more time with you. It was just the way of things, you know.”
    Cameron looked into his father’s eyes and saw the remorse there. The firstborn sons were usually sent off to school at a young age so they could prepare for their titles. He would come home at holidays, but even then his father was usually busy with his estates or serving in the House of Lords. “I understood,” he told him truthfully. It was, indeed, the way every one of his friends had been brought up.
    But it was not how his children would be reared. He vowed to make sure of it.
    “Raven?” Cameron heard his mother call, and the two men exchanged a look. It was the look most men wore when they knew their masculine solitude was about to be invaded by a female. “Is Cameron with you? I need to speak with him immediately.”
    His father’s brow furrowed. “Tell me you did not say anything to your mother about George and Claudia being related.”
    Cameron grimaced. “I’m afraid she guessed.”
    His father shook his head. “Well, you’d better hurry on then. I’ll stall her as best I can.”
    Cameron shared a grin with his father before making a run for his carriage. His escape was halted, however, when he found his sixteen-year-old sister, Lucy, waiting for him by the vehicle.
    “Lucy!” He stumbled backward from the impact of her overeager hug. “I thought you were with Katherine at Rosehaven.”
    She backed away a bit and gave him a dramatic, forlorn expression. “I was, but Tyler keeps getting into all my things and hiding them, and Katherine is so busy with the baby that she doesn’t have time to spend with me.”
    “Well, Tyler is only four, and I’m sure Katherine appreciated your playing with him while she is so busy.”
    She grabbed his hand and looked up into his face. “Can’t I come and stay with you? I don’t want to wait to have my coming out next year. I want to go to balls and meet handsome young men. If I wait too long, they might all be taken.”
    Cameron hid a grin while he observed his little sister for the first time since he’d been home. She had become quite a beauty, with her golden red hair and her fair complexion. His parents were going to be put on a merry ride when this one stepped out into the world. “I promise there will be young men to spare next year, and you shouldn’t be so anxious to grow up. You have plenty of time for that.”
    Lucy sighed and dropped his hand. “No one truly understands me. I feel like the princess locked in the glass tower. The only places I ever get to go are church and Rosehaven,” she declared, throwing her arms wide.
    Cameron couldn’t hold back his chuckle as he patted her on the head. “Your time will come and—”
    “Cameron!” his mother’s voice called to him from a distance.
    “Sorry, but I have to go,” he told Lucy then jumped into his carriage. “I’ll talk to you soon,” he promised before shutting the door.
    “If only