A Kiss With Scandal (Scandals & Secrets 4) by Janelle Daniels

really couldn’t blame him. If their positions were reversed, she’d be laughing too. “You’re going to hold this against me, aren’t you?”
    His eyes rounded with innocence. “I have no idea what you mean.”
    But he knew exactly what she meant, and Charlotte knew it. Her sense of adventure occasionally got her into trouble, but most of the time, she wasn’t caught in the act. She hated feeling foolish.
    He brushed past her toward a towering bookshelf, heavy with volumes. He glanced over his shoulder before reaching for a book. “You coming?”
    “Coming where?” When a grin crested his lips, Charlotte sucked in a breath. A lock of dark hair fell over his brow, transforming him from a proper aristocrat into someone dangerous. Someone daring. She was drawn to him, to what he offered.
    “To spy.” He pulled the top of the book and the bookshelf swung out on oiled hinges, revealing a passage. “If you’re not afraid, that is.”
    Her heart sped up as she stepped toward the musty entrance. Finally, a real adventure. But as she looked down the dark tunnel, she realized the danger didn’t lie in the silent stone walls, it lay with the man beside her. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 10
    D erek’s eyes adjusted to the dark. He didn’t need light. He’d haunted these passages since childhood. He took Charlotte’s arm, pulling her to the right to avoid a jagged edge in the stone. He’d skinned his knee as a boy and never forgot it. Charlotte needn’t experience the same learning curve.
    “I can hardly see.” Charlotte’s voice was hushed, muffled almost.
    “Let me guide you,” he whispered in her ear. A shiver racked through her body, vibrating his hand. Her reaction to his nearness sparked his own.
    He led her through a maze of halls. Skylights dotted along some of the passages, but there weren’t enough to fully illuminate their way. More often than not, the shadows swallowed the rays of light, allowing darkness to reign. That darkness had always benefited him.
    He ruled the dark. It cloaked him, protected him. He basked in it as any creature of the night would. He was a nightmare. Not for the innocent, but for those who preyed on the weak, who hurt others for their own selfish gain. Those were the ones he went after.
    Having Charlotte here was a glimmer of sunshine. She lifted his soul with her beauty and goodness.
    He’d never allowed another besides Henry in these halls, but there was something about her that pushed him to bring her here. To show her what he truly was. To show her a side of him that he’d never given another.
    “Where are we going?” she whispered.
    “You’ll see. You’re about to receive your first lesson as a spy.” He slowed their steps. “Here we are. In a moment, I’ll open a hole in the wall. You’ll need to be silent once I do as any sound you make will carry. The first rule of a spy is to never be noticed. Never draw attention to yourself. If you’re on duty, your job is to blend in. You don’t exist. Understood?” A silky strand of hair brushed his face as she nodded. “Observe and listen.”
    He unlocked the latch holding the small door. A ray of light sliced the hallway, and soft tones filtered through the opening.
    She jerked when his lips touched the shell of her ear. “Look.”
    She pushed up onto her toes, leaned forward, and peered through the hole. His hand rested upon her trim waist. But what fascinated him was the tight blue ribbon that accentuated her curve. His gaze moved from her middle to the lush curves below, and silently cursed his body’s reaction. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
    She was here, in a place that had given him the most solitude in his life, the most loneliness. But with her by his side, everything was different. He hungered for her.
    Oh, hell. He clenched his hand, rather than sweep it over her curves. Oh, how he hungered.
    She snickered, lightly enough the sound wouldn’t trail into the room, and he wondered what she’d