Today’s guest is one of my critique partner’s, the very diverse author, Gina Danna
The Wicked Bargain
London 1816
Haunted by a past as a sex slave, nobleman Ethan Warth returns to England as a male courtesan for rich matrons and runs a brothel for wealthy lords. Arabella Covington appears on his door, trained in the medical arts but unable to practice because of her gender. He hires her to care for his ladies but her inquisitive nature and beauty make him desire to teach her the world of seduction.
Ethan, however, never counted on falling in love…
EXCERPT
Set-up: Elizabeth, confidante of Ethan, interrupts his solitude to find out what he thinks of their guest, Arabella.
“You met her?”
He dropped the anklet and emerald back into the drawer and closed it.
“Yes.” He walked to his washstand and pulled his cravat off the towel rack. Looking into the mirror to tie it, his hands fumbled. He so hated the damn thing.
With a frustrated groan, she walked to him, turned him to face her and snatched the tie’s ends. “And what do you think, sweeting?” she asked, quickly manipulating the fabric into a knot and fluffing the ends appropriately.
“She has potential,” he commented drily. “If she were amenable, she could maybe earn a nice sum.”
“Yes, probably enough to finish your debts and rebuild your estate,” she concluded with a smile.
He stepped away from her, anger building within him. Gazing out his window at the mews behind the house, he saw his horse waiting for him. He so wanted to jump on his back and escape everything. He refocused. “You put her in that room last night.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She needed a place to sleep, Ethan.” She came up behind him. “I couldn’t turn her out.”
“But you didn’t tell her what type of house this is, did you?” The question was cold, flat and blatant. He knew what her answer would be and it only made the girl more damaged.
“No.”
He shut his eyes. It was as if the walls closed in on him. “I followed your advice. I went out, arranged new interest for the girls, even a new contract for myself.”
“Fabulous!”
“So I had thought,” he turned to her, his voice tense. “I had company, Elizabeth. I didn’t know I had to worry about the next room.”
“Ah, so she came to see,” she surmised, but the grin on her face showed she wasn’t the least bit perturbed at his anger. She laughed. “I fail to see why you are so upset. Being watched isn’t new to you.”
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