The Boxing Duke

THE BOXING DUKE A STEAMY REGENCY ROMANCE SCARLETT OSBORNE CONTENTS Before You Start Reading… A Thank You Gift Love to Read? About the Book Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Epilogue Extended Epilogue Also by Scarlett Osborne Preview: The Infuriating Duke Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 About the Author BEFORE YOU START READING… Did you know that there’s a special place where you can chat with me and with thousands of like-minded bookworms all over the globe?! Join Cobalt Fairy’s facebook group of voracious readers and I guarantee you, you’d wish you had joined us sooner! Let’s connect, right NOW! Just click on the image above! ⇧ A THANK YOU GIFT Thanks a lot for purchasing my book. It really means a lot to me, because this is the best way to show me your love. As a Thank You gift I have written a full length novel for you called Seduced by the Brooding Duke. It’s only available to people who have downloaded one of my books and you can get your free copy by tapping this link here. Once more, thanks a lot for your love and support. With love and appreciation, Scarlett Osborne LOVE TO READ? If you love to read, and want to be first to know about the newest Steamy Regency books by your favorite authors, make sure to check out the link below! Join Cobalt Fairy’s Newsletter and enjoy our newest books in the genre you all love! Just click on the image above! ⇧ ABOUT THE BOOK “Resisting you has always been a losing bet.” Punching a man to save a lady was not Duke Adam’s plan. And when he actually lays eyes on her he feels the mistake he made in the desire that flares within him. He is trying to repair his reputation, not add temptation to it! Yet when Lady Henrietta proposes a most unexpected deal, he cannot resist. Not when she looks at him with those eyes… Courting falsely would help his standing and, in late-night clandestine meetings, he would teach her to box. Until that is not enough, for either of them. As fighting turns to passion, they fail to notice the sinister pair of eyes stalking from the corner, ready to ruin them both forever… CHAPTER 1 The two-horse carriage rattled gently along what was a wide-set cobbled-road, located eight miles north-east of London. Girt on both sides by rolling green fields, farmland, and not much else, the road stretched and wound endlessly through these fields, its destination well beyond where the horizon kissed the sky. Speaking of the horizon, it was a colorful tapestry of dark purple and warm orange and red, all smeared and smudged together as the sun sunk slowly beneath the earth and night took hold. From inside the moving carriage, Miss Harriet Wallace eyed where the road became swallowed by the encroaching night sky. Yes, it was beautiful. And yes, she knew that she should have felt some sense of excitement over where she was headed and what the night promised. And yet, even still, all she could concentrate on were the storm clouds that were slowly but surely gathering in the distance. She eyed those storm clouds, wondering when they would break. And more than that, whether she would be caught beneath them. “Don’t pout,” her mother commanded suddenly. “It will crack the paint about your eyes, dear. The last thing you need is to look as if you aged ten years between seasons.” “Oh, leave her alone,” her father sighed. He reached out and gave his wife’s hand a loving squeeze. “You can’t expect her to spend the entire night stone-faced and expressionless. People might mistake her for a statue.” “A statue who looks well put together and proper at least,” her mother followed up as if her point was the right one. “Better that than being mistaken for one of the servants.” “Now you’re just being silly.” Her father chuckled. “Your daughter is going to be the most splendid, utterly stunning lady in attendance tonight. Bar none. Such is her beauty that I fully expect this cane,” he said, indicating the cane that rested between his thighs. “to be getting a thorough workout as I bat away her suitors by the dozen.” “Father…” Harriet rolled her eyes but could not stop herself from smiling. “I agree,” her mother said. “So long as she stops pouting.” She shuffled forward suddenly, reaching across the confined interior of the carriage and grabbing Harriet’s arms. “And you really need to be more careful with your posture, dear.” She attempted to straighten her daughter’s posture. “Mother,” Harriet snapped and wrenched her arms free. “It’s fine.” “It’s not fine,” her mother insisted. “You’re not a little girl anymore, Harriet. And as frustrating as it might sound, the truth is that we don’t get second chances. Not anymore.” “We?” “Women,” her mother clarified. “Ladies of the ton. Everything we do is scrutinized, Harriet. One wrong foot placed, one questionable comment made, and you can forget about your future.” “You make it sound like a bad thing.” Her mother fixed her with an unamused expression, her grey eyes cold and no-nonsense. “And that goes double for tonight. All eyes will be on you, dear, and if you err or do anything that suggests complacency, then the last twenty years of your life will have counted for nothing. Is that what you want?” “I’m still waiting to hear the downside,” Harriet shot back with an arched eyebrow. “And what of me and your father?” her mother continued rightly. She studied Harriet a