A Daring Mistletoe Kiss

Chapter 1

Dare.

—From the Diary of Lillian Wright

“I’ve decided to steal a kiss.”

“What? Where? With whom?”

“At the Pearler charity ball next week.”

Nancy choked on a sip of tea. “What?”

Pippa grinned at her best friend. “Who knew the gentlemen of the ton are so polite? Since they dare not venture into the wild state of their nature, I’m left with no choice but to take matters into my own hands.”

Which was why, the moment Pippa had heard Lord Dare, a handsome rake, was attending the event, she knew the ball was the perfect place to seize the moment—and her first kiss.

Nancy’s eyes widened. “You have someone in mind?”

“I do.”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

Pippa’s smile rose a notch. “Lord Dare.”

“As in the shockingly infamous libertine in all of England. That Lord Dare?”

Pippa nodded. “Well, I can’t kiss just any man. He needs to be daring. Who better than the man who carries the very word in his name?”

Nancy’s eyes lit with a sparkle of mischief. “Sound reasoning.”

“Besides,” Pippa went on. “I’m already nineteen this year and nary a kiss in sight. This won’t do. I refuse to enter the age of twenty without my first kiss.”

Nancy placed her tea on the table. “Name aside, are you sure he is the best candidate? He’s awfully scandalous. While I am not against you taking matters into your own hands, I don’t wish for you to be ruined because of it.”

“Lord Dare isn’t that bad.”

“It’s rumored that he can rob you of your chastity with just one look.”

Pippa laughed. “Nonsense. A man must do more than that to steal a woman’s chastity.”

“There is the innocence of the body and there is the innocence of the soul,” Nancy pointed out. “You do not wish to lose your soul to a man like Dare, do you?”

“So, my soul’s chastity is at stake, then?” Pippa pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I believe I shall take that chance.”

A loud sigh interrupted their conversation, followed by the rustle of paper. Jeremy Locke, the third person who made up their friendship triangle, shot them a pained look. “You do realize I’m still present.”

“And?” Nancy returned his look. “It’s not the first time you’ve been present for one of our juicier conversations.”

“Be that as it may, what man wants to listen to women talk about rumors and rakes? Or the wild natures of men, stealing kisses and innocence of the body.” He shifted in his seat and muttered, “Sometimes I suspect you forget I’m a man. I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life.”

Nancy snorted.

Pippa ignored him. “I won’t be caught. Besides, with the two of you at my side, what could go wrong?” They’d been friends for eons.

Jeremy arched his brow. “What if you do get caught? A man like Dare is not to be trifled with, much less taken advantage of. It is my duty, as a friend, to caution you against such things.”

“Your only duty is to help me succeed in my dreams,” Pippa countered.

“Your dream is to be kissed by Dare?” Jeremy asked.

“My dream is to be kissed. Given his reputation, Lord Dare is likely to be the most discreet. Plus, he is handsome.”

Jeremy snorted. “The man’s entire reputation is based on indiscretion.”

“His known indiscretions. How many women do you believe he has kissed who never reached the gossip columns? A kiss is nothing to him,” Pippa said.

“I thought you women placed sentimental value on your first kiss.”

“On the kiss, yes,” Nancy chimed in. “Not the man.”

“Nevertheless, one kiss is oftentimes all it takes for a woman to get ideas.”

Nancy shot him a curious look. “What ideas?”

“Marriage. Reform. True love.”

Pippa laughed. “Well, since I’m the one stealing the kiss, I suppose I’ll have to guard against Dare developing such flighty notions.”

Nancy grinned.

“I can’t believe we are even having this discussion,” Jeremy groused.

“It’s not a discussion. It’s a plan in the making,” Pippa said.

“A terrible plan.” Jeremy let out a long-suffering sigh. “How can I be of service?”

Pippa chuckled.

Nancy, however, did not. “As long as you don’t enliven the punch again this year. Last year, three drunken brawls broke out because of that, and Pippa fell into a bush filled with thorns. My brother scolded us for ages.”

“Will he be attending this year?” Pippa’s most treasured pastime was making sport of Nicholas Byrne, the Earl of Chatteris. The stuffiest noble in England.

“Of course,” Nancy said with a note of frustration. “Haven’t you noticed, ever since last year’s antics, he’s accompanied us to all of our events?”

True.

Not that Pippa minded.

“I won’t spike the punch,” Jeremy promised.

“Just my glass,” Nancy said with a smirk.

Pippa nodded. “And mine.”

“As you wish.” Jeremy directed his attention back to his paper. “Just don’t send Chatteris to me when he discovers your shenanigans.”

Pippa thought of the waistcoat she’d embroidered for the earl and smiled.

She was anticipating his attendance just as she was looking forward to her first kiss.

In fact, she had been dreaming of her first kiss since her sixteenth birthday.

Quite literally, in fact. Although, in her dreams, she could never make out the face of the boy who had stolen the kiss.

Be that as it may, she’d thought her first kiss would be captured by a gentleman in her first Season. She had thought wrong.

Her mother’s diaries suddenly came to mind.

They were her most treasured possessions, filled with the audacious escapades and inner musings of her mother.

Pippa did not want to have any regrets in her life. And it just so happened that the Pearler ball announced the end of the Season. Last year, her first-ever attendance, she had marked it with her first taste of brandy punch.

This year, she would mark it with a kiss.