Six years ago, a childish prank perpetrated by the reckless Quinton Carlisle ruined Annabelle Greene's reputation and any chance she had at securing a successful marriage. Incensed, she moved to her beloved estate on the Scottish border and has reveled in the solitude...until now when the contents of a family will are revealed. Suddenly, Belle's single status may cost her the only home she's ever known. Now, with her only marital prospect a horribly greedy and completely undesirable man, Belle knows just the person to rescue her-the one person who owes her for his bad behavior...
There's nothing Quinn Carlisle wants more than to get out from his older brother's shadow and make a name for himself abroad. So when a mysterious letter arrives, promising adventure, he rushes to the Scottish border...only to find that Belle laid a trap for him. The awkward, shy bluestocking whom he so enjoyed tormenting is gone, replaced by a graceful, elegant woman who ignites a desire in him he can't resist. Can Quinn help her save her home-and win her heart in the process?
EXCERPT
“You look much more like your
father now,” she commented, nervously licking her suddenly dry lips but only serving
to draw his attention to her mouth. Which made her even more nervous, so
nervous that she couldn’t stop the trembling of her fingertips as they wrapped
into the skirt of her night rail. “But you’re still a troublemaker.”
A faint smile played at his
mouth. “And you’re still a bluestocking,” he countered. Unintentionally
simmering a slow heat low in her belly, he reached up to tuck a stray curl
behind her ear. “Still retreating to the sanctuary of your library.”
“Because books are usually more
pleasant than most people,” she answered, swallowing hard when he trailed his fingers
down the side of her neck. She forced out, not at all as firmly as she’d hoped
beneath the soft touch of his fingers,
“And more trustworthy.”
Ignoring that jab, he slid his
hand lower to let his fingers play at the edge of her shawl. “Yet there are
things that people can do that books can’t.” His fingers tugged gently at the shawl
and pulled it down her shoulder to reveal the scooped neck of the nightdress
beneath. His gaze flicked to the small patch of revealed skin at the base of
her throat, then back to her eyes. “All kinds of interesting things.”
She should stop him, swat his
hand away, shove him back—but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Just as she couldn’t
hold back the hot shiver that swept through her or the gooseflesh that formed
on her skin. His touch was proving to be as equally intoxicating now as that
night six years ago.
“Then I have no interest in
learning them,” she countered, although from the way her blood hummed, her body
was very interested.
Madness—that after what he’d
done to her, she could ever want to be in his arms again. Yet she desired just
that, although that could never happen. Kissing him once had ruined her
reputation. Kissing him again might destroy her entire future.
She thrust her chin into the
air. “I know of your reputation.”
“Thank you,” he half purred.
His finger hooked beneath the
wide shoulder strap of her sleeveless nightgown and slid it slowly down her
arm. But this time, with a stretch of bare shoulder revealed to his eyes, he
didn’t bother feigning propriety by looking away and instead flamed a prickling
heat beneath her skin everywhere he gazed.
She pulled in a deep breath to
steady herself. Oh, why did she always go light-headed when she was
alone with him?
“That was not meant as a
compliment.”
“Wasn’t it?”
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