He did not want complications.
But she turned to him, her face flushed with excitement, and heaven only knew the effort it cost him not to take her face in his hands and kiss her.
How would she react?
The same way heâd react, he thought, or the same way he should react. Heâd seen her fear. She didnât want any sort of relationship and neither did he.
âI can die happy now,â she breathed.
He couldnât help himself. He leaned forward in the close confines of the cave and he kissed herâa feather touch, a trace of a kiss that brushed her lips and that was all. It had to be all.
Dear Reader,
Australiaâs northern coastline, the Kimberley Coast, is unbelievable until you see it. Take a look at www.kimberleycoast.com.au. Itâs one of the worldâs last true wilderness areas, with more than two thousand islands, spectacular reefs, amazing corals, wild rivers, plus a decent spattering of crocodiles and whales.
I was lucky enough to tour the area by boat last year and I came home awedâand also full of writerly âWhat ifsâ.
What if my hero and heroine were stranded in this magnificent but inhospitable country? What if I threw a few villains into the mix? What if this was the scene for a truly breathtaking romance?
Thus A Bride for the Maverick Millionaire was born. I hope you can gain a sense of my journey of a lifetime as you sink into a romance that deserves its setting.
Enjoy!
Marion
MARION LENNOX is a country girl, born on an Australian dairy farm. She moved onâmostly because the cows just werenât interested in her stories! Married to a âvery special doctorâ, Marion writes for Mills & Boon>® Medical Romance>⢠and Mills & Boon>® Cherish>â¢. (She used a different name for each category for a whileâreaders looking for her past romance titles should search for author Trisha David, as well). Sheâs now had more than seventy-five romance novels accepted for publication.
In her non-writing life Marion cares for kids, cats, dogs, chooks and goldfish. She travels, she fights her rampant garden (sheâs losing) and her house dust (sheâs lost). Having spun in circles for the first part of her life, sheâs now stepped back from her âotherâ career, which was teaching statistics at her local university. Finally sheâs reprioritised her life, figured whatâs important and discovered the joys of deep baths, romance and chocolate.
Preferably all at the same time!
FINN planned to have nothing to do with Rachel Cotton, but the elderly passengers on the Kimberley Temptress disagreed. Theyâd been giving him advice since Darwin.
âYou ought to make a play for her. Make an impression. Whatâs a cruise without a bit of shipboard romance?â
So, like it or not, he made an impression.
He knocked her grandmother overboard.
It wasnât exactly planned. The shipâs tour guides, Esme and Jason, were assisting passengers to step down the short landing ramp to the rocky beach. Esmeâs job was to hold each passenger until Jason had them safely at the other end.
She didnât hold Dame Maud long enough, and Maud wobbled.
Finn stepped onto the ramp fast, but not fast enough. Maud swayed and lurchedâand hit Finn, who was trying to manoeuvre past Esme.
He couldnât grab her in time.
She was in her eighties. The water was deep, she was heading for the bottom and, from the rocks, Rachel Cotton screamed in terror, launching herself back across the ramp to dive in.
Finn was the owner of the entire Temptress cruise line, but he was here now as a passenger, undercover, to observe the crew. Rescuing passengers was not his call. Neither was stopping more passengers throwing themselves overboard. Nevertheless, he didnât have a choice.
He grabbed Rachel, sweeping her up into his arms.
âStay back!â
âPut me down. Let me go!â
She was cute and small and blondeâand loud and lethal. She twisted and kicked⦠right where a guy didnât need to be kicked.
He swung around and shoved her into Jasonâs arms.
âDonât let her go,â he commanded, and dived overboard even as he said it.
Held by Jason, who was almost as strong as Finn, Rachel could only watch as her beloved Maud slid under the boat and out of sight.
âMaud!â She could make Jason drop herâmartial arts training told her howâbut sense was beginning to kick in.
âHeâll get her,â Jason said.
He must. She had no choice but to depend on Finn Kinnard.
Sheâd met Finn the day the Temptress left Darwin.
âThis is Finn Kinnard,â the purser had told her, determinedly making the shipâs forty passengers mingle. âFinnâs a boat-builder from the US. Finn, this is Rachel Cotton, and sheâs a geologist. You two are the only young singles on board. Have fun.â Sheâd flashed a suggestive smile, her implication obvious.