‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘What do you think I’m doing?’ Declan drawled lazily.
‘I—’ Sam was in danger of kissing his neck, which was temptingly close. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Yes, you do,’ he whispered.
‘Will you let me go?’
‘Moving your hips against me like that is only likely to ensure that I won’t,’ he murmured, and Sam’s eyes widened in shock as she felt his instant arousal against her.
Dear Reader,
One hundred. Doesn’t matter how many times I say it, I still can’t believe that’s how many books I’ve written. It’s a fabulous feeling but more fabulous still is the news that Mills & Boon are issuing every single one of my backlist as digital titles. Wow. I can’t wait to share all my stories with you - which are as vivid to me now as when I wrote them.
There’s BOUGHT FOR HER HUSBAND, with its outrageously macho Greek hero and A SCANDAL, A SECRET AND A BABY featuring a very sexy Tuscan. THE SHEIKH’S HEIR proved so popular with readers that it spent two weeks on the USA Today charts and…well, I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover them for yourselves.
I remember the first line of my very first book: “So you’ve come to Australia looking for a husband?” Actually, the heroine had gone to Australia to escape men, but guess what? She found a husband all the same! The man who inspired that book rang me up recently and when I told him I was beginning my 100th story and couldn’t decide what to write, he said, “Why don’t you go back to where it all started?”
So I did. And that’s how A ROYAL VOW OF CONVENIENCE was born. It opens in beautiful Queensland and moves to England and New York. It’s about a runaway princess and the enigmatic billionaire who is infuriated by her, yet who winds up rescuing her. But then, she goes and rescues him… Wouldn’t you know it?
I’ll end by saying how very grateful I am to have a career I love, and to thank each and every one of you who has supported me along the way. You really are very dear readers.
Love,
Sharon xxx
CHAPTER ONE
‘YOU! You’re Sam Gilbert?’
Sam swallowed, managing a smile. Of all the rotten luck—he’d remembered! ‘Yes, I am. The name’s deceptive, isn’t it? I’m a Samantha, really. But I expect you thought you’d be interviewing a man, didn’t you?’ Now she was babbling.
His eyes, a dark, glittering blue, widened by a fraction—before returning to their shuttered narrowness; seeing all, telling nothing. ‘Hardly,’ he replied, his deep voice full of sarcasm. ‘I wouldn’t have read your c.v. if I thought that, and that kind of sloppy interview technique really isn’t my style.’ He paused. ‘No, it isn’t the name I’m thinking about.’ He looked her up and down, experienced eyes flicking over her briefly. ‘You’re Charlotte Gilbert’s sister,’ he said slowly, and he made the simple statement sound as damning as an accusation.
Of course he hadn’t forgotten; why should he have done? The faintest colour flared pink over Sam’s cheeks as she recalled the other occasion when he’d seen her, just a week ago.
Charlotte had phoned, suggesting lunch. Well, not exactly suggesting lunch—demanding lunch would have been a more accurate description—but done in such a way, with an appeal to Sam’s better nature, and the assurance that only Sam could help her work through her problems, that a refusal would have been not only churlish but impossible. ‘You’ve got to see me, Sam,’ Charlotte urged on the phone. ‘I’m desperate!’
Sam’s reluctance to see too much of her sister stemmed from the time when Charlotte had cold-heartedly run off with Sam’s fiancé. Eight years on, tempers had cooled and Sam had forgiven, if not forgotten. And family was, after all, family. ‘OK,’ she agreed. ‘Where shall we meet?’
‘Luigi’s.’
‘Much too expensive,’ said Sam firmly.
‘Oh, Sam—don’t be so dreary. Let’s go there—it’s fun. And I’ll pay.’
‘No, you won’t—I’ll pay for myself.’
One o’clock found Sam sitting at a table at the side of the room, waiting for Charlotte to arrive. The table was discreet and quiet, the kind of table she was always seated at, though Charlotte was the opposite. She always insisted on, and got, the centre-stage seat.