âIâm pretty beat myself,â Gwen said, a bit too brightly. âI think Iâll head on to bed. Thank yoââ
Will interrupted her, knowing full well he wasnât going to let her retreat behind closed doors just yet. âThere are a couple of things we still need to clear up.â
âReally? What do youâ¦?â She trailed off as he closed the slight distance between them, and she took two small steps backwardâonly to find her back against the foyer wall. Her eyes flashed as he took advantage of her position and moved within inches of her body.
Reaching out, he captured the errant lock of hair that draped across her shoulder again. Twisting it around his finger, he played with the silky strand until her breathing became shallow.
âFirst, business and pleasure are two totally separate situations. Iâm not one to confuse the two, and Iâm surely not going to deny myself one just because I hired you to work. Thisââ he released her hair, only to move his hand to the elegant column of her neck, pleased to feel the pulse thumping wildly there ââhas nothing to do with that.â
Gwenâs eyes widened as his other hand slid up her neck to cradle her jaw. She leaned in toward him, and he felt his own heartbeat accelerate.
âSecondly, Miss Behavior, I donât give a damn about whatâs appropriate.â
Kimberly Lang hid romance novels behind her textbooks in junior high, and even a Masterâs programme in English couldnât break her obsession with dashing heroes and happily ever after. A ballet dancer turned English teacher, Kimberly married an electrical engineer and turned her life into an ongoing episode of When Dilbert Met Frasier. She and her Darling Geek live in beautiful North Alabama with their one Amazing Childâwho, unfortunately, shows an aptitude for sports.
Visit Kimberly at www.booksbykimberly.com for the latest newsâand donât forget to say hi while youâre there!
A recent title by the same author:
THE SECRET MISTRESS ARRANGEMENT
Dear Reader
Blame my very deep Southern roots, but Iâm completely fascinated with etiquette. My obsession, however, extends beyond flatware and thank-you notes to very âout thereâ information Iâll never have an actual need to useâlike dinner seating protocol when both an ex-President and a member of the royal family are present. One day, when I was nose-first into an etiquette text, I found the inspiration for this book in a quote by the great Miss Manners, Judith Martin: âWe are all born charming, fresh and spontaneous, and must be civilised before we are fit to participate in society.â
That quote sparked my imagination, and the dinner scene youâll see in Chapter Two (the first night Gwen moves in) played through my head in full colour. The characters were so strong and interesting I knew I had to write their story. The more I got to know Will and Gwen (and Evie, too!), the more I adored themâand writing this book was so much fun.
I hope you enjoy getting to know Will and Gwen, and that youâll drop me a note next time you visit my website (www.booksbykimberly.com). And, because thereâs a little bit of Gwen in me, you know Iâll always write back!
All the best
Kimberly
For the women who made all this possible:
Andrea Laurence, Marilyn Puett, Kira Sinclair and Danniele Worshamâwho are more than just my playfriends and the sisters-of-my-heart, they are also some of the smartest, most talented, and infinitely patient women Iâve ever been lucky enough to know;
Linda Winstead Jones, Linda Howard and Beverly Bartonâwho let me learn at the feet of the mastersâI mean, mavens;
Pamela Hearonâwho broke me of a lot of my bad habits in the nicest way possible;
and,
Bryony Green and Lucy Gilmour, whose editorial brilliance is matched only by their excellent taste.
CHAPTER ONE
âEVIE is Bradley Harrisonâs daughter. I canât just lock her in the attic and pretend she doesnât exist!â
âYou cannot continue to send her out in society as she is, either, William. Sheâs an embarrassment to the family and the company.â
Will Harrison poured another two fingers of Scotch and tipped the bottle in the direction of his late fatherâs oldest friend and HarCorpâs company attorney. So lunch at the Club yesterday hadnât gone as expected. It wasnât the end of the world.
Marcus Heatherton held out his glass for the refill. âEvangeline is a sweet girl, but Rachel let her run wild after your father died. You see the results. The child is a complete hoyden.â
Now thereâs a word you donât hear every day. Hoyden. Much nicer sounding than âill-mannered,â âsocially ineptâ or âtomboyishââall of which had, unfortunately, been applied to his half sister.
The smile caused by Marcusâs word choice faded. The image of a petit four flying out of Evieâs wildly gesticulating hand and landing on the head of Mrs. Wellfordâs spoiled lapdog like a little hat flashed through his mind. That had been funny. The ensuing regurgitation of said petit four in Mrs. Wellfordâs lap after Shu-Shu swallowed it wholeâ¦well, that pretty much ended Evieâs most recent foray into Dallas society on a distinctly low note.