He opened one eye, smiling lazily. “In the dining room or the library?”
“Alex! Be serious!”
“I am. I can’t help myself. You looked so provocative reading those crop reports.” He pulled her against him, kissing her, and she decided they could talk over her parents’ impending visit at another time. A moment later they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Alex swore. “What?”
“I am sorry to disturb you, my lord,” Hodges said, “but Lord and Lady Brigham have just arrived.”
“Bloody hell!”
Lucia sat up and called, “Put them in the drawing room, Hodges.”
“Very good, my lady.”
“We’ve been married eleven months and already I’m besieged by in-laws.”
“And just a few moments ago you were so vigorously extolling the virtues of marriage,” Lucia said, turning back to him.
Alex pulled her into his arms again. “I know, sweetheart, but your parents are not one of them.”
“Well, what did you expect?” she asked, snuggling into his chest, but her mind was half on her parents. “They last saw us when you absconded with me from Carlton House. I am certain my father only wants to ensure that we are happily married.”
“No, your mother wants to ensure that we are happily married. Your father wants to break my nose.”
Lucia laughed, but she couldn’t deny it. “And they’ll both want to know when to expect their first grandchild,” Lucia said, sighing as she imagined her mother’s pointed questions.
Alex winked. “I’ll tell them we’ve been working on that daily.”
“I’m half afraid you will, too. There’s only one solution.” She propped her head on her elbow. “We’ll have to devise a plan to keep them from that topic.”
It was Alex’s turn to sigh. “Lucia, I’ve resigned from the Foreign Office. Isn’t it time you retired from concocting your famous plans?”
Lucia gave him a withering glare and flopped on her back. “I’m beginning to think that no one appreciates my plans.”
“Oh, I appreciate them, sweetheart, especially when they involved climbing through my window at night. But you have to admit that your recent endeavors caused some unwanted commotion.”
She frowned. “We hired the cook back, and the kitchen wasn’t that badly damaged…”
Alex raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, fine! I admit, not all of my plans have gone as expected.”
“Plans never do.” To her surprise, Alex leaned over and kissed her lightly. “I never planned on falling in love, being this happy.”
Lucia wrapped her arms around him. “Me, neither.”
“I have a plan,” he said, kissing her ear. “Come here.”
“Alex, no! My parents are waiting.” But she was already beginning to feel a delicious warmth course through her, and her resolve was weakening.
About the Author
A veteran teacher of nine years, SHANA GALEN’s students keep her grounded. It’s hard to ride off in a coach and four for an evening at Vauxhall when thirty-three sixth-graders erupt into the carriage the moment the tardy bell rings. When not teaching, Shana likes to shop, read, and shop more. She lives with two cats in Houston, Texas, just two blocks from the mall. Check out her website at www.shanagalen.com for news and diversions.
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
WHEN DASHING MET DANGER. Copyright © 2005 by Shane Bolks. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition August 2006 ISBN 9780061755873
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
Chapter 09
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher