Blurb
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Eight years ago… Thomas Cartwright and Lady Nicola Fitzgibbons were friends. Over the wall separating their homes, Thomas and Nicola talked of all things – his studies to become a barrister, her frustrations with a lady’s limitations.
All things
end.
When her diplomat father gains a post in Hong Kong, Nicola must follow. Bored and alone, she falls into scandal. Mired in his studies of the law and aware of the need for circumspection, Thomas feels forced to sever their ties.
But
now Lady Nicola is back…and she won’t let him ignore her.
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Excerpt
Thomas took a breath,
knowing he had to phrase this just right. “Lady Nicola, while I am cognizant of
the honor you do me, I don’t believe it appropriate you visit me in my
chambers. Shall we arrange a time that suits us both, perhaps for a walk about
the park?”
China-blue eyes
laughed at him. “Oh, pish. Don’t be such a fuddy-duddy, Thomas. We never stood
on such ceremony before.”
Didn’t she know he couldn’t
be her friend? Not since their ways had parted and she’d become who she was,
while he had become who he was. “Our situations were different before, Lady
Nicola. It is not appropriate for a lady of your standing to visit a bachelor
in his chambers.”
“Who is going to
comment? No one knows I’m here.”
Was she serious? “My
clerk knows you’re here. By now, the senior clerk undoubtedly knows you’re
here. Before ten minutes have passed, everyone in the building will know you’re
here.”
“Well, then, they are
a bunch of shocking gossips, and I should not like to know them any better.”
She folded her hands in her lap.
“Not the point,
Nicola.” Bloody hell, but she drove him mental. She tore at him and picked at
him until he didn’t know where he stood. Always she’d done this, taken what
little sense he had and driven it right out of his brain.
“I should say it is
the point. Our visit would not distress you, if it weren’t for them.”
“It should distress
me in any case. You should not be here.”
“Do you know what I’m
hearing, Thomas? I’m hearing a vast amount of negativity, when you’ve not even
greeted me properly. Why, you’ve yet to kiss my hand, or perhaps give me a
h-hug.” Chin up, she looked at him with eyes brimming, and he saw right through
her facade. She was truly hurt he’d not yet greeted her as he should.
Helpless, he stared
at her. How did she do it? How did she turn his brain to mush? She’d been here
less than five minutes, and already she had drawn him back in.
But she was right. He
hadn’t greeted her as he should.
Standing, he went to
her and drew her to her feet. “Welcome home, Nic.” And he hugged her.
About Cassandra Dean
Cassandra
grew up daydreaming, inventing fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures.
Once she learned to read (First phrase – To the Beach. True story), she was
never without a book, reading of other people’s fantastical worlds and
marvelous adventures.
Fairy tales, Famous Fives, fantasies and fancies; horror stories,
gumshoe detectives, science fiction; Cassandra read it all. Then she discovered
Romance and a true passion was born.
So, once upon a time, after making a slight detour into the world of
finance, Cassandra tried her hand at writing. After a brief foray into horror,
she couldn’t discount her true passion. She started to write Romance and fell
head over heels.
The love affair exists to this very day.
Cassandra lives in Adelaide, South Australia.
Find Cassandra at:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraDean
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraDean
