A Lady's Secret Weapon by Tracey Devlyn

Author:Tracey Devlyn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Regency, Historical romance, Fiction
ISBN: 9781402258299
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2013-09-30T21:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Mac O’Donnell glanced at his timepiece for the hundredth time. No longer did it rest in his fob pocket; now it lay dead center on his desk. Where was she?

Although no specific time had been set, he had expected Amelia—Mrs. Cartwright—a quarter hour ago. At the end of the day yesterday, she had suggested they begin compiling their bits and pieces of intelligence on Abbingale’s staff and try to make some sense of it all. He had been looking forward to this moment ever since.

Where was she?

Like his timepiece, Amelia was unfailingly punctual. Every morning at eight, he would hear the soft pad of her arrival and the muffled squeak of her chair. Every morning.

Except this one.

Eight twenty.

Sweat beaded along his hairline. He stared at the bookshelf separating their two rooms, as if he could see the crimson-draped surprise he’d placed near her desk a half hour ago. Words chanted in his head—fool, blockhead, simpleton, dolt, idiot. They all vied for position, each one elbowing its way to the top of the list.

“Enough!” He pushed out of his chair and thundered into her work area. Halfway to the crimson-draped item, he heard a sharp intake of breath. Ice coated his skin, freezing the sweat trickling from his temples and locking his muscles. Then a searing wave of panicked heat swept up his neck and into his cheeks.

As he spun toward the sound, time slowed to an unbearable half beat. Framed in the doorway stood Amelia Cartwright, looking unbearably pretty in a serviceable blue morning dress. Her surprised gaze jumped from him to the object on the tall table near her desk to him again. “What are you doing, Mr. O’Donnell?”

“Correcting a momentary slip into lunacy.” He strode to the table, intending to put this humiliating situation behind him. Quickly.

“Wait. What is this?” She skidded to a stop in front of him, her hand extended in a staying gesture. “May I take a look?”

A foot smaller than him and about half his weight, she had no chance of preventing him from removing the evidence of his weakness. But something inside him wanted to see her reaction when she uncovered his surprise, while another part of him would rather eat a sack full of splinters.

“Perhaps it would be best if you don’t.”

“After all the trouble you’ve gone through to surprise me? I think not.”

She twirled around, and Mac sensed her excitement as she stared at the crimson cover. Almost lovingly, she ran her hand over the thick material before splaying her fingers wide to learn the contours beneath.

“I know what this is,” she said in an awed whisper.

“You’re so certain?” He stepped closer.

She nodded. “Why would you do this?”

Another step. “Because everyone needs beauty in their life.” His throat closing, Mac struggled to get the words out. “Some more than others.”

The crimson coverlet bunched together beneath the force of her grip. She began pulling. Faster and faster, until the coverlet slipped free. Three canaries hopped from perch to perch, canting their heads this way and that to inspect the intruders.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.