Hot and Heavy by Sandra Hill

Author:Sandra Hill [Hill, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-12-10T00:59:36.053846+00:00

"My father's family held a jarldom. We are related to the king's family, though not in line of succession, thank the gods. What a snake pit of greed and intrigue that is! I had been married to Karl Ivarsson for a few years, but he put me aside and—"

"Do you mean divorce?"

She shrugged. "I guess that is your word for it."

"I'm divorced," Omar said.

"Really? Did you put your wife aside?"

He laughed. "Nah. It was a mutual decision."

"But the child stays with you? How odd!"

"Colleen is a magazine writer. She travels all around the world in her job with Vanity Fair. It was more expedient to leave Darla with me." He went over to the kitchen table and showed her a sheaf of thin papers, bound together. "This is Vanity Fair magazine," he noted.

"You travel, too," she pointed out.

"Yes, I do."

Obviously, the mother did not choose to take on the responsibility of her own baby. For shame! "And what happens when you are gone?"

"My mother helps out."

"I would give anything to have a child. Girl or boy, no matter. But it is not to be." She sighed.

"You were telling me about your duties at… Norstead."

She regaled him for a long time with a description of her duties from dawn till nightfall, some of which changed with the seasons.

He was looking at her with amazement when she was done. "I could almost believe you."

Madrene took insult at his words, but did not tell him so. He must have suspected how he had offended, though, because he put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Give us time to get to know you. We'll come around. Or you will." He grinned at that last.

"Hah! You will see."

They smiled at each other, just as Ian came in to put a big loaf of bread in the oven to warm and to put on a large pot of water to boil for the spaghetti. "You never smile at me like that," he griped. "Guess it's true that nice guys finish last."

"Who is the nice guy?" she asked.

Ian stomped out.

Omar just grinned at her.

Geek came next… a young man with freckles on his face that made him look much younger than his years. He added a pungent section of garlic to the pot. "You can never have too much garlic," he said with a wink. Then he came over to the table where she was sitting. "What're you reading?"

"I am just looking at the pages. I do not know how to read."

"No kidding? I thought everyone knew how to read. In all parts of the world, I mean."

"Some do in my country, but not many women."

He nodded as if he understood, muttering something about women's liberation needing to reach every corner of the world.

She eyed him closely for a second, then asked, "Would you teach me to read and write?"

He gave her a steady gaze, surprised at her request.

"I could pay you," she added quickly.

A smile twitched at his lips. "Yeah, I heard."

She could only imagine what kind of story the troll had told his teammates.

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