Unmasked at Midnight: A Romantic Opposites Attract Mystery & Suspense Family Saga Regency Romance (Chronicles of the Westbrook Brides Book 8) by Collette Cameron

Author:Collette Cameron [Cameron, Collette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Rose Romance® LLC
Published: 2024-05-17T18:30:00+00:00

Seven

Still in the coffeehouse

SEVERAL AWKWARD HEARTBEATS LATER

Of course, the notion was utterly ludicrous. Ridiculous. Preposterous. Outrageous. Absurd.

How could Araminta entertain such a nonsensical idea for one second?

Half a second?

She tried to control the flush crawling from her neck, but her heated cheeks revealed she’d failed in her attempt. Thank goodness no one else occupied the coffeehouse, and her sisters remained absorbed in their books.

Even if she and Darius shared a passion for books, he’d only ever interacted with her in a friendly but professional manner.

What about that dance you shared?

It meant nothing. He’d proven that when the minute Eudora arrived, he’d hightailed it to her side.

Araminta secretly agreed with the Misses Mulburys regarding Eudora’s intellect.

Her acumen rivaled a turnip’s—a very pretty and cosseted turnip, but a brainless root vegetable, nevertheless. It had always been thus. Araminta had known Eudora since childhood, and intelligence was not her strong suit.

What was it Mama used to say?

You cannot turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

Nor could you turn a dimwit into a scholar or intellectual.

Displeased with her rambling musings, Araminta summoned a benign smile. “Please excuse me. I only have this afternoon to finish unpacking the books the Duke and Duchess of Latham sent.”

“Of course, my dear.” Garnet’s eyes twinkled as she raised her cup to her lips.

Her sister puzzled her already wrinkled brow. “You work too hard, Araminta. Someone so young should enjoy life.”

“I enjoy keeping busy.” And Araminta did—just not quite as busy as she’d been of late. She still had to finish writing The Vicar of Langmere’s Daughter, and Mrs. Tenney had commissioned three more pairs of gloves, which meant more late evenings and less time with the twins before bed.

Sir Waddlesby wasn’t the only one to suffer from Araminta’s overburdened schedule.

After glancing at her sisters and assuring herself they would be fine, Araminta took her leave of the Mulbury sisters and made her way back to the piles of books waiting to be shelved.

As she rounded the corner from the coffeehouse, Darius raised his dark head from whatever he was reading behind the counter and tipped the corners of his mouth upward a fraction into an enigmatic smile.

A quiver of awareness skimmed over her, but Araminta firmly tamped it down, though she couldn’t prevent her mouth from bending upward in an answering greeting.

His smile held nothing the least alluring.

It was the polite smile an employer might give an employee.

Nothing more.

If only that weren’t the case.

Araminta continued on her way, noting with a practiced eye the customers who meandered about the bookshop.

Two gentlemen, an elderly matron and her middling-age companion, and a young mother with two fresh-faced boys of perhaps six and seven years of age browsed the aisles with awed reverence. The patrons whispered to each other, uttering frequent exclamations of delight as they carefully perused the books that had captured their interest.

As usual, there was no sign of Lord Cassius. He was probably off painting somewhere. He’d told her he had a gallery in Brighton but wanted

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.