A Haven Point Beginning by RaeAnne Thayne

Author:RaeAnne Thayne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2020-05-22T19:40:21+00:00

CHAPTER THREE

“THAT MIGHT POSSIBLY be the most delicious thing I’ve ever had in my life.” Gemma swallowed the last bite of s’more, the marshmallow, strawberry and Nutella melting on her mouth.

“I’ve got a couple more strawberries if you want to go for another one.”

“I can’t. Really. You’ve stuffed me to the brim.”

“Well, I don’t want them to go to waste. I’d better have another one.”

While Joshua speared a marshmallow on the long-handled fork and turned it to the fire’s heat, Gemma sat back, perfectly content.

She should be frightened. She was trapped in a mountain hideaway, possibly for several more hours if not days, with a man she barely knew, in the middle of an October snowstorm.

She wasn’t. All her nerves seemed to have disappeared around the time the power went out.

How strange, that something that had starting out so frightening could evolve into an evening she had enjoyed more than any she could remember in a long time.

Joshua Bailey was wonderful company. He was funny, clever, solicitous. And, she had to admit, deliciously good-looking.

After he finished roasting the marshmallow, he slapped it on a biscuit, spread Nutella from a jar on the other one, added sliced strawberries then took a big bite of the whole concoction.

“There you go. The third one was just as good as the first,” he declared after he finished it off.

His dog hopped onto the sofa to curl next to him and Josh absently stroked Toby’s ears. She had a feeling this was a routine they were both accustomed to.

He was very different from the somewhat arrogant American cowboy she had taken him for the first time they had met. This version of him was sweet and funny and definitely a man she liked very much and wanted to get to know better.

“So,” he said into the conversational lull. “I have a serious question for you.”

“Oh?”

“I’m a bit hesitant to ask it.”

“Go ahead,” she said. “You’ve told me about your brothers’ divorces, your mother’s breast cancer scare and breaking up with your girlfriend two years ago. I suppose it’s my turn. I can always refuse to answer, if you get too cheeky.”

He gave her a careful look that sent alarm bells ringing. When he spoke, his voice was measured and his eyes were solemn. “Does anybody else in town know you’re British nobility, Lady Gemma?”

Of all the questions he might have asked her, that was the last one she expected. She felt her breath catch. “I beg your p-pardon?”

“Sorry.” He gave her a rueful look. “I shouldn’t have just sprung that on you like that. You obviously have your reasons for keeping quiet.”

“Yes. I most certainly do. Which begs the question of how you found out and how long you’ve known.”

And why hadn’t he said anything before now?

“That’s somewhat of a long story and kind of a crazy coincidence.”

“Tell me.”

“Three years ago, I happened to be in the UK visiting one of our suppliers, a company that makes a phenomenal line of fly fishing rods we carry at Bailey Outfitters.

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