Cinderella in the Surgeon's Castle by Annie Claydon

Author:Annie Claydon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-11-07T19:06:23+00:00

* * *

She’d almost lost Penn. Again. Grace had seen the hurt in his eyes, and he had every right to feel wounded. It was fine for her to feel all the things that she felt, but suggesting that Penn was anything like Jeremy wasn’t fair. She was beginning to believe that she could leave that hurt behind, and moving forward was something she really wanted to do.

When Penn tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, she hung on to him tightly as they walked in silence back to the car. The overwhelming feeling that Penn was there and that he would keep her safe, allowed her to relax a little and begin to hope for the best for Gran.

As he drove up the narrow lane that led to the glassworks, she saw that the gate into the car park was closed. Beyond that, a light from the barn glimmered in the darkness.

‘Someone’s working very late, aren’t they?’

He shook his head. ‘We have security on-site at night. My father used to reckon that his presence alone was enough to put off the most determined burglars. That actually might have been the case—he had a reputation for being fierce at times and no one ever did break in. But the place is empty on weeknights now, so I had a good alarm system installed and there’s a guard who comes in.’

He stopped in front of the gate and a light flipped on from somewhere over their heads, illuminating the car. Grace jumped, blinking, and Penn wound the car window down, then leaned out towards the intercom.

‘Evening, Arthur.’

‘Evening, Penn. Welcome home.’

The gate swung open in front of them, and Grace saw a portly figure in one of the windows of the barn, watching as the car drove past. Penn waved and the figure returned the gesture.

He drew up outside the two cottages, switched off the engine and turned in his seat. ‘I’ll give Arthur a call and let him know that I have a guest, so you won’t be challenged in the morning. He’s a good guy, one of four ex-policemen who got together and set up a security company. They advised us on our security system as well. You’ll be safe here.’

Grace had no doubt of that. Maybe Penn’s insistence on making the point was more to do with letting her know that she’d be safe with him.

‘I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t feel safe with you, Penn. Sometimes I can be a little too defensive.’

He shook his head. ‘You have every reason to be. You’ve been hurt.’

‘Never by you.’

His eyes glistened in the darkness. For a moment, it seemed as if he would lean forward and kiss her, and Grace wouldn’t have stopped him. But Penn was too much of a gentleman. He must know how she was feeling and he wouldn’t take advantage of her desperate need for comfort.

He got out of the car, fetched their bags from the back seat and led her towards the cottage, stopping before he opened the front gate.

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.