One Enchanted Summer by Jane Erickson

Author:Jane Erickson [Erickson, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-19T22:00:00+00:00

“But why did you say we were engaged?” Mia demanded in exasperation. “You could have said you were my brother or my cousin. Even my employer!”

Really, the man did not know how to sell a lie. Mia had played various roles growing up, most of them having to do with being some sort of pitiful waif but the best lies were the ones closest to the truth. Now that she thought of it, the pitiful waif wasn’t far from her childhood reality.

“I was saving you from a ruffian,” Dominic responded incredulously as if she should be swooning that a handsome prince had saved her from an ogre, and she was just too unreasonable to express gratitude.

“A ‘ruffian’?” Mia imitated his snooty tone. “He was a bit too friendly but completely harmless, especially in a crowd. And I certainly don’t need a fabrication of a fiancé to convince a man I don’t want his attention.”

To be honest, Matthew Housman had seemed a decent prospect though he was a bit intimidating being as tall as Monaco and possessing shoulders oxen would envy. He owned ten acres, including the very land they were currently occupying, and his barn sheltered two horses and three very productive milk cows. He had white, straight teeth, a nose that was neither too large nor lumpy, and his ears didn’t stick out. He certainly couldn’t hold a candle to Dominic’s looks but no woman would have turned up her nose at his features and most would wonder if all of his proportions were as large as his massive hands and feet.

Not that Mia had considered any of his fine attributes because her foolish mind had wondered what that ebullient redhead could be saying to Dominic even as Matthew Housman grinned charmingly at her.

If Matthew Housman hadn’t looked pleased at Dominic’s announcement, Adelaide had looked positively livid. Mia had thought they should gracefully forgo any further revelry and start down the long road home, but the other guests wouldn’t hear of it…mostly because now they had an even better excuse to drink every drop of ale since they were celebrating an engagement. More wood was added to the fire, food was tossed into cast-iron pots to warm, and blankets were spread over the ground.

Mia and Dominic were plunked down by the flames and a crowd surrounded them, all eager to hear new stories instead of tired old tales and reminisces they had heard from relatives a thousand times over.

“So how did you two meet?” Adelaide demanded, her nearly amber eyes darting between Mia’s plain gown and Dominic’s finer clothes. “Not at a house party, I’m assuming.”

Willing to play the game that Dominic had created, Mia easily fielded this question.

“I work in his home. Well, his mother’s home. She’s a regular old dragon who will likely live to be a hundred. She tries not to let her darling boy out of her sight and thinks he’ll be safe from grasping females at home. But that is where he saw me and fell instantly in love.

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