Margaret Madigan

She was dangerous. I__ heard the rumors, that she had a history as a wild woman, that she__ been married to a gambler, maybe even been one herself, that her past was scandalous at best. But who was I to judge? My past was littered with scandal.

He had a hint of a Southern drawl, as if he__ worked hard to hide it, but couldn__ quite rid himself of the last of it. It was rough and gravelly, and had the seductive warmth of sinking into strong arms in front of a cozy fire. To my surprise, a spark of that long-dead heat stirred in my belly. This wasn__ the sort of response a woman should have to finding a strange man in her barn.