Sophie Barnes

Books are my passion," James told her, "I cannot imagine passing a day without reading.

When we__e apart, I can think of nothingbut you__fbeing with you again__ndI . . . I__ sorry if I hurt you before. I__ sorryif I wasn__ clear about my feelings, if I wasn__strong enough to fight for the chance to bewith you. I__ going to do that now. I promise.Because I simply cannot imagine choosing alife without you in it.

When we__e apart, I can think of nothing but you__f being with you again__nd I . . . I__ sorry if I hurt you before. I__ sorry if I wasn__ clear about my feelings, if I wasn__ strong enough to fight for the chance to be with you. I__ going to do that now. I promise. Because I simply cannot imagine choosing a life without you in it.

I cannot explain what's between us, Lady Newbury, other than to say that I have an uncanny urge to kiss you whenever we meet.

Never in a million years would he have imagined her to look at him like that - eyelids batting of their own volition and her lips puckering in expectation as she leaned slightly forward. Yet here she was doing precisely that - it was much too comical to stop the smile crossing his face.And that was when she hit him.It wasn't a faint slap on the cheek. No, Alexandra put all her weight behind the right hook that landed squarely across his jaw, throwing him completely off balance.Damnation!

And then of course there was her opinion to consider. Would she ever care to entertain the thought of kissing him, let alone marrying him? He was willing to bet his life that she wasn't. Not yet anyway. Therefore, he had made up his mind. He had devised a carefully thought-out plan, its sole purpose being to eventually ensure Emily's hand in marriage. And he would do it the old fashioned way--through trickery.

It began with the twitch of her lower lip as it took on a life of its own, rippling outward to the corners of her mouth and forcing them upward into a helpless smile. She instantly clasped one hand over her mouth in a frantic attempt to silence the sound that was coming from her throat. The result was that she half-spluttered, half-coughed, her eyes painfully wide as she desperately wished a hole would emerge in the oriental carpet and mercifully swallow her up.