by Julia Kelly
“Miss Hollings and Miss Helen,” said Eric, “perhaps you’d like to join us in the carriage. I imagine that we can overlook propriety this one time and allow the engaged couple their own hansom cab.”
Nicholas’s sisters tittered, but Jane squeezed her fiancé’s hand all the same. She was too happy to be embarrassed.
“Thank you,” Nicholas said.
Eric clapped a hand on Nicholas’s back as he walked by, as though exercising a moment of male solidarity.
The noisy bunch of Hollingses and Londoners meshed together ahead of them, leaving Nicholas and Jane alone in the swirling crowd of the railway station.
“I’d like to kiss you properly,” he said, turning her in his arms once again.
“In the middle of all of these people?”
“All the better. That way they know that I’m lucky enough to call you mine.”
“In that case . . .” She bent her head back and let herself be kissed slowly and sweetly, stoking the fire growing between them that promised so much more.
“So, we have use of a cab,” he murmured against her lips.
She kissed the side of his mouth. “Too open to get up to no good.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m sure we could be creative.”
She chuckled. “I’ve seen your idea of creative. Although a cab’s quite a step up from a hayloft. Or a meadow.”
“I don’t know, I was rather fond of those two spots.”
“Perhaps we’ll revisit the Pritchers for our honeymoon.”
He skated a hand from her neck all the way down to the small of her back as though he wasn’t entirely sure that she was real. Except she was. Everything—every hope, dream, and wish—had somehow come true.
“I’ll go anywhere with you,” he promised.
“Then what are we waiting for?”
She slipped her hand into his and, with a laugh, tugged him toward their next adventure.
Acknowledgments
Years ago my mother and father introduced me to the classic film It Happened One Night and instilled in me a love of road-trip movies and books. Nicholas’s battlements are my own little tribute to “the walls of Jericho.”
While each of the Governess books has told the story of two people finding love, the entire series is about women and the friendships that bind them. Thank you to Laura von Holt, Alyssa Cole, Alexis Anne, Mary Chris Escobar, Alexandra Haughton, Lindsay Emory, Sonia, Jackie, Maegan, Katherine, and Christy for being the friends I look to, lean on, and love.
I’m eternally grateful to my editor, Marla Daniels, and the wonderful team at Pocket Star, as well as my agent, Emily Sylvan Kim.
This book would not be possible without my family, who knows that it was a labor of love written on two continents and fueled by jet lag and encouragement, chocolate biscuits, and endless cups of tea.
Don’t miss the rest of the Governess series by Julia Kelly!
Governess Elizabeth Porter tends to two sweet girls who have a penchant for falling ill and needing the doctor. As the girls’ ruses increase and the doctor’s visits become more frequent, Elizabeth can’t help but notice Dr. Fellows’s bewitching bedside manner. . . .
The Governess Was Wicked
* * *
In her fourteen years as a governess for London’s most elite, Mary Woodward has been known to work magic with her difficult charges. And never before has she been tempted to break the strict rules she sets for herself, but oh, never before has she been governess to the daughter of the very handsome and very single Lord Eric Asten. . . .
The Governess Was Wanton
* * *
ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!
About the Author
Julia Kelly is the award-winning author of sexy historical and contemporary romances about smart women and the men who love them. She picked up her first romance novel and the bad habit of reading well past her bedtime when she was thirteen. Years later, she decided to try writing romances of her own and never looked back. Julia is the author of Seduction in the Snow and The Wedding Week, both of which appear as part of the One Week in Love series. She is also a founding member of First Draught, a monthly YouTube show and podcast exploring writing and romance. By day, Julia is an Emmy-nominated journalist in New York City, where she chases breaking news and bosses reporters around. She never met a pair of stilettos she didn’t love and still stays up too late reading.
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The Governess Was Wicked
The Governess Was Wanton
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Julia Kelly
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition November 2016
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Cover art by Chris Cocozza
ISBN 978-1-5011-3935-2
