Sheer Mischief
Page 41
“Do you really mean it?” She shivered. He had just said he was in love with her. Somewhere out there in the real world, Paula was expecting her back to close the shop, and here she was, standing in the middle of Guy Cassidy’s kitchen listening to this.
“Of course I bloody well mean it,” Guy declared indignantly.
“It’s just that I still keep expecting someone from Candid Camera to leap out of the fridge,” Janey murmured, glancing over her shoulder to make sure. “What time did you say Maxine was bringing Josh and Ella back?”
“Not for ages.” He grinned. “This was a carefully planned campaign, sweetheart. You don’t seriously think I’d risk being interrupted by that rabble, do you?”
“Hmm.” Janey, her fingers still unsteady, touched his mouth. “Just as well I didn’t ask Paula to deliver the flowers.”
Guy kissed her again. “I seem to be doing all the talking here.” His tone was gently admonishing. “You haven’t even told me yet how you feel about all this. Is it OK with you, or do you have strong feelings about getting seriously involved with a bad-tempered photographer, two noisy juvenile delinquents, and an out-of-control nanny?”
Janey’s thoughts flew back to the night of the fair, when Alexander Norcross had warned her of the dangers of one-parent families. “I don’t know,” she said lightly. “Are you only doing this because it’s easier than finding a replacement for Maxine?”
Guy laughed. “Brilliant idea. I haven’t threatened to sack her for weeks. Do you really think she’d go, if we asked nicely?”
Janey breathed a guilty sigh of relief. So Maxine hadn’t told him yet. She hadn’t seriously suspected he would do such a thing, but it was nice to know for sure.
Then she smiled, because “nice” was such a hopelessly inadequate word to describe how it felt, knowing that Guy really did love her for herself. Not all men had ulterior motives, Janey reminded herself. Alan was a bad experience she could put behind her now. No two men in the world, after all, could be more different than Alan and Guy.
“No, I’m not looking for a cheap nanny,” he told Janey, stroking her hair away from her face and gazing into her eyes. He was looking for a wife, but there was no need to alarm her with that just now. There was no need to hurry; they had all the time in the world to get to know each other properly…
“Good,” said Janey, “because I’m not cheap.”
“Unlike your very reasonably priced roses.”
“Nobody’s ever given me flowers before.” She gazed lovingly at them, her eyes bright with tears of happiness. “Oh dear, I’ve got a terrible confession to make.”
Guy looked at her. “Go on.”
“I thought you were buying them for some horrible new woman in your life. I almost chose the not-so-good ones that I knew wouldn’t last.”
“You’d have been sorry.” He grinned. “So you were jealous? That’s encouraging.”
“Of course I was jealous.” Janey looked ashamed. “All right, I’ll admit something else. I couldn’t face going to London with you because I was too afraid of making a fool of myself. I thought you’d be able to tell how I felt.”
If only she’d realized, thought Guy, how badly he had wanted to know how she felt.
But that was all in the past. Smiling, he stroked her cheek. The flawless skin, as soft to the touch as warm silk, was positively addictive.
“Never mind,” he murmured. “I know now. And you feel just about perfect to me.”
For more Jill Mansell check out
This Could Change Everything
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Acknowledgments
A huge thank-you to Mum, as ever, for all those hours at the word processor; Dad, the only one who understands it; Tina, babysitter extraordinaire; and Pearl, Sarah, and Cino, who all helped too.
About the Author
Jill Mansell lives with her family in Bristol. She used to work in the field of clinical neurophysiology but now writes full time. She watches far too much TV and would love to be one of those super-sporty types but basically can’t be bothered. Nor can she cook—having once attempted to bake a cake for the hospital’s Christmas fair, she was forced to watch while her coworkers played Frisbee with it. But she’s good at Twitter!
2018 Summer Love
Spend your summer with fresh, funny, poignant romance from international bestselling author Jill Mansell.
“Simultaneously heart-warming and heart-wrenching…three witty and warm plot threads intersect with poignant yet painful beauty. Readers will hang on every word, falling in love with the story, its characters, and its emotions.”
—RT Book Reviews for Three Amazing Things About You
For more Jill Mansell, visit:
sourcebooks.com
This Could Change Everything
International bestselling author Jill Mansell weaves a heartwarming tale of friendship, love, and redemption.
All it takes is one email to end her relationship, get her kicked out of her apartment, and just about ruin her life. Essie Phillips never meant for her private rant about her boss to go viral, but when it does, her life as she knows it is over. Solution: move to a new town, find a new job, make new friends. If only it were as simple as that…
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll never want the story to end.
“Vivid and enchanting.”
—Kirkus Reviews for You and Me, Always
For more Jill Mansell, visit:
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Miranda’s Big Mistake
Jill Mansell’s bestseller delivers feel-good fiction about love, friendship, family…and revenge!
Miranda is always falling for the wrong guy, and this time it’s more-than-usually disastrous. But will Miranda learn from her mistake, or move on to the next “perfect” man and ignore the love of her life waiting in the wings…?
Love is always just around the corner in a Jill Mansell novel—with a few surprises and a lot of humor on the way to happiness!
“Mansell’s novel proves the maxims that love is blind and there’s someone for everyone, topped with a satisfying revenge plot that every jilted woman will relish.”
—Booklist
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