“Until the wedding, then,” I said, pulling back from him, but my heart seemed to shrink even at that simple parting. “It is still too far away,” I sighed, hating the sound of my own weakness. “Whole lives can be changed in such a long time, and freedoms won and lost.”
I spoke with conviction, for I knew it to be true. After all, it had been barely a month since he’d arrived on our shores. And how much had my life changed in that time?
“Then perhaps you should be still,” Rafe murmured. “And let me kiss you again.”
And so I did.
We stood there long and silent in the brilliant morning light, the great promise and danger of the world held at bay, unwilling and unready to be caught up again quite yet in our work for Crown and country. For in these stolen moments, this at least was one lesson I’d learned:
Among the ranks of the Maids of Honor, love was the most precious freedom of all.
© Elizabeth Bemis-Hittinger, Bemis Promotions
Jennifer McGowan was born in Ohio, grew up in Montana, and studied in Paris. She has held numerous writing jobs over the years, but author is by far her favorite. A past RWA Golden Heart Award winner and an unabashed fan of all things Elizabethan, Jenn is delighted to publish her debut novel, Maid of Secrets. She currently lives and writes in Ohio. Visit her at jennifermcgowan.com.
Simon & Schuster • New York
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