them.
How she longed to cut it down, to make it so that nothing could keep them apart.
“There are no secrets in the ton,” he added.
Well, she didn’t care if the entire population of England, Ireland and Scotland knew. It wasn’t like she was an heiress with prospects, or anyone else was going to come along and claim her.
“Roxley?”
“Yes, Harry?”
She pressed her lips together every time he called her that. Did he have to use that horrid name? But taking a deep breath, she dove in. “What do you see when you look at me?”
“Not much,” he said. “If you haven’t noticed, it is rather dark out here.”
She rolled around the tree until she was right beside him. “Oh, do stop being him. I deplore him.”
“Him? Who?”
“You know very well who I mean.”
“Harry—”
“Roxley!” Harriet was losing patience with him. If he pushed her much further, she would go find Fieldgate. “Stop being the fool all London takes you for.”
“But he’s quite a handy fellow that fool.”
“He’s an annoying jinglebrains.”
“That’s the point, minx.”
“I know who you are.”
“Do you?” He’d turned a bit and whispered the question into her ear.
Her breath caught in her throat, so that she was only able to answer with one word. “Yes.”
Oh, yes, she knew who he was. The only man who had ever made her heart beat like this.
And then he moved closer, brushing against the hem of her gown, and Harriet clung to the tree to steady herself. “No one would believe you, minx.”
Minx. Not Harry, but minx. His minx.
Harriet looked up at the bit of the night sky peeking through the thick canopy of leaves above and spied a single star. A lone, twinkling light. And so she wished.
“You don’t have to hide from me.”
It was an invitation, one she knew he desired. She’d seen his struggle for months now—this game he played, this role he lived. This capering fool. Society’s ridiculous gadfly.
But that wasn’t the man she knew.
No, the one she loved, adored, desired was the one with his gaze fixed on hers, his jaw set as if he were determined to do the right thing.
Oh, he’d chosen the right costume for the night. Lancelot. A man conflicted by duty and passion.
And he told her as much, his words almost desperate. ”Why did you have to grow up, Harry? Why couldn’t you have stayed in Kempton—stayed my impossible imp?”
“I still am.”
“Oh, you are, but in entirely new and utterly impossible ways.”
“Why is it impossible, Roxley?” It certainly wouldn’t be if you would but kiss me.
“I promised your brothers I’d keep an eye on you.”
Harriet moved closer, caught hold of his lapels and did the impossible, even as she whispered, “Then close your eyes.”
Watch for the rest of
Harriet and Roxley’s story in
IF WISHES WERE EARLS
Coming Winter 2013
About the Author
ELIZABETH BOYLE has always loved romance and now lives it each and every day by writing adventurous and passionate stories that readers from all around the world have described as “page-turners.” Since first being published in 1996, she’s seen her books become New York Times and USA Today bestsellers and won the RWA RITA® Award and Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Awards. She resides in Seattle with her husband and two sons, or “heroes in training” as she likes to call them. Readers can visit her on the Web at www.elizabethboyle.com.
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By Elizabeth Boyle
And the Miss Ran Away With the Rake
Along Came a Duke
Lord Langley Is Back in Town
Mad About the Duke
How I Met My Countess
Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress
Confessions of a Little Black Gown
Tempted By the Night
Love Letters From a Duke
His Mistress By Morning
This Rake of Mine
Something About Emmaline
It Takes a Hero
Stealing the Bride
One Night of Passion
Once Tempted
No Marriage of Convenience
Coming Soon
If Wishes Were Earls
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from If Wishes Were Earls copyright © 2013 by Elizabeth Boyle.
AND THE MISS RAN AWAY WITH THE RAKE. Copyright © 2013 by Elizabeth Boyle. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition APRIL 2013 ISBN: 9780062089076
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062089083
FIRST EDITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Author’s Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
An Excerpt from If Wishes Were Earls
About the Author
By Elizabeth Boyle
Copyright
About the Publisher