Trouble at the Wedding (29 page)
Read Trouble at the Wedding Online
Authors: Laura Lee Guhrke
“Annabel, a duke can't give up his title. There's no means of doing so, and I don't want to. I want the job.” He laughed, as if in disbelief. “Deuce take it, I really do. But only if you are my duchess.”
“I want it, too.”
“Do you, really? I know far better than you what you're in for. Maybe . . .” He paused and swallowed hard, then added diffidently, “Maybe you ought to take another minute and think it over.”
She did. She looked into his handsome face and thought about it long and hard. She looked in those smoky blue eyes with their devil-black lashes, noted all the faint creases of too much high living at the corners of his eyes and mouth, and remembered how that mouth could form its wicked yet charming smile. It was a rake's face, that was for sure. But, like her daddy, she must have a gambler's heart, because she was going to put her money and her future on the line for a rake.
She frowned at him. “Are you goin' to reform once we get married?”
He didn't even blink. “No.”
“Good.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Because I love you just the way you are.”
“And I love you, so don't change. Ever.” He kissed her, a long, lingering kiss, but then, he pulled back, smiling at her. “I might be a rake and you might be just a girl from Gooseneck Bend, Mississippi, but we have two hundred and forty-two guests in there, waiting for us to carry on with this. So . . .” He paused, gesturing to the chapel behind him, “Shall we?”
“I think we have to. It is our duty.”
“Quite right, m'dear,” he said, his voice so highbrow it made her laugh. “Quite right.”
As they walked back toward the chapel, he unexpectedly threw back his head with a shout of laughter. “God, me doing my duty. Who'd have thought it?” He paused outside the chapel doors. “Maybe I am reforming after all.”
“Well, stop it, would you?” she ordered. “I knew the first moment I saw you that you were trouble, and I wouldn't have you any other way.”
Christian and Annabel went back inside, and this time, when the vicar reached the part about any man having just cause, nobody said a word. Annabel's family was probably mighty relieved about that.
LAURA LEE GUHRKE spent seven years in advertising, had a successful catering business, and managed a construction company before she decided writing novels was more fun. The
New York Times
bestselling author of more than sixteen historical romances, Laura has received many literary awards, including romance fiction's highest honor, the RITA® Award, and her books routinely appear on the
USA Today
bestseller list. When she's not tapping away at her keyboard, Laura spends her time relearning how to ski, mastering the wakeboard grab, and trying to actually hit a golf ball, much to the amusement of her friends. She loves hearing from readers, and you may write to her by visiting her website,
www.lauraleeguhrke.com
.
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Trouble at the Wedding
Scandal of the Year
Wedding of the Season
With Seduction in Mind
Secret Desires of a Gentleman
The Wicked Ways of a Duke
And Then He Kissed Her
She's No Princess
The Marriage Bed
His Every Kiss
Guilty Pleasures
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.
TROUBLE AT THE WEDDING
. Copyright © 2012 by Laura Lee Guhrke. 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 JANUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780062096326
Print Edition ISBN: 9780061963179
FIRST EDITION
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