Judith Stacy - Married By Midnight

“Only ones I’m related to.” His grin turned devilish. “Unfortunately.”

The heat inside Amanda boiled, spread through her, weakening her knees. The mere presence of this man two feet away called to her, urged her to move closer, as if he somehow held a power over her she could not resist.

And didn’t want to resist.

“So, anyway,” Nick said, “I came to apologize for my state of dress just now.”

“The lack of it, you mean?”

He grinned again. “Yes. I hope you weren’t offended.”

“Traumatized beyond recovery,” Amanda declared. “I’ll probably have to spend the rest of the day in bed.”

His grin blossomed into a full smile and his gaze dipped to her toes, then rose to her face once more in a swift, hot sweep.

Amanda’s cheeks burned as his gaze caressed her….

THE NANNY

“…one of the most entertaining and sweetly satisfying tales I’ve had the pleasure to encounter.”

—The Romance Reader

THE BLUSHING BRIDE

“…lovable characters that grab your heartstrings…a fun read all the way.”

—Rendezvous

THE DREAMMAKER

“…a delightful story of the triumph of love.”

—Rendezvous

THE HEART OF A HERO

“Judith Stacy is a fine writer with both polished style and heartwarming sensitivity.”

—Bestselling author Pamela Morsi

#619 BORDER BRIDE

Deborah Hale

#620 BADLANDS LAW

Ruth Langan

#621 A PERILOUS ATTRACTION

Patricia Frances Rowell

Married by Midnight

Judith Stacy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Outlaw Love #360

The Marriage Mishap #382

The Heart of a Hero #444

The Dreammaker #486

Written in the Heart #500

The Blushing Bride #521

One Christmas Wish #531

“Christmas Wishes”

The Last Bride in Texas #541

The Nanny #561

Married by Midnight #622

To David—my Superman

To Judy and Stacy—my Kryptonite

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Los Angeles, 1896

Another wedding. Her third in as many months. Could she really be expected to show excitement about yet another trip down the aisle?

At least none of the weddings had been her own.

Trying to look interested in the chatter of the three other young women in the bedchamber, Amanda Van Patton eased onto the foot of her friend’s bed and gripped the carved post. Trousseaus, invitations, china patterns. Amanda feared she might scream if she heard those words one more time.

“ Oh, and look at this.” Cecilia Hastings, the bride-to-be, pulled another trousseau gown from her massive redwood closet and held it in front of her.

It was a promenade dress, pale teal with a matching parasol and hat that Amanda admitted would look wonderful on Cecilia, with her dark hair and green eyes. Another round of “ oohs” and “ aahs” rippled from the other women. Amanda managed an “ oh, lovely.”

Perhaps if she weren’t so tired she might enjoy this impromptu fashion show, she decided, as Cecilia emerged from her closet with a lavender-and-ivory afternoon dress. Amanda had just arrived at the Hastings mansion in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, making the trip from her home in San Francisco in her uncle’s private railroad car. She had already had a busy day before she’d set out on this journey.

“ Oh, it’s darling,” she murmured as Cecilia presented another promenade dress. While the other two women in the room—friends of Cecilia’s whose names Amanda had already forgotten—fawned over the pink creation and its wide-brimmed, white hat with matching flowers, Amanda kept her seat.

No, she wasn’t tired, she admitted to herself. Only bored.

She glanced out the window at the moonlight illuminating the darkness and wondered how much longer she’d have to sit here before she could tactfully retire for the evening.

And why shouldn’t she be bored? She’d just gone through this with her cousins—twice.

Since she was thirteen, Amanda had lived with her aunt and uncle and their four daughters in their Nob Hill mansion. Uncle Philip’s wealth had given the family the best of everything—culminating in her cousins’ weddings.

The twins, a few years younger than Amanda, had married within weeks of each other. Prior to that the Van Patton household had been in chaos for an entire year. Flower selection, dressmakers, menus, musicians and the endless stream of tedious details required to stage a wedding had been the topic of conversation morning, noon and night.

As a bridesmaid for both of her cousins, Amanda had been dragged through each facet of the planning. She’d managed to keep a smile on her face—in public, anyway—through the whole ordeal. She wasn’t sure she could do it much longer.

She drew in a fortifying breath as Cecilia whirled around the bedchamber holding a pale yellow ball gown in front of her, and the other young women broke into applause.

“Radiant…” Amanda said, calling upon her considerable store of bridal compliments.

Luckily, Cecilia’s wedding ceremony was only two days away. Amanda straightened her shoulders. Somehow, she’d get through it. She had to.

After all, she was the sole representative of the Van Patton family present at the Hastings-St. John wedding. Both of her cousins were still off on their own honeymoons, and Aunt Veronica had come down with a case of the hives at the last minute. Uncle Philip was too busy—or too smart—to attend weddings.

That left only Amanda to put in an appearance on behalf of the Van Pattons at what one Los Angeles newspaper’s society column had already proclaimed “the wedding of the season.” The prominence and wealth of the Hastings family allowed for no less.

Amanda pulled her lips upward, forcing a smile as Cecilia headed into the closet once more.

If it hadn’t been a wedding that brought Amanda to Los Angeles she probably would have enjoyed the trip. The Hastings and Van Patton families had been friends for years. They visited back and forth, hosted each other on holidays and occasionally vacationed together. The time they spent together had diminished in the past few years, since Cecilia’s father had died, and everyone had grown older and moved on with life.

But the families stayed in touch. They had, in fact, known each other for more years than Amanda had been part of the San Francisco branch of the Van Patton family. She’d only been sent to live with them eleven years ago when, at age thirteen, her father had passed away and her mother had fallen on hard times.