Darcy Maguire - Her Marriage Secret

She froze. His voice was unmistakable, low and smooth, awakening her body to long-suppressed reactions. Jake, her Jake. Her heart skipped a beat. She’d thought she’d never hear that voice again. She wasn’t sure whether to cry or scream. She looked up.

His eyes bored into hers. Green eyes that tore at her heart, and she had the perverse urge to leap into his strong arms and hold him. But there was too much between them to embrace him, too much to even move. He was part of the past and there was no way she’d let him or any other man into her heart again, just to break it.

He turned to Meg’s best friend, Suzie. “Jacob Adams. I’m Meg’s—”

“Friend.” Meg found her voice. “An old friend….”

We’re delighted to present a fresh new talent for Harlequin Romance®

DARCY MAGUIRE

We hope you enjoy Darcy’s first novel, Her Marriage Secret. This is the emotional story of Meg, whose life is disrupted by the arrival of her handsome estranged husband….

Darcy Maguire wanted to grow up to be a fairy, but her wings never grew, her magic never worked and her life was no fairy tale. But one thing she knew for certain was that she was going to find her soul mate and live happily ever after. Darcy found her dark and handsome hero on a blind date, married him a year later and found that love truly is the soul of creativity. With four children too young to play matchmaker for (yet!) Darcy satisfies the romantic in her by finding true love for her fictional characters. It was this passion for romance, and her ability to sit in a chair every day, that led to her first sale. Darcy lives in Melbourne, Australia, and loves to read widely, sew and sneak off to the movies without the kids.

Darcy Maguire’s second novel, Accidental Bride

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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PROLOGUE

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

THE house was dark.

Jake quickened his pace, tightening his grip on his case as he moved through the shadows. She should be home. It was too early to be asleep. An unusual time to be shopping. She wouldn’t be out on a Tuesday night…

His heart hammered in his chest, drumming against his ribs, deafening his thoughts as he fumbled for the keys.

He paused. Took a deep breath. Plucked the right key from the bunch and shoved it in the lock.

Jake pushed open the door and felt the cold emptiness of the house envelop him. Fear gripped him. Where was she?

He moved quickly through the house, flicking the switches, flooding the rooms with light. The place was neat, cool, tidy. He swiped a finger along the kitchen bench and examined the fine layer of dust on the tip of it. Jake shuddered.

He yanked his mobile from his belt and punched Danny’s number. The painful knot of fear in the pit of his gut swelled with every ring.

‘You’re back,’ Danny said.

‘Where is she?’ His voice cracked.

A pause. ‘I’ll come round.’ And Danny rang off.

Jake dialled again, getting a message service. What the hell was going on? What couldn’t Dan tell him over the phone?

He ran a hand through his hair. If something had happened to Meg, Danny could have rung him. He always had his mobile with him. Icy fingers squeezed his chest. Why the hell hadn’t Danny rung him?

Jake clenched his fists by his sides. She was his life, his reason for being. What the hell had happened? He snatched the phone book up and slammed it onto the bench, rifled the pages for hospitals.

‘You won’t find her in there.’ Danny’s voice was slow and gentle.

Jake swung around. Danny stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched, his face dour.

‘What is it? What’s happened to Meg? Where is she?’

‘She’s gone.’

Gone. His legs shook under him and he sank into the nearest chair. ‘What do you mean gone? Gone where? How?’

‘She left you three weeks ago.’

‘What?’ His voice broke and he covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his bristles. This couldn’t be happening. Not to them. Not to him. Not after all he knew. He was never going to muck up his life like his parents had.

‘She packed up and left you.’

‘I don’t understand.’ The words choked him. He did everything right, didn’t he? Sure, he was away a lot. He was working hard for the security of owning their own home. Which was more than his own father ever had…half-sloshed in the front lounge and out of work until he walked out the door one day and didn’t come back.

Danny touched him on the shoulder. ‘She didn’t love you, mate, that’s all.’

‘That’s all?’ The words burst from his throat. How could it be? They were like music together. His loins heated at the memory of her.

‘You shouldn’t have swept her off her feet like that, so soon after her dad dying and all.’ Danny stalked to the door. ‘You didn’t deserve her.’

Jake lifted his head.

‘You weren’t good enough for her, mate.’ Danny stood tall and rigid, glaring at him. ‘You took her at a vulnerable time but now she’s woken up to her senses. She wants a life that doesn’t include you.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Apart from being here when you weren’t?’ He shifted his weight and looked at the floor. ‘Because I love her.’

‘What?’ Jake stood up and reduced the distance between them in a heartbeat, his blood surging with fury.

Danny quailed. ‘I didn’t tell Meg. Truly, I didn’t.’ He looked to the door. ‘I wish I had.’

Pain branded Jake deep in the chest. ‘Get out!’

The man who had been his best mate for as long as he could remember turned away from him like a stranger and melted into the shadows.

Jake blindly stumbled to the mantelpiece, his breath coming harsh and hard. He reached out, touching the photos, tracing Meg’s smiling eyes, her soft lips, her silky blonde hair that used to drape over his chest as she slept.

So he wasn’t what she wanted.

Regrets assailed him. Yes. He’d done a lot wrong. Too fast. Too busy. Too blind. He looked to the door and it was all he could do not to go after her. But it wouldn’t change anything. He was still the man he was.

Jake sat in lonely silence, his thoughts jagged, painful. A bitter battle raged between his own desires and the needs of the woman he loved with all his heart and soul.

There was only one decision to make. He was going to become his own man, become more civilised, become the man that would win Meg’s heart. And then he’d find her, make her his…and never let her go.