Deborah Simmons - Tempting Kate

Cover Page

Excerpt His strength, even when he was so obviously ill, was alarming, and too late Kate remembered the subtle aura of danger that clung to him. “Oh!” she cried as she felt Wroth’s fingers tangle in her curls. She pushed her palms against the damp hair that covered his broad muscles, but she was trapped, held tightly against him. Heat surrounded her, along with the heady scent of clean sheets, male sweat and…Wroth. Kate felt dizzy, disoriented, as she hovered only inches from his face. Then his lashes lifted, and the eyes that met hers were bright from fever, but surprisingly lucid. Was he awake? So stunned was she that Kate could only stare into the gray pools, her breath caught, her wits flown. She felt his fingers slowly tighten in her curls. “Are you trying to kill me again, pup?” he asked, as clear as day.

Dear Reader Dear Reader, Author Deborah Simmons is back this month with Tempting Kate, a Regency romp complete with a mistaken identity, an accidental shooting—by the heroine—and a touch of mystery. Don’t miss this charming story of a noblewoman in desperate financial straits and the haughty marquis who unwillingly comes to her rescue. And be sure to watch for her short story in our medieval Christmas collection, The Knights of Christmas, coming in October. The Merry Widows—Mary, is the first in award-winning author Theresa Michaels’s terrific new Western series about three widows who form their own close-knit family on a farm in New Mexico. The Bride Thief by Susan Paul, writing as Susan Spencer Paul, is the third book of her medieval BRIDE TRILOGY, featuring the youngest Baldwin brother, Justin, a delightful rogue whom his brothers have decided needs a wife to save him from his wayward ways. And the fourth book of the month, Wildwood, is a Western from 1996 March Madness author Lynna Banning about a young woman determined to involve herself in the investigation of her father’s murder, despite opposition from the local sheriff. Whatever your tastes in reading, we hope you’ll keep a lookout for all four of this month’s titles, wherever Harlequin Historicals are sold. Sincerely, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor Please address questions and book requests to: Harlequin Reader Service U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, buffalo, NY 14269 Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

Title Page Tempting Kate Deborah Simmons www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author DEBORAH SIMMONS Deborah Simmons began her writing career as a newspaper reporter. She turned to fiction after the birth of her first child when a longtime love of historical romance prompted her to pen her own work, published in 1989. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband, two children, two cats and a stray dog that never left. She enjoys hearing from readers at the address below. For a reply, an SASE is appreciated. Deborah Simmons P.O. Box 274 Ontario, Ohio 44862-0274

Dedication For my editor, Margaret O’Neill Marbury

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

Copyright

and too late Kate remembered the subtle aura of danger that clung to him.

“Oh!” she cried as she felt Wroth’s fingers tangle in her curls. She pushed her palms against the damp hair that covered his broad muscles, but she was trapped, held tightly against him. Heat surrounded her, along with the heady scent of clean sheets, male sweat and…Wroth.

Kate felt dizzy, disoriented, as she hovered only inches from his face. Then his lashes lifted, and the eyes that met hers were bright from fever, but surprisingly lucid. Was he awake? So stunned was she that Kate could only stare into the gray pools, her breath caught, her wits flown.

She felt his fingers slowly tighten in her curls. “Are you trying to kill me again, pup?” he asked, as clear as day.

Dear Reader,

Author Deborah Simmons is back this month with Tempting Kate, a Regency romp complete with a mistaken identity, an accidental shooting—by the heroine—and a touch of mystery. Don’t miss this charming story of a noblewoman in desperate financial straits and the haughty marquis who unwillingly comes to her rescue. And be sure to watch for her short story in our medieval Christmas collection, The Knights of Christmas, coming in October.

The Merry Widows—Mary, is the first in award-winning author Theresa Michaels’s terrific new Western series about three widows who form their own close-knit family on a farm in New Mexico.

The Bride Thief by Susan Paul, writing as Susan Spencer Paul, is the third book of her medieval BRIDE TRILOGY, featuring the youngest Baldwin brother, Justin, a delightful rogue whom his brothers have decided needs a wife to save him from his wayward ways. And the fourth book of the month, Wildwood, is a Western from 1996 March Madness author Lynna Banning about a young woman determined to involve herself in the investigation of her father’s murder, despite opposition from the local sheriff.

Whatever your tastes in reading, we hope you’ll keep a lookout for all four of this month’s titles, wherever Harlequin Historicals are sold.

Sincerely,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

Please address questions and book requests to:

Harlequin Reader Service

U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, buffalo, NY 14269

Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Deborah Simmons began her writing career as a newspaper reporter. She turned to fiction after the birth of her first child when a longtime love of historical romance prompted her to pen her own work, published in 1989. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband, two children, two cats and a stray dog that never left. She enjoys hearing from readers at the address below. For a reply, an SASE is appreciated.

Deborah Simmons

P.O. Box 274

Ontario, Ohio 44862-0274

For my editor, Margaret O’Neill Marbury

The marquis of Wroth was restless.

Waving away his driver, he decided to walk the few blocks to his London town house. It was nearly midnight, but the fashionable neighborhood still rang with the sound of coaches ferrying their glittering passengers from one ball to another, and Grayson Ashford Ryland Wescott, the fourth marquis, welcomed the chance to stretch his legs after a tedious hour spent among society’s elite.

Unfortunately, the exercise did little to curb the odd sensation that had been plaguing him for months now, escalating today, on the occasion of his thirtysecond birthday. He saw no reason for the unfamiliar ennui. In the years since he came into his title, at the tender age of fifteen, he had achieved everything he set out to do, attaining a position of wealth, power and prestige that was the envy of his peers. What more could a man want?

At first, he had put the vague discontent down to a lack of challenges in his life. He had gone as far as he wanted to politically, exerting enormous influence behind the scenes rather than in the House itself. Although his various businesses were thriving, he could easily hand over their management to one of his many capable employees. The pursuits of hunting, boxing and racing his curricle had palled as he grew older, and even gambling seemed little risk these days.