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‘I am more of a lady than you will ever be a gentleman! At least I have enough decency to know that it is quite wrong to make advances to the staff.’
Ross had the audacity to smile. ‘Stop acting so shocked. I suspect that you are not truly as prim and proper as you would have me believe.’
Something about the way his eyes devoured her after those words made Hannah blush involuntarily, as if he could see through the fabric of the garment.
‘Perhaps I should keep a very close eye on you—just to check that you are not up to no good. Would you like that, Prim?’
One hand curled around her waist possessively, then made a slow journey down the curve of her hip. Hannah had never been handled so…intimately. The twin emotions of outrage and excitement at being desired by this shameless man warred within her. How many times had she dreamed about such things in her lonely bed?
His eyes held such forbidden promise…
My husband is fond of analogies. One of my favourites is a story about two brothers. One is a successful doctor and the other a low-life drunk with no job. Their father is a cruel and violent man. One day the brothers are both asked the same question: Why have you turned out the way you are? Despite the vast difference in their lives, both brothers give exactly the same answer: ‘It’s hardly a surprise when you have a father like mine!’
It is an extreme example, I know, but the past shapes us all. That is a fact. Sometimes it makes us into better people, and other times it holds us back and stops us living life to the full.
In my novel That Despicable Rogue I have created two people who are shaped by their pasts. Ross Jameson has dragged himself out of the gutter and done everything possible to make sure he never has to go there again. Lady Hannah Steers has had her life destroyed by the past and feels that she has no future.
Once I’d created these two people and introduced them to each other they pretty much wrote their own story for me. At times I had no idea what they were going to do next! I hope that you enjoy their trials and tribulations as they seek their happy ending. An ending, incidentally, that they never told me about until it actually happened!
That Despicable
Rogue
Virginia Heath
When VIRGINIA HEATH was a little girl it took her ages to fall asleep, so she made up stories in her head to help pass the time while she was staring at the ceiling. As she got older the stories became more complicated—sometimes taking weeks to get to their happy ending. One day she decided to embrace the insomnia and start writing them down. Virginia lives in Essex with her wonderful husband and two teenagers. It still takes her for ever to fall asleep…
That Despicable Rogue is Virginia Heath’s wonderful debut for Mills & Boon Historical Romance!
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk.
For Greg,
for encouraging me to follow my dreams and write.
For Katie,
who first read what I had written.
And for Alex,
who fortified me with tea and kept me sane.
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