How the Dukes Stole Christmas Page 38
Her gaze narrowed as she searched his face. “That’s quite a dramatic change in attitude. So, you don’t believe I was scheming to trap you into marriage?”
“No, Rose, I don’t.” He closed the distance between them, until her skirts brushed the tips of his shoes, and he reached to cup her cheeks in his palms. “This is new for me, to care about someone this much. To have it happen so quickly is confusing, too. My first instinct was to push you away. I am dashed sorry I hurt you.”
She swallowed and took a step back, and his arms fell to his sides. “Thank you for apologizing,” she said. “This hasn’t been easy for me, either. I never expected for anything to happen between us or to care for you. And now, everything is ruined.”
“Don’t say that. I cannot accept that I’ve ruined what was between us.”
“Duke, we had one night, one stolen moment together. It can never be anything more.”
“Wrong.” The strength of his voice rang out in the stark winter morning. “It may have been one night, but it changed my life. I don’t want to live like my father, caring for only the newspapers instead of my family. You showed me that. You showed me how meaningless and joyless my life has been until now, until you came into my world.”
She blinked up at him several times. “But you hardly know me.”
“I know you. Even if I hadn’t read your column each week, I would recognize all the qualities that make up who you are. I know you’re smart and loyal, kind and thoughtful. You feel deeply and care about the people who write to you for advice. You’re funny and charming, and a part of my soul unlocks every time you kiss me. Most of all, I know I cannot live without you.”
Her gaze softened but she said nothing for a long moment. He thrust his hands into the pockets of his overcoat and waited, his stomach knotted with the possibility that she would refuse.
“And what do I get in return?” she finally asked.
Hope blossomed in his chest, the first cracks in the ice that had taken up residence there since she left him yesterday. “The world, Rose Walker. I’ll give you whatever you want, whenever you want it.”
“But that’s merely money. I mean, what will you give me here?” She put her hand over her heart.
“My time and attention. You and the life we build together will always come first, before the company and the newspapers. You’ll be the center of my world until I take my dying breath.” Then, terrified but resolved, he stepped off the edge of the cliff and acknowledged what was in his heart. “And love, Rose. So much love you will never doubt it for a single second.”
She bit her lip, her blue eyes bright with emotion and confusion. “You love me?”
Unable to keep from touching her, he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “You captivated me from the first moment I saw you. There is no one else for me. You’re the most capable and confident woman I’ve ever met. I think I started falling for you while reading your column each week.”
“Really? But my mother and the other staff members supplied most of the tips.”
“Perhaps, but the essence of your column, the wit and intelligence, was all you. And that’s what drew me in. You have a gift, a way of relating to people that I admire.”
“I watched you,” she whispered, a pink appearing on her cheeks that had nothing to do with the cold. “I used to stand on the street and wait for you to leave the building. There was something about you that intrigued me. Who was the intense man behind the empire? I found you fascinating.”
Now it was Duke’s turn to be surprised. “I . . . had no idea. I never saw you. Believe me, I would remember.”
She lifted a shoulder. “It was silly. I never thought you would notice me, not in a million years, but I couldn’t stop watching. It was that dashed scar.”
A smile twisted his lips. “A reporter at heart. That’s why you must come back to work for HPC.”
“As what? Mrs. Rose Walker is no more.”
“Do whatever you want. Write an advice column again or work in the newsroom. Cover games at the Polo Grounds. It makes no difference to me. All that matters is that you come back. And while Mrs. Rose Walker may be no more, I believe Mrs. Rose Havermeyer is available.”
“Duke.” She wrapped her arms around herself, her lips twitching with what he prayed was happiness. “You are making it quite difficult to remain angry with you.”
“Then stop trying. Put me out of my misery, Rose.”
“What happens if I only want the job? Will you rescind the offer?”
His stomach sank. Christ, she was going to turn him down. Ignoring how much that hurt, he shook his head. “The offer at Havermeyer Publishing is yours, regardless of what happens between us.”
A grin slowly emerged on her face, one that confused the hell out of Duke. “First,” she said, “my mother should take over Mrs. Walker’s Weekly. Most of the recipes and household tips were hers anyway.”
This was a promising demand. “Fine. What else?”
“I want to work my way up as a reporter, starting wherever Mr. Pike sees fit to assign me.”
“He will undoubtedly be glad to have you. And what of the rest?”
She placed her palm on his sternum and Duke’s heart pounded beneath her touch. “The rest of what?” The teasing glint in her eyes gave her away and heat slid through him, warming his blood.
“The rest of my life. Will you promise to share it with me?”
“Will you hold up your end of the bargain? You have made promises, Duke Havermeyer.”
A man’s only as good as his word.
He reached into his pocket and withdrew the small box he’d carried with him today. More than anything else, he needed this woman to be his wife. “I intend to keep them. I will never lie to you. Laughter and love, my dear, every day, while the breath remains in my body.” He flipped open the box’s lid to reveal his mother’s diamond ring.
Rose gasped, a hand briefly covering her mouth. “But what of your empire? What will happen to it?”
“I’ll entrust it to others now and again. I will never put my so-called empire before you or our family as my father did, not even on Christmas.” He dropped to one knee right there in the snow. “Marry me, Rose Walker.”
She nodded and launched herself at him. His arms came around to hold her tight, relief and happiness weakening his knees.
“Was that a yes?” he asked, his voice muffled in her hat.
“Yes, Duke. Yes to loving you, and yes to saving you from a life of loneliness and boredom.”
Joy filled him, a heady ebullience that felt like a thousand tiny bubbles in a glass of champagne. “I have no doubt you will succeed. After all, I’ve said many times that Rose Walker is a marvel.” He bent his head, his lips hovering directly above hers. “And now she is mine.”
About Joanna Shupe
Award-winning author JOANNA SHUPE has always loved history, ever since she saw her first Schoolhouse Rock cartoon. She writes sexy books set in Gilded Age New York City featuring powerful tycoons and unconventional women.
Joanna’s first Gilded Age historical novel, Magnate, was named one of the Best Books of 2016 by Publishers Weekly, and one of 2016’s top romances by the Washington Post and Kobo. In 2013 she won Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart® Award for Best Historical.
She currently lives in New Jersey with her two spirited daughters and dashing husband.
To receive more information about Joanna’s new releases and to sign up for her Gilded Goodies newsletter, visit joannashupe.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
The Shortbread
Dear Reader,
The MacLean family has been making shortbread for generations—my mother taught me a few years ago (complete with interesting side notes, which I’ve left below), as her mother taught her, and her mother’s mother before that.
I share it with my mom’s blessing . . . and a guarantee that it is far closer to the shortbread in Joanna’s novella tha
n it is to the biscuits in Tessa’s, Sophie’s, and mine.
Though, I should warn you: MacLeans are Scots, so I can’t promise there isn’t a little bit of magic in here, after all . . .
Much love,
Sarah
Ingredients
330 grams (3 cups) sifted, all-purpose flour
100 grams (1/2 cup) white sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) soft butter
1 egg (fresh, if possible)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, sugar & butter by hand. Add egg, knead until the dough comes together. (Note: My mom adds, “The kneading can be tiresomely long, so I often ask your father to do that.”)
Divide into quarters and roll each into a half-inch-thick circle. Cut into eight equal triangular pieces. Add designs (pinpricks, hatch marks, your pleasure) with a fork.
Place on parchment paper or a buttered and floured baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 300° and bake 25–30 minutes longer, watching carefully until shortbread is “shortbread colored.” (Note: Non-MacLeans would call this a pale golden brown).
Let cool.
Fall in love.
Announcements
Don’t miss out on the next books from these award-winning and bestselling authors!
The Wallflower Wager
By Tessa Dare
They call him the Duke of Ruin.
To an undaunted wallflower, he’s just the beast next door.
Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high society—and now he wants to get even.
Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldn’t take into her home and her heart.
When her imposing—and attractive—new neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes.
Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens?
And a two-legged dog.
And a foul-mouthed parrot.
And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . .
Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldn’t know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon he’s covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now she’s set her mind and heart on saving him.
Not if he ruins her first.
Brazen and the Beast
By Sarah MacLean
The Lady’s Plan
When Lady Henrietta Sedley declares her twenty-ninth year her own, she has plans to inherit her father’s business, to make her own fortune, and to live her own life. But first, she intends to experience a taste of the pleasure she’ll forgo as a confirmed spinster. Everything is going perfectly . . . until she discovers the most beautiful man she’s ever seen tied up in her carriage and threatening to ruin the Year of Hattie before it’s even begun.
The Bastard’s Proposal
When he wakes in a carriage at Hattie’s feet, Whit, a king of Covent Garden known to all the world as Beast, can’t help but wonder about the strange woman who frees him—especially when he discovers she’s headed for a night of pleasure . . . on his turf. He is more than happy to offer Hattie all she desires . . . for a price.
An Unexpected Passion
Soon, Hattie and Whit find themselves rivals in business and pleasure. She won’t give up her plans; he won’t give up his power . . . and neither of them sees that if they’re not careful, they’ll have no choice but to give up everything . . . including their hearts.
The Duke’s Stolen Bride
By Sophie Jordan
An urgent dilemma . . .
To save her impoverished family, Marian Langley will become a mistress. But she will not be just any mistress. Marian intends to become so skilled, so coveted, that she can set her own terms, retaining control over her body and her fate. Only one problem remains: finding a tutor . . .
A scandalous solution . . .
Other men deprive themselves of pleasure for propriety’s sake. Nathaniel, Duke of Warrington, would much rather be depraved. He slakes his desires with professionals who ask nothing of him but his coin. Marian’s proposal—that he train her without taking her virtue—is an intriguing diversion, until their lessons in seduction spin out of control.
And a most unlikely duchess . . .
When Marian is blackmailed into engagement by a man she despises, Nate impulsively steals her away. Though he never intended to take a wife, he can’t tolerate the idea of Marian forfeiting her freedom to another. But can he bear to give her what she demands—a real marriage?
The Rogue of Fifth Avenue
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Silver-tongued lawyer.
Keeper of secrets.
Breaker of hearts.
He can solve any problem . . .
In serving the wealthy power brokers of New York society, Frank Tripp has finally gained the respectability and security his own upbringing lacked. There’s no issue he cannot fix . . . except for one: the beautiful and reckless daughter of an important client who doesn’t seem to understand the word danger.
She’s not looking for a hero . . .
Excitement lies just below Forty-Second Street and Mamie Greene is determined to explore all of it—while playing a modern-day Robin Hood along the way. What she doesn’t need is her father’s lawyer dogging her every step and threatening her efforts to help struggling families in the tenements.
However, she doesn’t count on Frank’s persistence . . . or the sparks that fly between them. When fate upends all her plans, Mamie must decide if she’s willing to risk it all on a rogue . . .
Praise for the Novels of Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan, and Joanna Shupe
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare
“Alex and Chase are playful, intense, and stubborn—their flaws make them a magical match, not perfect but perfect for each other.”
—New York Times Book Review
“If historical Regency romances are all the inevitable inheritors of the work of Jane Austen, Dare is undoubtedly the lady’s clearest successor when it comes to her wit.”
—Entertainment Weekly
Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean
“She is, without question, the utterly intoxicating queen of historical romance.”
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“Here [MacLean] kicks off a new series, The Bareknuckle Bastards, that promises her darkest take yet. But even when MacLean goes dark . . . the sparkling wit and essential goodness of her characters shine through.”
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This Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan
“The balance of heat and suspense will delight Regency romance readers.”
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“The fourth fast-paced and fun installment in best-selling Jordan’s Rogue Files series is another expertly calibrated mix of vibrantly etched characters and steamy sensuality that will delight both longtime fans and new readers alike.”
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A Scandalous Deal by Joanna Shupe
“Joanna Shupe vividly evokes 1890s New York, from glamorous restaurants to a Bowery boxing hall to the original Madison Square Garden.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Shupe has done it again . . . with stories this fun, readers won’t skip any of Shupe’s books.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Also by the Authors
Also by Tessa Dare
Girl Meets Duke series
The Duchess Deal
The Governess Game
The Wallflower Wager
Castles Ever After series
Romancing the Duke
Say Yes to the Marquess
When a Scot Ties the Knot
Spindle Cove series
A Night to Surrender
Once Upon a
Winter’s Eve (novella)
A Week to Be Wicked
A Lady by Midnight
Beauty and the Blacksmith (novella)
Any Duchess Will Do
Lord Dashwood Missed Out (novella)
Do You Want to Start a Scandal
The Stud Club series
One Dance with a Duke
Twice Tempted by a Rogue
Three Nights with a Scoundrel
The Wanton Dairymaid series
Goddess of the Hunt
Surrender of a Siren
A Lady of Persuasion
Novellas
His Bride for the Taking
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright
How to Catch a Wild Viscount
Also by Sarah MacLean
The Bareknuckle Bastards
Wicked and the Wallflower
Brazen and the Beast
Scandal & Scoundrel
The Rogue Not Taken
A Scot in the Dark
The Day of the Duchess
The Rules of Scoundrels
A Rogue by Any Other Name
One Good Earl Deserves a Lover
No Good Duke Goes Unpunished
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover