He smiled back. “It’s no different now. Just think of our virtual reality as the dress rehearsal.”
Brennan draped his arm around Leah’s waist and led her over to his family.
“Mum, this is Leah,” he said. “Leah, this is Kerri, my mother.”
Brennan gave Leah a sneaky sideways glance, which she returned.
Kerri encircled her arms around Leah and kissed her quickly on the cheek. “It’s lovely to finally meet the woman I’ve heard so much about. From what I can understand, love, you already know me?”
Leah smiled. “Yes, Kerri, it feels that way. But so we do everything right, it’s lovely to meet you.”
Jack repeated the same greetings, giving Leah a kiss on the cheek.
Alex stepped forward then and put his arms around Leah. “Hi, Leah. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“Hi, Alex.”
Joanne nodded, cobra lips pursed. “Hi, Leah,” she said with clipped words.
“Hi, Joanne,” Leah said, exchanging a glance with Brennan.
Kerri clapped her hands together. “Brennan, you grab your bags out of the car and you can show Leah to your room. I have a few more things to prepare for breakfast.”
Brennan smiled and jogged to the car to grab their bags out of the ute’s tray.
“It’s lovely that you could join us this weekend, Leah,” said Kerri.
Leah smiled. “Thank you for having me.”
Leah and Brennan made their way through the house and up to Brennan’s bedroom. She walked immediately to the bedroom window and looked out over the lush countryside.
“Oh, how I missed this view,” she said turning to smile at Brennan.
“Oh, how I missed you,” he said, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her body close. He kissed her on the neck.
“Now come on, behave yourself,” she said, fruitlessly trying to pull away from him. He just held her tighter. “Remember what happened last time. Your mum came upstairs and we nearly got caught in a rather compromising position.”
He smiled and kissed her on the mouth, holding his lips to hers for a long moment. “I love you so much, Leah. You have no idea how happy you make me.”
Leah smiled blissfully. “Believe me, Brennan, I do.”
BESTSELLING TITLES BY ESCAPE PUBLISHING…
King Hall
by Scarlett Dawn
A fresh, meaty, sink-your-teeth-in-and-hold-on-tight new adult fantasy series kicks off with King Hall…
King Hall — where the Mysticals go to learn their craft, get their degrees, and transition into adulthood. And where four new Rulers will rise and meet their destinies.
Lily Ruckler is adept at one thing: survival. Born a Mystical hybrid, her mere existence is forbidden, but her nightmare is only about to start. Fluke, happenstance, and a deep personal loss finds Lily deeply entrenched with those who would destroy her simply for existing — The Mystical Kings. Being named future Queen of the Shifters shoves Lily into the spotlight, making her one of the most visible Mysticals in the world. But with risk comes a certain solace — her burgeoning friendships with the other three Rulers: a wicked Vampire, a wild-child Mage, and a playboy Elemental. Backed by their faith and trust, Lily begins to relax into her new life.
Then chaos erupts as the fragile peace between Commoners and Mysticals is broken, and suddenly Lily realises the greatest threat was never from within, and her fear takes on a new name: the Revolution.
Detained
by Ainslie Paton
From one of Australia’s hottest new authors comes a story about an international scandal, a billionaire, and a fearless reporter who might just save the day…
Confined in a cold, dull room in the depths of a Shanghai airport, a journalist chasing a career break and a businessman with a shadowy past play a game of truth or dare — deliberately not exchanging names.
They tell each other their most painful secrets and burning desires. One dare leads to a kiss and a wild night of illicit passion, setting off a dangerous sequence of events, bringing exposure and disgrace.
Only the brutal truth can save them. But it will also rip them apart. And it will take more than daring before they can build a new truth together.
For Your Eyes Only
by Sandra Antonelli
The smart-talking, quip-cracking, pop-culture addicted author of A Basic Renovation is back with a new romance for grown ups…
By day, Willa is a mild-mannered scientist; by night, she’s on the trail of stolen classified documents. Technically that makes Detective John Tilbrook on her side, but Willa has secrets she can’t share…
John is instantly fascinated by the new physicist on the block, even though Willa keeps her distance. A fan of coincidence and happy endings, John has plans for the secretive scientist with the wicked sense of humour.
But Willa has more than her heart on the line — her best friend is at the top of the suspect list for espionage, she’s having trouble leading her double life, and somehow her hair just turned purple. As days speed past, Willa’s life unravels as she struggles to come to terms with her unexpected feelings for a man she just met. John’s a big fan of happily-ever-afters, but will he believe in love and happiness when Willa divulges the real reason she’s in town? Will he break the law he’s sworn to uphold — for love?
LOVED THE STORY?
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK
Take our short survey to
claim a FREE eBook!
BEGIN SURVEY
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Sign up to our newsletter
Share your reading experience on:
The Escapades Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Watch our reviews, author interviews and more on Escape Publishing TV
ISBN: 9780857990846
Title: Beautiful Illusion
Copyright © 2013 by Jacquie Underdown
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. NSW, Australia, 2067.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and are used under license to the Publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
www.escapepublishing.com.au
Beautiful Illusion Page 22