(2012) Evie Undercover
Page 23
Passed the wide stone staircase that led up to Tom’s bedroom, she paused for a moment and stared up at the landing. If only he was up there in his room, waiting for her, she thought in a moment of intense longing. If only. Then she tore herself away and continued across the hall to the bedroom she was using.
She pushed open the door. A thin shaft of moonlight cut into the darkness, sending tall shadows into the far corners of the room and up to the wooden rafters. She went over to the lamp that stood on the bedside table nearest to her and switched it on.
The lamplight bathed the centre of the room in a warm golden glow. She stood next to the lamp and looked slowly around the room, trying to lock an imprint into her memory so that she could take it with her when she left. Her gaze came to rest on the centre of the bed, and she drew her breath in sharply.
In the middle of the white sheet lay a small black scorpion. The beam of the table lamp was bouncing off its hard shell, and it shone with ebony lustre.
She took a hesitant step towards the scorpion, leaned toward it and peered intently at it. It was motionless – there was no movement at all.
She went closer still to the bed.
Small though the scorpion was, she could clearly see that neither of its claws was moving, nor were its legs, nor was the tail – not even so much as a fraction of an inch. And the shell looked hard, unusually hard. She looked at it from different angles. She could almost swear it was a stone fossil or lifeless, but that wasn’t possible – it had obviously managed to make its way to the centre of the bed.
She took a step back, picked up the corner of the sheet and lightly shook it. The scorpion rolled over a couple of times and came to a stop. It lay absolutely still.
Tentatively she stretched out her arm and touched the back of the shell. It was made of stone. Her heart stood still. She straightened up and her hand flew to her mouth. Where had it come from and how had it got on her bed?
And then she knew.
She let out a long sigh of absolute joy, and her face broke into a smile of sheer happiness.
‘Well, aren’t you going to ask me to sleep with you, Evie?’
His words came from behind her.
She spun round to face the door and he was there, in the doorway, one arm resting casually against the side of the door, the other holding a jacket which dragged on the floor. There was a dark shadow along the square line of his jaw.
‘Tom! Oh, Tom!’
She flew across the room and into his arms, tears falling down her cheeks.
‘My Evie.’ He buried his face in her hair. ‘Don’t you ever do that to me again. The last two weeks have been a bloody nightmare.’
‘I won’t. I promise I won’t.’ She hugged him tightly. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been as miserable as I’ve been since I left you. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.’
‘You’re never going to lose me, Evie, you can be sure of that. I intend to be here at your side for the rest of your life. That is, if you’ll let me.’ He put his finger under her chin and raised her face to look into his. ‘It’s all very simple really. I’m sure you love me, and I know that I love you and want to marry you.’
Her tears died away.
‘But that article in Pure Dirt, and what I did, not that I did it …’
‘Ah, how I’ve missed that Evie logic,’ he murmured, stroking her hair. ‘I never for one minute believed you wrote the story. I knew you could never have done a thing like that, not to me, not to anyone else.’
‘But I’d pretended to be someone I wasn’t, and you knew that I must have told Gabriela everything you told me. I was drunk – it was the Wagamama night. She kept filling my glass with wine and more wine. She must be the one who sent the story to Pure Dirt.’
‘I guessed you’d told her, and I guessed she’d passed it on. Technically, though, I’m not sure that I ever asked you to keep it to yourself. But even if I had, I knew you must have been somehow tricked into telling her – you aren’t the sort of person to do the dirty on anyone, so you wouldn’t be expecting anyone to do the dirty on you. But she’s actually done us a favour.’
‘She has?’
‘The whole shebang has made me realise how much I love you. I have done since the day we got here. I was just too blind to see it. Which reminds me, you haven’t answered my question yet.’
She giggled. ‘This sounds like a conversation we’ve had before. What question are you talking about this time?’
‘I seem to recall asking you to marry me.’
‘You mean “I love you and want to marry you” is a question? I know I wasn’t an ace reporter for long, but isn’t that more of a statement?’ She looked up into his face, her eyes opening wide in mock bewilderment. ‘Or don’t you think?’
He smiled down at her.
‘I think that I want you to be the last thing I see before I close my eyes tonight, and the first thing I see when I open them in the morning. Tonight, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of our lives. I want to make an honest woman of you, Evie Shaw. So, will you marry me?’
‘Of course, I will. Honesty is always the—’
His lips silenced hers before she could reach the full stop.
~ Ends ~
About the Author
Liz was born in London and now lives in South Oxfordshire with her husband. After graduating from university with a Law degree, she moved to California where she led a varied life, trying her hand at everything from cocktail waitressing on Sunset Strip to working as a secretary to the CEO of a large Japanese trading company, not to mention a stint as ‘resident starlet’ at MGM. On returning to England, Liz completed a degree in English and taught for a number of years before developing her writing career.
Liz has written several short stories, articles for local newspapers and a novella. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Her debut novel, The Road Back has been highly praised by the industry.
For more information visit www.lizharrisauthor.com and you can follow Liz on twitter @lizharrisauthor
More Choc Lit from Liz Harris
The Road Back
Liz Harris
‘A splendid love story, so beautifully told’.
Colin Dexter O.B.E. Best-selling author of the Inspector Morse novels.
When Patricia accompanies her father, Major George Carstairs, on a trip to Ladakh, north of the Himalayas, in the early 1960s, she sees it as a chance to finally win his love. What she could never have foreseen is meeting Kalden – a local man destined by circumstances beyond his control to be a monk, but fated to be the love of her life.
Despite her father’s fury, the lovers are determined to be together, but can their forbidden love survive?
A wonderful story about a passion that crosses cultures, a love that endures for a lifetime, and the hope that can only come from revisiting the past.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Road-Back-Choc-ebook/dp/B008RMKX0U
More from Choc Lit
If you’ve enjoyed Liz’s hero, you’ll enjoy the rest of our selection. Here’s a sample:
Highland Storms
Sequel to Trade Winds
Winner of the 2012 Historical Romantic Novel of the Year Award
Who can you trust?
Betrayed by his brother and his childhood love, Brice Kinross needs a fresh start. So he welcomes the opportunity to leave Sweden for the Scottish Highlands to take over the family estate.
But there’s trouble afoot at Rosyth in 1754 and Brice finds himself unwelcome. The estate’s in ruin and money is disappearing. He discovers an ally in Marsaili Buchanan, the beautiful redheaded housekeeper, but can he trust her?
Marsaili is determined to build a good life. She works hard at being a housekeeper and harder still at avoiding men who want to take advantage of her. But she’s irresistibly drawn to the new clan chief, even though he’s made it plain he doesn’t want to be shackled to anyone.
And the you
ng laird has more than romance on his mind. His investigations are stirring up an enemy. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what he wants – including Marsaili – even if that means destroying Brice’s life forever …
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Highland-Storms-Choc-Lit-ebook/dp/B00629ZK0I
Please Don’t Stop the Music
Jane Lovering
Winner of the 2012 Romantic Novel of the Year &
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Jemima Hutton is determined to build a successful new life and keep her past a dark secret. Trouble is, her jewellery business looks set to fail – until enigmatic Ben Davies offers to stock her handmade belt buckles in his guitar shop and things start looking up, on all fronts.
But Ben has secrets too. When Jemima finds out he used to be the front man of hugely successful Indie rock band Willow Down, she wants to know more. Why did he desert the band on their US tour? Why is he now a semi-recluse?
And the curiosity is mutual – which means that her own secret is no longer safe ...
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Please-Dont-Stop-Music-ebook/dp/B004LROOFK
The UnTied Kingdom
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Shortlisted for the RONA Best Contemporary Novel 2012
The portal to an alternate world was the start of all her troubles– or was it?
When Eve Carpenter lands with a splash in the Thames, it’s not the London or England she’s used to. No one has a telephone or knows what a computer is. England’s a third world country and Princess Di is still alive. But worst of all, everyone thinks Eve’s a spy.
Including Major Harker who has his own problems. His sworn enemy is looking for a promotion. The general wants him to undertake some ridiculous mission to capture a computer, which Harker vaguely envisions running wild somewhere in Yorkshire. Turns out the best person to help him is Eve.
She claims to be a popstar. Harker doesn’t know what a popstar is, although he suspects it’s a fancy foreign word for ‘spy’. Eve knows all about computers, and electricity. Eve is dangerous. There’s every possibility she’s mad.
And Harker is falling in love with her.
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-UnTied-Kingdom-Choc-ebook/dp/B004URV5SA
Never Coming Home
Evonne Wareham
Winner of the 2012 Joan Hessayon New Writers Award
All she has left is hope
When Kaz Elmore is told her five-year-old daughter Jamie has died in a car crash, she struggles to accept that she’ll never see her little girl again. Then a stranger comes into her life offering the most dangerous substance in the world: hope.
Devlin, security consultant and witness to the terrible accident scene, inadvertently reveals that Kaz’s daughter might not have been the girl in the car after all.
What if Jamie is still alive? With no evidence, the police aren’t interested, so Devlin and Kaz have little choice but to investigate themselves.
Devlin never gets involved with a client. Never. But the more time he spends with Kaz, the more he desires her – and the more his carefully constructed ice-man persona starts to unravel .
The desperate search for Jamie leads down dangerous paths – to a murderous acquaintance from Devlin’s dark past, and all across Europe, to Italy, where deadly secrets await. But as long as Kaz has hope, she can’t stop looking…
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Coming-Home-Choc-ebook/dp/B007FU93TM
The Importance of being Emma
Juliet Archer
Darcy & Friends Series
Winner of 2011 Big Red Reads Fiction Award.
Mark Knightley – handsome, clever, rich – is used to women falling at his feet. Except Emma Woodhouse, who’s like part of the family – and the furniture. When their relationship changes dramatically, is it an ending or a new beginning?
Emma’s grown into a stunningly attractive young woman, full of ideas for modernising her family business.
Then Mark gets involved and the sparks begin to fly. It’s just like the old days, except that now he’s seeing her through totally new eyes.
While Mark struggles to keep his feelings in check, Emma remains immune to the Knightley charm. She’s never forgotten that embarrassing moment when he discovered her teenage crush on him. He’s still pouring scorn on all her projects, especially her beautifully orchestrated campaign to find Mr Right for her ditzy PA. And finally, when the mysterious Flynn Churchill – the man of her dreams – turns up, how could she have eyes for anyone else?
Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Importance-Being-Emma-ebook/dp/B003ZSHNWW
Love & Freedom
Sue Moorcroft
Winner of the 2011 Best Romantic Read Award from the Festival of Romance.
New start, new love.
That’s what Honor Sontag needs after her life falls apart, leaving her reputation in tatters and her head all over the place. So she flees her native America and heads for Brighton, England.
Honor’s hoping for a much-deserved break and the chance to find the mother who abandoned her as a baby. What she gets is an entanglement with a mysterious male whose family seems to have a finger in every pot in town.
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Find out more and purchase in the kindle store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Freedom-ebook/dp/B00564A0RS
Introducing Choc Lit
We’re an independent publisher creating a delicious selection of fiction. Where heroes are like chocolate – irresistible! Quality stories with a romance at the heart.
Choc Lit novels are selected by genuine readers like yourself. We only publish stories our Choc Lit Tasting Panel want to see in print. Our reviews and awards speak for themselves.
Come and support our authors and join them in our Author’s Corner, read their interviews and see their latest events, reviews and gossip.
Visit: www.choc-lit.com for more details.
To see our selection simply search the Kindle store for ‘Choc Lit’. All our titles have ‘Choc Lit’ in the heading.
We’d also love to hear how you enjoyed Evie Undercover. Just visit www.choc-lit.com and give your feedback. Describe Tom in terms of chocolate and you could win a Choc Lit novel in our Flavour of the Month competition.
Evie Undercover is the first novel to be launched under our new Choc Lit Lite range – digital only novels.
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