by Rebecca King
“I know this doesn’t matter to you because you are from the Star Elite, but it is just the way villages like this work. People do look out for each other, like father said. It is why you weren’t able to go anywhere without being accosted. People were curious about you, as they are about any stranger.”
“What about you? Are you curious about me?” Niall hated the fact that her answer mattered more than anything. It mattered so much that he temporarily forgot to breathe.
He stared at her, and hoped, but felt gauche and awkward and so unlike himself that even he had to stop and contemplate what was making him behave so oddly.
“I am a man who doesn’t usually dither about things. Like your father said, it can get me killed. I have to say that in all the time I have worked with the Star Elite, I never once contemplated that your father might understand what our work entails, but it sounds like Sir Hugo has kept him up-to-date on a lot of things.”
“He knows more than you realise,” was all Clara could say.
“He doesn’t seem to object to the notion of having his daughter linked with a Star Elite operative.” Niall smiled ruefully at her.
Clara smiled gently at him, not least because the thoughtful way he spoke warned her that he was thinking carefully about what to say, how to say it, and wouldn’t speak unless it was the truth. She knew this was the real Niall, not the man who stormed into buildings and rescued stranded hostages. His somewhat shy demeanour was endearing. It was clear that he wasn’t familiar with affairs of the heart, either talking about his real feelings or doing something about the way he felt. He wasn’t being a coward. He was just unfamiliar with it and so shoved it to one side to focus on the things he was good at: his work with the Star Elite.
“In fact, now that I come to think about it, was your father trying to tell us that we should take a chance on being together?” Niall squinted at her and began to smile.
“He was being meddlesome.” Clara nodded and smiled back.
Niall dug around in his pocket and dropped two pieces of paper onto the table next to them. He coughed and shifted in his seat when he saw her frown at them.
“What are they?” she asked.
“Tickets to the ball. Now, I don’t dance, I have to warn you now. Not even wild horses could drag me into taking part in a country dance, but I would be honoured if you would allow me to escort you, so long as you don’t allow anybody else to mark your card.” Niall lifted his brows and waited.
To his consternation, Clara began to giggle.
“What?” he demanded when she didn’t seem inclined to answer him.
“You sound so stuffy and pompous,” Clara chided. “Since we have met, you have dragged me down the street, kissed me in the garden, carried me into the house in front of my friends, rescued me with your colleagues, kissed me again in the woods in front of your colleagues, and scolded me every time we have met. Now, you decide to be formal. Don’t you think it is too late for that? Hasn’t the fact that I haven’t been outraged by our somewhat casual attitude to the stringent dictates of society told you anything about who I really am? Did my father bow just now? Did he bow when he met you earlier? He doesn’t unless he is in London, and with his equally stuffy friends. It isn’t needed here, not with me. Especially not with me. I don’t want you to be on edge around me, worried, or concerned. I want you to be you, the man I fell in love with.”
Niall blinked at her. “You have? When? How? You have?”
Clara blinked herself because she couldn’t believe she had actually told him.
“Well, I think so. I have certainly been miserable since you have been away. You certainly have the ability to make me want to smack you upside your head while at the same time struggle not to kiss you. You are irritating, strong-willed, and a little overwhelming, but I think I can cope with that, so long as you don’t expect me to sit at home and live like a ghost while you are away.”
“You love me? Are you sure?”
Clara sighed and rolled her eyes. He looked so stunned that all she could do was dig deep for her patience and love him even more.
“Do you think I allow just any man to kiss me? Do you think I would allow any man to sweep me off my feet, and in front of my friends no less? Do you think my father doesn’t realise how I feel about you, and that be why he has felt compelled to warn us both not to take life for granted?”
“He knows?”
“Yes, you goose,” Clara replied. “He knows. What he doesn’t know is whether you are prepared to make a few sacrifices so we can at least find out if we are likely to have a future together. Neither do I for that matter.”
Niall stared at her for a moment before he moved to kneel before her. He caught her hands with his and contemplated what to say.
“I have tried to forget you, this village, and the people in it, but can’t. You have so very quickly become a part of my life that I don’t know what happened. I have been miserable, as your father knows because my friends have told him. They haven’t been moaning behind my back. It is just that they have a tendency to discuss what to do about men like me.”
“Men like you?”
“Men who are distracted by the women in their lives. Like your father said, it can get us killed if we cannot concentrate.”
“I have bothered you?”
“God, you might say that. I have snapped at my friends, almost been in a fight, been surly, grumpy, whatever you want to call it, and unable to forget you. While I am not at all sure what changes I am going to need to make for us to be together, I am happy to make them not least because I know that I cannot go back to who I was the day I arrived here. That man has gone now. He has been replaced by someone who now wants to face a different future. I am a man who wants a home to go to when his work with the Star Elite is over. I want you in my life, Clara. If this absolute obsession I have for you is love, then so be it. If this need to be with you, to know if you are safe, warm, protected, is love then I am happy to indulge in it. If you are happy to accept me knowing the risks involved, then the least I can do is make sure that I do everything possible to get home to you just as swiftly as I can. I want a future with you, Clara. Nobody else. Will you?”
“Will I what?” Clara’s heart thundered as she waited.
“Go with me to the ball. I have flat feet, don’t dance, and have no idea what I am doing because I have always been outside looking in. But I want to be able to take you because I want everyone to know we are together at last,” Niall whispered. “I love you.”
“You do?”
Niall nodded. “Marry me?”
He couldn’t believe he was actually saying the words but once they were out, Niall knew deep in his heart that it was right that he should say them. He didn’t have any regrets and didn’t have any doubt that he would do everything possible to bring about a happy marriage.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am sure. Your father is a very wise man, you know. Life isn’t to be taken for granted. I want to make the most of it with you, as my wife. So? Will you?”
“I would be delighted,” Clara whispered, making no attempt to hide her tears of joy.
“Together forever?”
“Forever my love,” Clara whispered.
Together, Niall and Clara sealed their promise with a very thorough kiss and faced their future together, as man and wife.
Niall did take Clara to the ball and was eventually coaxed to take part in a country dance and didn’t regret one second of it – much to the amusement of his colleagues.
The End.
THE LOCAL HEROES SERIES (STAR ELITE)
LEICESTERSHIRE
RELEASED 28th AUGUST 2019
The regional branches of the Star Elite have never been busier. But when their adventures bring trouble to their homes, they face a whole new set of problems.
Join Joshua, Hamish, Luke, Daniel, Ronan, Peregrine, Dean and Grant as they battle fraud, murder, theft, and several rather inquisitive ladies whose penchan
t for trouble mean more headaches for the local heroes in this brand-new series.
The Honest and the Brave (Joshua – Annalisa)
Damsel in Distress (Roger – Leonora)
Once Before (Daniel – Tabitha)
Righteous Rumours (Ronan – Geranium)
A Very Dishonest Scandal (Luke – Rosemary)
Midnight Capers (Dean – Pheony)
Shameful Desires (Hamish – Leonora)
Consequences (Peregrine – Matilda)
MISS FLORENTINE’S SCHOOL FOR INVESTIGATORS
SNOWDROPS IN SPRINGTIME
Book One
RELEASED END OF AUGUST 2019
After inheriting a fortune to add to her already comfortable lifestyle, Miss Florentine has everything she could want in life. However, her life as a lady of circumstance is boring. Thanks to the benevolence of a distant relation, though, Florentine has an opportunity to change her life for the better and thus, Miss Florentine’s School for Investigators is born - much to Bertrand’s disgust.
As a lawman with a fine reputation for getting results the last thing Bertrand Hartington-Myers needs is a meddling female, sorry, investigator getting herself involved in his work. Doesn’t she know that crime-fighting is dangerous work? Apparently not seeing as she gets her friends helping her, oh, and a few irritating, nosy, and meddlesome villagers. Together, they seem determined to involve themselves in everything he does, but are no more distracting than the beautiful, wilful Miss Florentine, who seems determined to drive him nuts.
Miss Florentine is determined - to make Bertrand see her School for Investigators as a credible crime-fighting organisation. What she is less thrilled about is having to battle her attraction toward the handsome lawman who sees her as nothing more than a meddlesome female. Can she persuade him that she considerably more than an addle-brained chit with more money than sense? It is harder than she imagined when a killer in their midst focuses his attentions on one of her investigators and everyone’s lives are thrown into chaos.
Can Miss Florentine and Bertrand work together to catch the killer, or will their organisations keep them apart forever?
DUTY OR DISHONOUR
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2019
Niall Carmichael had never heard anything so preposterous in his life as being a guardian to a three and twenty-year-old young woman. Firstly, he knew absolutely nothing about young women except how to get them into bed, and preferably undressed as quickly as possible. Secondly, wasn’t three and twenty too old for a guardian? Finally, he was a single man, alone, supposedly protecting a single young woman while sharing a house with her. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Niall argues with the solicitors until he is blue in the face, but nothing works. Nobody listens. He must do his duty by her or face dishonour. He will not just ruin the family name, but his good if somewhat battered reputation will be destroyed as well. Nobody seems interested that he is going to lose his life as he knows it, and all for a woman who is too old for a guardian anyway.
Lilias Jones has no need for a guardian, but those are the stipulations of her father’s will. She must remain under the guardianship of Lord Rocherham until she is four and twenty – eight long months away. She can survive with a strange old man for that long, can’t she? From the enquiries she has made, Lord Rocherham is an old, seventy-something harridan who is all bluff and bluster.
Wrong.
Lord Rocherham is a rogue. Handsome, a little less than charming, and far too smooth for his own good. Thankfully, though, he hates Lilias, and makes it clear to her that she is unwelcome in his home. She is there through sufferance not through choice. Given that, Lilias spends as much time out of the house as she can. It is difficult to keep her distance from him, though, when everywhere she goes, he appears and makes his disapproval of her clear no matter what she tries.
When a disreputable rogue starts to make his interest in Lilias clear, Niall faces a whole realm of emotions that don’t sit too well with him, the first and foremost of which is jealousy. However, having already started off on the wrong foot, he finds himself helpless to stop his wayward charge from dabbling with things she would do best to forget. Can Niall battle his jealousies and allow her to leave when the eight months are over? Or will the disreputable rogue steal her forever?
Whatever happens, Niall faces a life-changing battle between duty or dishonour, and it is going to change his life forever.
TUPPENCE
Tipton Hollow Series – Book Three
RELEASED – SEPTEMBER 2019
When Tuppence is arrested for a crime that she most definitely did not commit she knows her life is ruined. Facing trial for murder means she can never return to the life she once knew and loved, not in the small village of Tipton Hollow in any case. All right, so life there was a little boring, and left her yearning for something more in life, a little adventure maybe. But the kind of adventure Tuppence found herself in was something she wouldn’t ever dream possible in her worst nightmares.
Lost in a world of gaol, false accusations, lies and broken trust, Tuppence is forced to turn to the last man she should ask for help. Her humiliation is complete when Isaac Chester, Lord Aldridge arrives to speak to her in prison before he tries to secure her release. She should be pleased he would help her try to gain her freedom but is embarrassed that this handsome, debonair man should see her in her darkest hour. Little does she know of his ulterior motive, or the personal reasons behind his decision to help her.
Can they find out who the real murderer is before Tuppence appears in court? While Isaac does find enough evidence that casts doubt on her presence at the scene of the crime and secures her release, keeping her out of gaol is a different matter entirely. The finger of the blame still points at her, and not even he can protect her. Life in Tipton Hollow swiftly becomes impossible for Tuppence, especially when another body turns up and all eyes turn to her once more.
What Tuppence doesn’t expect is to not only have to fight for her freedom but the burgeoning desire she has for the one man who has given her hope for the future.
Aware they can never have that future together, Tuppence must make a very brave decision, and it is one that leaves her heartbroken.
Tipton Hollow should be a normal, sleepy village hidden in rural England. However, sinister events begin to unfold which changes the lives of several of its residents and takes them on epic adventures of love, murder, lies and mystery. Join Harriett, Beatrice, Constance, Tuppence and Eloisa as they battle murderers, parsimonious gossips, and the men in their lives as they work to solve the mysteries that Fate hands them. Will they ever find the happiness they deserve?
Five dashing heroes meet five rather daring young ladies: a perfect combination for romance – or disaster.
MURDER AT HYNDE HOUSE
RELEASED – OCTOBER 2019
They are invited to attend the reading of a will of an old acquaintance. The only condition is that they spend the weekend at a house nobody wants to visit. When this eclectic group of people gather on the dockside, awkwardness and suspicion abound.
Nobody has any idea what lies in store for them.
Is everybody as innocent as they seem?
When they are greeted by somewhat questionable servants, and a series of worrying situations that leave everyone shaken, the guests begin to grow uneasy. The rather dour persona of the solicitor, whose silence and odd behaviour leave everyone aghast, make everyone question their connection to the recently departed.
Disappearances, murder, the shocking contents of a will, sinister threats and strange warnings abound in this dark murder mystery set along the Cornish coastline.
Does local folklore have a ring of truth to it? Is the island truly cursed?
It quickly becomes evident that the benefactors of this will reading will be lucky if they survive to see the benefits of their inheritance, especially when events turn sinister and it becomes clear someone wants all of them dead.
Can they find out who is living seem
ingly innocently amongst them, yet trying to murder each one in turn? Is the deceased really in the afterlife? Can anybody be trusted?
More importantly, will any of them ever get off the island?
OTHER BOOKS BY REBECCA KING
Further details of all of Rebecca’s books can be found on her website:
Rebeccaking-author.co.uk
STAR ELITE – A NEW ADVENTURE BEGINS
Betrayal of Innocence (Book One)
A Spinster’s Awakening (Book Two)
Fallen Hero (Book Three)
The Runaway (Book Four)
Cold Comfort (Book Five)
A Terrible Misunderstanding (Book Six – Released August 2019)
DIVINE CLUB SERIES
Double Entendre (Book One)
Duplicity (Book Two)
SAVED BY DESIRE SERIES
One Penny Surprise (Book One)
To Catch A Thief (Book Two)
Mistaken Identity (Book Three)
A Scandal Most Daring (Book Four)
Hiding Rose (Book Five)
Reckless Desire (Book Six)
The Arrangement (Book Seven)
Hope’s Secret (Book Eight)
Runaway Groom (Book Nine)
OTHER BOOKS
Shattered Dreams
Lies and Misdemeanours
Eloisa’s Adventure
Wishing for Rainbows
Redemption
Devoted To You
Hopeless Heart
Catch A Falling Star
The Christmas Ball Affair
Marley’s Second Chance