Saturday, April 26, 2008

Excerpt for THE HEIR'S CONVENIENT WIFE by Myrna Mackenzie

Book 2 in The Wedding Planners Series
Regina's Story


The minute Dell walked through the door of the mansion, he knew something was different. His wife, Regina, was perched in the hallway on a Victorian settee that had been in his family for generations and was just as uncomfortable as it looked. That in itself set off warning bells. Regina was never waiting for him when he got home. She rose to meet him now.

He looked into her concerned brown eyes. She was holding a sheath of papers.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We need to talk." Her soft voice came out unevenly. "Have you seen this?"

He hadn't. The publication masqueraded as an event guide for the city of Boston, but the real draw was the bits of gossip sprinkled throughout its pages.

Dell lifted a brow. "Not my usual cup of tea."

She blushed slightly, and Dell realized that he'd rarely seen her blush. But then, he didn't really know Regina well. Their brief, necessary marriage had been entered into in haste, and they'd spent very little time together. But the delicate pink that tinted Regina's cheeks and dipped into the shadows at the vee of her white blouse definitely made him aware of her in ways he hadn't been when he entered that room. That was a surprise…and clearly bad timing.

Regina nodded, and for a moment Dell wondered if she'd read his mind. "No, I suppose a man like you wouldn't read this," she said, "but I've verified the facts."

She turned away, but she held her head high, her straight brown hair brushing her shoulders. Regina was a woman with generous curves, but she seemed thinner than he remembered her being when she'd entered his world just over a year ago. Was it any wonder? She’d been through a lot these past few months.

Dell rubbed a hand over his jaw. If Regina had suffered unhappiness, the blame was partly because of events he had unintentionally set in motion. "So tell me the facts." His voice came out too rough, and she turned to face him again.

"You were well on your way to marrying Elise Allenby when we—"

"When we wed," he offered.

"Yes, but you did that to help me. You were supposed to marry Elise. I didn't know. If I had, I wouldn't have—at least I hope I wouldn't have said yes."

Labels: myrna, regina, The Heir's Convenient Wife

posted by Myrna Mackenzie @ 6:11 AM