Yesterday's Sins (40 page)

"I'm not sure yet, but I am serious." She managed a shaky grin. "It's not exactly something you joke about."

"You should be lying down."

He picked her up and strode across to the bed, ripping the covers back. He sat beside her, his face anguished.

"How?"

"We...ell," she laughed shakily, leaning up a hand to touch his face. "I seem to remember one sleepy, passionate man making love to me."

"Is this why you asked to come home?"

Kate saw his anguish and guilt and wanted neither.

"No, Alex. I wanted to come home because I love you." Kate sat up on one elbow and put her arm around his neck pulling him down beside her. "And if I'm pregnant, I won't be sorry either."

As Alex framed her face with his large hands she gazed at him smiling.

"I never meant this to happen." His tormented grey eyes roved her pale face seeing the vulnerable tremble of her lips.

"Neither did I." She touched his lips, and then added fiercely, "But I'm glad."

"You're glad." he echoed, studying her intently. "Why?"

"We need this baby, Alex," Kate whispered huskily. "It'll help us both heal."

"But I promised to protect you." Kate saw the sheen of tears in his eyes and lifted her hand and stroked the side of his lean face.

"Alex, please don't," she whispered. "This baby will make me whole again. Don't spoil it with regrets."

"That would be impossible." He gathered her into his arms holding her tightly against him as her arms looped around his neck. "How could I ever regret a child created from our love?"

Alex held her face between his palms. "I love you, Kate. I don't deserve your love or forgiveness but I promise I'll never hurt you again."

As she looked up into his face, every barrier was laid bare. She rested her palm against his cheek. "Yes you will. It's inevitable. But as long as you promise never to go to bed on a quarrel, I'll be happy."

"When did you get to be so wise?"

"Oh I picked up a bit here and a little there," she whispered. "How long are you going to make me wait for a kiss?"

"Minx," he whispered. "Anyone ever told you, you talk too much?"

"Listen to who is talking."

Then silence reigned in the big upstairs room as the lovers put aside the banter and addressed the serious matter at hand. As Kate surrendered to Alex's kiss an old quote floated through her mind.

The heart has reasons that reason does not know…

She sighed.

They had weathered a fierce storm, but she'd found her home in Alex's arms.

The End

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About the author

I am a New Zealander born and bred.

Most of my stories are set in our wonderful country in the antipodes. I've always written, freelancing for local and National newspapers, but Romance is my true love.

I've been a reader of romance from the moment my sister introduced me to The English Women's Weekly and their wonderful serialized romances. I fell in love with the genre.

I know the world is full of heroes. I have my own hero right here at home to prove it. We fell in love when we were young teenagers. And believe me we heard all the old chestnuts. You're too young to know your own minds. Young love never lasts. It gives me great pleasure half a century on to thumb my nose and say, "You know what? You were all wrong!"

Why Romance? I write romance because to me first and last, family matters.

I've always been a scribbler. To me writing is both a pleasure and a cathartic outlet for stress and grief.

My enduring loves are reading, my house is crowded with books on every subject imaginable. My other great hobby is gardening. Now, after a lifetime spent farming, I live with my husband in semi-retirement on the traditional Kiwi quarter acre section with a cat and a dog.

You can read more and see photos of our garden on my blog.
http://www.shirleywine.com

Reader's Guide.

Lovers' Lies Shirley Wine 2012

© Shirley Wine 2012
 
http://amzn.com/B009GQGUWQ

For single mum, Victoria Scanlan, a visit to the luxurious country house of Darkhaven, is a rare chance to combine work with pleasure. If she can secure the commission for the flowers for the upcoming society wedding it would be a huge boost for her floral boutique.

Arriving at Darkhaven, Victoria is stunned to discover the groom, banking tycoon Keir Donovan, is the man she knew as Seth Donahue, her young son's father.
 

Wealthy and powerful Keir, after a lifetime of being betrayed by every female in his life, has settled on a calm future with the glamorous Davina Strathmore , heiress of media mogul James Strathmore. Davina, Keir's fiancée, has her own devious reasons for accepting his offer of marriage and Victoria threatens her plans.
 

Victoria knows she has to tell Keir about their son, but decides to wait until they're no longer visitors in the Donovan family home, a decision she quickly comes to regret.

This decision is a mistake and it's too late to go back and start over. A lie by omission is still a lie, and after a lifetime of being lied to, Keir's has no tolerance for lies…

Excerpt

"Welcome Victoria," he said with genuine warmth.

Tanned and all whipcord strength, with a liberal sprinkling of silver in his dark hair, he gripped her hand. As she looked into his shrewd, dark eyes, she was more than a little startled by a weird sense of familiarity.

Yet she knew they’d never met.

Caine Donovan was not a man anyone would ever forget meeting.

"It was so kind of you to invite me. Logan’s told me so much about you."

"Has he?" Caine chuckled, squeezing her hand. "I look forward to knowing you better. You haven’t met my son, Keir?"

He turned toward a man standing in the shadows, almost hidden by another towering floral arrangement, so still she'd not realized he was there.

He stepped into the light.

A gasp escaped. Her heart stopped beating and her breathing suspended as she tumbled through endless black space.

A strong warm hand enveloped her outstretched one, frozen in mid movement. "Victoria, it’s been a long time."

"Seth!" The strangled word scraped past frozen vocal cords.
 

You’re clever, Mommy. Why can’t you find my daddy?
Her little boy’s words were a hollow drumbeat in Victoria's cotton-wool brain.

Connor!

Keir Donovan
was Connor’s father?

Hysteria merged with the shock pulsing through her blood stream.

Suddenly lightheaded, she clung to his hand as her knees buckled and threatened to dump her at his feet.

His chocolate eyes narrowed.

That stern mouth compressed. His supportive grip strengthened as he clasped her other hand, fluttering helplessly like a wounded bird.

The unmistakable concern in his dark eyes reached right inside, steadying her.

"Seth?" Caine’s question was a muffled echo in her ears.

Victoria caught Caine’s frowning glance and managed a shaken breath and then another.
When did I stop breathing?

"A private joke."

Seth's deep voice pierced her numbness.
Some joke!

The words tasted as bitter as aloes.

That damn closet door jerked wide open.

She struggled for a rational explanation but shock and bewilderment made coherent thought all but impossible.

And she'd come here hoping to quote on flowers for his wedding?

Like that would ever happen!

With perspicacity, Victoria saw the chasm yawning at her feet and knew she teetered on the brink of disaster.

The foundations of her world crumbled and she was standing on quicksand. The wrong move and—

"You two know each other?" Logan looked from one to the other, dark brows drawn together in a forbidding frown.

Keir’s grip on her hands tightened in unspoken warning. Her understanding and instinctive response after all this time, shocked her rigid.

Shadow Dance
 
The Mulleins of Katherine Bay
 

© Shirley Wine 2012
 
http://amzn.com/B008NGBK0M

The first book in the series, The Mulleins of Katherine Bay.

When single mother Jenna Mullein attempts to unravel the truth behind her mother's dying words—
promise me, Jenna, promise you won't sell him the land—
she quickly discovers there are far too many people in Katherine Bay with a vested interest in muddying the truth.

Her persistent questions and determination sees her thrown into desperate danger. When one woman ends up dead and Jenna and her infant toddlers are assaulted, property developer Gabriel Callahan steps in to help her.

But can Jenna trust the loner with her secrets? Secrets that could see her lose her adored babies.

And does Gabe really want her or the family he could create with her adorable twins?

Excerpt

The sense of familiarity intensified.

She knew she'd never met him, but also knew she
should
know who he was. As she picked up the tweezers, she heard his footsteps in the hall.

Her heart picked up a pace, the involuntary reaction irritated her beyond reason. He walked through the door, stooping slightly so his head missed the lintel, and halted mid-step when he saw her tending Zach's injury.