by
Lois Carroll
Formerly published by LTDBooks
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In Snowbound:Snowbound with a big-city businessman for a weekend, a lonely small-town woman takes a chance and makes love with him--her first time. Instead of creating tender memories to savor, the weekend turns into a nightmare when he stops abruptly and leaves without a word. In love with him, but feeling a failure at love-making and never expecting to see him again, she retreats into long hours of work expanding her dress-design company. Will she believe him when the businessman sneaks back into her life and tries to tell her he loves her? Or will she be the one to leave this time when she learns the truth of what he has done? |
"I'll marry you myself, if I have to in order to stop you, but you are not marrying my brother two weeks from Saturday," the stranger announced, his voice deep with anger.
Cynthia Kenward's mouth dropped open in surprise. Under the protection of her extended roof originally meant to cover horse and carriage, she stood in the entrance to the Victorian Painted Lady that housed her upstate New York wedding-attire shop, The Formal Place. Without taking her eyes off of him, she managed to finish turning the ornate "CLOSED" sign.
In a black leather jacket and trousers that fit him as snugly as a second coat of paint, the tall man dropped the kickstand and dismounted his now-silent motorcycle. He removed his dark helmet and balanced it on the handlebar. His jacket glistened with rain and crealed as he lifted a duffle bag from the storage compartment.
Cynthia shivered as she watched him walk directly toward her and knew her reaction wasn't entirely due to the cold outdoors. She turned her back to him and stepped back into her shop, wondering who he was and what he was talking about. He had to be at the wrong house, and she hoped he didn't take a lot of her time.
Not today. Closing time Friday was something she looked forward to. The store was open on Saturday by appointment only, and this weekend closing Friday meant the end of work until Monday.
She silently predicted that her "CLOSED" sign would not deter the stranger, and she was correct. Accompanied by the cold damp wind, he entered behind her. She turned to face him as her ankle-length skirt blew against her legs and exposed her high laced shoes. She raised her hands to protect her upper arms from the chill that passed through her lacy thin, mutton-chop-sleeved blouse.
He closed the door and dropped his bag on the floor beside the bench set there for her customer's convenience. Despite knowing he was about to turn and find her unabashedly watching him, Cynthia could not look away. She reached into the pocket of her black skirt and clutched her ring of keys as if it were a life preserver. Not wasting any more time, he raised his gaze to meet hers and redelivered his ultimatum. "You are not marrying my brother."
His dark hair, sprinkled with a touch of gray, had broken free from any combed arrangement it might have had, and fell across his forehead with a sexy casualness she was unprepared to notice in such detail.
He shifted all his weight to one foot and raised his hands to his hips. "Well? Don't you have anything to say?" he asked in an annoyed tone, goading her to speak. But Cynthia couldn't move. She couldn't speak.
The man's blue eyes glared at her with an icy-hard certainty. She surmised from the expensive-looking motorcycle, his clothes, and his authoritative manner that he was probably rich and definitely used to getting his own way. She should have felt afraid and yet she did not.
Suddenly she wanted to see those eyes when he smiled because she knew they could be warm and caring. In that moment she realized that her conclusion was based on more than mere conjecture. She knew those eyes. Yes. And she'd seen them in a photograph when they were laughing and loving.
She clasped her hands at her waist. Her heart that had been beating rapidly with concern, now skipped a beat. She knew who this man was. A smile curled up the corners of her lips. Knowledge gave her confidence and the daring to toy with him for a few moments.
"Your proposal of marriage, Mister Bolten, is most unusual," she told him. "But I'll have to decline." She smiled more broadly at his surprised expression. "I'm sure you'll be relieved to hear that I have no intention of marrying you, or your brother, for that matter. And now that we have that settled, would you like a cup of hot tea while you give your jacket a chance to dry out before you leave?"
Cynthia fought her inexplicable fascination with him as she slipped past him toward the door. The keys clinked against her thigh as she moved. She reached in her pocket, this time to silence them.
His gaze, like a slow soft caress, surveyed her Victorian-costumed body from the pointed tips on her ankle-high shoes all the way to her long dark hair that she'd piled on top of her head. She felt like a butterfly pinned to a display-case cushion. Her cheeks warmed when his gaze settled on her lace blouse for several seconds. Her breathing became more rapid as her anger began to grow with each passing second of his intimate perusal.
She could feel his silent gaze continue to follow her as she continued her closing routine and locked the door. She tried to ignore the goose bumps that skittered down her spine when she realized that she was now locked in--alone with this man.
"...a delightful book and one guaranteed to please."
Reviewed by WCRG, The AOL Review Board
"Jump on this one! Steamy enough to melt all that snow."
A reader's unsolicited comments.
Because LTD Books went out of business in December 2005, a few remaining copies of Snowbound on floppy disk can be ordered only from the author.
Click on any title or book cover to browse through synopses and excerpts of her novels.
| Almost Home | Last Visit | Once Upon A Lie | |
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| Just a Memory | Overbyte | So Alone |
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A limited number of autographed copies of Lois Carroll's eBooks are available. Please email for details.
