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CHAPTER ONE

HE WAS aching with inactivity He could never sit down for long The television company had asked if they could conduct the interview in the far the kitchen would make him seem more human and approachable

Thinking publicity would help raise awareness of his ca in the glare of cairl with dirty toenails and an earnest air snapped a clapperboard in his face—which was doing nothing for his blood pressure ‘That’s it,’ he said, standing up

‘But, Lieutenant Colonel Grant…Cade’ She clearly thought that using his first naht soften him She was destined to fail ‘You haven’t finished interviewing the prospective candidates for the post of…’ she paused for dramatic effect ‘…Housekeeper to a Hero—’

‘If you es—’

The earnest one’s eyes gleamed ‘’No one else turned up…And so in order to prevent the interview fro a complete disaster, I provided—’

‘Stooges from your team? Yes, I know’ He pushed his chair back ‘And now you can all pack up and go home; this interview is over’

He stood at his full height, knowing that with the top of his head brushing the beaht He should have known it was a mistake to let anyone into his life, and that it was just an excuse to pry The only reason he’d done it this tie would promote his scheme to turn Featherstone Hall into a rehabilitation centre for returning soldiers; a service he was deterhout the country But the reporter was only interested in graphic stories of heroics, with plenty of blood and gore, she told him He’d flinched at that, and when she’d added that sort of stuff workedher it was lucky for her she wasn’t ahis jaw as he waited for the caear, he knew he shouldn’t blanorant of what he had been through and was spared the reality behind the ies on her television screen

As soon as the last of the up, and had no sooner piled their dirty coffee-cups into an already overloaded sink than the whole stack keeled over He swore viciously, having cut himself on a piece of shattered china And now the cut wouldn’t stop bleeding…

He banged about, searching for plasters How could a home turn to chaos in the time he’d been away? The first housekeeper he’d hired to take care of things had appeared tough and unco Just the sort of person he could relate to, in fact He should have known a black belt in karate and uarantee of dooddess status—and to add insult to injury she’d walked out the day after he got back saying he was impossible to live with

And now there hadn’t been a single reply to his ad for a replacehtened everyone away That and his appearance, he guessed, judging by the way the camera crew had stared at his scars He suspected they would have likedhis stubble, he glanced in the mirror He couldn’t blame them

And he hardly had the te a second ti to rescue a second piece of shattered pottery from the sink He was in a foul mood now

Hearing a knock on the door ratcheted it up a notch or two He et so

‘Yes?’ He flung the door wide And was forced to adjust his eye line radically down to

where a s some type of fancy dress

‘Can I come in?’ she said

He took everything in at a glance So on, plus a stern re with honey-coloured hair hanging in drenched straggles around a heart-shaped face She wore a tiara, tilted at a precarious angle on her head, and her silk shoes were ruined What appeared to be a bridal gown and veil were ripped and streaked with —whether fro he did know—this was not fancy dress ‘What do you want?’ he asked suspiciously

‘The job you advertised…The notice on the gate?’

Standing back, he thumbed his stubble He needed soot this right He raised his brow as he looked the girl over a second ti for the job as my housekeeper?’

‘I know this doesn’t look good,’ she said, led to convince him ‘And of course I would have preferred toa suit—’

‘But?’

‘But events overtook me’

Talk about understateh, and this was hardly a high-risk situation ‘Okay, you can come in’

‘Do you ht past hi fire

‘Go right ahead’ It was a reasonable request, and she was shaking—with cold or shock, he couldn’t tell He closed the door and turned back to find her unpinning her veil Her pale ar to her air of vulnerability Where there had been anger and impatience and frustration in his head, now there was only curiosity and more than a flicker of inconvenient desire

Between the flight fro and her arrival here, in the kitchen at Featherstone Hall, everything was a horrible blur—up to nohen it had snapped into sharp focus Her senses were on full alert And it was all thanks to the ainst the door with his ar her up The power of his gaze, the spread of his shoulders, even his stillness, were arresting When she had stuates advertising the post of housekeeper she had pictured so the interview—not a hunk in jeans and a snug-fitting top with dog tags swinging round his neck This man was as different from poor Horace—the almost-husband she had left at the altar—as it was possible to be Stifling a guilty sob as she thought about the look on Horace’s face when she had bolted, Liv started to tug at the wedding dress she didn’t deserve to wear

‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Taking it off…’ The s to her insides that should be forbidden by law; things that stirred the guilt inside her to the point where she had to confess ‘I’ve done so terrible’

‘Robbed a bank? Killed someone?’

‘Worse’

‘Worse?’

‘Really, I have…And now I can’t go back’

‘That bad?’ He thuain

‘Can I stay here?’

As her lips treet the attraction ele to the bottom of this ‘I think we’d better start with introductions, don’t you?’

‘Liv Tate,’ she h to extend a soft, perfectly manicured hand and add, ‘My first name is Olivia, but my friends call me Liv’

He went into the handshake with his unwounded right hand Considering her obvious distress, the strength in Liv’s grip surprised hi sensations could get a hold of him

‘I’ve told you my name,’ she reminded him, ‘but as yet I don’t know yours…’