Pure is the Heart Excerpt

Elise sighed heavily. Hunter stood too close. “I am not the same girl who wrote you all those years. Then, I accepted the eventual match, chosen by my father. I knew my duty. That has all changed. I have changed. I can’t foresee marrying...”

“Without love?” Hunter asked, looking into her eyes.

Elise had not intended to add those last words, but he was correct.

“As I have chosen,” Hunter continued and took another step in her direction. Their eyes locked, his burned into hers.

Elise feared he read her feelings too clearly. “It is not what I meant.”

“I know,” he offered. Sadness lingered in his tone. “We both know that I have settled.”

Elise broke eye contact first, turning with haste.

Hunter gently grabbed her arm and turned her toward him.

Stunned, Elise looked up. Her heart began to pound. She should pull away, but she was locked in place by some invisible tie. His green eyes darkened with emotion, longing. She should pull away. Though the thought repeated itself in her mind, Elise made no move to remove her arm from his hand.

“Do you know what I wish? I wish that you find love.”

“There will be no love in my life,” she insisted.

“Do you know what else I wish?”

She didn’t want to know. His voice was thick with emotion, low and smooth. She was afraid of what he might say. That he might voice what she has been fighting herself.

“I wish I had canceled that ball as I had wanted to. I would be free now. Free to-”

“Hush,” Elise put her fingers to his lips. “This cannot be right.”

Hunter stepped forward and brought her close, his hand on her waist. “To love you, Elise. I do, you know, and probably did before meeting you face to face.” He studied her eyes. “Tell me Elise, if I were a free man, could you return that love?”

Elise struggled with her answer. If she answered him falsely she would free him to try and make a good marriage with Delia. Try as she might, she couldn’t lie. “Yes,” she choked out. Yes, she loved him, but even if he were free, she could never marry him.

Loving Lydia Excerpt

Alex followed Lydia into the gazebo, which had a number of lanterns lit in the event guests wandered this far. Stopping in the middle, Alex began to remove his jacket.

“What are you doing?” Lydia asked with some alarm.

“I can’t very well show you my burn with these tight sleeves.”

“Very well,” she answered stiffly and turned her back.

Alex chuckled to himself. It wasn’t as if he was completely disrobing. After the jacket was gone, he rolled up his sleeve. “You may turn around now.”

Lydia focused on his bandaged arm and Alex could tell she was trying hard not to look at his shoulders. Had it been any other type of setting and had he not been in pain, he may have laughed. The blush spreading across her cheeks was enough for him to remain quiet.

Gently and carefully she unwound the bandage. The burn was puffy and blistering and about the size of her hand. “There is no sign of infection, yet. There is a better risk of that happening if the blisters break.”

Very gently her fingers traced the skin surrounding the burn. She caused him no pain during her examination, but something entirely different. A longing developed. He wanted to kiss her, and not for the sake of shocking her. The feeling confused him.

Unable to stop himself, Alex raised his other hand to touch her face, gently brushing her soft cheek with the tips of his fingers.

Surprised, Lydia looked up at him. Alex didn’t give her a chance to speak but brought his lips to hers.