How much are you worth to me, Sugar?
The $250 Deluxe Copper Mountain Gift Stack?
The $180 Limited Edition Single Source Truffle Assortment?
Or just the Milk Chocolate Gift Mix, with twelve pieces, for ten bucks.
What price did you put on forgiveness? As an accountant, should she know?
Someone came into the shop while she was still very busy feeling appalled at herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he was male, dark-haired, built like an athlete, wearing a brown leather jacket on top of dark pants, and not in an especially patient or happy mood, judging from the rhythm of his footsteps. There could be a lot of emotional blackmail in the air on Valentine’s Day.
He went directly to the shelves containing the pre-packaged gift boxes, and she eased out of his way without really looking at him, back to the main counter where all the expensive gourmet specialties bathed themselves in soft golden lighting behind the glass.
Wow, spicy mango? Candied lime? Cornflake and chili? Inspirational!
I’ll get some of these for her.
It was a decision that made Tully feel a little giddy and scared.
What, she was actually going to choose a candy assortment for Sugar piece by piece, as if it mattered? As if they might find some common ground together, in exploring the exotic flavors? She was going to make a choice based not on her inner emotional balance sheet of anger and pity and, yes, shame, but on the hope of something meaningful?
Wow. Way to go, Tully.
The new customer plunked a medium-sized copper-wrapped box down on the counter to Tully’s left, adjacent to the cash register. After her attempt to quantify love and forgiveness in candy form just a minute or two earlier, she pegged his choice as a very ambiguous one.
This was either a boss with a valued secretary that he genuinely wasn’t trying to hit on, or a long-married husband who was very much over the whole thing.
Then Sage came hurrying back to the front of the store, and said, “Ren! Hi!” and Tully’s feelings about chocolate and Valentine’s Day suddenly became a whole lot more complicated. This man right next to her, with the seriously buff body filling his jacket and the aura of professional confidence all over him was Ren? Ren Fletcher?
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About the Author
Lilian Darcy is a five-time Rita™ Award nominee who has written over eighty romances for Harlequin, as well as several mainstream novels. She has also written for Australian theatre and television under another name, and has received two award nominations for Best Play from the Australian Writers Guild. In 1990 she was the co-recipient of an Australian Film Institute award for best TV mini-series.
Coming Soon
Watch for the other books in the River Bend series…
After The Rain – Kira Shepherd’s story – June 2014
Long Walk Home – Gemma Clayton’s story – October 2014
Available Now
Love Me, Cowboy – Anthology with all four Copper Mountain Rodeo novellas
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Dear Reader
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Excerpt: Marry Me, Cowboy
Excerpt: The Sweetest Thing
About the Author
Available Now