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A Wolf in Angel's Clothing
Jonathon Stanton tried to storm past the throng of people as they poured out of the Congregational Church. Damn gossip, damn women, and damn cannon in Mexico. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have to be putting up with this. He had a life of his own, not this confined to his mother's house because until recently he couldn't walk. The children running past were enough of a stall to allow Olivia Covington to catch him. She was an ancient woman supported solely it seemed by an equally ancient hawthorn walking stick. The date 1672 stood out on the silver handle.
"There you are my dear boy." She croaked as the wind whipped through her thinning white hair.
He was after all thirty-three and she still called him a boy.
"Now Ashley is to wed next week and I just can't think of you sitting there all alone. You must come and have tea with me and my Isobel."
Since she was hard of hearing, he leaned near her ear. "Your great-granddaughter is fifteen, Mrs. Covington. If I had been a very bad young boy, I could be her father." When he heard his name being called, John turned gratefully, only to suppress the groan as he watched Jacqueline Grey winding her way over. She had invited the family for supper once and whispers of eminent marriage flew across town. At least she couldn't have been his daughter from a youthful indiscretion. She was a rather handsome woman, if only she hadn't talked so much at that one dinner. Jacqueline wouldn't have been able to recall one thing he said because she allowed him no chance to say anything.
A voice that no one could ignore rose over the murmur of the churchyard and saved John from the rush of desperate women. "Hello, John."
He had seen her a few times in passing, far too briefly considering she had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he had known quite a few. They had never even spoken before and in a small town, that was hard to do. John didn't even know her name, but she ignored all conventions of etiquette by calling out to him.
"Why didn't you save a space for me to sit with you? I was only a little tardy. It's felt like an age since last night." She walked over, sounding like an angel, a deep whiskey soaked angel with a hint of a lilt thrown in for good measure. However, all John could see were a pair of magnificent green eyes. They were like the finest quality emeralds that gleamed in the high summer sun.
The woman mounted the church stairs and slowly pulled his head close. This was no stolen kiss, there was no chance of reading anything but passion into what the congregation witnessed that morning. It had been months since John had kissed anyone. Even longer, since he had kissed anyone like that, not even Ashley who stood there staring in disbelief. The woman started it and John Stanton let her finish it, but that didn't stop his hand from cupping her head, not wanting it to end before it absolutely had to. She pressed against him and he felt only a thin chemise beneath the grandness of her dress. The warmth of her skin burned through to his hands. He couldn't keep an eyebrow from rising despite his eyes being closed. No corset?
When she finally pulled away, long after John would have deemed necessary for the situation, the entire congregation stood there slack jawed with disbelief. Ashley's mocking violet eyes had lost their sparkle.
The woman who kissed him started smiling and his heart stopped. She wasn't just beautiful, she was gorgeous. There was no comparison between the two women. Ashley Forrester was short, petite, and fair, a woman who spent hours with beauty aids to keep her skin looking like she had never stepped out of doors. While the woman in his arms had hair as rich a brown as a sable pelt, skin that was dark from the sun. Not to mention, she was tall enough to look him eye to eye, allowing every curve to fit him like a glove.
"I see her standin' there." She purred. "I hope that former woman of yours isn't tryin' to convince you to go to her weddin' next week. You promised to take me to Boston to see the theater then."
"Are you going to be late and leave me to sit alone again?" He chided, playing along with her game, even though he felt like laughing. Ashley was always one who liked being in the center of things, she probably loved thinking that two men fought over her. The look on Ashley's face was worth it.
"I will try hard not to be detained like this mornin'."
"Then I suppose I won't mind really. With kisses like that, I should forgive most anything."
She smirked like a proper whore. "I'm sure I could find a way to make you forget most anythin'."
"Well, I never!" The crimson of her face was enough to show that Ashley Forrester was no longer in charge of the situation. "And outside the church no less." She promptly extricated herself with her fiance on her arm.
Jacqueline blushed furiously. And bless Olivia, she leaned next to the other old crone in her circle and the malicious tattle started. God, it felt good to get them off his back. "Who in the hell are you?" He whispered in his angel's ear.
"Elizabeth Cavanaugh." She whispered back.