One Christmas Morning & One Summer's Afternoon (22 page)

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Authors: Tilly Bagshawe

BOOK: One Christmas Morning & One Summer's Afternoon

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Then he looked at Emma, as perfectly beautiful as a china doll … and just as hard and cold.
She’s come to claim her prize
,
thought Will.
Her consolation prize. Me
.

For a moment he felt a flash of anger, not just with Emma, but with himself. If Emma Harwich had used him, Will Nutley had let her do it. What had his father always said, when he was being bullied at school? ‘If you make yourself a doormat, boy, people will walk all over you.’

Will turned back to the pretty sports agent.

‘Hello, Lisa.’ He grinned. ‘Yes, I think I have a moment. Let’s go and get a drink, shall we?’

Emma Harwich stood and watched open-mouthed as Will took the redhead’s arm and walked away.

He didn’t look back.

*****

Penny Harwich had almost reached home by the time Santiago caught up with her.

‘You’re running away!’ he called breathlessly. ‘What’s the hurry? Didn’t you want to see Piers presenting the cup?’

‘Not really,’ Penny sighed. She told him about the little tableau she’d witnessed earlier, between Piers and Emma.

‘Revolting old goat,’ said Santiago.

‘Yes,’ Penny agreed. ‘It seems I don’t have much of a talent when it comes to judging men’s motives.’

‘You’re too hard on yourself,’ said Santiago. ‘You’re not psychic. None of us are. Sometimes you just have to trust your heart, even if it means taking a risk.’

‘And getting burned?’ said Penny.

‘Perhaps.’ Santiago had moved closer, so close that Penny could smell the heady mixture of sweat and aftershave coming off his body, and see the perfect curve of his pectoral muscles beneath his white cricket shirt.
He really is preposterously handsome
,
she thought. Next thing she knew, his hands were around her waist.

‘And what do you think my motives are?’ he whispered, pulling her to him.

Penny’s throat went dry. She’d never felt this way with Piers Renton-Chambers, nor even with Paul. ‘I wouldn’t like to say,’ she croaked.

‘I’ll show you, then, shall I?’ said Santiago. ‘No more guessing games.’

The kiss went on for a long, long time. Minutes. By the time Penny finally came up for air, the sun had almost completely set, bathing the Downs in a mesmerizing, burned-orange glow.

‘Emma’s not going to like it,’ said Penny, as they walked on together, Santiago’s fingers entwined with hers. Nothing had been said, but they both knew where they were going.

‘Too bad,’ said Santiago robustly. ‘
You’re
going to like it. Trust me on that. I’m going to make you very, very happy.’

‘I do trust you,’ said Penny.

And, in that perfect, blissful moment, she realized that it was true.

Copyright

Published by HarperCollins
Publishers Ltd

77–85 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Publishers
2013

Cover images © Keith Wright/Getty Images (woman);
Shutterstock.com
(background)

Cover layout design © HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd 2013

Tilly Bagshawe asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © June 2013 ISBN: 9780007472550

Version: 2013-11-27

Look out for Tilly’s next novel, out spring 2014!

The Inheritance

Welcome to Swell Valley
Tati Flint-Hamilton has got it all: beauty, wealth and more designer dresses than there are hours in the day. Wherever she goes – London, Dubai, the Maldives, St. Tropez – everyone turns to stare because they know who she is:
the
It Girl around town.

It’s the place to be this season
Since she found the spotlight, Tati hasn’t had much time for sleepy Swell Valley, and when her doting but disapproving father suddenly dies, Tati’s gilded cage is turned upside down – her beloved family estate Furlings has been ripped away and a new lord of the manor has walked all over her life.

And the scandal is in a class of its own
Tati will do anything to get Furlings back from the ruthless and unscrupulous Brett Cranley. Brett and Tati both have something that the other wants – something neither of them are prepared to give up – and so the fireworks begin … There can only be one winner – so who is going up in flames?

Click
here
to pre-order now!

About the Author

Tilly Bagshawe is the internationally bestselling author of ten novels. A teenage single mother at seventeen, Tilly won a place at Cambridge University and took her baby daughter with her. She went on to enjoy a successful career in The City before becoming a writer. As a journalist, Tilly contributed regularly to the
Sunday Times, Daily Mail
and
Evening Standard
before following in the footsteps of her sister Louise and turning her hand to novels.

Tilly’s first book,
Adored
, was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic and she hasn’t looked back since. She is married and has two young sons as well as Tilly’s daughter Sefi, who is now 18. The family divide their time between their home in Los Angeles and their beach house on Nantucket Island.

Also By Tilly Bagshawe

Adored

Showdown

Do Not Disturb

Flawless

Scandalous

Fame

Temptation

Friends and Rivals

Coming Soon

The Inheritance

Tilly Bagshawe and Sidney Sheldon