Wildfire Kiss Read Free

and his light brown eyes sparkled
with fun. He was a dashing figure, though not precisely handsome.
His accent was only slight, as he had lived in England nearly all
his life.
    He had suffered through an early marriage that had
left him widowed and quite rich. He had made a show of choosing to
be at Lady Babs’ side, for in addition to the fact that they
enjoyed one another immensely, they gave each other cover on the
marriage mart.
    “There you are,” he said brightly, the smile already
growing wider across his round face. “If you don’t hurry, we will
be late, you know.” He turned and bent a respectful head towards
her father. “With your permission, of course, my lord?”
    Barbara laughed out loud. “You say that as though
’tis my fault, and how could it be when I have been here waiting
for you, sir?”
    “Barbara!” objected her father, and then with his
hand extended, he said, “Count … how nice, yes, of course, you
have my permission.”
    “Excellent.” The count smiled broadly and then
turned his attention to her. “Now go and get your spencer while I
chat with your father.”
    She bobbed him a curtsy and hurried off. What she
would do without the count, she did not know. His constant
attentions had raised her father’s hopes in his direction and had
allowed her some peace at home and abroad. So many assumed she and
the count would make a match of it, and it gave her a measure of
peace because she was not interested in any of her would-be
suitors.
    It was a problem. She was already one and twenty,
and her father was outraged that she had turned down every suitor
to date. Otto was a dear friend, and thus far he seemed pleased to
keep it that way. Their friendship served them both. He announced
himself her devoted servant but made no push in that direction in
private, and she was well pleased with the silent arrangement. She
believed he was still in love with his late wife.
    Re-entering the library, she slowed and noted with
concern that while Otto chatted happily, her father was red-faced
and seemed to be seriously annoyed.
    “That’s right,” Otto said. “They say it has sold
five thousand copies already. Everyone is talking about it. I want
to pick a copy up on the way to the fairgrounds today. They say—”
He saw that Barbara had arrived and cut himself off. “I say,
Barbara, have you heard about it?”
    “Heard? About what, Otto?” She held her breath, for
she was certain she knew what he was talking about. Her heart beat
wildly in her chest as she waited for his reply.
    “The new book, Passion’s Seed, ” he returned
in a tone of excited expectancy.
    “Nooo …” she answered hesitantly. Faith! What
was she going to do? This was beyond her hopes for her book. It was
a fearsome thing and, yet, so very satisfying. She couldn’t tell
anyone, but it would be natural for her to show an interest. “What
about it?” She purposely glanced away from her father.
    “I am told that the author—whom no one seems to
know—knows everything about the haute ton . Everything we
have done for the last three, maybe two seasons. She describes all
our antics in fine comical style, and while it is most amusing to
most, Lady Hester tells me she has certainly ruffled any number of
feathers!”
    “Really?”
    “Yes, in fact, Lady Hester said she was convulsed
with giggles when the author obviously described Lord Butterworth
and dubbed him Lord Butterball.”
    “Yes, but is it not fiction?” Babs asked, hoping to
appear innocent.
    “Oh, as to that, the names have been changed …
but fiction? Hester says, ‘not’.” He laughed and shook his head.
“Come on then, we’ll pick up a copy on our way.”
    Babs chewed her bottom lip. This was not what she
had thought would happen. She had written her book for the growing
middle class—not for the haute ton who would recognize
themselves! She had never dreamt that any of the aristocracy would
pick up a book by an unknown and then make it famous