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  ALONE WITH THE HEIRESS

  Sara eyed him carefully, while taking another tiny sip of brandy. The flickering firelight accentuated the classic angles of his face, the strong line of his jaw, and the noble bridge of his nose, making him seem even more handsome. In his loose white shirt, sitting casually on the sofa with a drink in his hand, he seemed the epitome of masculinity. The thick lashes that fringed his eyes closed briefly.

  Then he turned and looked directly at her. “I don’t know what we’re thinking doing this.”

  “I like it,” she whispered, settling back against the sofa.

  “You like it,” he said, echoing her words. He shook his head in disbelief before taking a sip of the brandy.

  “Yes, I like it.” Sara continued in a pragmatic tone, “No one is here. No one will know. If the storm is as bad as you say, I’m sure my mother and Aunt Colette will stay the night at their sister’s house instead of trying to get back home. We’re not really doing anything wrong. It’s all completely innocent.”

  “I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Miss Fleming.”

  “I think you should call me Sara now.”

  “If you call me Christopher.”

  “Agreed . . .”

  Books by Kaitlin O’Riley

  The Hamilton Sisters

  SECRETS OF A DUCHESS

  ONE SINFUL NIGHT

  WHEN HIS KISS IS WICKED

  DESIRE IN HIS EYES

  IT HAPPENED ONE CHRISTMAS

  TO TEMPT AN IRISH ROGUE

  HIS BY CHRISTMAS

  The Hamilton Cousins

  THE HEIRESS HE’S BEEN WAITING FOR

  Collections

  YOURS FOR ETERNITY

  (with Hannah Howell and Alexandra Ivy)

  AN INVITATION TO SIN

  (with Jo Beverley, Sally MacKenzie, and Vanessa Kelly)

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  The HEIRESS HE’S BEEN WAITING FOR

  KAITLIN O’RILEY

  ZEBRA BOOKS

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  ALONE WITH THE HEIRESS

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  1 - Overboard

  2 - All Ashore

  3 - Adrift

  4 - Charting a Course

  5 - A Sinking Ship

  6 - A Little Leeway

  7 - Currents

  8 - Low Tide

  9 - Trade Winds

  10 - Any Port in a Storm

  11 - Lost at Sea

  12 - Mal de Mer

  13 - Ebb Tide

  14 - Dead Ahead

  15 - Close Quarters

  16 - Below Deck

  17 - Cast Off

  18 - Steady as She Goes

  19 - Batten Down the Hatches

  20 - Gangway

  21 - Toeing the Line

  22 - Abandon Ship

  23 - All Hands on Deck

  24 - Run Aground

  25 - Safe Harbor

  26 - Coming Around

  27 - Smooth Sailing

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2018 by Kathleen M. Milmore

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-4463-5

  eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-4464-2

  eISBN-10: 1-4201-4464-2

  To Christopher

  For bringing love back into my life.

  Yet.

  Acknowledgments

  I can only write about a large and loving family, because I am blessed to have one myself. As always, I must thank Jane Milmore, Shelley Jensen, Maureen Milmore, Janet Wheeler, Scott Wheeler, Jennifer Malins, Greg Malins, Adrienne Barbeau, Billy Van Zandt, and Yvonne Deane. A very special thank you goes to Chris Robinson and he knows why.

  To my CH family (especially Cela, Gretchen, Lynn, Jenny), I thank you for always being there for me and for making work a pleasure.

  I thank my agent Jane Dystel and my editor John Scognamiglio for over ten years together and for encouraging me to continue writing. I couldn’t do this without the two of them!

  And thank you to my readers for loving the Hamilton family as much as I do.

  Note to Riley

  I love you more.

  (Don’t tell me what to do!)

  1

  Overboard

  May 1894

  Sara Fleming’s only recourse was to fling herself over the side of the ship and into the ocean.

  She was a captive. Trapped. Held against her will. Hot tears pricked her eyes and her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

  With expensively gloved fingers clinging to the railing, she stared down at the gray water sweeping below her, the salt spray splashing up and stinging her cheeks. Despair surged through her and the idea of throwing herself over the railing and into the sea seemed her only option. If only she had jumped sooner, before the ship had left New York Harbor! She would have had a much better chance of swimming to shore safely then, but she was only just realizing they were not returning to port. It was more than likely too late to jump now.

  As she glanced backward, the bustling, crowded city that was her home faded farther and farther from view.

  Sara would surely drown before she made it back to land, her heavy mauve brocade dress weighing her down, pulling her into the cold depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps drowning would be preferable to being held against her will and carried away to God only knew where? Outrage flooded through her veins.

  How had this happened? How had she been so foolish as to get taken away like this? It wasn’t fair! She hadn’t done anything to deserve being treated so cruelly. So viciously.

  Trapped! Good heavens, she was trapped. There was no way out. Nowhere to go. No way to return home. She might as well jump into the swirling sea below her.

  Her heart ached too. She couldn’t see how she could possibly go on without him. There hadn’t been a chance to say good-bye to him, not even a hastily penned note. The very thought of him ringing the bell at her New York town house this evening to take her to the theater as they had planned and discovering that she had sailed away, caused tears to spill down and sting her cheeks. Great sobs of longing and grief wrenched from her chest.

  Then she burned with impotent fury at her heartless parents.

  They had tricked her!

  She never would have suspected them of such an underhanded maneuver. They lured her out to sea under false pretenses. It would surely qualify as kidnapping if they weren’t her very own parents!

  “Come see your father’s new ship,” her mother had suggested innocently enough that morning, a bright smile on her face. “The Captain’s Daughter was christened yesterday and he wants you to see it.”

  Sara had fel
t slightly guilty that she had missed the ship’s christening, because she had been an attendant in her friend Jennie’s wedding. It was doubly disappointing since the name of the new steamship was in reference to her.

  So like any trusting child, Sara had acquiesced, never imagining she would be callously whisked away against her will. How many times had she visited one of her father’s ships before? She’d spent most of her young life on the decks of one type of ship or another, sailing around the world with her parents. The past two years they had been staying at their town house in New York City, and so the prospect of seeing her father’s newest steamship was exciting to Sara, as it always was. But it all had been a ruse. A clever ruse to lure her away from the man she loved.

  Stunned that her mother and father had tricked her so easily, Sara was deeply wounded by their betrayal. Oh, she had not been unaware of their disapproval of the man she loved, but she assumed that they were merely being overprotective, believing that no man was good enough for their precious daughter. They had not been overjoyed by her courtship with Alexander Drake, but they had not forbidden it either. They were friendly with him, cordial even. So their deception this afternoon came as a devastating blow.

  Her eyes looked longingly back at the grand city she loved and called home, while the tears continued to spill down her cheeks. Somewhere in that New York hustle and bustle of buildings and streets and people, Alexander alone was waiting for her, the man who held her heart. She should be with him now.

  It wasn’t fair! It simply wasn’t fair!

  A frustrated scream of helpless rage welled within her, surging much like the waves that crashed below against the hull of the elegant ship. How could they do this to her? Their only daughter! Didn’t they care about her feelings? She was no longer a child, but a grown woman of twenty. Why, she would be turning twenty-one in the fall! How dared they treat her this way? Maybe she should throw herself over? They would be sorry then. When she was no longer alive, they would regret hurting her and breaking her heart.

  The vast water swirled cold and dark gray, far below her.

  She placed her stylishly and expensively booted foot upon the polished railing of the boat, gripping tightly with her kid-gloved hands. If she pushed up, she could swing her legs over the side, taking her long, heavy skirt with her, and just slip quietly into the sea and disappear forever. Her absence might not be noticed for hours, since her parents thought she had locked herself in her suite in a fit of temper.

  But when they finally discovered she was gone, her mother and father would be wracked with regret and guilt over what they had done to her. And it would serve them right, because they had hurt her far worse than they could imagine.

  The time was now or never. She took a deep breath and—

  “Stop being so melodramatic, Sara.”

  Startled, she turned to see her mother standing beside her.

  Although her facial expression was one of annoyance, Juliette Hamilton Fleming was an unmistakably beautiful woman. With her dark hair elegantly coiffed under a fashionable bonnet and wrapped in an expensive fur jacket to ward off the chill of the early May sea air, her heart-shaped face was relatively unlined for a woman in her forties and her blue eyes were clear and full of life. She carried herself with grace, ease, and confidence. People always said that Sara favored her mother, but Sara didn’t see the resemblance at all.

  Juliette stared at her daughter in sympathetic understanding. “It’s not the end of the world. And he’s certainly not a man worthy of throwing yourself overboard.”

  Ignoring her mother, Sara turned her face away. Slowly she removed her foot from the railing. She continued to stare off at the sea, feeling more than a bit embarrassed to be caught contemplating something so foolish.

  “I know you’re upset with us,” Juliette continued, “and to be honest, I would be upset too if I were you. Believe it or not, I am sorry for hurting you like this.”

  Sara glanced at her mother for the briefest of moments. As she looked back to the horizon, New York was no longer visible at all and her heart sank. Her parents had betrayed her. Most dreadfully. Sara didn’t know if she would ever forgive them. She wiped at the cold tears on her cheeks, the wind whipping loose strands of hair around her face.

  “It had to be done. He wasn’t the right man for you. There were things you were not aware of and he would have only broken your heart. Please trust your father and me in this matter.” Juliette’s voice held a firm note.

  “Trust you?” Sara flung back, her voice incredulous. “You tricked me! You and Father deceived me! You led me to believe we were just look—”

  Juliette placed a calming hand on Sara’s arm. “I am terribly sorry we hurt you, but I am not sorry about what your father and I did today. It’s our duty to protect you. And you definitely needed protecting.”

  “Protection from what? From the man I love?” Sara cried, an anguished sob wrenching her throat. When would she ever see Alexander Drake again? Would he understand that her parents had taken her away against her wishes? Would he know that she had not left of her own volition? Would he think she had simply run off? Would he forgive her? Would he still love her? Doubt and heartache filled her with sorrow.

  Her mother gave her a rueful smile. “You’ll thank me for this one day, I promise you.”

  Sara looked away again, trying to stop the tears that were welling again. How dared her mother be so nice to her? “I shall never forgive you for this.” Her words were icy.

  “How you feel now is quite understandable,” Juliette said softly, patting her daughter’s arm in an attempt to comfort, not patronize.

  Sara was too upset to speak. Her parents were wrong. So terribly, terribly wrong. They had deliberately ruined the only love of her life. How could she ever forgive them for doing this to her? How could she continue to go on? Her every moment was consumed by thoughts of Alexander Drake.

  It wasn’t possible to forget him, and even if she could, she wouldn’t ever, couldn’t ever, love anyone else. He was far too handsome. With his deep green eyes, golden blond hair, captivating boyish smile, and dashingly romantic ways. Oh, when he looked at her, she knew he loved her. She could see it in his eyes.

  Now poor Alexander would be frantic with worry over her, brokenhearted too. He would wonder where she had gone to and would be desperate to find her . . .

  Finally Sara gave a defeated sigh. “Can you at least tell me where we are sailing to?”

  A delighted smile lit her mother’s face and her eyes danced with happiness. Juliette answered in one word, which explained everything. “Home.”

  Of course, that’s where they were headed! But with her parents, they could have been sailing to China or Australia for all she knew. However, Sara also understood that home meant London for her mother. Juliette had been born and raised in England and only moved to the United States when she’d married Sara’s father, Captain Harrison Fleming.

  Sara had been to London many times, and she loved it there too. Her heart lifted slightly at the thought of visiting Devon House and seeing all her Hamilton cousins again. It had been over two years since she was last there. Under normal circumstances she would be looking forward to a wonderful visit with her mother’s family, but now . . .

  Now all she could think about was that she had been callously ripped from the man she loved.

  Alexander had been on the verge of proposing to her. She had known that with every fiber of her being. He’d even said that he had something important to discuss with her. What else could it have been except marriage? They had begun courting last fall. He’d proven his love and constancy to her. And just when the most exciting experience in her life was about to happen to her, just when the handsomest, most dashing man in all the world was about to ask her to marry him, her parents carried her off against her will! She didn’t even have time to send a message to Alexander before the ship set sail.

  Another sob caught in her throat at the thought of him.

  “Y
ou’ll be happy and have fun in London, Sara,” her mother offered gently. “The Season is just beginning and there will be plenty for you to do. We’ll even get some new ball gowns made. All your cousins will be so excited to see you and introduce you to their friends. And, of course you know, Mara will be thrilled.”

  Yes, thought Sara, seeing Mara again would be wonderful. Her closest cousin and dearest friend was guaranteed to be very sympathetic to her current plight. Mara would understand her heartbreak and comfort her and commiserate with her, which was just what Sara needed now. Yes, she looked forward to seeing Mara! In spite of the circumstances, she had to admit to herself that it would be fun to see her cousins Phillip and Simon again. And Aunt Colette and Uncle Lucien. Of course, Uncle Jeffrey was always great fun. And the little girls must be so grown-up by now!

  Still . . . Her heart was not in this trip to London.

  All things considered, she would rather be in New York as planned, attending the theater with Alexander this evening, looking into his divine green eyes and knowing he would kiss her when she agreed to be his wife. That special excitement, that romantic thrill, that she had been yearning for her whole life had been cruelly stolen away from her. Now she longed only to be with the love of her life. Her Alexander. Oh, how she missed him so much already! Pined to be in his arms . . . to have him tell her again how he loved her and couldn’t live without her by his side . . .