Two

Sarah stared at the bouquet in her hand.

I've never seen anything so lovely.

William stared at Sarah.

Neither have I.

They smell heavenly.

She leaned down and took another sniff.

I adore the smell of flowers.

There is honey suckle growing just outside my window at home.

Is there?

He said absently reaching out to touch her face but catching himself just in time.

She was innocent and he didn't want to scare her.

Thank you, Sarah said suddenly looking up.

William jumped to his feet.

Don't move!

Not an inch.

Again?

She burst out her face erupting into the widest of smiles.

Where are you going?

He grinned.

To find a portrait artist.

A what?

I want this moment captured for eternity.

Oh, said Sarah.

Her body shook with laughter pink rose to her feet.

William, he corrected.

William.

She was being dreadfully informal but his given name fell so naturally from her lips.

You are so amusing.

I cannot remember the last time.

I laughed so much.

He leaned down and laid another kiss on her hand.

Oh dear, Sarah said, glancing up t the sky.

It's grown so late.

Dad might come looking or me, and if he found me alone with you.

"All he could do is force us to marry Sarah interrupt with a lazy grin.

She started at him.

And that isn't enough to send you scurrying off o the next county?

He leaned forward and brushed the softest of kisses against her lips.

Shhhh.I've already decided that I'm going to marry you.

Her mouth fell open.

Are you mad?

He drew back, regarding her with an expression that t hovered somewhere between amusement and amazement.

Sarah, I don't think I have

ever been saner than I am at this very moment.

Sarah pushed open the door to the cottage she shared with her father and younger sister.

Dad!She called out.

I'm sorry I'm late.

I was out exploring.

There is still so much of the Valley area I have not seen.

She poked her head into his study.

Her father was seated behind an esk,hard at work on his next sermon.

He waved his hand in the air,presumably signaling to her that all was well and he did not wish to be disturbed.

She tiptoed from the room.

Sarah made her way to the kitchen to prepare the night meal.

She and her sister Zara took turns making supper, and Sarah was on duty that night.

She tasted the pizza she had put on the stove earlier that day, and added a bit of salt, then her.

Surely she had been dreaming.

William was an Billionaire.

And he would eventually become a Boss.

Men of such lofty titles didn't marry Carpenter's daughters.

Still, He had kissed her.

Sarah touched her lips,not at all surprised to see that her hands were trembling.

She couldn't imagine that the kiss had been as meaning full to him as it had been to her—he was, after all many years older than

she was.

He had surely kissed dozens of ladies before her.

Her fingers traced circles and hearts on the wooden table top as her mind dreamily recounted the afternoon.

William. She mouthed his name, then wrote it on the table with her finger.

William .

She traced all his names dark hair had been wavy and just a touch too long for fashion.

And his eyes one would have expected such a dark haired man to have dark blue eyes, but he had been clear and blue.

Pale blue, they should have looked icy, but his personality had kept them warm.

"What are you doing, Sarah? Sarah looked up to see her sister in the doorway.

Oh, hello, Zara.

Zara, younger than Sarah by exactly three years, crossed the room and

picked Sarah's hand up off the table.

You're going to give yourself splinters.

She dropped Sarah's hand and sat down across from her.

Sarah looked at her sister's face but saw only William.

Finely molded lips, always ready with a smile, the vague hint of whiskers on his chin. She wondered if he had to be shaved twice a day. Sarah!"

Sarah looked up blankly.

Did you say something?

I was asking you for the second time if you wanted to come with me tomorrow to bring food to Mrs. George.

Dad is sharing our title with her family

while she is ill."

Sarah nodded. As Carpenter her father received a title.

Much of this was old to care for the village old houses, but there was always more than enough food for the family.

Yes, yes, she said

absently.Of course, l go.

William.

She sighed. He had such a lovely laugh.more in?

Sarah looked up.

I'm sorry.

Were you speaking to me?

I was saying,Zara said with a decided lack of patience,that I tasted the pizza earlier today.

It needs salt.

Would you like me to put more in?

No, no. I added a bit a few minutes ago.

Whatever is wrong with you, Sarah?

What do you mean?"

Zara exhaled in an exasperated gesture.

You haven't heard two words of what I've said. I keep trying to talk to you, and all you do is gaze out the window and sigh.

Sarah leaned forward.

Can you keep a secret?

Zara leaned forward.

You know I can.

"I think I'm in love."

"I don believe that for one second.

Sarah's mouth fell open in consternation.

I just told you that I have undergone the most life-altering transformation in a woman's life, and you don't

believe me?"

Zara scoffed.

Who in the could you possibly fall in love with?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"I already said I could."

"The Billionaire's son?

Zara fairly yelled. Sarah, he's real.

"Keep your voice down!they had caught their father's attention.

And I am well aware that he is an Billionaire."

"You don't even know him.

He was in America when the Billionaire had us up to Silicon Valley.

I met him today.

And you think you're in love?

Sarah only fools and poets fall in love at

first sight.

Then I suppose I'm a fool, Sarah said loftily, because Lord knows I am

not poet.

"You are mad, sister. Utterly mad."

Sarah lifted her chin and looked down her nose at her sister.

I think I've ever been saner than I am at this very moment."

It took Sarah hours to fall asleep that night, and when she did she dreamed of William.

He was kissing her.

Gently on the lips and then traveling along the planes of her cheek.

He was whispering her name.

Sarah…"

Sarah…"

She came suddenly awake.

Sarah…"

Was she still dreaming?

Sarah…"

She scrambled out from under her covers and peered out the window that hung

over her bed.

He was there.

William?"

Her nose.

The very one.

I cannot tell you how glad I am that your cottage is only one story tall.

William,what are you doing here?

Falling madly in love?"

William!She tried to keep herself from laughing, but his good spirits were infectious.

What here?"

He swept his body into a gallant bow.

I've come to court you, Miss Sarah.

In the middle of the night?"

"I cannot think of a better time."

"William, what if you had gone to the wrong room? My reputation would be in tatters.

He leaned against the window sill. "

You mentioned about until I found your room. He sniffed in the demonstration.

My factory senses are quite refined.

You're incorrigible.

He nodded.

That, or perhaps merely in love."

William, you cannot love me.

But even as she said the words, Sarah heard her heart begging him to contradict her.

Can't I? He reached through the window and took her hand.

Come with me,Dior.no one calls me Dior, she said, trying to change the subject.

"I'd like to, he whispered.

He moved his hand to her chin and drew her toward him. I'm going to kiss you now.

Sarah nodded tremendously unable to deny herself the pleasure she'd been

dreaming about all evening.

His lips brushed hers in a feather-light caress. Sarah shivered against the tingles that shot down her spine.

Are you cold?

He whispered his words a kiss against her lips. Silently, she shook her head.

He drew back and cradled her face in his hands.

You're so beautiful.

He pinched a lock of her hair between his fingers and examined its silkiness.

Then he moved his lips back to hers, brushing against them back and forth, allowing

her to accustom herself to his nearness before he moved in closer.

He could feel her trembling, but she made no move to pull away, and he knew that e was as excited by the encounter as he was.

William moved his hand to the back of her head, sinking his fingers into her thick hair as he darted out his tongue to trace the outline of her lips.

She tasted like mint and lemons, and it was all he could pull her through the window and make love to her right there on the soft grass.

Never in his twenty-four years had he felt this particular brand of need.

It was desire, yes, but with a stunningly powerful rush of tenderness.

Reluctantly he drew away, aware that he wanted far more than he could ask

her for that evening.

Come with me, he whispered.

Her hand flew to her lips.

He took her hand again and pulled her toward the window. William, it's the middle of the night.

"The best time to be alone.

"But I'm—I'm in my nightdress!

She looked down at herself as if only then realizing how inherently attired she was.

She grabbed her blankets and tried to wrap them around her body.

William did his best not to laugh.

Put on your cloak, he gently ordered. And

hurry. We've much to see this evening.

Sarah wavered for but a second.

Going with him was the height of nonsense, but she knew that if she closed her window now she would wonder for the rest of her life what might have happened this full-mooned night. She rushed off the pulled a long dark from her closet.

It was far too heavy for the warm weather, but she couldn't very well traipse around the countryside in her nightdress.

She buttoned the cloak, climbed back onto her

bed,and with William's help crawled through the window.

The night air was crisp and laden with the scent of honeysuckle,but Sarah only had time to take in one deep breath before William yanked on her hand and took off at a run.

Sarah laughed silently as they raced across the lawn and into the forest.

Never had she felt so alive and free.

She wanted to shout her glee to

the treetops but was mindful of her father's open bedroom window.

In a few minutes, they emerged into a small clearing.

William stopped short,

causing Sarah to stumble into him.

He told her firmly,the length of his body

indecently pressed against hers.

Dior," he murmured.

Oh, Dior.

And he kissed her again, kissed her as if she were the last woman left on the earth, the only woman ever born.

Eventually, she pulled away, her dark blue eyes flustered.

This is all so very fast. I'm not sure I understand it."

"I don't understand it, either, William said with a happy sigh.

But I don't want

to question it.

He sat down on the ground, pulling her along with him. Then he lay down on his back.

Sarah was still crouching, looking at him with a trace of hesitancy.

He patted the ground next to him Lie down and look at the sky.

It's spectacular."

Sarah looked at his face, alight with happiness, and lowered herself onto the

ground.

The sky seemed enormous from her vantage point. Are the stars not the most amazing thing you've ever seen?

Sarah asked.

Sarah nodded and moved closer to him, finding the heat of his body oddly compelling.