Will Marsden is a man on the run from his memories and his past. Steward of Denton Manor was a good position until Captain Dearne, the owner, lost the manor on the turn of a card. When the feckless Dearne is dumped unconscious and near death on his doorstep, Will grudgingly accepts an enormous sum of money to care for him.<br><br>Dearne regains consciousness but has no memories of how he came to be in the bed of a dark-haired, angry, but gorgeous man or how he came to be so badly injured.<br><br>When nightmares drive Dearne into Will’s arms every night, the attraction between them explodes. As Dearne battles with lost memories, he is forced to accept the fact that someone in his family wants him dead, and Will is forced to confront his past head on. Will the revelations uncovered manage to tear them apart?

Memories

“So, what did you do before you took up your position here, Will?”


Will glanced at him and then went back to his meticulous drying of the plates. “Are you interviewing me?”


“Merely an attempt at civility. You should try it sometime.”


There was a pause in the drying, and then he heaved in a breath. “I was groundsman for a small estate in Lincolnshire.”


“Have you always been a groundsman or steward?” Dearne leaned back in his chair.


“Have you always been a nosey bastard?” Will answered in the same tone and put the plate away. He came and sat with him at the table and leaned his elbows on it. “I have worked for the past thirteen years building up my skills and knowledge, and saving my money so one day I will be able to have land of my own. I am almost there. I know you sneer at me for wanting the money your sister promised me, but it is…important to me to own my own land. To have something that belongs to me. Just me. A home that can’t be taken from me.”


Chapter 25