Release Day! A Wallflower’s Wassail Punch by Aubrey Wynne

A Wallflower’s Wassail Punch
by Aubrey Wynne
Revenge of the Wallflowers Book 35
Once Upon A Widow

Lady Annette Page is twenty-four and ready to climb onto the shelf. Her first Season was a disaster after a duke’s son pinched her by the punchbowl, and she walloped him in the nose. And broke it. After five years, she has yet to live down the scandal. Her father hopes to remarry, but his betrothed will not agree until Lady Annette is gone. With an enormous dowry offered for her hand, the earl hosts a house party at Christmastide. The men arrive, hoping to claim her fortune, while the ladies continue to dredge up the past.

Lord Weston has been a widow for twenty years. Now that his daughter is betrothed, he is ready to consider taking another wife. Invited to a house party by an old friend, he arrives to find the earl’s daughter is the guest of honor, and the week of revelry is a ploy to marry her off. Weston is surprised the other gentlemen view her as a quiet, awkward female. The viscount, seeing a striking, intelligent woman with a dry wit only he seems to appreciate, comes to her rescue.

When the two become allies, their partnership soon goes beyond friendship. But will Lady Annette’s age and the viscount’s interfering daughter keep them from a happy ending under the mistletoe?

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Excerpt

It had been years since he’d been here. A strapping lad of eighteen? The large entrance hall held the same large mirror, tapestry, and portraits on the wall. There was a drawing room on the right, and past that began the large circular staircase that led to a balcony. As he gazed up, he saw a woman with deep-brown hair and brilliant emerald eyes watching him.

His heart thumped a little harder when their eyes met, and she smiled. Lovely. No, more than lovely. She was stunning, and his heart thumped again. A rusty, odd feeling in his chest. Attraction? Possibly. Nerves because he’d been thinking of taking another wife?

“Hello,” she said in a rich, honied tone, interrupting his thoughts. “You must be here for the party.”

“Yes, this is Lord Weston,” informed the butler just as the door opened again and footmen came in carrying a trunk and a traveling bag. He turned back to Andrew. “This is Lady Annette.”

That sounded familiar. Annette, Annette—

An invisible pitcher of icy water doused him, and he blinked. Demmit, she was Beecham’s daughter? He needed to get hold of himself, then, because he was no lecherous old man. But she was deuced lovely.

“Which room, Mr. Gibbs?”

“The green room, my lady.”

“I’ll show him the way.” With a smile, she beckoned him to join her.

Without hesitation, he took the stairs and bowed when he stood before her. A day dress of light-rose muslin clung to her curves and showed off her ivory skin. He deliberately avoided her neckline as she held out a hand. A bare hand. His lips brushed the top. Yet a vaguely familiar heat sizzled through him.

He straightened, and she smiled again. A brilliance of white filled the shadowy hall. Her eyes sparkled, making him smile in return. Now that he was closer, he noted the tiny creases around those green orbs and realized she wasn’t quite as young as he’d assumed. Perhaps she was even married already.

“You have your father’s eyes,” he said, attempting a sane conversation.

“So I’ve been told.” She glanced over her shoulder, leading him farther down the hall. They climbed another flight of stairs, stopping at the second room on the right with a green door and a tiny brass knocker. “Here we are.” Lady Annette turned the knob and stepped aside.

The green room was true to its name. Wool carpet the color of a dark forest covered most of the floor with matching drapes on the tall windows, opened to let in the dim winter light. Several landscapes showing off the Beecham estate hung on the oak paneling. To the left, a small fireplace was flanked by a side table with a pitcher and bowl and a dark walnut wardrobe. On the marble mantel was a miniature grandfather’s clock, its delicate weights and pendulum intricately carved with a design he couldn’t discern from the doorway. The four-poster canopied bed took up the right side of the room. A counterpane and canopy with the same lighter, brighter green and gold print that matched the two wingback chairs before the hearth.

“It’s one of the more masculine rooms, so we thought you’d feel more at home here.”

Andrew moved past her into the room, feeling the plush carpet beneath his boots. The scent of jasmine tickled his nose and made him think of warmer weather. Lady Annette lingered at the door. He could feel her eyes studying him as he walked to the windows and pulled back a sheer curtain. He knew the path below. It led to the stable.

“I haven’t been here since I graduated from university,” he mumbled, turning away from the window.

“Then your last visit was fairly recent?” she asked with a grin.

He chuckled. “If you are appealing to my vanity, you have succeeded.”

“Good. Let’s see how your memory holds up. Do you remember where the library is?”

Impertinent, adorable chit. “I believe I do. First floor, end of the hall.” He smirked. “Not bad for an old man.”

She snorted. He laughed. “I don’t believe you are old. Nothing about you shows the wear of years like I’ve seen on other men. Either you are exaggerating your age, or you’ve never had a care in the world.”

Andrew shook his head. “You are wrong on both counts, my dear, though such observations make me feel years younger.”

“Hmm,” she mused over her shoulder, turning to leave. “Challenge accepted.”

His mind buzzed as he breathed in the lingering scent of jasmine, wondering what challenge he had just issued. Watch your step, old boy. She’s a temptation that could lead to trouble.

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