Prude & Prejudice (11 page)

“What is it?”

“I was talking about corporate farms, not immigrants. These huge agribusinesses are moving in
all over the country
and driving o
ut farmers. The
y’re
using methods that aren’t
environmentally friendly and growing inferior produce because all they care about is short-term profit
. T
hey are destroying vibrant farming communities
and forcing families from the land who have been there for generations
.
It’s something I feel very strongly about.”

“Oh,” said
Prue as the extent of her misunderstanding san
k in.
“All this time I’ve b
een thinking you were prejudiced against other races when in fact
you were talking about something that I comple
tely agree with. I
believe that small scale organic farming is the way
of the futu
re and I’d love to join your movement. I c
an’t believe I misinterpreted you so completely. This is so embarrassing.”

“
Maybe if I hadn’t insulted you first you would have kept an open mind, but as it was you were prepared to believe the worst of me be
cause you wanted to. I have to take my share of the blame
for
your misunderstanding
.
Do you think we can be friends now?
”

“I can’t see why not
.”

“
So w
hen you said those things last night
about dirty foreigners, you were being sarcastic. It all makes sense now,
”
he said with a laugh
.

“
Yes, but u
nfortunately I can’
t say the same thing about
my mother. S
he really does believe what she said, but I don’t think it’s completely hopeless.”

“It’s not your mother I’m worried
about.
E
ven when I thought you were an intolerant nut case
I still couldn’t stop thinking about you.
You really are a very interesting
young lady
,
you know.”

“And you’re quite an intriguing man.”
They were standing very close together now and Prue could feel the electricity pulsing between them.

“
I’m really looking forward to getting to know you
,
Prue. And just for the record
Prudence
Higginbottom
is
a lovely name.”

“Don’t push it
.
I have major issues over my name, and you’re very lucky I found it in my heart to forgive you for mocking it.”

“Yes, I am very lucky that a girl like you is
interested in a man like me
after the unchivalrous
way I behaved the first time I saw you
.
Now, I don’t know about you
,
but
I’m starving. Lunch must
be ready.”

“I’ll race you.” With those words she took off across the lawn with William Darling hot on her heels.
By the time they reached the house they were both out of b
reath and laughing, and Prue felt a tingle race up her arm when he
took her h
and and helped
her up the stairs.
She
gave thanks
that her first impressions had turned out to
be so wrong and she was thrilled
to discover they had so much in common. The future sud
denly looked very bright indeed,
and she could not wait to find out what it held
for her and Mr William Darling. I
t seemed
that against all expectation
s
he
might live up to his name after all.

THE END

About the author

Francene
Carroll is a true romantic at heart. She has written a number of books in the romance genre ranging from paranormal romance to comedy and suspense. She enjoys writing stories with interesting twists and turns, and she tries to keep her readers guessing till the end. You can visit her blog at:

http://francenecarroll13.blogspot.com.au/

or
her website at:

www.francenecarroll.com

Other books by
Francene
Carroll:

Pleasure Island

When Jackson Moore and Allie Read are paired up for reality show Pleasure Island the challenge is simply to outlast their opponent. Both believe they will win with ease. What they do not realize is that they are about to face the greatest challenge of all – falling in love.

Jackson Moore is a typical Hollywood bad boy and millions of women would love to be stranded on a desert island with him. Not every woman finds him irresistible though.

Allie Read is an uptight documentary filmmaker with no tolerance for men like Jack. It does not take long for the sparks to
fly between this mismatched pair,
and no one is more surprised than Alli
e when she finds herself becoming
attracted to him.

As their physical attraction heats up Jack and Allie struggle to control themselves in front of the cameras, while at the same
time dealing with their unexpected
feelings for each other.

EXCERPT

“And that brings us to the end of the show,” said Pam as she beamed at them from the security of a studio in L.A., thousands of
kilometers
away. “You might not be seeing us for a while, but we’ll definitely be seeing the two of you. I’d like to remind you that this is the last time you’ll have any contact with another human being besides each other until the show is over. Good luck, and remember to keep it real.”

The screen went black, and he was suddenly alone with Allie again. He wished that Pam hadn’t felt the need to remind them of just how cut off from the rest of the human race they were, because the thought sent a cold shiver down his spine. He looked across at Allie to
see how she was taking it, but she was already off the lounge and walking toward the kitchen. She shot a disdainful look his way, but she didn’t say another word. Pam had explained that they didn’t officially have to start spending time together until eight o’clock the next morning, and after picking something out of the fridge, Allie made her way straight to her room with her dinner, closing the door loudly behind her.

For the first time in a long time, Jack was completely on his own with nothing but the unfamiliar sounds of the night to keep him company. He stretched and yawned and then went to scratch his crotch before remembering that he wasn’t alone at all. There were people out there watching his every move, and even though he was used to being filmed and dealing with the paparazzi prying into every aspect of his life, this was different. He’d never been a fan of Big Brother-type shows because he couldn’t understand why people were interested in watching other people sitting around all day or doing stupid stunts. His own life was far too exciting for that, but he supposed that most people out there lived really meaningless existences and he should feel sorry for them. He couldn’t find it in his heart to feel sorry for anyone but himself at the moment, though.

All he wanted was to lie down and go to sleep for a long time, but he knew sleep was going to be very hard to come by that night. His cravings for a cigarette and a drink were there, niggling at the back of his mind constantly, occasionally giving him a knifelike jab in the guts to remind him of their hunger. He got up and paced the room, checking that he’d closed the sliding doors earlier. Allie hadn’t even noticed that he’d locked the place up. So typical of a woman like her to expect him to do everything and not even acknowledge it. He stood at the door for a moment, staring out at the moonlit beach, and was again reminded of what a fantastic time he could have had here with the right woman and a bar. With a sigh, he leaned his head against the glass and then, on a whim, decided to go outside for a walk on the beach. It might help to tire him out a bit, and the fresh air would do him good. He knew that the cameras could zoom in on him anywhere, at any time of the night or day, and the highly sensitive audio equipment could pick up every sound he made even though he wasn’t wearing a wire. There was no escape from prying eyes or ears even outside, but he felt a sense of freedom as he walked down the steep stairs and onto the empty white beach that seemed to glow in the darkness.

His walk started off well enough, and he was enjoying the fresh air in his lungs, when a loud crashing sound from the jungle behind him made him jump. It was probably just a branch falling down, he told himself. It happened all the time in the jungle. It was no big deal. He continued walking up the sand for another five minutes as he remembered all the great times he’d had on beaches in the past, playing football, surfing, jogging, camping, screwing. What right did she have to tell him that he was soft when he’d roughed it plenty of times, in much harsher conditions than this? It was true he hadn’t done anything physical for a while, but how hard could it be for a seasoned outdoorsman like him?

“This is going to be a piece of cake,” he said out loud. “How can Allie hope to beat me when I was practically raised on the beach and she’s hardly set foot on one in her entire life?”

At that moment, he heard the loud sound from the jungle again, but this time it seemed much closer. It was followed by a low wailing noise, like a very large cat that had just spotted its prey.

“Maybe it’s time I headed back to the house.” He turned around and made his way back in the direction he’d come. He tried to look like he was in no hurry by sticking his hands in his pockets and whistling as he strolled up the sand. The moon had gone behind a cloud now, and the beach was much darker. Then he heard the crashing sound again, but this time it seemed to be right next to him. Something screeched, and he heard a flapping sound, like wings. He pictured a huge prehistoric bird swooping out of the jungle, and he gave up all
pretense
of trying to look cool as he ran back toward the house as fast as he could. He was already winded from the walk, and before long, his legs began to feel like lead. He could feel his muscles burning as they tried to cope with the unfamiliar exertion, so he made his way down closer to the water, where the sand was firm, and slowed down to a walk. The cool night air had irritated his lungs, and he gave in to a coughing fit that seemed to last forever.

“Looks like I need to do some work on my fitness,” he said with a laugh when he’d managed to recover himself. He pulled his shoulders back and tried to look confident, but after a few minutes of walking, he stopped and scrutinized the tree line uneasily. He hadn’t walked too far up the beach, he was sure of it, but he still couldn’t see the house. He remembered how difficult it had been in broad daylight for them to spot it through the trees, and his panic started to mount. He had turned on a couple of lamps in the living area while he waited for Allie, but the house was so high up that it would be very hard to see them, and he vaguely remembered
Tye
saying something about the eco-friendly lights switching off when no one was in the room.

“Stupid greenies,” he muttered. After the noises he’d heard coming from the jungle, he really didn’t want to get any closer to the trees, but he realized that he had no choice. The wind had risen, and it was getting cold.

“I should have brought a sweater,” said Jack out loud as he folded his arms across his chest and shivered. He felt another coughing fit coming on as he headed back toward the tree line, and despite his best efforts, he was unable to suppress it. The last thing he wanted to do was alert any wild creatures to his presence, but the hacking noises from his throat seemed to reverberate through the jungle.

“God, this is ridiculous!” he yelled after the coughing had eased. “Who in their right mind builds a fucking house that is impossible to find? If I catch pneumonia out here, I’m going to sue you bastards.” He shook his fist at the sky, fully aware that he was making an idiot of himself, but he had to do something to vent his frustration, and there was no one else around to yell at. This was his idea of hell. Not only was he suffering from major withdrawal symptoms on a deserted island with a highly unpleasant woman, but now he was lost, hungry, and being stalked by a jungle creature.  To top it all off, the entire world could see his humiliation. He could just picture Pam and the rest of them rubbing their hands together with glee because this would be ratings gold for them, and exactly the kind of publicity he didn’t need. They would sell the scoop to the trashiest magazines to create hype for the show, and it would take him years to live it down. The footage would be shown at every interview he did, and every smart-ass talk show host in the country would have a field day with it.