title: False Pretenses
author: Powers, Martha Jean
description: A FATEFUL PROMISE...
  
  When they first met, Anthea Bowmont had been searching for a way to save her sister from a desperate plight--and Hawkins Chadwicke was a soldier, headed for a battle he felt sure would mean his demise. On that evening, Hawkins Chadwicke made a grand and generous offer--and Anthea accepted. Neither expected ever again to see the other...
  
  But fate would bring them together once more...and entangle them in the web of deception that had been spun in the intervening years. The situation seemed hopeless. There was only one solution--to fall in love...
  
  A Tender and Unexpected Moment...
  
  Thea was finding it difficult to concentrate on the conversation. She could not decide if it was the wine she had drunk or the warmth of the room that made her so aware of Hawk's closeness. She could feel the muscles of his arms, moving beneath her fingers... She could feel the beat of his heart, a throbbing echo to her own. She swallowed several times and tried to focus her attention on the flower he was showing her.
  
  "It's almost the same color as you skin," he said.
  "Can it be as soft?"
  
  Hawk's fingers stroked the cream-colored lily and then slowly raised to touch her cheek. The contact was featherlight but Thea caught her breath at the sensations that raced through her body. His hand moved across her cheek, sliding behind her neck and tipping her head back until she was staring up at him...
  
  
  Hero: Hawkins Chadwicke
  Heroine: Anthea Bowmont