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“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” Leon said, adding in much the same tone, “Want to shake hands?” And not a bit abashed by his own nakedness, he looked about to get out of bed….

The man was no stranger to Varnie—not since she had seen that picture of him in the paper yesterday. There was absolutely no need for the man to introduce himself. She already knew who he was.

But what in blazes was Leon Beaumont doing here? And more worrying than that, he—the first man ever to do so—had just seen her completely stark naked, stitchless. Oh, heavens above, how on earth was she ever to face him again?

Jessica Steele lives in a friendly Worcestershire village in England with her super husband, Peter. They are owned by a gorgeous Staffordshire bull terrier called Florence, who is boisterous and manic, but also adorable. It was Peter who first prompted Jessica to try writing and, after the first rejection, encouraged her to keep trying. Luckily, with the exception of Uruguay, she has so far managed to research inside all the countries in which she has set her books, traveling to places as far apart as Siberia and Egypt. Her thanks go to Peter for his help and encouragement.

Vacancy: Wife of Convenience #3839,

Harlequin Romance®!

Books by Jessica Steele

HARLEQUIN ROMANCE®

3695—HIS PRETEND MISTRESS

3721—A PROFESSIONAL MARRIAGE

3741—AN ACCIDENTAL ENGAGEMENT

3763—A PAPER MARRIAGE

3787—HER BOSS’S MARRIAGE AGENDA

A Pretend Engagement

Jessica Steele

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

HER thoughts were many and varied during that long drive from Heathrow airport to North Wales. Nor were her thoughts the happiest. It did not cheer her one whit that fog had descended, making it a truly murky, damp and miserable November night. The night matched her mood.

She had hoped to make the journey to Aldwyn House in Denbighshire in record time, but poor visibility made any chance of driving at speed out of the question. To speed in these conditions would be utter madness.

Not that she had intended to drive to Wales when she had first left the airport. Her initial thought, an unconscious thought, had been to drive back to her home near Cheltenham. An hour into the drive, however, and Varnie had recalled all the stresses and strains her overworked parents had endured recently. The last thing she wanted to do, now that they were retired and sailing in calmer waters, was to give them cause to be upset or anxious again—especially about her.

They’d had more than enough to worry about, first with her brother, Johnny, crashing his car—though it was true he always seemed to be about an inch away from some disaster or other—and then her father being diagnosed with high blood pressure. Johnny had walked away from his car crash with barely a scratch, but they had all worried about him. On top of that the hotel they owned had started to lose money, and they had decided to try and sell it. And then Grandfather Sutton had died. One way and another it had been a pretty anxious time.