You have to live each day as if it’s your last, and each day as if you were immortal.

sometimes there are reasons for our fears that we can't quite explain. Sometimes it's just something we feel in our bones, something we know to be true, but would sound foolish to anyone else.

"Love was the only thing that was going to make that unbearable. How could I love someone, truly and deeply, knowing that it was doomed?" "But it's not doomed," Kate said squeezing his hand. "I know, I fell in love with you, and then I knew. Even if I am right, even if I am fated to live only as long as my father did before me, I am not doomed." He leaned forward and rushed a feather-light kiss on her lips. "I have you," he whispered, "and I'm not going to waste a single moment we have together." Kate's lips spread into a smile. "What does that mean?" "It means that love isn't about being afraid that it will all be snatched away. Love's about finding the one person who makes your heart complete, who makes you a better person that you ever dreamed you could be. It's about looking in the eyes of your wife and knowing, all the way to your bones, that she's simply the best person you'll ever know." "Oh Anthony," Kate whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "That's how I feel about you."

"Just go home and tell her that you love her. What could be more simple?" And suddenly it was simple. He had to tell Kate that he loved her. Now. This very day. He had to make sure she knew and he vowed to spend every last minute of is miserable short life providing it to her. It was too late to change the destiny of his heart. He'd tried not to fall in love, and he'd failed. Since he wasn't likely to fall back out of love, he might as well make the best of the solution.

And in that moment, she knew she loved him. With every thought, every emotion, every piece of her being, she loved him. And if he never loved her back- well, she didn't want to think about that. Not now, not in this profound moment. Probably not ever.

"Listen to me," he said, his voice even and intense, "and listen well, because I'm only going to say this once. I desire you. I burn for you. I can't sleep at night for wanting you. Even when I didn't like you, I lusted for you. It's the most maddening, beguiling, damnable thing, but there it is. And if I hear one more world of nonsense from your lips, I'm going to have to tie you to the bloody bed and have my way with you a hundred different ways, until you finally get it through your silly skull that you are the most beautiful and desirable woman in England, and if everyone else doesn't see that, then they're all bloody fools."

And then there was Kate Sheffield. The bane of his existence. And the object of his desires. All at once. What a muddle. He was supposed to be courting her sister for God's sake. Edwina. The belle of the season. Lovely beyond compare. Sweet and generous and eventempered. And instead he couldn't stop thinking about Kate. Kate, who, much as she infuriated him couldn't help but command his respect. How could he not admire one who clung so steadfastly to her convictions? And Anthony had to admit that the crux of her convictions - devotion to family - was the one principle he held above all else.

Anthony was suddenly gripped by the most insane desire to see her toes. It was a horrible thought. He had no business lusting after this woman. He didn't even like her. He sighed. That wasn't true. He supposed he did like her in an odd, paradoxical sort of way. And he thought, strangely enough, she might be beginning to like him in much the same manner.

Something about her was right. She felt right. She smelled right. She tastes it right. And he knew and if it's stripped off all of her clothes and took her there on the carpet on the floor of his study she would fit underneath him, fit around him, just right. It occurred to Antony that when she wasn't arguing with him, Kate Sheffield might bloody well be the finest woman in England.

But something about this miss Katherine Sheffield sparked his temper and made him positively itch to do battle with her. And win. That much went without saying.

And suddenly it was simple. He had to tell Kate that he loved her. Now. This very day.

the bane of his existence, and the object of his desires

And then there was Kate Sheffield. The bane of his existence. And the object of his desires. All at once. What a muddle.

It was simple. His world was Kate. If he denied that, he might as well stop breathing right now.

He wasn't ready. Not yet. He didnt know what to do with her. He didn't know what to do with himself. All his life-or at least since his father had died -he'd known that certain things were true, that certain things had to be true. And now Kate had gone and turned his world upside down.