No Unspoken Promises (The Warner Saga)

Blake Warner has the heart of every young socialite in Civil War Chicago, aflutter. But he has been nicknamed “Blake the Rake” because of his aversion to marriage and his reputation of breaking off all courtships if a woman expressed her affection for him. To combat his boredom, Blake works with the Union Intelligence Service as a less than successful spy. He has been asked to messenger a communiqué to Minnesota where the Dakota Sioux are increasingly violating the treaties.

When Blake meets a fiery little hellion, he is fascinated by her spunk and sense of humor. He finds himself attracted to the diminutive spitfire who is completely opposite of the cultured women he usually courts. A misunderstanding leads him to believe her husband has gone to war, so it’s not as if by sleeping with her he’d be breaking the cardinal rule of rogues: Never take a young woman’s innocence. He made sure she understood, he was offering no unspoken promises before he took her to bed.

Meredith Vande Linde knew she would die a spinster in her small Minnesota town after a scandal tarnished her reputation. So what harm could there be in letting Blake think she was married and allowing the handsome stranger to take her innocence. He would leave the next day and no one would know.

It never occurred to either of them, they might get caught, until it happened.

Meredith should have known when Blake vomited on the preacher's shoes, he felt something worse than nerves. She had no idea his past held dark secrets he’d never revealed to anyone.