Out of the Blue (A Regency Time Travel Romance) Read Online Free PDF

directly in front of the steps,
keeping her from them, so Cassandra gave it another shot. “Did I
tell you I’m an editor? A book editor, actually—the paperback kind.
I work for Wilmont Publishing. In New York—that’s in America. Silly
me, you already knew that, didn’t you? You probably haven’t heard
of us because we specialize in romances—no spy thrillers or
anything—for women, you understand. I’ve been moved to
contemporaries now, but I really fell in love with England while
working on our Mayfair line. I’m just here for the weekend, to peek
in on your London Book Fair, but I’m coming back at the end of May
with some friends of mine who—hey, look—I must be boring you. How
about I come right to the point? I became separated from my tour
group, and I seem to have lost my way while looking for the gift
shop. I thought I’d buy a miniature headman’s ax for my nephew,
Todd. He’s a bloodthirsty little bas—”
    Cassandra’s rambling monologue faltered, and
she bit her lip a moment, struggling for composure. “You know, I
had the strangest experience just now. It got all foggy in
here and I couldn’t see anything. I was really frightened—I may
even have screamed.”
    She wrinkled her nose as she grimaced. “All
right, I admit it—I did scream. I guess you heard me and came
charging to the rescue. Sorry about that. Well, anyway, as long as
you’re here, you guys wouldn’t mind showing me the way to the gift
shop, would you? You know, the gift shop? The souvenir
emporium? ”
    This wasn’t going well. As a matter of fact,
it wasn’t going anywhere at all. “Um” —she said timidly as
the two men continued to stare at her as if she had been speaking a
foreign language or something—“you do talk, don’t you,
fellas? Come to think of it, Mickey Mouse doesn’t—speak, that is—he
just dances around and has his picture taken with all the kids.
That’s a shame. I’d really love to hear you talk. I’m not arrested
or anything, am I? Sam—Sam’s my boss—well, anyway, he’ll have a cow
if I’m arrested. Oh, Lord, why can’t I keep my mouth shut?”
    The shorter man tugged on the other man’s
sleeve, looking up at his friend, his watery blue eyes wide. “You
know what it is, Marcus—I think the chit’s a witch. Do all witches
talk so much? She’s beginning to give me the headache. Do you think
she’ll turn us into toads?”
    “Shut up, Perry,” the taller man said
quietly, still staring at Cassandra in a way that made her feel as
if she were a particularly rare bug squashed between slides under a
microscope. “Would you please be so kind as to give us your name,
madam?”
    Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Madam? Oh,
brother, I am arrested. I knew it. I have to tell you
something, guys, I don’t think it’s particularly sporting to have
security guards dressed up like part of the show.” She shook her
head, disgusted with herself. “Here I am, all grown up, and I’m
still getting called to the principal’s office. Will I never learn?
Madam! Nobody ever calls me madam.”
    “My apologies, miss ,” the taller man
amended promptly, handing the torch to the other man and removing
his greatcoat, to place it around her shoulders. “Here, you must be
cold, dressed as you are. And don’t be frightened, my dear. You
aren’t under arrest.”
    “She should be, Marcus, tripping around
London all but jay-naked like that. Either arrested or put to trod
the stage. She’s got nice enough legs for it, I’ll give her that.
If only she didn’t talk so much.”
    “Perry, for God’s sake, stifle yourself,” the
man called Marcus warned, smiling down at Cassandra, still with
more assessing curiosity than kindness in his piercing green eyes.
“Please excuse my friend, miss, as he has the most abominable habit
of speaking before he thinks—when he bothers to think at all,
having been forced to do it as a youth only to learn the process
fatigued him most prodigiously. Allow me to