{"id":15953,"date":"2016-01-08T21:16:41","date_gmt":"2016-01-09T02:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=15953"},"modified":"2016-01-08T21:16:41","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T02:16:41","slug":"excerpt-a-wicked-temptation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Excerpt &#8211; A Wicked Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>I&#8217;m working on this right now&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg?resize=216%2C300\" alt=\"awickedtemptation3D\" width=\"216\" height=\"300\" align=\"left\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBecause, my lord, I most <em>heartily<\/em> dislike you.\u201d Meghan tried her best to carry her grievance with him above the fractiousness of their ongoing discussion. But it wasn\u2019t easy. The man had an ego the size of England itself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Rhys\u2019s eyebrow\u2014the right one\u2014rose slowly. It was an amazing thing to see. She wondered if that was something one had to practice to perfect to the degree he obviously had?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHeartily you say?\u201d His tone openly mocked her\u2014she hated that\u2014and his\u00a0accompanying smile was dangerous in its lethality. \u201cShould I take that to mean you don\u2019t like me at all, or simply more than usual on this fine evening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAt. All.\u201d Meghan spoke from between gritted\u00a0teeth. And\u00a0not by choice. He was and would always be the most infuriating of men.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">His smile remained intact while his eyebrow returned to its original resting place. \u201cI most\u00a0heartily<em>\u00a0<\/em>doubt <em>that<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He sounded entirely too self-satisfied in all his gloating smugness, which had Meghan seething.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Beyond the pale infuriating.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201c<\/em>Doubt it all you want. It is the truth.\u201d It was amazing she could speak, such was the extent of her vexation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">His gaze narrowed ever so slightly and his voice dropped to just above a whisper. \u201cTruth? I\u2019d give you a dash of the truth but I very much doubt\u00a0you could handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He was goading her; fishing for things and hoping she would bite.\u00a0 She was clever, but she needn\u2019t have been to clearly see that. But she also loathed to back down from a challenge. Especially one filled with such blatant, masculine, meant-to-provoke bravado. More likely than not, he\u00a0hoped she\u2019d meet his challenge, swords drawn, but but assumed she would not as to deny him the satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYour truth or mine?\u201d she asked with a defiant lift of her own eyebrow.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThere is no mine and yours when it comes to the truth. And the truth between us is very simple. You do not <em>heartily<\/em> dislike me. You don\u2019t even dislike me. In fact, your problem has always been that you like me very much. And undoubtedly\u00a0far more\u00a0than you will ever acknowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-15953\" data-postid=\"15953\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-15953 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    <\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m working on this right now&#8230; \u201cBecause, my lord, I most heartily dislike you.\u201d Meghan tried her best to carry her grievance with him above [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[261,307,476],"class_list":["post-15953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-excerpts","tag-historicals","tag-the-temptresses-series"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Excerpt - A Wicked Temptation - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Excerpt - A Wicked Temptation - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I&#8217;m working on this right now&#8230; \u201cBecause, my lord, I most heartily dislike you.\u201d Meghan tried her best to carry her grievance with him above [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-09T02:16:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"beverley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"beverley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"beverley\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a4181aeb9cd5641e30023b9b4d3e00d\"},\"headline\":\"Excerpt &#8211; A Wicked Temptation\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-09T02:16:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":379,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"excerpts\",\"historicals\",\"The Temptresses series\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Excerpt - A Wicked Temptation - Smitten by Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-09T02:16:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2016\\\/01\\\/08\\\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Excerpt &#8211; A Wicked Temptation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smitten by Books\",\"description\":\"Where HEAs are guaranteed\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Smitten by Books\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/cropped-smittenlogo-2017.png?fit=281%2C265&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/cropped-smittenlogo-2017.png?fit=281%2C265&ssl=1\",\"width\":281,\"height\":265,\"caption\":\"Smitten by Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a4181aeb9cd5641e30023b9b4d3e00d\",\"name\":\"beverley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"beverley\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/beverley\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Excerpt - A Wicked Temptation - Smitten by Books","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Excerpt - A Wicked Temptation - Smitten by Books","og_description":"I&#8217;m working on this right now&#8230; \u201cBecause, my lord, I most heartily dislike you.\u201d Meghan tried her best to carry her grievance with him above [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/","og_site_name":"Smitten by Books","article_published_time":"2016-01-09T02:16:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"beverley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"beverley","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/"},"author":{"name":"beverley","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a4181aeb9cd5641e30023b9b4d3e00d"},"headline":"Excerpt &#8211; A Wicked Temptation","datePublished":"2016-01-09T02:16:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/"},"wordCount":379,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg","keywords":["excerpts","historicals","The Temptresses series"],"articleSection":["Miscellaneous"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/","url":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/","name":"Excerpt - A Wicked Temptation - Smitten by Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg","datePublished":"2016-01-09T02:16:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/awickedtemptation3D-216x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/08\/excerpt-a-wicked-temptation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Excerpt &#8211; A Wicked Temptation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/","name":"Smitten by Books","description":"Where HEAs are guaranteed","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Smitten by Books","url":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cropped-smittenlogo-2017.png?fit=281%2C265&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/cropped-smittenlogo-2017.png?fit=281%2C265&ssl=1","width":281,"height":265,"caption":"Smitten by Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/5a4181aeb9cd5641e30023b9b4d3e00d","name":"beverley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d01d9a027fd24b3d94658206104dd5d7aaffba75b651e55c08358a9bc51b26a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"beverley"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/author\/beverley\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}