WickedJane

Title: Kumar's Gift
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Contemporaty
Rating: General
Summary: A most unusual Cupid brings two deserving hearts together.

Kumar's Gift has been posted to the Wicked Jane archive, complete with happy ending. Read it here at:

Kumar's Gift

Title: An Amiable Man
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Regency
Rating: General
Summary: Sometimes a Great Notion, from the perspective of an amiable, but most unhappy man.


Shortly after Mr. Darcy’s departure, Olivia and Jane took their leave of Mr. Crenshaw and headed for an exhibition of Italian sculpture at the Royal Academy. They alit from the carriage and plunged into the throng of patrons who had also come for the opening. The ladies struggled through the crowded hall until they were well away from the entrance and the crowd thinned considerably.

“I daresay the ton is more concerned about being seen here than seeing anything of the art,” Olivia sniped as she adjusted her hat. Jane seemed unperturbed by the crush of people.

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Just wanted to announce that we've finally got the wicked jane archive up and running at Wicked Jane. Currently, there are only a few stories posted, but more will be added daily. And yes, all of Hopeless Case is up.

It is still a work in progress, so we apologize in advance for the size of the font. Things will look better eventually!

Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.


The following day, William puttered around the apartment doing various chores, but his mind was on his plan. He wanted to go and see Richard and Olivia, and try to make amends somehow, for the problems he’d caused his cousin. Something in Richard’s tone on his phone message had haunted William all night and he wanted to do something about it. The only problem was, he couldn’t think of how to go about it. All William knew for certain was that it was for him to take that first step. He would have liked to be able to go to Richard with the news that the investigation had been officially concluded, but such was not the case. Edward Gardiner had not returned his calls all week, and the last time William had spoken with his assistant he was told that Mr. Gardiner was out of the country. William was very concerned that Olivia’s investigation was the reason for his trip and the last thing he wanted to discuss with Richard was another delay.

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Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.


Richard had left his apartment early in the morning to attend a meeting of an investment capital group he’d become involved in. He returned shortly after one o’clock to an empty apartment. He thought nothing of it as he changed out of his suit and into something more casual. He had skipped the post-meeting luncheon in favor of getting home to Olivia. She had been very quiet and withdrawn in the morning and he didn’t want to leave her alone any longer than necessary, but she must have rallied herself because she had gone somewhere, Richard reasoned as he wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator for a bottle of juice. He was hungry, but he’d wait a while. In all likelihood, Olivia would be home soon and they would eat together.

Olivia, however, was out wandering Central Park alone, save for the bodyguard who had been assigned to her by her father. He kept a respectable distance, but for once, Olivia didn’t care. The feelings of oppression that overwhelmed her spirit were from an entirely different source.

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Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.


Richard dialed William’s number and sat back and counted the number of rings before he picked up.

“What happened to your answering machine?” he asked before William had a chance to say hello.

“Long story,” William replied. Having grown weary of hearing Charlotte’s constant messages, he’d pulled the plug on his answering machine even though he’d changed his number.

“Will, are you in some sort of trouble?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve got a new phone, changed all your numbers…what’s going on?”

“Long story,” William repeated. “I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

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Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.

Reposted because I somehow managed to post less than half the chapter!


William stumbled back to his office, bumping into people twice as he read the papers Lizzy had thrust into his hands. It was an injunction forbidding him to pursue any further information on Olivia Crenshaw Fitzwilliam. William was stunned. He knew Richard wanted him to leave Olivia alone, but he had not thought him capable of something like this! He reread the document when he reached his office, this time paying closer attention to the details. William’s main concern was finding out the name of the woman who had handed him the injunction, and learned that the attorney asking for the injunction on behalf of Olivia was from the same firm that was representing his opponent in court that morning. Suddenly recalling that he had to be in court by eleven, William threw down the papers and began searching for the brief he needed.

“Are you looking for this?” Jo said as she entered the office with a thick brief. William sighed and accepted it gratefully.

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Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.


By the time Friday rolled around, William had worked himself into a frenzy. He had hoped to have additional information on Olivia prior to the family gathering so that he would be ready to expose her deception. But calls to Edward Gardiner proved to be disappointing.

“It’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. Short of being part of the federal Witness Protection Program, I cannot explain the existence of Olivia Crenshaw in this country. And even in those cases, there’s usually a made-up history to cover any attempts to get at the truth. But your Ms. Crenshaw seems to have sprung into life full-grown no more than three or four years ago,” Edward reported. William paced back and forth as far as the phone cord will allow as he struggled to wrap his brain around this bit of news.

“So you’re saying she’s not foreign born?” he asked.

“Not that I can determine. There’s no record of an Olivia Crenshaw being born in any country that has an online registry.” William frowned. “Of course, it’s entirely possible that she was born in a tiny village somewhere. They’re notorious for taking a ‘hit and miss’ approach to record keeping, or for that matter, she may have been born in a third world country. But that still doesn’t explain why there is no record of her applying for citizenship or a passport.”

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Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.


William stepped out of the elevator and turned to look back as the doors closed. A number of women quickly averted their eyes. William frowned, shrugged and headed for his office.

“Good morning, Jo. Any messages?”

“No, but something came for you.” William looked a question, but Jo could only tell him that it was there when she arrived. William walked into his office and found a small floral arrangement on his desk. He eyed the object suspiciously as he reached for the card. He supposed it was meant to be a masculine arrangement. It was composed of relatively beige and rust-colored flowers he’d never seen before, augmented by what William commonly thought of as weeds when he saw them in the wild. He glanced at the card and sighed.

Thinking of you. Charlotte

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Title: Hopeless Case
Author: Judy-Lynne
Archive: Wicked Jane (under construction)
Category: Modern, romance
Rating: General
Summary: A young attorney goes looking for trouble when a mysterious woman enters his cousin's life. His efforts are thwarted by her own attorney, who is more than a match for the lovelorn man.


“William Darcy.”

“Hello, William,” a familiar voice said. William smiled broadly.

“Hello, Jane. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she said, “but I’m a bit put out that you haven’t called me in a while.” William sat back in his chair. “You knew I’d be in town this week, too.”

“The last time we were together, you read me the riot act for holding a door for you,” William teased.

“So if I can open my own door I can call and ask you out, is that it?”

“Give it a shot,” William encouraged.

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