OPERATION BABE-MAGNET / OPERATION BEAUTY

by Kristin Gabriel

  But as soon as his mouth touched her succulent lips, he knew it hadn't been a fluke. Awareness prickled throughout his body and his pulse began to race. Her lips parted for him, allowing his tongue to enter her sweet mouth. He groaned under his breath as she circled her arms around his neck and leaned even closer to him.

  Then her palms smoothed up the back of his neck and ruffled his hair. Heat spiraled through his body, threatening to boil over as her tongue tangled with his. He forgot about the reporter. About the fact that they were sitting in the middle of a shopping mall. About everything except how soft and supple Kylie felt in his arms.

  All the information he'd gathered on romance hadn't mentioned how powerful one kiss could be. Or what the hell he should do about it. Then he pulled back, realizing he couldn't do a damn thing. It was forbidden by his employer. If he wanted to keep his job and have any chance of becoming the new owner and CEO of the Kane Corporation, then he had to do his thinking above the neck, not below.

  Kylie blinked up at him, her breath coming in short, quick gasps. Then he saw her lick her lips and he leaned forward, unable to stop himself from kissing her again.

  But the reporter intruded before he had a chance. "So the rumor is true?"

  "Rumor?" Dexter echoed, still perplexed by the power of that kiss.

  The reporter sidled closer to the table and lowered her voice. "I got an anonymous tip that the author of How To Jump-Start Your Love Life had something hot and heavy going on with his publicist."

  Dexter looked at Kylie, somewhat surprised to find her blushing. She was obviously the one who had planted that rumor. And from the interested gleam in the reporter's eye, it had worked.

  The reporter held out her hand. "I'm Mara Hayden, feature writer from the Plain Dealer."

  Dexter shook it, noting the way her approving gaze flicked over him. Despite the fact that he'd been in his Harry Hanover persona for a week he still wasn't used to the female attention it garnered him. Only Kylie still treated him the same.

  Or did she?

  Would she have fallen into his arms like that if he'd been plain old Dexter Dependable Kane instead of the new and improved Harry Hanover? Was he just a walking impersonation of her fantasy man?

  "I did a review of your book a couple of weeks ago for my paper," Mara continued. "We got some great letters about it. More than usual, in fact. So I contacted Handy Press about doing an in-depth interview with you tomorrow before you leave Cleveland. But once I got this tip, I decided I didn't want to wait that long."

  Dexter glanced at Kylie, impressed with her quick thinking. The newspaper reporter had already expressed an interest in the book tour, so why not spice it up with rumors of a romance?

  Only Kylie didn't look like she was thinking at all now. She hadn't said one word to the reporter, just kept staring at Dexter with a dazed expression in her big brown eyes. Was she already regretting this romance charade?

  He looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. They'd come this far already, so they might as well play it out and see what happens.

  "I'm glad you're here, Mara, because we really can't keep it a secret any longer. We're in love."

  "That's right," Kylie said, her throat sounding a little hoarse. She cleared it, then gave the reporter a tremulous smile. "Harry swept me off my feet. I've never felt this way about a man before."

  The reporter's eyes gleamed as she pulled a notepad and pen out of her purse. "So tell me, Miss Timberlake. What exactly is it about Mr. Hanover that you find so intriguing?"

  Kylie turned to him. "It's hard to explain. I really didn't expect anything like this to happen. This book tour is simply business after all. But the first time he kissed me…" Her voice trailed off.

  "We just knew," Dexter finished for her.

  The reporter hastily scribbled into her notepad. "And a question for you Mr. Hanover. Did you use any of the concepts in your book to win the lady's affectations?"

  "Absolutely," he replied. "Kylie mentioned our first kiss. I have a very detailed tutorial on how to deliver a dynamite kiss in chapter three of How To Jump-Start Your Love Life. I'd say that chapter definitely had a significant effect on our relationship."

  "Harry's right," Kylie agreed. "But it's more than his kisses. He is every inch a male, strong and determined. But he's also thoughtful, kind and considerate. He makes me feel special."

  "Which is all outlined in chapter six of my book," Dexter intoned. "But you must understand, Mara, that my feelings for her come from my heart, not a book. How To Jump-Start Your Love Life certainly gave me the confidence and skills to pursue a woman as wonderful and beautiful as Kylie. But I had to do the rest on my own."

  "This is great stuff," Mara said, flipping over a page of her notepad. "So where do you two go from here? Is this book tour going to end in a wedding chapel?"

  Kylie shook her head. "I think it's a little too early in our relationship to talk about making that kind of commitment."

  Dexter smiled at her. "Not for me, sweetheart. And I intend to do everything in my power to make you change your mind. Because I'm already hearing wedding bells."

  "This is so cool," the reporter exclaimed. "I know my readers are going to eat it up."

  "I hope so," Kylie said softly.

  The reporter double-checked the spelling of their names and took down some more information about Handy Press, then hurried off to write her story.

  Neither one of them said a word for several long moments. Then Kylie glanced at the big clock suspended from the ceiling of the mall. "Looks like your time is up. The book signing is over."

  He sighed at the stacks of books in front of him. "And I didn't sell a single one."

  "Maybe this new angle will help publicity." Her small white teeth nipped her lower lip. "If it doesn't…"

  "Then we'll think of another angle," he assured her. "We'll make this book a success, Kylie, no matter what it takes."

  "Even wedding bells?" she teased, although he heard an odd undertone in her voice.

  "Did I go too far?"

  "Of course not. I mean, you were just playing up the story, right?"

  "Right," he agreed, wondering how she'd feel if he denied it. If he told her that she did have him thinking about things he'd never really considered before. A woman in his life. A family. Suddenly the thought of waking up with Kylie every morning was incredibly appealing.

  Of course, once she met Sam, she'd want the real thing, not an imitation. He wasn't the man she saw now. He wasn't Harry. Beneath the clothes and the haircut was plain, old Dexter Kane.

  His eyes began to itch again and he knew he needed to apply more lubricating drops. "Are you ready to go back to the hotel?"

  She nodded. "As soon as you sign all these books. The store manager will be less likely to return them for a refund if they're autographed. And maybe Mara's newspaper story will bring in some customers." Her brow furrowed. "Do you think we should stay in the same room at the hotel, just for appearances' sake?"

  His body tightened at the thought of sharing a hotel room with her. A bed. He swallowed convulsively, then reached for the first book on top of the pile. "We've got adjoining rooms. I think that will give people enough to speculate about."

  "You're probably right."

  He certainly hoped so. Because this charade of being wild about Kylie had the disturbing possibility of becoming all too true.

  Two days later, Kylie had just finished putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she heard Dexter call out to her from the other room.

  She opened the connecting door and stuck her head through the crack. "Is there a problem?"

  He sat in a chair in the dark, holding his head in his hands. "As a matter of fact there is. I can't see a damn thing."

  She walked into the room. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean there's something wrong with my eyes. They itch like crazy and the light makes it ten times worse."

  So that's why he had the drapes closed and all the lam
ps turned off. She knelt down by his chair, worry twisting her stomach into a knot. "When did this happen?"

  "My eyes have been bothering me for a few days. I thought it was just part of the normal adjustment to wearing contact lenses. But I don't think this is normal."

  She rose to her feet and moved to the phone. "I'll call an eye doctor."

  "I'm sorry, Kylie," he said. "I know we have that book signing this morning. I might be able to tough it out until then."

  "Forget it, Dexter. Your eyes are much more important than some book signing." She swallowed her exasperation as she looked up the telephone number for the nearest eye doctor. Were all men determined to be martyrs? Her brother had been the same way. Brushing off his early symptoms and refusing to go to the doctor until he couldn't deny something was wrong with him anymore.

  A shiver passed through her when she thought about how lucky Evan had been. Despite his delay in seeking treatment, they'd still caught the Hodgkin's disease in the early stages. He'd had to go through radiation treatment and have his spleen removed, but his prognosis was excellent.

  Still, there had been times of uncertainty during his health crisis. Times when Kylie had almost gone crazy with waiting and worrying. Those same sensations gnawed at her now, even though her common sense told her Dexter's condition was probably nothing serious. But she'd seen the redness in his eyes. Noticed him blinking a lot. She should have realized there was a problem.

  Now she definitely intended to do something about it.

  * * *

  8

  « ^ »

  "Acute conjunctivitis." Dr. Cardoza announced his diagnosis, then pulled out his prescription pad. "I'm going to prescribe you some antibiotic drops. I want you to apply them to your eyes three times a day. There's an analgesic in there too, so that should help with the discomfort."

  "Should he stay in bed?" Kylie asked, relieved that the diagnosis wasn't anything more serious. Dexter sat beside her in the opthamologist's office, wearing a pair of sunglasses to keep the light out of his sensitive eyes.

  "That's not necessary," Dr. Cardoza replied. "But I don't want you to wear those contact lenses for at least a week. Give your eyes time to heal."

  Dexter glanced at Kylie. "Can I wear them a couple of hours a day? Just when I'm out in public?"

  "No way," Kylie interjected before the eye doctor could reply. "I like you better in your glasses anyway."

  The doctor tore off the prescription and handed it to Dexter. "This should take care of it. But if the discomfort increases or you start having vision problems, come back and see me."

  Dexter thanked him, then he and Kylie stopped by the pharmacy counter to get the prescription filled.

  "Did you reschedule the book signing?" he asked, looking both mysterious and sexy in his sunglasses.

  "Yes, it's on for this afternoon." Despite how well he looked, she knew he felt awful. Which just increased her guilt. "But I'm still not sure it's such a good idea. Maybe you should just rest today."

  "I'm fine," he assured her. "But you look tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?"

  She'd barely slept at all. Memories of that kiss kept invading her mind, leaving her tossing and turning in her bed. Her empty, lonely bed.

  The chirp of her cell phone saved her from answering his question. "Will you excuse me for a minute?"

  "Sure."

  Kylie walked a few aisles away, thankful for the distraction. She just hoped it wasn't another Cleveland bookseller wanting to make arrangements for a signing. Despite Dexter's reassurances that he was fine, she didn't want to push him too hard until he was feeling better.

  Only it wasn't a bookseller on the phone, it was her brother.

  "What the hell is going on, Kylie?" Evan asked, a suspicious inflection in his tone.

  A warm glow suffused her when she heard his voice, despite the fact that he didn't sound happy. He was alive. That's all that mattered. Especially since she'd come much too close to losing him. "Hi, Evan. How are you?"

  "Confused. I just talked to Harry Hanover on the phone. The real Harry Hanover. He's not with you in Ohio. So just exactly who is?"

  "His name is Dexter Kane and he's doing Handy Press a small favor."

  "What kind of favor?"

  She took a deep breath. "He's playing the part of Harry Hanover."

  Evan didn't say anything for three long beats. "Oh, Kylie, what have you done now?"

  She smiled at her brother's question. He'd been asking it with the same exasperation in his tone for as long as she could remember. Evan and she were opposites, he was steady and pragmatic while she tended to act on her impulses and consider the consequences later. But despite the differences in their personalities, they'd always been close. Never more so than when he'd been diagnosed with his illness.

  But, thankfully, that was all behind them. And despite the fact that he was going to become a lot more irritated with her before this conversation was over, she was thrilled that they didn't have anything more serious to worry about than a small difference of opinion.

  "It will work, Evan," she assured him. "Dexter is doing a super job of impersonating Harry. You should have heard him on the radio yesterday. He was terrific. Not even you would have known he wasn't the author of How To Jump-Start Your Love Life."

  "The radio?" Evan gasped. "Oh, crap, this is worse than I thought. Does the word fraud mean anything to you, Kylie? You can't just pick up some guy off the street and pretend he's someone else."

  "I didn't pick him up off the street," she countered. "I hired him from Studs-R-Us."

  "He's a gigolo?" Evan's voice cracked over the line.

  "He prefers the term male escort."

  "I don't care what he prefers! In the first place, he has no business pretending to be an author. In the second place, I'm not crazy about the idea of my big sister spending day and night with a gigolo."

  "We have separate hotel rooms."

  "And that's supposed to make me feel better? Especially since I got a call last night from some reporter in Cleveland wanting the inside scoop about the hot romance between one of my authors and the Handy Press publicist."

  Kylie winced. "She called you?"

  "Yes. She also faxed me a copy of her article in this morning's Plain Dealer. Have you seen it?"

  "No, I've been tied up this morning."

  "I hope you don't mean that literally."

  She blinked, shocked by her brother's innuendo. "Why would you say something like that?"

  "Because according to the newspaper, you two can't keep your eyes or your hands off of each other. This article makes it sound as if you were practically having sex in the middle of the mall."

  "That's an exaggeration," she replied, as a tingle of excitement rushed through her. If the newspaper article provoked this kind of reaction from Evan, how would the public respond? She couldn't wait to find out.

  "Kylie, just come home. We can cancel the rest of the book tour. Handy Press is never going to make it into the big league. Let's just cut our losses. I really think that would be the best thing for all of us."

  "No." Her refusal was immediate and automatic. She could hear the resignation in her brother's voice, but she refused to let him quit. His unwillingness to battle for what he wanted had scared her the most when he was sick. She'd been so afraid he would just give up. But he'd fought for his life. And now she was ready to fight for his business. Evan deserved success. And she'd do everything in her power to make it happen.

  Evan sighed into the phone. "And what if the press finds out this book tour is all a big lie?"

  "Harry Hanover wrote a great book." Kylie lowered her voice a notch as a customer passed her in the pharmacy aisle. "That's not a lie. It has the potential to become a bestseller. That's not a lie either. Handy Press is simply using Dexter as a promotional tool. If he encourages people to buy the book and they benefit from it, then what exactly is the harm?"

  "I don't know, Kylie." Evan's outrage had turned to uncertainty. "
I still think it could backfire on us."

  "Just leave everything to me," she assured him. "I'll make it work. I promise."

  After she hung up, she found Dexter paying for his prescription eyedrops at the cash register.

  "I'll take care of the bill," she said, reaching into her purse.

  He stuffed the receipt in his shirt pocket. "Already done."

  She was tempted to argue with him, but had already learned in their time together that Dexter could be as stubborn as Kylie herself. If he wouldn't allow her to pay for items along the way, then she'd just keep a record of all the expenses and add it to his paycheck at the end of the month. She just hoped Handy Press would have enough cash on hand to pay him. It all depended on the success of this book tour.

  He looked at his watch. "We only have about twenty minutes until the book signing is due to start. Are you ready to go?"

  "Are you sure you're up to it?" she asked, still concerned about pushing him too hard. She knew she could probably juggle his appearances for the next day or two, although the schedule was pretty tight.

  "I'm fine," he assured her, nudging his sunglasses down his nose so she could see his gray eyes. They were still a little red, but at least he could keep them open now. "I've already put some of those drops in and they helped quite a bit."

  It hit her then that he hadn't complained once, despite the fact that the conjunctivitis was her fault. She was the one who had insisted on the makeover, which included the contact lenses. He'd worn them without a single gripe until he literally couldn't keep his eyes open. In her experience, most men didn't take minor aches and pain well. Adam, her phony ex-fiancé had once stood her up on a date to celebrate her birthday because of an ingrown toenail. But Dexter was already anxious to get back to work.

  Her opinion of him went up another notch.

  "All right." She smiled up at him. "Let's go make everybody wild about Harry."

  Dexter stood in the rest room of the book store, his hands braced on either side of the sink. The book signing was due to start in ten minutes and his eyes hurt so damn bad he didn't know if he could stand sitting there and smiling for the next three hours. The analgesic effect of the eyedrops had faded and he wasn't supposed to reapply them again until bedtime.