by Inez Kelley
He must have sensed me behind him, because his head swiveled around and he caught my eye. “Maggie. Hi.” There was surprise in his voice, but I noticed his shoulders droop a fraction of an inch. Wasn’t he glad to see me? I mean it wasn’t like I was going out of my way to be nice to him or anything, but he was the one who insisted on stalking me. A chance meeting should be a happy thing. For him.
“Uh, hi.” I was too busy trying to figure out how to extricate myself to think up a snappy retort.
He scrutinized me, perhaps surprised that I hadn’t bolted the second I saw him. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I seemed glued to the spot. “You okay?” he asked.
“Why?” My hand made its way into my pocket, self-consciously fingering the prescription.
“You look a little pale. And when Lyla said you were out this afternoon—”
“You talked to Lyla? What did she say?”
Kevin stared at me. “Nothing. Just that you weren’t feeling well.”
“Yeah.” Paranoid much? I scolded myself. Lyla hadn’t outed me. She’d promised not to say anything, but she had an insane streak when it came to Kevin. Still, if this was the way I reacted to a simple question, I’d soon out myself.
“Nothing serious, I hope.”
Oh, if he only knew. “Don’t think this is your big break or anything. We’re not going anywhere. Flu or no flu, we’re still in business.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t.” He was putting on his innocent look again, his bright eyes calm and clear like a forest lake. I wasn’t buying it.
How dare he catch me trying to sneak to the pharmacy? “What are you doing tracking me down at the grocery store, anyway?” I asked. “Don’t you own a business? Or do you ever actually cook there?”
He grinned. “Hard to find time to cook, what with all the time I devote to tracking you down.” He made little quote marks in the air and tilted his head from side to side as he imitated my tone.
“Ha ha. Very funny.”
“But a wise woman once told me there are bakeries in grocery stores.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and bounced on the balls of his feet. He looked like a little kid waiting for a treat.
“This is the coffee aisle.”
“Uh oh. You’ve discovered my secret.” He leaned close and I felt his breath on my cheek. “Sometimes I drink coffee with Danishes.”
My eyes rolled back and I shook my head. “Whatever. I have to go.”
I took a step backward and turned to leave, only to hear from behind me, “Don’t you want to know why I called?”
Despite my better judgment, I turned to face Kevin again. “Not really.” What a liar.
Kevin’s smile waned. “Listen, I’d love to stand here and mess with you all day, but the truth is I felt bad about how things ended this morning.”
“Ended is right. I’m happy to live the rest of my days without listening to any more of your malarkey.” My tone was sharper than I’d intended, and my mother’s guilt-trip tapes played in my head. But Mom never planned on Kevin Best coming along. He wasn’t exactly getting the hint that I wanted him out of my life and, if possible, the galaxy. Being polite was not going to cut it.
“Maggie, I know we don’t have the best history, but I’ve never lied to you. In fact, I may have been too honest in the past and pointed out something you weren’t ready to see yet.”
Immaturity as self-defense kicked in and I crossed my arms to pout. “I have no idea what you’re babbling on about.”
“Yes, you do. But I don’t want to drag up the past. I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry about this morning. I shouldn’t have come to see you so early. Before either of us had had our coffee.” He shot me a wink, and I clenched my fist.
“And here I thought I’d finally gotten rid of you.” I was still pouting. It was working for me. I wasn’t ready to give it up yet. “After all, I’m not worth it.”
“Maybe I decided I’m not ready to give up on you yet.” One side of his mouth slid upward. “You’re worth a whole mess of trouble.”
That’s when the floor dropped out from under me. Or at least my stomach, because it felt like it plunged fifty feet and landed with a wet thwack. There I was, mute, with a million things running through my head. And I couldn’t say a damned one of them. Instead I just stood there, and it only occurred to me after what felt like a million years to pick up my damned jaw to shut my mouth.
Kevin’s gaze pierced me, and the goofy grin diminished. “I know you’re at a vulnerable place in your life right now.”
“You don’t know the half of it, mister,” I mumbled.
Kevin cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”
I was at a crossroads. He was trying to reach out. He was trying to make things right. Then I realized he was also trying to run my business into the ground and came back to my senses.
“You’re damned right you’re sorry,” I said. “What’s it going to take to convince you I don’t like you? I don’t want your sympathy, and I don’t want you.”
Kevin pursed his lips. He seemed to be trying hard to be patient. And I was trying hard to be trying. But his expression shifted, his gaze turning intense. “You will.”
If we hadn’t been in a public place where there’d be witnesses, I probably would have decked him. Knocked out his teeth until he had to gum his freaking Danishes. “Why are you such a jackass?”
He let out a laugh that sounded half amused, half exasperated. “A jackass? I’m trying to make nice.”
“I don’t need your nice. Go make nice with Angela.”
Kevin moved a step closer, his expression darkening. “Is that the real problem? You have some idea about Angela and me?”
“I don’t care what you and Angela are doing,” I said. But I couldn’t convince my knees, which were threatening to wobble.
He frowned at me a moment, seeming to debate with himself just how far to push me. Discretion being the better part of valor, one would think he’d start arguing again. But he didn’t. “I hope you feel better soon. Have Armand make you some chicken soup. You need your strength.”
“To kick your ass.”
“If you need to.” He moved even closer, his body mere inches from mine. Something in my belly flickered as he leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Here’s a secret, Maggie. I’m not the enemy.” He lingered a moment, letting his body heat sink in.
Out of the blue, I was dizzy and the world swam around me. The air between us was filled with the scent of his leather jacket and blazed with intensity. I couldn’t drop my gaze from his, and my cheeks burned red hot.
“I need cereal,” I said.
Kevin’s brow cocked. “Cereal?”
In desperation, my eyes landed on a box of Fruitie Ohs and I grabbed for it. “For Jack. Lyla sent me to get cereal for Jack.”
“Good. Cereal’s good.” Kevin wasn’t backing down, and I could see in his eyes he was mentally chalking up a victory.
At last, I broke the magnetic field that had formed between us and looked into his cart. “That brand of coffee is crap.” I shot him a defiant stare and stomped off in the opposite direction. Ha! Chalk one up for me.
I am so pathetic.
Bypassing the pharmacy, I got the hell out of the store as fast as I could. “You might not be the enemy,” I said to myself. “But you sure as hell are the devil.” I pulled the slip of paper out of my pocket and stared at it. “I wonder if you can take a lethal dose of prenatal vitamins?”
An unforgettable man. Irresistible temptation. One last chance to get it right.
Kiss Me Again
© 2008 Dee Tenorio
Magazine layout artist Kira Weston knows all about frustration. She wasted three years loving Ethan Roarke, a man who played her body like a fine instrument—but wouldn’t let her anywhere near his heart.
She doesn’t believe for a second that Ethan needs her to pretend they’ve reunited in order to deflect his boss’s carnal advances. Once Kira realizes he thinks she’s da
ting a gigolo, however, the urge to teach him a lesson is more than she can resist.
She only meant to torment him with seduction without fruition, but suddenly revenge is the last thing on her mind. This could the one chance she long dreamed of when they were together—to finally break down Ethan’s emotional walls.
Or get over him once and for all.
Warning: Includes sensuous torture of a guy who seriously has it coming…or would like to!
Enjoy the following excerpt for Kiss Me Again:
“Who are you and what have you done with my ex?” Kira asked.
“Stuffed him in a box and shipped him to Timbuktu?”
She could really go for this cocky side of him. It made her feel a little reckless. A little wild.
“But if you’re not interested, I understand,” Ethan said, taking her from her mental warfare right as she was setting her cross-hairs. “It was a crazy idea. You go back to dating your new boyfriend and I’ll see if someone else around here might be able to help me out.”
“My…my what?” Someone else? Wasn’t it bad enough he had Rita pawing the blood out of him? And what did he mean her new boyfriend?
Oh, God, had he talked to Charley?
“I heard about you and Devin Hanson the other night.”
The Sicilian was toast. “You think I’m dating another man? Already?” How could he think that? How could he even imagine? The urge to smack him was nearly as strong as the urge to blow him sky high with his own idiot plan.
“No.” He crossed his arms, making the muscles in his still exposed chest flex beneath the open shirt. Totally illegal use of physical attraction.
She ground her teeth and waited for him to continue.
He didn’t disappoint. “I think you’re sleeping with one.”
Why the smug sonofa— “I am not sleeping with Devin Hanson,” she growled, tightening her hands into fists that itched to throttle him. She’d been without sex for six aching months, and if Betsy’s desperation to pair her off with Devin was any indication, most people could tell. “Don’t you think if I was sleeping with him I’d look like I was sleeping with him?”
“Well…” He took a second to look her up and down, his lips twitching as he considered. “You do look a little sour.”
“Because I was saving your ass from the Wicked Witch of the Sixth Floor!” He better not have any plans for his testicles because they were going to be kicked up to his throat in a minute.
“Seventh floor.”
“Whatever!” she snapped, pushing against his chest so she could take a deep breath without having to touch him. Then she pushed again until he gave her a whole foot of space. “Who I sleep with is none of your business.”
“I know it’s not.”
“All you need to know is that I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Duly noted.”
She could happily kill him. String him up and kick him until he begged for mercy. Except he wasn’t even arguing. Typical Ethan. Rile her up, then leave her there alone. And he wondered why she wouldn’t share her ice cream after an argument.
She should go home and be perfectly capable of moving on after this. Hell, she should call Devin and tell him she wanted numbers one, two, twenty-seven and fifty-two on his weird little menu, and see how long it took to do all the others.
But all she wanted to do was crack that smooth veneer of his and get to the man beneath—if only to strangle him.
“As long as that’s clear, then I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
He frowned, his eyes darting to the side as he most likely tried to figure out where his train jumped the tracks. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”
“Oh, I’ll do it.” She brought a fingertip to the edge of his collarbone and dragged it down the middle of his chest. Then pressed herself against him like a kitten to the sunlight. His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and it was all she could do not to laugh. “But I want something out of this arrangement, too.”
She could tell the instant he thought he knew what she meant. His eyes warmed and his smile widened with an “I knew it” grin. “Maybe we could come up with a workable situation for both of us. I doubt Devin knows how to take care of your needs the way I do. You deserve more than some pointless rebound relationship based on nothing but sex.”
When she spoke, breathy against his cheek, it was in a voice she knew could get his eyes rolling in his head. “Are you offering to rebound me, Ethan?”
He nodded, slowly. “You could call it that.”
She smiled, already back in her panzer, flicking the protective cover from the brightly glowing “Fire” button. “Would you give me everything I ever wanted in a lover?” she asked, as if she were still ruminating.
“Anything.” His voice sounded the way it did when they were in bed, his body nestled deep inside hers while he asked questions just to hear her scream yes.
He wouldn’t hear that today.
“You’ll be my rebound and I’ll be your what? You don’t need me to tell Rita to go to hell.” She allowed their bodies to rub close, sensitizing every vulnerable nerve ending.
“You’ll get me past the Wicked Witch and in to see the wizard. If I can’t get this business off the ground by the new year, that’s my problem.” He moved his hips gently against hers, taking her earlobe between his teeth to nip lightly. “We both know I can give you what you need.”
When he did that, she wanted to pull him closer or, better yet, to the floor, but she was a woman on a mission. “If I do this,” she continued, smoothing her hands up his chest, feeling his lungs expand beneath the warm, rippling muscle. She held the words in a moment longer to enjoy the sensation of blowing him out of the water. There was a solid ka-boom as she opened her mouth and pushed the mental “Fire” button. “No sex.”
He let go of her ear, pulling away like he’d swallowed her earring and got it lodged in his throat.
“For the next month or so you’d have to be the lover you weren’t when we were together. Attentive, exciting and passionate outside the bedroom. You’d have to take me out and make me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. Satisfy my every desire…which is to be wanted, by the way. Not had. It’s to be talked to. Openly. Honestly. In return, I’ll play your adoring fiancée until you can get Rita to leave you alone or the year plays out.”
“That’s not even six weeks.”
She nodded. “Still have those enviable math skills, I see.” She moved past, turning him at the shoulders and allowing her body to graze his with a little return torture before heading forward to the door with the switch to her hips that had never before failed to make him ache.
“The deal’s over after New Year’s. Take it or leave it.” She didn’t want to give him time to think about it. She wanted him working on instinct. Impulse. Need. Ethan with time to think was an Ethan with time to escape. So, she kept her back turned and no matter what he said, she had every intention of leaving.
He actually managed to hold out until she opened the door to his office, just like she knew he would.
“I’ll take it.”
Breaking his heart may be the only way to save his life.
Where Dreams Are Made
© 2008 Anne Hope
A woman running from the past…
Jenny Logan is alone, penniless, and indebted to a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to own her. All she wants is a chance to pursue her dreams and make a fresh start, but the past refuses to release her.
A man hiding from the future…
Daniel Frost, a scarred, reclusive toymaker, is trying to escape his memories. Burdened by guilt over a violent car accident that destroyed his family, he believes loneliness is the only way to atone for his sins.
Sometimes, today is all that matters…
One magical Christmas, Daniel’s meddlesome grandfather secretly hires Jenny to act as his grandson’s assistant, starting them both on the road to recovery. On a remote island where miles of sea mee
t miles of sky, two lonely people learn that love can heal even the deepest scars—but it comes at a price.
Warning: This title contains violence, sex, emotional intensity that may cause your mascara to run, and a dark, sexy hero who’ll make you want to believe in Santa all over again.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Where Dreams Are Made:
“It looks like a painting.” Jenny gazed at the lighthouse perched on a shelf of ultramarine blue and burnt umber rocks, as they circled San Juan heading for the harbor.
“That’s Lime Kiln Lighthouse.”
Kelp and driftwood floated at the foot of the bluff, framing the shoreline. The cool saltwater breeze kissed her face, left a salty taste on her lips. “It’s so beautiful, and so lonely.”
The tall, solitary structure, set against gray mountains and encompassed by blue sky and water, reminded her of Daniel—solid, quiet, admired from a distance. How sad that something so enthralling should be so isolated.
“We’ll reach Friday Harbor soon.” Daniel steered the boat, his back turned to her, his expression vacant.
She was happy he’d let her come with him, even if he had only invited her because he’d felt sorry for her. What an enigma he was. Yesterday when they’d danced she’d sensed a connection between them. There was nothing indifferent about the way he’d held her, the way his fingers had stroked her back, the way his hand had clasped hers. But today miles separated them. She might as well have been alone on this boat.
She absorbed the sight of him. His features seemed chiseled in stone. She longed for the gentleness of the man who’d comforted her late at night when the nightmares had risen to ensnare her, the man who’d helped her decorate a Christmas tree and who’d held her in his arms so tight she hadn’t known where her heartbeat ended and his began.
“Do you come here often?” she asked above the deafening whoosh of the waves.
“Once a week,” he replied.
A gust of wind whipped his hair, raising it from his face. Briefly, she caught a glimpse of the scars he went to great lengths to conceal. White grooves dug into his flesh, crisscrossing his cheek. Her fingers itched to trace them, to heal them with the loving care of a tender touch. But she couldn’t. Daniel didn’t want her looking at him, let alone touching him.
