Sinful Rewards 2

by Cynthia Sax

  “Everyone uses a driver, as I told my daddy last week.” Cyndi’s bottom lip curls. “Even that hooker in five oh one south has a driver for her Benz. I’m the only one forced to drive her own car.”

  “Lona LaMarre has a driver?” I ask, surprised. The escort business must be extremely lucrative. I chew on the inside of my cheek. The money could tempt a girl who wasn’t determined on a forever relationship.

  “Yes, he’s a giant baldheaded man who looks at her as though the sun shines out of her well-used ass.” Bitterness colors Cyndi’s words. “Supposedly she’s retiring. The condos are abuzz.” She waves her hands in the air. “Wondering who she’ll choose to take over her clients. They say that happy hooker will also snag the keys to her unit. Lona is moving out, retiring to the south of France or somewhere like that.”

  I stare at Cyndi. “Are you sure?” I’m completely out of the gossip loop. I should spend more time talking to the other residents.

  “Yep.” My friend’s lips twist. “Can’t wait to read Rainer’s memo on that. I’m surprised the prig lets her in the building.”

  I’m surprised also. Nicolas must know her background. He has every resident investigated, not leaving anything to chance. “Rainer lets us in the building.”

  “Hey.” Cyndi bounds to her feet, her energy levels constantly high. “I’m not a hooker. I fuck men for free.” She grins, not at all ashamed of her promiscuous behavior. “And Rainer will never bounce us from the building. He has the hots for my roommate.” She laughs. “You’d better not tell him about Reward Man.” She nods at the box. “Rainer seems like a possessive prig.”

  I welcome his possessiveness. It shows he cares. “Since I’m certain Rainer is Reward Man”—aka Friendly—“I’m not worried.”

  This is the truth. I’m not worried Nicolas will find out about Friendly. I was worried he’d find out about Hawke, but that might no longer be an issue. Hawke wasn’t standing on his balcony this morning.

  Some of my happiness fades.

  “I’m still betting on a secret admirer.” Cyndi opens the fridge and sticks her head inside the appliance. “This is too romantic for Rainer.”

  It isn’t romantic. It’s a test, and testing people is very much like Nicolas. “The limo chits could have come only from him.” I tuck the envelope into a pocket of my beautiful purse.

  “Don’t be too certain.” Cyndi’s voice is muffled. “Reward Man couldn’t very well send the love of his life taxi chits.” She places a carton of eggs on the counter. “That’s tacky.”

  “You’re not cooking those, are you?” I eye her warily.

  “I’m hungry for eggs.” My friend locates the frying pan. “The Tantra twins wore me out last night.” She arches her back. “They’re like human pretzels.” She sprays both the inside and the outside of the pan with oil.

  “Wait. I’ll help you.” I set my purse on the floor and rush to the stove. “The last time you cooked eggs, you set off the fire alarms and the sprinklers and Rainer sent us a three-page memo.” I grab a paper towel and clean the outside. “The oil goes inside the pan.”

  “You don’t have to teach me how to cook, Bee.” Cyndi leans against the counter. “My mom hasn’t cooked a thing since Daddy made our first million.” She juggles the spatula. “Besides, you’ll be late for work again, and today is your big day.”

  “It is.” I grin. “But you’re my best friend and I can’t let you starve. Frying an egg only takes a minute.” I crack two eggs into the pan. They sizzle and spit. I move my body away from the stove. “I won’t be late for work. I woke up early, and if there’s a problem with the bus again today, I’ll use one of my limo chits.” I take the spatula from my friend, stretch my arms, and flip the eggs.

  Cyndi shakes her head. “Reward Man won’t like it if you take the bus.”

  “Reward Man won’t know.” I plan to be as careful with the limo chits as I am with my purse. They’re a gift from him, and I’ll cherish each and every one. “Tell me you didn’t sleep with both of the twins.” I change the subject.

  “When you spend the night with two men, there’s no sleeping involved.” Cyndi’s smile is devilish. If I pulled an all-nighter, I’d have bags the size of meat lockers under my eyes. She appears as though she stepped out of a spa.

  I turn off the stove and slide the eggs onto a plate.

  “Angel really wants to know where we’re going tonight.” Cyndi grabs a slice of bread. “I didn’t tell her anything.”

  “Because you don’t know anything.” I put the dirty pan temporarily in the dishwasher to prevent it from attracting pests. I’ll wash it when I return home. “I’m organizing tonight.”

  “That scares me,” Cyndi says around a mouthful of egg.

  “It should.” I linger by the counter. Tonight scares me, as I doubt any of my alternatives will be good enough to make Cyndi forget about Nicolas’s club.

  But we’ll be together, my best friend and I. I smile. We’ll celebrate my full-time job. I’ll no longer be part of the temporary workforce. The joy in my soul expands with each breath I take. A smart, stable, handsome billionaire drives me home from work every day and sends me luxurious rewards for accepting increasingly erotic challenges.

  It’s good to be me.

  Want to know what happens next for Bee, Nicolas, and Hawke?

  SINFUL REWARDS 3 is available September 16.

  About the Author

  CYNTHIA SAX lives in a world filled with magic and romance. Although her heroes may not always say “I love you,” they will do anything for the women they adore. They live passionately. They play hard. They love the same women forever.

  Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research, while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali, and Chicago.

  Please visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

  Also by Cynthia Sax

  Sinful Rewards 1

  Breaking All the Rules

  Flashes of Me

  The Seen Trilogy

  He Claims Me

  He Touches Me

  He Watches Me

  Give in to your impulses . . .

  Read on for a sneak peek at three brand-new

  e-book original tales of romance from Avon Books.

  Available now wherever e-books are sold.

  FULL EXPOSURE

  BOOK ONE: INDEPENDENCE FALLS

  By Sara Jane Stone

  PERSONAL TARGET

  AN ELITE OPS NOVEL

  By Kay Thomas

  SINFUL REWARDS 1

  A BILLIONAIRES AND BIKERS NOVELLA

  By Cynthia Sax

  An Excerpt from

  FULL EXPOSURE

  Book One: Independence Falls

  by Sara Jane Stone

  The first book in a hot new series from contemporary romance writer Sara Jane Stone. When Georgia begins work as a nanny for her brother’s best friend, she knows she can’t have him, but his pull is too strong, and she feels sparks igniting.

  Georgia Trulane walked into the kitchen wearing a purple bikini, hoping and praying for a reaction from the man she’d known practically forever. Seated at the kitchen table, Eric Moore, her brother’s best friend, now her boss since she’d taken over the care of his adopted nephew until he found another live-in nanny, studied his laptop as if it held the keys to the world’s greatest mysteries. Unless the answers were listed between items b and c on a spreadsheet about Oregon timber harvesting, the screen was not of earth-shattering importance. It certainly did not merit his full attention when she was wearing an itsy-bitsy string bikini.

  “Nate is asleep,” she said.

  Look up. Please, look up.

  Eric nodded, his gaze fixed to the screen. Why couldn’t he look at her with that unwavering intensity?
He’d snuck glances. There had been moments when she’d turned from preparing his nephew’s lunch and caught him looking at her, really looking, as if he wanted to memorize the curve of her neck or the way her jeans fit. But he quickly turned away.

  “Did you pick up everything he needs for his first day of school tomorrow? I don’t want to send him unprepared.”

  His deep voice warmed her from the inside out. It was so familiar and welcoming, yet at the same time utterly sexy.

  “I got all the items on the list,” she said. “He is packed and ready to go.”

  “He needs another one of those stuffed frogs. He can’t go without his favorite stuffed animal.”

  If she hadn’t been standing in his kitchen practically naked, waiting for him to notice her, she would have found his concern for the three-year-old’s first day of preschool sweet, maybe even heartwarming. But her body wasn’t looking for sentiments reminiscent of sunshine and puppies, or the whisper of sweet nothings against her skin. She craved physical contact—his hands on her, exploring, each touch making her feel more alive.

  And damn it, he still hadn’t glanced up from his laptop.

  “Nate will be home by nap time,” she said. “He’ll be there for only a few hours. You know that, right?”

  “He’ll want to take his frog,” he said, his fingers moving across the keyboard. “He’ll probably lose it. And he sleeps with that thing every night. He needs that frog.”

  She might be practically naked, but his emphasis on the word need thrust her headfirst into heartwarming territory. Eric worked day and night to provide Nate with the stability that had been missing from Eric’s childhood thanks to his divorced parents’ fickle dating habits. She admired his willingness to put a child who’d suffered a tragic loss first.

  But tonight, for one night, she didn’t want to think about all of his honorable qualities. She wanted to see if maybe, just maybe those stolen glances when he thought she wasn’t looking meant that the man she’d laid awake thinking about while serving her country half a world away wanted her too.

  “You’re now the proud owner of two stuffed frogs,” she said. “So if that’s everything for tonight, I’m going for a swim.”

  Finally, finally, he looked up. She watched as his blue eyes widened and his jaw clenched. He was an imposing man, large and strong from years of climbing and felling trees. Not that he did the grunt work anymore. These days he wore tailored suits and spent more time in an office than with a chainsaw in hand. But even seated at his kitchen table poring over a computer, he looked like a wall of strong, solid muscle wound tight and ready for action. Having all of that energy focused on her? It sent a thrill down her body. Georgia clung to the feeling, savoring it.

  An Excerpt from

  PERSONAL TARGET

  An Elite Ops Novel

  by Kay Thomas

  One minute Jennifer Grayson is housesitting and the next she’s abducted to a foreign brothel. Jennifer is planning her escape when her first “customer” arrives. Nick, the man who broke her heart years ago, has come to her rescue. Now, as they race for their lives, passion for each other reignites and old secrets resurface. Can Nick keep the woman he loves safe against an enemy with a personal vendetta?

  The woman at the vanity turned, and his breath caught in his throat. Nick had known it would be Jenny, and despite what he’d thought about downstairs when he’d seen her on the tablet screen, he hadn’t prepared himself for seeing her like this. Seated at the table with candles all around, she was wearing a sheer robe over a grey thong and a bustier kind of thing—or that’s what he thought the full-length bra was called.

  He spotted the unicorn tat peeping out from the edge of whatever the lingerie piece was, and his brain quit processing details as all the blood in his head rushed south. He’d been primed to come in and tell Jenny exactly how they were getting out of the house and away from these people, and now . . . this. His mouth went dry at the sight of her. She looked like every fantasy he’d ever had about her rolled into one.

  He continued to stare as recognition flared in her eyes.

  “Oh my god,” she murmured. “It’s . . .”

  She clapped her mouth closed, and her eyes widened. That struck him as odd. The relief on her face was obvious, but instead of looking at him, she took an audible breath and studied the walls of the room. When she finally did glance at him again, her eyes had changed.

  “So you’re who they’ve sent me for my first time?” Her voice sounded bored, not the tone he remembered. “What do you want me to do?”

  What a question. He raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head. In warning?

  Nothing here was as he’d anticipated. He continued staring at her, hoping the lust would quit fogging his brain long enough for him to figure out what was going on.

  “I’ve been told to show you a good time.” Her voice was cold, downright chilly. Without another word she stood and crossed the floor, slipping into his arms with her breasts pressing into his chest. “It’s you.” She murmured the words in the barest of whispers.

  Nick’s mind froze, but his body didn’t. His hands automatically went to her waist as she kissed his neck, working her way up to his ear. This was not at all what he’d planned.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.” She breathed the words into his ear.

  Me either, he thought, but kept the words to himself as he pulled her closer. His senses flooded with all that smooth skin pressing against him. His body tightened, and his right hand moved to cup her ass. Her cheek’s bare skin was silky soft, just like he remembered. God, he’d missed her. She melted into him as his body switched into overdrive.

  “What do you want?” She spoke louder. The arctic tone was back. He was confused and knew he was just too stupid with wanting her to figure out what the hell was going on. There was no way the woman could mistake the effect she was having.

  She moved her lips closer to his ear and nipped his earlobe as she whispered, “Cameras are everywhere. I’m not sure about microphones.”

  And like that, cold reality slapped him in the face. He should have been expecting it, but he’d been so focused on getting her out and making sure she was all right. She might be glad to see him because he was there to save her, but throwing her body at him was an act.

  Jesus. He had to get them both out of here without tipping his hand to the cameras and those watching what he was doing. He was crazy not to have considered it once he saw those tablets downstairs, but it had never occurred to him that he would have to play this encounter through as if he were really a client.

  He slipped her arms from around his neck and moved to the table to pour himself some wine, willing his hands not to shake. “I want you,” he said.

  An Excerpt from

  SINFUL REWARDS 1

  A Billionaires and Bikers Novella

  by Cynthia Sax

  Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing. But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.

  An Avon Red Novella

  I’d told Cyndi I’d never use it, that it was an instrument purchased by perverts to spy on their neighbors. She’d laughed and called me a prude, not knowing that I was one of those perverts, that I secretly yearned to watch and be watched, to care and be cared for.

  If I’m cautious, and I’m always cautious, she’ll never realize I used her telescope this morning. I swing the tube toward the bench and adjust the knob, bringing the mysterious object into focus.

  It’s a phone. Nicolas’s phone. I bounce on the
balls of my feet. This is a sign, another declaration from fate that we belong together. I’ll return Nicolas’s much-needed device to him. As a thank you, he’ll invite me to dinner. We’ll talk. He’ll realize how perfect I am for him, fall in love with me, marry me.

  Cyndi will find a fiancé also—everyone loves her—and we’ll have a double wedding, as sisters of the heart often do. It’ll be the first wedding my family has had in generations.

  Everyone will watch us as we walk down the aisle. I’ll wear a strapless white Vera Wang mermaid gown with organza and lace details, crystal and pearl embroidery accents, the bodice fitted, and the skirt hemmed for my shorter height. My hair will be swept up. My shoes—

  Voices murmur outside the condo’s door, the sound piercing my delightful daydream. I swing the telescope upward, not wanting to be caught using it. The snippets of conversation drift away.

  I don’t relax. If the telescope isn’t positioned in the same way as it was last night, Cyndi will realize I’ve been using it. She’ll tease me about being a fellow pervert, sharing the story, embellished for dramatic effect, with her stern, serious dad—or, worse, with Angel, that snobby friend of hers.

  I’ll die. It’ll be worse than being the butt of jokes in high school because that ridicule was about my clothes and this will center on the part of my soul I’ve always kept hidden. It’ll also be the truth, and I won’t be able to deny it. I am a pervert.

  I have to return the telescope to its original position. This is the only acceptable solution. I tap the metal tube.