by Julie Kenner
“Oh, god! Please get me to a cab!” Thomas moaned. “I’d rather face more ninjas than be witness to this disgusting public display of affection.’
They laughed and exited the office. The cab was still there, the driver half-asleep and the meter running. He didn’t even give Catwoman Hailey a second glance.
Thomas grabbed the door. “Get in, lovebirds. I’ll get the next one. Then you can suck face all you want and my eyes will be able to stop bleeding,” he instructed.
Hailey snorted. “Thanks. I think.”
“Oh, and what was that shoe Web site again?” Thomas asked, almost too casually. “I need to buy myself a pair of magic slippers!”
“Hiheelia.com,” Hailey said as she got into the cab. “But behave yourself, Big Kitty. After all, we’ve got a big deadline coming up and that takes precedence over saving the world.”
“Who said anything about saving the world?” Thomas scoffed. “I’m just looking for a tiny tomcat to call my own. Big Kitty needs love too, you know. Or at least a romp in the litterbox.”
Hailey rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to know. I really don’t.”
Collin slid into the cab behind Hailey and instructed the driver to take them to his hotel. Then he turned to her. She was sliding off her boots and her Karma Kitty features were fading to her regular beautiful self. He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked over at him, her wide innocent eyes shining with love.
“You believed me,” she whispered, as if she couldn’t believe it herself. “You really believed me.”
“Yes,” he said, holding out his arm so she could cuddle into his shoulder. “I believe you. About everything. Even that damn alien abduction. But there better not be a repeat of that. Because I want you to show up on our wedding day this time around.”
She smiled sleepily, wrapping an arm around his chest. She felt so good pressed against him. Vulnerable, sweet. Hard to believe it was the girl who’d just kicked the asses of a pack of ninjas.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I doubt there will be a second season of that reality show. It was really pretty dumb.”
He cocked his head. “Reality show?” he asked.
“Yeah. I tried to tell you. They abducted me for an alien reality show: Who Wants to Live with an Earthling?”
He stared down at her. “Who wants to—?” He swallowed hard. “Who Wants to Live With an Earthling? Are you sure?”
She lifted her head. “Of course I’m sure. I spent weeks in that spaceship.”
He started to laugh. “Oh my God,” he said. “That wasn’t a spaceship! That was a soundstage. Some dumb-ass reality thing that never made air because they didn’t get the proper waivers from guests when they kidnapped them.”
Hailey stared at him. “You mean, it wasn’t really aliens?”
“Nope. Just a bunch of underpaid actors dressed as cats.”
“Oh my God. And to think all this time I thought . . . Wow!”
“And to think I didn’t give you a chance to explain. Oh Hailey, I’m so sorry.” He cuddled closer to her. All that wasted time because of a stupid misunderstanding. He couldn’t believe it.
She looked up at him. “But, um, if it really was aliens, you’d still believe me, right? From now on, no matter what the weirdness, you’ll accept without question that I’m telling the truth? ’Cause I’m pretty sure there’s still a lot in my life that’s unexplainable.”
“Hailey Hills, if you agree to be my wife, I will believe you even if you say you saw Jim Morrison buying a door at Home Depot.”
“Good. Because see that guy over there? I think that might be . . .”
THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FORSTOMPING
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
JULIE KENNER
“Kenner [has a] flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Ms. Kenner doesn’t need mystical powers…to command the love and adoration of her followers. She’s earned that the old-fashioned way—with unmistakable talent and a wonderful imagination.”
—Reader to Reader Reviews
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
JADE LEE
“Make room on your shelf for Lee next to Thea Devine, Robin Schone and Cheryl St. John.”
—RT BOOKreviews
“Lee’s deft eroticism hasn’t lost any of its power…[her] star continues to burn bright.”
—Booklist on Burning Tigress
EMMY AWARD WINNER
MARIANNE MANCUSI
“A sparkling debut…a nice twist on the modern girl’s search for prince charming.”
—Publishers Weekly on A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur’s Court
“Mancusi’s witty, tongue-in-cheek remarks and sprightly dialogue make for a joy ride of a read.”
—RT BOOKreviews on What, No Roses?
Copyright
LOVE SPELL®
April 2008
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
“A Step in the Right Direction” copyright © 2008 by Julie Kenner.
“Kung Fu Shoes!” copyright © 2008 by Katherine Grill.
“Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con” copyright © 2008 by Marianne Mancusi.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0456-1
The name “Love Spell” and its logo are trademarks of Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Visit us on the web at www.dorchesterpub.com.
