by Lyric James
Dayna laughed as she puled her tank top over her head.
“And I realy didn’t mean to invite you. I sent out a mass email, and I thought I’d deleted everyone who was close to…him.” She shortened the distance between them and traced his jaw with her palm, loving the feel of his unshaven skin. “I guess I didn’t. I guess I wasn’t meant to. You were supposed to be here.” Jared wrapped her in a warm embrace and puled tight.
“I’m never letting you go.”
She inched back and motioned toward her house. “Come on.”
They walked, his arm around her shoulders, her arm around his waist, and as they ascended the stairs to the back of her house, Dayna knew fate had stepped in and turned her idea for a lover’s revenge into a lover’s awakening. She was given the power to let go and forgive. In her room, she moved to her window and gazed out at a midnight black ocean that had been just what she needed to turn a broken heart into a mended joyful one.
Down at the pool, she saw her friends, Violet and Logan, kissing, and smiled. It was about time that relationship happened, she thought. Those two had been skating around each other for years.
Jared came up behind her and encircled her waist. God, she loved the feel of him, his touch, the ease with which they melded together. She twisted around. “You know, if it wasn’t for…
Anthony…” She let out a huge breath. She could finaly say his name now and not cringe or feel tears prickle at the back of her eyelids. Instead, al she felt was an easiness around her heart that hadn’t been there only hours before. Before Jared drove up in his sleek black car and rescued her from her mental torment. “…we wouldn’t be here right now.”
Jared smiled and began to tug at Dayna’s clothes.
She grinned. “What are you doing?”
He eased her tank over her head and tossed it in the direction of her hamper in the corner of her room. He tucked his thumbs inside her shorts and guided them down her legs until she could step out of them. “Did I ever tel you how much I like that huge shower you have in there?” he asked, motioning toward the bathroom.
“Nope,” she answered, moving her head from side to side.
“I don’t think so.”
He took her hand and led her inside the bathroom decorated in alternating shades of pale blue and peach. After her grandmother moved in, this was the only room she’d completely renovated by instaling a massive al glass shower closet with twenty jets. When each of them was turned on, water hit you from every direction.
Jared stepped inside and pushed the single button that activated al the jets. Hot, steaming water poured in as he puled her inside. Water cascaded over and slid down their bodies, enveloping them in a cocoon of mist. He moved her against the far wal and smiled. And before he lowered himself to the shower floor and spread her legs, he told her, “Remind me to thank what’s his name later.”
The End
Keep Reading To See What’s Coming Up
From Lyric James!
Coming March 2012 from Lyric James
Beach House Nights Book 2
Something Wet
Violet and Logan’s Story
About The Author
Lyric James began writing romance after the stories in her head just wouldn’t shut up…and that’s realy a problem when you’re standing up in front of a bunch of middle school students.
She graduated from high school, went to colege and quit because she had a car note to pay. She’s held such jobs as receptionist, administrative assistant, medical clerk, and lifeguard. After she had her first child, she decided that she was an adult and was ready to go back to colege. After receiving a Bachelor’s in Organizational Management and a Master’s in Library Media and Information Technology, she now spends her days surrounded by one of the things she loves most…books.
Lyric has been married to her own hero for over fourteen years and has two daughters, one son, and a Doberman named Blue because her husband loves the Duke Blue Devils. She has one brother, several rather adorable nieces and nephews, super parents, and a wonderful grandmother who always reminds her that enduring love is possible even after 50 years of marriage to Lyric’s grandfather.
In 2006, Lyric sold the first story she ever finished to e-publisher, Cobblestone Press. Since then, she’s sold contemporary, romantic suspense and paranormal African American and Interracial romance to Samhain Publishing and Elora’s Cave.
Lyric is an avid reader and “listener” of books and her private book colection includes her favorite authors: Catherine Coulter, Nora Roberts (J.D. Robb), J.K. Rowling, Kate Colins, Janet Evanovich, Cinda Wiliams Chima, Charlaine Harris, Rick Riordin, and Brenda Jackson.
Temptation City
Copyright © 2008 Lyric James
Samhain Publishing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mixing business with pleasure has never been so tempting.
Ashia Forrester has always lived by one rule: Never mix business with pleasure. As the owner of Temptation City, a male strip club, that has never been a problem. Until now. The talented new stripper she’s hired stirs a desire in her that cannot be denied.
Jalen Spencer is an undercover cop who loves his job.
His next assignment is to pose as a stripper at a local club and find out if the owner is laundering money for the mob. He’s pretty sure this mission will be a walk in the park, until he meets the sexy owner. It isn’t long before Jalen’s giving hot performances on stage and in her bed.
But how will she handle it when she learns everything about him is a lie?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashia picked up her walkie-talkie. “Who’s next, Vivian?”
“Jalen Spencer.”
She glanced down at her watch. “How many are left?”
“Three.”
Thank goodness. Maybe she would actualy have a lunch break today. “Ten-four.”
Ashia sifted through the mound of applications and paperwork she’d colected. Not one decent dancer in the bunch.
Oh, there were plenty of good-looking guys, but they didn’t exude the sexuality and attitude Temptation City was known for. She dropped the folders in the box behind her.
“Excuse me.”
The rich baritone voice sent a tingle across the back of her neck. She swiveled around too fast and tripped over her chair. A pair of large masculine hands grabbed her forearms and held her up.
“Are you okay?”
Shock waves charged up her spine. She sucked in a breath, looked up and got a blast of remarkable hazel eyes with tiny flecks of green. “Y-yes. I’m fine. Thank you.”
He released her and stepped back. “I’m here to interview for the position you have open.”
Yes, yes, oh yes.
Now this was what she was talking about. The man shouldn’t be alowed outside without a bodyguard. The way he looked at her was enough to make any woman come on the spot.
And the way he filed out a plain black t-shirt with those broad shoulders and chest, his superman arms…it just wasn’t fair to the female population.
Ashia alowed her gaze to travel his body from head to toe and then back up again. Close-cropped hair cut, trimmed mustache and ful lips slanted upward in a smirk. He looked like he’d been sculpted by Michelangelo, dipped in caramel and left for human admiration.
She saw him peeling away every stitch of clothing on his body and every woman in the club screaming her head off, begging to put money between his ass cheeks.
“Ma’am?” he asked, an eyebrow arched.
She shook away the arousal that threatened to turn her into a complete idiot. “Um, the position?”
“Yes, I heard you had a bartender position open?” She glanced down at her papers and back up again. “I’m not hiring, um, bartenders at the moment. I’m only looking for…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes zeroed in on his crotch. “…
strippers.”
A look that bordered on disbelief crossed his incredibly handsome features. “Strippers?”
/> “Yes,” she replied. “The only ad I placed was for male exotic dancers.”
His lips thinned. “Wel, I didn’t come quite prepared for that.”
“Have you ever danced before?”
“Not that kind,” he answered looking toward the stage.
She looked him up and down again and smiled, tilting her head. “There’s a first time for everything.”
His eyes pleaded with hers. “You sure you don’t have any other positions open? Bouncer? Anything?”
She was beginning to enjoy this. Obviously, someone had given this guy the wrong information. But if she convinced him to step onto that stage, she’d have a ful house of dolar-flinging women for the foreseeable future.
Regretfuly, she tore her gaze away from his body. She moved in front of the table and leaned against it. “With a body like yours, you could make a lot of money here. Easily seven-fifty to a thousand a weekend.”
“Wel-”
“Why don’t you get up there, try it out and see if you like it?”
He just stared at her.
Al right, he was going to take a little more convincing. He didn’t give off the “look at me, I’m gorgeous” vibe. He was more reserved. Laid back, a more “I like to be in the background” sort of guy. He’d have to be coaxed into it.
“You got a girlfriend?”
He raised a brow. “No.”
“Family in town? Mom? Grandmother?”
He tossed her a wicked smile and shook his head. “No.”
“Then, you won’t have to worry about it getting back to them, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“That’s not it. I just wasn’t expecting,” he waved his hand toward the long ramp, “…this.”
“Wel, what’s that saying? If the world gives you lemons, make lemonade.” She sat and crossed her legs. “You need a job, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you want a job at Temptation City?”
“Yes,” he answered again.
“Wel, up on that stage is al I’ve got.” She paused for effect. “If you can handle it.”
It was a dare. She knew it. But for some reason, he struck her as the type of guy who never backed down from anything.
Especialy a chalenge.
“I didn’t bring any music.”
She yeled to her DJ without taking her eyes off him. “Hey, Ravyn, play this guy some music.”
Seconds later, Tyrese’s “Signs of Making Love” came over the speakers. Perfect. With his face and body, and if he could tantalize her with a dance, she’d hire him on the spot.
“I’ve never done this before,” he reminded her.
She grinned. “I know. Just let the music move you. Let it seep into your mind, your soul, and see what happens.” The lyrics asked her if she was a freak.
Damn skippy.
His dance was seductive and slow just like the music, and his eyes never left hers as he moved. The words guaranteed her that he’d give her body whatever it needed.
Ashia squirmed in her chair.
When he began to remove his shirt, puling it from the bottom straight up over his head, she saw an exceptional six-pack and imagined running her hands over his taut muscles. The shirt landed at her feet.
The melody wanted to know if she was the freak he’d been looking for.
Hell yes.
Her eyes glazed over when he began to unbutton his jeans.
He bent over and slid them down and off his legs. A pair of red knit boxer briefs hugged his muscular thighs.
Her favorite color. She gulped. Oh God.
The next thing she knew, he was coming off the stage toward her. He’d realy gotten into his performance. A line in the song asked the listener to whisper in his ear. Jalen leaned over to hers.
“How am I doing?” he asked, a sexy tone in his voice.
He was close enough for her to get a whiff of his scent. She caught a brief hint of tangerine, mandarin and sage. Ashia cleared her throat. “F-fine.”
He turned around, spread his legs and bent over to touch the floor, leaving his ass right in her face. She itched to reach out and palm him to see if his cheeks were as firm as she thought they were.
Right now, he was the embodiment of temptation. A graceful animal in motion stalking its prey. A cougar or a panther.
Perfect for Temptation City.
Perfect for her.
Buy it now!
