by Virna DePaul
We live not far from my store in an apartment that gives us an amazing view of the hills. I’ll admit that I was a bit freaked out to move in with Caleb—what if we hated each other?—but despite a few hiccups here and there, mostly involving benign things like taking out the trash, we’ve been ridiculously happy.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you!” I clap my hands. “I got a call from Rebecca, and she talked to me about a show featuring my designs, and it would be in Paris during fashion week. It’s not official yet, though.”
Caleb’s eyes widen. “That’s amazing, sweetheart. Holy shit. Paris, though?”
I know what he’s thinking. How am I going to manage a flight that’s over twelve hours? I swallow against a suddenly dry throat thinking about it.
“I know, the flight there. If I take enough Xanax, I should be okay. I also thought we could fly to New York first, stay there for a bit, and then fly on to Paris. Break it up into two flights.”
He gives me skeptical look. “I’m not sure two flights will be better than one.” He touches my cheek with a tender gesture. “But you know I’ll be with you the entire way, right? Even if you end up puking on my shoes.”
“I’ve never puked on your shoes!” I slap him on the arm.
He smiles, leaning down to kiss me. “Nah, I’d keep you distracted. We need to work on becoming members of the Mile High Club. You’d be concentrating so hard on not screaming my name that any fears of flying will fly out the window.”
I snort, but my body heats at his words. Caleb knows he can get me hot and bothered with just a touch or a word, and he uses that to his advantage. Luckily, I know I can get him bothered just as easily. My supply of low-cut tops has only multiplied since we got together.
“I also have some news for you,” he says against my neck.
I close my eyes, enjoying his warm mouth kissing my throat. “What is that?” I whisper.
“Fiona Taylor has officially retired from the business.”
My eyes fly open. “Really?”
“Really. Granted, she all but disappeared after the letter, but now she’s decided to move to her house in the Bahamas and stay there for the foreseeable future.”
“What a terrible fate for her,” I mutter. “She gets to steal designs and ends up living on an island for the rest of her days, not working.”
“True, but she’s been blackballed from the industry. She’ll never work in fashion again. Her label is dead, her stores have all closed, and any of her clothes are now at Goodwill, collecting dust.” He kisses my shoulder. “I think that’s pretty good revenge against a woman who was once considered royalty in the business but who lied and cheated.”
I make a noncommittal noise. Okay, part of me wanted some greater punishment for Fiona, but at least she’s no longer part of the fashion world. She lost all of the respect she’d garnered over the years just because she wanted to screw me—and Caleb—over. I have to admit, there’s something kind of stupidly tragic about that.
“Well, at least she can’t get her claws into you again.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “Because you’re all mine, Caleb Johnson.”
He gives me a heated glance. “That goes without saying. And you’re all mine, sweetheart.” He cups my ass, pressing me against his burgeoning erection. “Speaking of which, how about we enjoy ourselves this afternoon?”
I consider it, biting my lip, but I have a ton of work to do. But Caleb is anything if not persistent, and when he cups my sex, I can’t help but moan. How does he do this? Inflame me with only a touch?
I dig my fingernails into his shoulders as he rubs me through my jeans. I moan, long and low, but then my phone rings. The screen lights up with the name Rebecca Harris on it.
“I have to get that.” I give Caleb an apologetic glance.
“It better be important.” He growls, wrapping an arm around me as I pick up my phone. “Although I have a hard time imagining anything is more important than this…”
I stifle a gasp as I answer my phone and Caleb cups my breast at the same time. I pinch his arm to get him to stop; I can practically feel him smiling against my neck.
“Rebecca.” I hope she doesn’t notice how breathy I sound. “How are you?”
“Heather, I’m well. Is this a good time?”
Considering that Caleb is now rolling my nipple between his fingers and beginning to unbutton my jeans, it most definitely is not a good time. I slap his hand away from unzipping my jeans, but he just laughs softly.
“It’s fine,” I say. “How can I help you?”
“I spoke with the necessary people, and I was able to get the green light to begin planning your show in Paris during fashion week. It’s definitely happening.”
Caleb takes this moment as I’m listening to Rebecca talk to unzip my jeans in a deft move before reaching underneath my panties. I bite my tongue so hard I taste blood so I don’t cry out.
“That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this.” I make a squeaky sound when Caleb brushes my clit with his thumb.
“Are you all right, Heather? You sound out of breath.”
I try to move away from Caleb, but his arm is like an iron band around me. And then when he begins rubbing my clit in earnest, I almost drop my phone.
“I’m fine. Totally fine. I just got back from a long jog,” I blather.
Caleb takes this to mean that he should thrust a finger inside me. I have to bite my lip to stifle a moan.
“Well, I’ll let you go, then. I’ll send over all of the details via Catherine in a few hours.”
“Thank you, Rebecca. Bye.” I hang up, tossing my phone onto the table before elbowing Caleb in his side.
He lets me go, but only to turn me around so I’m looking up at him.
“You are the most obnoxious, pain in the ass…” The words melt away from my mouth when he kneels in front of me, pulling my jeans and panties down in one go before fastening his mouth on me.
After that, I pretty much forget all about Rebecca and Paris. All I can see and think and feel is Caleb.
Now we’re lying on the floor of our apartment, breathing hard, our various clothes scattered everywhere.
“So I’m assuming you’re going to Paris?” Caleb brushes a strand of hair from my forehead.
My brain’s too foggy and my body’s too consumed with pleasure to understand his question at first. Paris? Why are we talking about Paris?
“Oh!” I jolt upward. “Yes! Caleb, I’m going to have a show in Paris! Can you believe it?”
“Yes, because you’re amazing.” He draws me down for a kiss that makes my bones melt into the floor.
“You’ll come with me, right?” I ask. “I’ll need you there.”
“Why would I be anywhere else?”
Before I can respond, he gets up to dig through the pocket of his jeans. I gaze at him, wondering why he felt the need to empty out his pockets right now.
He sees me looking at him. “Close your eyes, sweetheart.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What’s this about?”
“Close them.”
“Fine, fine.” My vision goes dark, and I hear him sit down next to me again.
“Okay, open them.”
I’m not really sure what I was expecting. Flowers? Chocolates? When I open my eyes and see a diamond ring sparkling in a velvet box, I gasp.
“What is that?” I look down. “I’m naked, Caleb!”
“You’re most beautiful to me that way.” He kneels before me then, ring in hand. “Heather Talina Flint. Love of my life. The most talented, wonderful, stubborn, pain in my neck designer. The woman I adore above all else in the world. Will you marry me?”
Tears blur my vision. I can barely see Caleb’s face now, or the ring. My heart’s pounding.
“Oh, Caleb.” I wipe my eyes, but the tears won’t stop coming. “Of course I’ll marry you. Yes. Yes!”
He grins and then pulls me into a kiss that’s explosive. The ring is almost forgotten, but I draw away to get
a good look at it. Caleb removes it from the box and places it on my finger. It sparkles in the light, and it’s so beautiful it hurts.
“It’s gorgeous. Thank you. I love it.” I kiss him again. “I love you. My stubborn, cocky, handsome, brilliant boyfriend.” I smile. “Fiancé, I should say.”
“You’re damn right.” He kisses my hand. “Fiancé, and then husband. Because we’re going to live happily ever after, sweetheart.”
I nod before throwing my arms around his neck. “Of course we are. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now, how about we go celebrate in that bed of ours?” Caleb says before scooping to pick me up into his arms, carrying me into our bedroom as I laugh out of sheer joy.
Thank you for reading Locking Lips. If you enjoyed spending time with these characters, be sure to check out the next book in the series, as well as my other sexy romances!
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Books by Virna
KISS TALENT AGENCY
Book 1: Lip Action (Simon): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Locking Lips (Caleb)
THE BEDDING THE BACHELORS SERIES
Book 1: Bedding The Wrong Brother (Rhys): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Bedding The Bad Boy (Max): Click here to purchase
Book 3: Bedding The Billionaire (Jamie): Click here to purchase
Book 4: Bedding The Best Friend (Ryan): Click here to purchase
Book 5: Bedding The Biker Next Door (Cole): Click here to purchase
Book 6: Bedding The Bodyguard (Luke): Click here to purchase
Book 7: Bedding The Best Man (Gabe): Click here to purchase
Book 8: Bedding The Boss (Eric)**
HOME TO GREEN VALLEY SERIES
Book 1: What Love Can Do (Quinn): Click here to purchase
Book 2: The Way Love Goes (Conor): Click here to purchase
Book 3: I’m Gonna Love You (Brady): Click here to purchase
Book 4: Best Of My Love (Riley): Click here to purchase
Book 5: Because You Love Me (Sean): Click here to purchase
HARD AS NAILS
Book 1: Hard Time (Street): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Hard Case (Slate): Click here to purchase
Book 3: Hard Core (Axel): Click here to purchase
Book 4: Hard Place (Jericho): Click here to purchase
Book 5: Hard Act (Davis)**
GOING DEEP SERIES
Book 1: Down Deep (Heath): Click here to purchase
Book 2: Royally Deep (Kyle): Click here to purchase
SAY YOU LOVE ME SERIES
Book 1: Say It Sexy: Click here to purchase
Book 2: Say It Sweet: Click here to purchase
ROCK CANDY SERIES
Book 1: Rock Strong: Click here to purchase
Book 2: Rock Dirty: Click here to purchase
Book 3: Rock Wild: Click here to purchase
Book 4: Rock Free**
PARA-OPS PARANORMAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE SERIES
Book 1: Knox: Chosen by Blood: Click here to purchase
Book 2: Wraith: Chosen by Fate: Click here to purchase
Book 3: Dex: Chosen by Sin: Click here to purchase
**Coming Soon
Kiss Talent Agency
Lip Action
(Kiss Talent Agency Book 1)
Marissa
Appearance is everything to my upper-crust mother, but when she insists I take back my pedigreed-but-cheating ex? I’d rather stab myself with a salad fork. So I blurt out I’m dating someone new. Someone like…that smoking-hot, vaguely familiar guy across the restaurant, who could be the next James Bond.
Turns out he’s the star of my favorite, cheesy, sci-fi soap opera. (Don’t judge me.) One minute I’m fantasizing about Borg and his green-hued abs. The next, Simon Dale is making me an offer my sex-starved body can’t refuse.
Simon
I’m up for a breakout movie role that’ll launch me off the B-list, but I don’t need a script to read the scene between Marissa and her mum. Even though I’m a London gutter rat who never rubbed elbows with a Royal, I easily slip into the role of Marissa’s doting boyfriend. Why? I need a favor in return— a steady girlfriend, just long enough to convince the producers I’ve changed my wild ways.
Trouble is, I’m going all Method on this relationship—and close to losing the one thing that could break me. My heart.
Bedding The Bachelors Series
Bedding The Wrong Brother
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 1)
Determined to find her inner sex diva, Melina Parker enlists her childhood friend, Max Dalton, to tutor her after hours. Instead, she ends up in the wrong bed and gets a lesson in passion from Max’s twin brother, Rhys Dalton, a man Melina’s always secretly wanted but never thought she could have.
This #1 Bestselling Contemporary Romance is rated HHH ("Heat, Heart & HEA") and involves a bed mix-up, hot identical twins, sex lessons, naughty word games, light restraint, a shy sex bomb who's afraid she's boring and a playboy hero determined to prove she's got everything he'll ever need.
Bedding The Bad Boy
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 2)
This bad boy is ready to work some magic...
Identical twin and Las Vegas performer Max Dalton has always been the number one bad boy in his family, and he's appreciated the women and fame that comes along with his reputation.
Grace Sinclair is on a mission when she comes to Vegas, one that involves asking Max, her best friend's brother-in-law, to give her the pleasure no man's ever been able to. She suspects Max has more layers than he lets people see, but she's determined to keep her heart safe even as she offers him her body.
What neither of them plan on is love--or the triangle the media stirs up with Max's blonde bombshell actress friend.
Will Grace see beyond Max's bad boy façade long enough to trust him with her heart? And will Max figure out what he really wants before he loses the one woman who makes him believe in love again?
Bedding The Billionaire
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 3)
Free-spirited Lucy Conrad enjoys her friends but keeps others at a distance, especially her affluent and judgmental family...and the billionaire she once dated, Jamie Whitcomb. Despite their explosive chemistry, experience has proven she'll never fit into his world.
Charismatic Jamie enjoys work, women, and wealth. When duty demands he take over running the family business, he jumps in full-throttle; his only regret is Lucy's refusal to take the ride with him.
Then tragedy strikes and Lucy realizes that in order to gain custody of her orphaned niece, she must prove she can fit back into the high-society world she once rejected. The solution? Accept Jamie's make-believe marriage proposal, and be seen as the type of mother her niece deserves. Respectable. Controlled. Willing to play the game.
With her faux-fiancé by her side, Lucy exchanges dirty martinis and leather for champagne and silk. But when the passion between Lucy and Jamie only grows greater, they have to make a choice: back away from each other and not get hurt...or risk everything for the kind of love money can't buy.
Bedding The Best Friend
(Bedding the Bachelors Book 4)
As the new year approaches, nice girl Annie O’Roarke finds herself bored and lonely. She wants more excitement. More adventure. And more sex…even if it won’t be with her secret crush, her best friend, Ryan Hennessey. Annie’s determined to be “bad” for once in her life, and that includes completing her “naughty” list in a city where being bad is just an ordinary day: Vegas.
Ryan Hennessey is a firefighter who relishes his time off with Annie. Annie’s the only person he can count on and he’d never jeopardize their friendship. Then Ryan discovers Annie’s “naughty” list. Although he’s stunned Annie is raring to explore her wilder side, he doesn’t trust anyone else to keep her safe.
So long as he’s there to protect her, Ryan’s going to
teach Annie the true key to being a bad girl.
A bad girl takes what she wants.
Will Annie be brave enough to act on the passion that sizzles between her and Ryan? And will Ryan convince himself and Annie that love is worth gambling for?
Bedding The Biker Next Door
(Bedding The Bachelors Book 5)
Jill Jones has good friends, a great job, and a steady amount of dates. What she doesn’t have is a kinky or wild bone in her body—or so she thinks. Then she meets a handsome tattooed biker who lights her on fire. Suddenly she’s saying yes to all sorts of things, starting with a night in bed, no strings attached.
A security expert, Cole Novak protects others for a living, but he’s weighed down by grief that he couldn’t save the most important person in his life. Then he meets Jill, and for one night she brings color back into his world…only to walk away, plunging him back into the now-familiar darkness.
Soon Cole discovers that Jill is closer than he realized—living in the very house he plans to sell in order to leave the past behind. With the wild woman of his dreams suddenly the girl next door, will Cole still sell the place and move away, or will he soak in more of Jill and open his heart to hope and love?
