“Not to mention the fact that she forgot to hide her exercise clothes?”
He chuckled. Before his trip to D.C., he’d tossed in a load of laundry and found his mother’s damp sweats and T-shirt in the wash. No way he’d been looking at anything other than freshly worn exercise clothing. He’d wanted to strangle her when he put the facts together, but he’d needed his story confirmed first.
It had been easy to corner Dr. Leslie Gaines and pretend his mother had confided in him about her condition. He led the doctor to believe he knew his mother’s health problems weren’t serious, but was concerned that liquid antacid wasn’t too healthy either. Dr. Gaines had agreed that gastric reflux wasn’t as severe a problem as the heart attack they’d thought Raina had the night she was brought into the ER. The doctor assured him she was still monitoring Raina’s heart anyway, and said she’d consider stronger prescription medication for her reflux.
“How could your mother not realize she was dealing with Chandler men with inherited reporters’ instincts?” Charlotte asked.
“Because she was dealing with sons who put love and concern first and never once thought to look beyond.” Hell, if Roman hadn’t lived with her, he’d never have caught on.
“And you’re sure you’re doing the right thing not telling her you know?”
Roman grinned. “She thinks she’s got the start of a winning track record. Why ruin her good mood? Besides, once I got over the shock and anger, I paid her back, didn’t I?”
Charlotte stretched against the mattress, her lean body tempting him as much as the first time he’d laid eyes on her. “By telling her she wouldn’t be getting grandchildren anytime soon because we want time alone together first, I know. And I still feel guilty lying to her.”
“She deserves payback,” he murmured. “And I don’t know if I deserve you, but I’m going to enjoy you anyway.” He dipped his head to trail lazy kisses around her breast, teasing her with quick darts of his tongue, but never latching on to the nipple that begged for his touch, his tongue, his teeth.
Charlotte arched her back and moaned, a supplication and a plea for him to put her out of her misery and latch on to that distended tip. He’d come to know her body signals and signs well within the last few weeks and he’d never tire of learning more. “Not yet, sweetheart.”
“We need—”
“I know exactly what we need,” he said, his groin throbbing and ready to enter her slick body. He tormented her with his fingers first, gliding them between her legs and slipping one into her slick folds.
She squeezed her legs together tight, trapping his hand between her thighs and stilling any more movement. “We need to let Chase and Rick in on her condition.”
Roman groaned. “How can you think about anything at this moment, including—or should I say especially—my brothers?”
“It’s called prioritizing, and it isn’t easy, believe me. Don’t you think I’d rather be making love to you instead of rehashing this?”
They’d had this same argument before, Charlotte telling him it was unfair to keep Chase and Rick in the dark about Raina’s decent health. “Honey, when we get home, we’ll talk about telling Rick and Chase. In the meantime, the longer we keep them in the dark, the longer they’ll be at Mom’s mercy, and the better chance they have of finding the happiness we have together.”
She sighed. “Maybe you’re right.”
“I know I am.”
“Then why do I feel so guilty?”
He grinned. “Because you have too much time to think. Which means I ought to distract you completely.”
Roman raised himself up and over her, settling himself on top of his wife. His wife. The word, which once would have sent him running abroad, now filled him with complete satisfaction. And all because of Charlotte.
She not only loved him, but she adored his family and looked out for them the same way she did for her own. This beautiful, caring woman was his, and would be forever. And he intended to enjoy every living, breathing moment of married life, while making all Charlotte’s dreams and fantasies come true.
His groin pulsed against her soft feminine mound. “Open for me, Charlotte.”
Her lips turned upward in a sexy smile at the same time her thighs parted wide. She was already wet and ready for him, and he thrust inside her easily and quickly, but there was nothing quick about how he intended to make love to her.
Her sigh of satisfaction was complemented by her body’s reaction, as she clenched and closed herself around his hard erection. “Oh, yeah,” he muttered, the slick heat filling him not just with hot need, but also with a deep emotional warmth. His bachelor days were long and happily behind him.
“I love you, Roman,” her lips whispered against the skin on his neck.
“I love you too, Charlotte,” he said. And then he proceeded to show her just how much.
Award-winning, bestselling author Carly Phillips is an attorney who tossed away legal briefs in favor of writing hot, sizzling romances for Harlequin and Warner Books. Since her first sale in 1998, Carly has sold a total of eighteen books. She lives with her husband, two young daughters and a frisky Wheaton Terrier who thinks he’s child number three. When not spending time with her family, Carly is busy writing, promoting, and playing online! She loves to hear from her readers, and you can write to her at: P.O. Box 483, Purchase, NY 10577 or email at [email protected].
No one can resist … a Chandler man! Meet all three Chandler brothers! For excerpts, contests, and more information on her fun, sexy trilogy from Warner Books (The Bachelor, The Playboy, and The Loner), visit www.carlyphillips.com.
Special eBook Feature: Insights and Excerpts of Carly Phillips
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The Infinite Appeal of Small Towns
A Step in the Right Direction
The Heartbreaker—Excerpt
The Playboy—Excerpt
The infinite appeal of small towns
by Carly Phillips
Small towns have always held a special appeal for Americans. They form the very heart and soul of the country in everyday life and in fiction. Why? Probably because many of us live that small town life and even those who don’t recognize that at its core, small towns represent simplicity and escape from the pressures and hectic pace of big cities and everyday living. This appeal was underscored by the popularity of American illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), especially with his 322 covers for Saturday Evening Post. His paintings of everyday, usually small-town people almost always tell stories, often humorous ones. His use of careful observation and technical skill portray homey incidents, well–defined character, and a wealth of supporting detail. As an author, that is what I aspire to accomplish with the written word.
Most of my books deal with families but with the Chandler brothers and Yorkshire Falls, I undertook small towns at their best— the ideal of home and hearth, of being able to go back to where you started and begin again, even if you were born and bred in the city. Small towns represent a space where everyman can escape the pressures and grind of everyday life. They are a place where life proceeds at a slower pace and where the things we take for granted mean more–such as the glow of a fading sunset or the whispered conversation with a loved one on the proverbial porch. At its heart, small towns are a place where honesty shines through. Since practically everyone is supposed to know everyone else’s business in a small town, little remains undercovers and what does, runs deep.
Yorkshire Falls began as just another small, upper New York town in my imagination, but it developed into far more. For the Chandler brothers trilogy, it became a theme that threads the brothers together beyond just family ties. For youngest brother and globetrotting journalist, Roman, in The Bachelor, Yorkshire Falls represents the small-mindedness and boring existence he wants to escape in his early years, only to discover later that having roots makes him stronger. That, which he ran from at a young age, represents hearth and home later on.
Middle brother and town cop,
Rick, in The Playboy, sees the town as a place he loves and protects, but can’t truly be a part of until an outsider shows him how to overcome his past.
Chase, the eldest and editor/owner of the town newspaper, in The Heartbreaker (August 2003), has dedicated his life to the newspaper his father owned, making him the heartbeat of the town, but discovers that he can’t continue to live for everyone else. Yet no matter what, the brothers live and love in their small hometown.
Then of course there are the unusual characters we come to know and love as part of the fabric of Yorkshire Falls. They are the unique pattern woven into the tapestry of a small town that make home, unlike any place on earth. There are Pearl and Eldin, an elderly couple who’ve lived together for so long, that no one can remember them apart, and yet they’ve never married. There is also Samson, the town eccentric, whose heart of gold makes him richer in friends than anyone else — as much to his surprise as everyone else’s. You’ll also find Raina Chandler, the meddling mother whose busybody antics are the root of the Chandler brother’s adventures and whose style is the epitome of every small town mother who has made a career out of arranging the lives of the people around her.
In different ways these characters all represent the dynamics that push away and yet draw us back time and again to small towns. Readers will continue to gravitate to small town settings because of the wealth of feeling and dimension that they offer. For good or bad, the American psyche is wrapped around the idea of small towns. I hope you’ll come and visit my small town of Yorkshire Falls in the Chandler brother’s books and discover the appeal for yourself.
Copyright © 2002 Carly Phillips
A step in the right direction
by Carly Phillips
Like the arrow keys on a computer which move my manuscript up or down, forward or back, taking a new step in my writing career was filled with possibilities. I started writing category because I love Romance and the shorter genre. I still do and so, my category career continues. But as is human nature, I wanted to try something different. Enter Warner Books and the opportunity to write single title romance and take my career in a new and challenging direction. How did I handle the experience and what have I learned as a result? Because I am a writer, I think those computer arrow keys provide a perfect analogy.
A Step Forward:
More characters and more space to develop them! More plot, if I choose. In The Bachelor, I opted for a panty thief to spice things up. More, more more! I was in writer’s heaven.
A Step Backward:
Entering a new genre was like starting over again with that first sale. New editors, new expectations, and all new rules culminating in that dreaded word, revisions! But with the right editor, the experience was challenging and I came through learning much about my writing, myself and the things I can accomplish. By the time I worked on my second single title, Th Playboy, I’d learned many lessons and was able to apply them with confidence. Less revisions and much praise! That step backward was a worthwhile trip!
A Step Sideways:
Move those computer keys left or right, the direction doesn’t matter. While I was writing, sometimes I felt like I was treading water without making headway— especially since I went from writing a 230-page manuscript to a 400-page manuscript. With the help of a supportive critique partner and family, the books did get written and from treading water, I’d reached the finish line!
I’m now *this* close to seeing my book in print and on the bookstore shelves. I’ve learned about promoting single titles and how different and more time consuming that job is than promoting category. I’ve learned to think more about budgeting my money for promoting (note, I didn’t say I DID budget ). And I’ve learned to treat my publisher as a partner in having the book do well. But the most important thing I’ve discovered on the road to publishing a single title is that every step taken is ultimately, a step forward.
Copyright 2002 AOL time warner book group.
THE HEARTBREAKER
CHAPTER ONE
Chase Chandler walked out of the gate into Dulles International Airport and inhaled deeply. Each breath of air outside his hometown of Yorkshire Falls, New York, presented true freedom. At last.
“Hey, big brother!” His youngest sibling, Roman, pulled him into a bear hug. “Welcome to D.C. Good flight?”
“The best kind. Short and on time.” Chase hiked his duffel bag over his shoulder and started toward the exit. “How’s the wife?”
A ridiculous smile settled on Roman’s lips. “Charlotte’s amazing. Getting bigger by the day. My kid’s growing inside her,” he added, as if he hadn’t reminded them all of Charlotte’s pregnancy one hundred times before. “One month to go.” He rubbed his hands together in obvious anticipation.
“Just recently a wife and kid was the last thing you wanted. We had to toss a coin to decide which of us would give Mom the grandkid she wanted so badly. Now look at you. A husband and soon-to-be dad, and happy about both.” Chase shook his head, amazed and pleased with the changes in his little brother. The kid was settled and happy, which made Chase happy. He’d done his duty by his family.
Roman shrugged. “What can I say? That was before. Now I’m a changed man.”
“Before you grew up, you mean?” Chase winked and his brother chuckled.
Both men knew Roman had fought long and hard until he concluded that marrying Charlotte wouldn’t mean giving up his foreign-correspondent lifestyle, merely trading it in for something more fulfilling. Now he had a job with the Washington Post as an op-ed columnist, a wife, and a family.
“You have no idea what you’re missing,” Roman said, not missing a beat. “A woman to come home to, a warm body in bed, and someone who loves you unconditionally.”
Like religious fanatics, both Roman and Rick, his middle sibling who’d also recently gotten hitched, had begun to preach the benefits of marriage. Chase wasn’t buying it. “Trust me, I can live without it, thank you very much. If I get that lonely, I’ll find myself a dog.”
His dreams didn’t include a wife and family. His brothers, as much as he loved them, had been a handful to raise. He didn’t need little rugrats of his own. From the time he’d turned eighteen and his father had unexpectedly passed away, Chase had been the male parent and role model. He’d taken over as publisher of the Yorkshire Falls Gazette and helped his mother raise his brothers—both jobs he’d never resented. Chase was not one to look back. And now, at thirty-seven, he was free to move on with a life of his own and grasp the dreams he’d put on hold. Starting with this trip to Washington.
He walked around a slow-moving couple and headed for the sign marked PARKING GARAGE. He glanced at Roman. The dimwitted gaze hadn’t dulled and Chase grinned. “I guess I can call Mom and tell her you’re strutting around like a proud papa.”
“Don’t bother,” Roman said, falling into step beside him. “When we’re not in Yorkshire Falls, she checks in once a day with Charlotte by phone.”
Chase nodded. That was his mother, Raina, meddling and proud of it. “Well, I couldn’t be happier for you.” He patted his brother on the back.
“And I’m glad you’ve left the paper in someone else’s hands and decided to put yourself first for once.”
Chase answered Roman with a grunt. After all, the kid was right. Not once in the years since he’d taken over had he abdicated responsibility for the Gazette.
“The car’s parked in the lot.” Roman gestured in the direction they needed to go and Chase followed, nearly tripping over a young kid who’d decided to play tag.
“Thanks for picking me up,” Chase said, noticing that the wayward kid had been corralled by his parents. Roman and Rick had been eleven and fifteen, respectively, when their dad passed away. They’d been old enough to take care of themselves and Chase hadn’t had to deal with their toddler years. Thank God. Their late teens had been tough enough.
“How’s Mom?” Roman asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Her …
ah … health.”
“Stuttering for a reason?” he asked.
Roman picked up his pace but remained silent. Chase could almost see his brother’s brain churning to come up with a reply. A few months ago, Chase had rushed his mother to the emergency room with chest pains. Later, she’d told her sons she’d been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Though they’d spoken to the doctor, confidentiality had prevented them from finding out anything more than what Raina had told them. Her three sons had danced around her bedside, making sure she took care of herself. Since she’d curtailed all activity, Chase hadn’t thought to question the diagnosis further, until he began to notice inconsistencies in his mother’s behavior. Too much color in her cheeks for someone with a weak heart. Too much swigging of antacids. The more recent prescription drug to treat gastric reflux, which if left untreated could have severe consequences. And running up and down the stairs when she thought she wouldn’t be caught.
As a newspaperman with damn good instincts, he began to suspect blatant manipulation. He also suspected his brothers, who seemed less concerned with their mother’s health lately, knew something he didn’t.
“Rick and I need to talk to you,” Roman said.
“About Mom’s fake heart condition?”
Roman stopped in his tracks, causing one woman to nearly bump into him and a man to dart around him, cursing as he passed. “You know?”
Chase nodded. “I do now.”
“Shit.” Roman met his gaze. “We were going to tell you.”
The Bachelor Page 27
