Needing a change of scenery, he decided fresh air might clear his head. Doug grabbed for his keys and hit the street only to discover a walk in the rain—even a walk down Lake Shore Drive, far from Secret Fantasy—brought back a flood of memories. All of them good, none of them ever to be repeated again, because fantasies by definition were created by the imagination and not meant to be lived out forever.
And besides, he’d fabricated his fantasy in order to get himself paired with Juliette. He’d told Merrilee that by helping Juliette heal, he’d see he could put another person before himself. He’d said he wanted to make up for using Erin to further his professional aspirations. And he’d claimed he needed to be able to look himself in the mirror. The irony was, as he’d spoken aloud, he’d realized he was telling the older woman the truth.
Yet all he’d done was repeat his past mistakes. He’d used Juliette exactly the same way he’d used Erin, only this time, he’d also been hurt. He’d fallen hard and lost the woman he loved. Well deserved, Doug figured now.
The biggest irony was he’d achieved his fantasy and still wasn’t satisfied. The fantasy he’d woven for Merrilee had helped him become more human. Yet even looking back and understanding every place he’d gone wrong still didn’t hand him the future he desired. That decision was out of his hands. After all that had passed between them, if Juliette wanted him, she knew where to find him. Or did she? It wasn’t like he’d shared that important bit of information. He muttered a curse and headed back toward home, wet for his troubles, but no closer to a solution.
As he neared his front step, he caught sight of fiery hair gleaming in the mist, making him wonder if even undeserving S.O.B.’s like him sometimes got second chances.
He slowed his pace as he approached, still feeling as if he were in a dream. But when she extended her hand and he touched her, he knew she was here. Real.
And, he hoped, his fantasy come to life.
“Hi there,” he said.
“Hi, yourself.” A hesitant smile pulled at her lips, a smile he’d missed in the past lonely week.
The rain began to pick up momentum and he dug into his pocket for his keys. “You’re sitting in the rain. Is your fear of storms wearing off?”
She shrugged. “Better memories have taken over.”
Her hand remained in his and he held on tight, brushing his thumb over the pulse point on her wrist. “Have you been waiting for me long?” he asked.
She licked at her damp lips. “Only all my life.”
Without another word, he pulled her to her feet and let them inside. He swung her around and, backing her against the wall, they met in a scorching kiss that was emotional and intense and left him without a doubt that her feelings were as strong and potent as his.
“I missed you.” Her softly spoken words echoed in his ear as she nuzzled her head between his shoulder and cheek.
“Likewise.” He reached for her waist and pulled her body close to his. “I know we have things to work out.”
“Mmm.” She murmured in agreement. “Lots of things to settle.” Her lips created havoc with his nerve endings while she feasted on the sensitive skin of his neck. “But nothing that can’t wait.”
His body was already anticipating his next move and he desperately needed that emotional and physical connection. Needed to feel himself inside her and know they were real. “Waiting to talk is good.” He thrust his body against hers. “Waiting for anything else is not.”
“I’m not the one wasting time talking,” she purred in his ear.
No, she was the one with her hands halfway down his pants. From modest to confident, all in the course of a…relationship? He’d have laughed at the change if the entire subject weren’t so serious.
She wrapped her hand around his erection and he let out a groan. The lady had a point. There was a time for talking and now wasn’t it.
He looked into her green eyes, darkened by desire and an emotion he hoped he could name. “Race you to the couch?”
“Well, it’s about time.” She laughed, ducked beneath his arm and ran for the sofa, losing clothing on the way.
Doug followed her lead and ended up on top of her on the couch, her body heat seeping into him and warmth filling the cold spaces inside him. Spaces that had been cold far longer than since she’d left him on the island. And spaces only she could ignite and rouse into a burning flame.
He raised her arms above her head, linking his fingers with hers. “No protection.”
“It’s not a problem for me. How about you?”
He heard the challenge in her words. In the past he’d have felt like he was being trapped, that the walls were closing in. Instead, euphoria lifted him higher. “You don’t sound too upset about it.”
“Should I be?” She shifted, spreading her legs in an invitation he couldn’t mistake. “I was half asleep one night on the island. We were together and I could have sworn I dreamed you said something important. And then you said it again, only I was awake but not ready to hear. If you meant it, I need to hear you say it again.”
Her voice shook and Doug recognized her fear and anxiety about putting herself out there to be hurt if she was wrong. He understood because he’d been there himself. Only neither of them would ever hurt the other one. Not if he had a say in things, and it seemed now he did.
He eased his hand down, slipping his fingers into her silken, moist heat. She let out a soft sigh of need, but her gaze never left his, her eyes wide and imploring, the question still lingering between them.
“No questions, no uncertainties between us, Juliette. Never again.” He raised himself over her and entered her with one smooth stroke. “I love you.” As her muscles contracted around him, the words came not from his body but from his heart and they’d remain there. Forever.
Juliette felt herself toppling over the precipice quickly, the incredible waves building with each successive thrust of Doug’s body inside hers. And when she fell, she knew he was there with her. But long after the physical satisfaction faded, Doug’s words remained lodged in her heart.
He’d grabbed for an Afghan blanket on the arm of the sofa and covered them and now she lay cuddled in his arms. “You have to know I love you, too.”
“I kind of figured that out about the time you lost the last item of clothing on the way to the couch.” He laughed, but sobered quickly. “I just don’t understand how I could be so damn lucky after what I did. That article must have been much better than I thought.”
She needed to look him in the eye so she rolled to her side, a mistake since she nearly fell onto the floor. She settled for climbing back on top of him instead. “I never read the article.”
His eyes opened wide and she felt the rapid increase of his heartbeat beneath her chest. “Then what the hell changed your mind about me?”
“You did.” She ran a hand down his cheek. “You said you loved me when you had nothing more to gain. It was something I should have realized and believed in long before Stuart ever showed up.”
“I used you.”
His honesty now touched her. She inclined her head. “You came to Secret Fantasy for a story. You didn’t leave the moment you got one. Any other arguments?”
He clenched his unshaven jaw. “My fantasy was a lie—at first.”
“And later?”
His hands cupped her cheeks. “I wanted to put you first and I wanted to help you heal. Instead, I repeated old mistakes and hurt you even more.” In the depth of his eyes, she saw his pain.
In hurting her, he’d hurt himself. If that wasn’t love, then Juliette didn’t know what was. “Oh, Doug. Loving me isn’t hurting me. Who hasn’t made mistakes? I made mine when I followed some nonexistent plan I thought my parents had for my life. The only bright spot is that it led me to you. Oh, and that fantasy of yours? About putting me first and making my dreams come true? Did I mention I’d like you to keep it up for the next fifty or sixty years?”
His hands held onto her hips, preventing her f
rom falling, and his deep chuckle reverberated inside her. “Is that a proposal?”
“Damn straight, since you might have just gotten me pregnant.” This time she made sure her challenge was light and fun. She had him and she damn well knew it.
He grinned. “No way can I turn down a proposal like that. Especially from a woman who accepts me the way I am.”
“Darn right I do.” She turned serious. “How’s your father?”
“Home and eager to meet the woman who’s turned me inside out, upside down and made me inhuman since she’s been out of my life.”
Her heart kicked up a beat. “Sounds like someone’s missed me.”
He let out a heartfelt groan. “You have no idea. But you do realize, you don’t even know if I squeeze the toothpaste from the top or the bottom.”
She laughed. “Are you trying to scare me off?”
He shook his head. “I’m realizing it’d take a lot more than my living habits, thank goodness.” He brushed a light kiss over her lips.
“We have a lot more to discover about each other.” As if to make her point she slipped her hands downward in a slow, leisurely exploration of the body she adored.
“And we’ve got a lifetime to learn.” He greeted her hands-on journey with some incredible moves of his own, causing her to writhe and squirm on top of him.
“Well, I’m game.” She managed to speak through the desire quickening inside her.
“And I’m glad.” Love shone in his eyes, making her feel complete. “But don’t you think you ought to read that article?” he asked. “There’s nothing in there about you. Not a word, not a hint, not a mention. Just your father’s wisdom.”
Her father. He’d said when she got around to reading the article she’d fall for Doug all over again. At the time, she thought he was applauding her courage for going after the man she loved, but she realized now her father probably had a hand in working things out with Doug.
“Juliette?”
She heard his silent fear, but he no longer needed to prove anything to her, and by trusting him without reading that article she hoped to prove that to him.
Besides, trusting Doug was easy because she’d learned to trust herself. “I already know I’ve got an intelligent man who puts me first.”
Doug’s heart filled with love and satisfaction—emotional satisfaction because he’d found his other half. A woman he loved to distraction who put her complete faith in him. He’d just have to make damn certain he never let her down.
“I promise to read the article,” she said.
But her actions belied her words as she began an erotic swirling of her hips and arching of her back, tormenting his already hard body with an enticing invitation—one he planned to take her up on, and he met her with determined thrusts of his own.
Her lashes fluttered shut and purred. “Mmm. Guess I’ll be reading it later.”
“Much, much later,” he muttered. Unable to withstand her teasing and needing to be inside her, he took charge, tossing the blanket onto the floor and lifting her until she could ease herself onto him, joining them together again.
* * * * *
SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Lainey Kline has one goal: transform into a sexy siren, sneak into the season’s most glamorous masquerade ball, and seduce Damian McKnight. But can a naughty fantasy lead to happily-ever-after?
Read on for a sneak preview of UNMASKED by Stefanie London, published by Harlequin Dare April 2018.
Lainey Kline stared at the chocolate cake, which had the words sorry I’m leaving you piped in shaky white icing. Was an apology dessert over the top? Subtlety had never been her style, and announcing that she had secured a new job—and planned to relocate from Melbourne to London—required a special touch. A special chocolate touch.
Her two best friends, Imogen and Corinna, stared at her. “You’re breaking up with us via cake?” Imogen said. “Seriously?”
“This isn’t a breakup,” Lainey replied, trying to her hardest to replicate the positive spiel she’d practised in front of her mirror. “I’m simply suggesting a long-distance relationship.”
Imogen shook her head. “A month is not enough time to say goodbye.”
“I can’t believe you kept it quiet for a whole week.” Corinna grinned.
The three of them sat at the picnic table in Corinna’s parents’ backyard. Even though Corinna had moved out two years ago, the three women still loved to congregate at the McKnight family home, especially during the summer. Their lush, sprawling garden was filled with native trees that attracted colourful birds like rosellas and galahs. Their song usually soothed Lainey, but not today.
“It wasn’t easy, believe me.” Lainey watched the bubbles race to the top of her champagne flute. “When I booked the flight, I wanted to scream it from the rooftops. But I had to tell you both at once, and you two are so difficult to coordinate.”
Between Imogen’s long hours and Corinna’s bustling social schedule, it’d taken a week to find a day where they were both free. But that was their deal—all news had to be shared as a group. Easier to avoid the whole “three’s a crowd” issue if there were no favourites. But it wouldn’t be like that for much longer. Worry stabbed Lainey in the gut. She knew her best friends would grow closer once she left; hopefully they wouldn’t forget about her altogether.
Hence the cake. Hard to forget about a person who piped her apologies in buttercream.
“So, hairdresser to the stars, huh? Maybe you’ll end up doing the royal family.” Imogen forced a smile, but her eyes glimmered with moisture. “Well, Prince Harry, anyway. Poor old Wills hasn’t got much left. He’s already in comb-over territory.”
“I doubt they’ll let me near the royals,” Lainey said, reaching for the big knife next to the cake and slicing straight through sorry. “Besides, I’ll be more focused on the social media side of things.”
Lainey had been a hairdresser ever since she walked out of school on her sixteenth birthday. Now she had eight years in the industry, which was by far the longest time she’d ever stuck to anything. Certainly longer than her failed attempts at reading tarot cards or working as a Red Bull promo girl. Two years ago, bored and desperate for creativity, she’d started posting her hairstyles on Instagram. Within a year, she’d amassed over a million followers and had brands foaming at the mouth to work with her.
Then she’d parlayed that into a gig as a social media consultant with a well-known celebrity hairstylist in London.
“But the contract is only six months, right?” Imogen asked as she handed a slice of cake to Corinna. “Then you’ll come back?”
“I’m hoping they’ll put me on permanently.” The finality of the move settled in the pit of Lainey’s stomach.
“Of course we’ll miss you,” Corinna said, shooting Imogen a look, “but I’m glad you’ve found a way to turn your passion into a job. This sounds like an amazing opportunity.”
With the scent of eucalyptus on the breeze and the late-afternoon sun beating down, Lainey wondered if she should have picked another location for her big announcement. There were so many memories here. And, as excited as she was about her new job, the thought of leaving her best friends behind made her feel ill. Like her body physically rejected the idea of them being apart.
It’s for the best. You’ve been miserable, and a fresh start is exactly what you need.
“I’m happy for you, too,” Imogen said, her words a little blurred around the edges. The girl was a total lightweight—two champagnes and she was already entering tipsyville. “But I do wish you’d been able to find such a cool job here.”
“I need to get away.” Much to her horror, Lainey’s voice wobbled.
Imogen frowned. “Get away from what?”
A confession hovered on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to blurt her secret, but what was the point? The decision was made. She was leaving in one short month, and Lainey made it a rule not to dwell on the negative.
“I just meant ther
e are more opportunities overseas,” she said carefully. “I’m going nowhere here. Marsha didn’t seem to care that I resigned, since she thinks we’re all replaceable, and it’s not like I have a relationship to tie me down. Thank God.”
She hoped the booze would prevent Imogen from noticing how false Lainey’s voice sounded. Corinna raised a brow but mercifully didn’t press for more information.
“But you’re sworn to secrecy,” Lainey went on. “I want to tell everyone else myself.” She looked them both in the eye and smiled when they nodded. “I’d rather people hear it directly from me.”
Although the interview process for this job had been going on for almost two months, Lainey hadn’t breathed a word of it to anyone until she’d signed a contract and booked her flight a week ago. Part of her hadn’t really believed it would happen. Even now, the whole thing felt a little surreal.
“Have you got a ‘before I leave the motherland’ bucket list?” Corinna asked. “There must be something you want to do before you go.”
Not something, but someone. Lainey’s move was as much about chasing her career dreams as it was about escaping the futility of her situation in Melbourne. She’d done something dumb. Idiotic. Monumentally stupid.
An action that might one day be documented in her memoir, under the title “Ways I Like to Torture Myself.”
Over the years, Lainey had developed a gigantic crush on the one guy who was totally and utterly out of reach. The one guy who wouldn’t look twice at her—Corinna’s big brother.
Worse, seeing Damian McKnight get married, divorced and then pimped out on Australia’s Most Eligible had torn her up inside. All her dreams for turning her adoration of rom-coms into a romantic reality had vanished. The only solution was to be somewhere else, so she could focus on the important stuff—like her career—and forget that she was doomed to have a miserable love life because she wanted the one man she couldn’t have.
“This is the perfect opportunity to go wild,” Corinna said. “You can do whatever you like here, then flit off to England without consequences. Surely there’s someone you’ve always wished you could have it out with. Maybe a crazy customer that you hate?”
Secret Fantasy (NYT Bestselling Author) Page 16
