by Sofia Tate
As I turn to retrieve the Lost and Found shoe box, he says, “You have a lovely voice.”
Thankfully, I’m looking away from him when he says that because as soon as he does, my face turns hot. “Thank you, but I was just humming, sir.”
“I can still tell, though. Are you a singer?”
My face now cooling down, I finally turn around. “Yes, I am actually. I’m a graduate student of voice at the Gotham Conservatory.”
“Opera?”
“Yes.”
“So I suppose the fact that you work across from one of the most famous opera houses in the world is not a coincidence?” His lips lift in a sly grin.
I laugh slightly from my nerves. “No, it is not.”
He smiles at me. “Umm, may I…” he asks, gesturing to the glove in my hand.
I shake my head in embarrassment. “Oh, I’m sorry. Of course.”
He takes the glove from me, running his fingers over the stitched initials. “Hmm. I wonder…”
“About what, sir?”
“I wonder when my parents named me if their goal was to see how many surnames they could slap on their newborn child.”
I smile, laughing slightly. “I can imagine.”
His head tilts at me curiously as he leans in closer to me. “What’s your name?”
I swallow in my throat as his warm breath caresses my face. “Allegra.”
“Allegra what?”
“Allegra Orsini.”
He pauses for a moment. “That’s a lovely name. Italian?”
“Yes, sir.”
I look into his eyes, which are still boring into mine. I can’t move. Something is…there. Something…powerful. It takes my breath away. We both seem to be stunned into silence.
He pushes back the tail of his coat to retrieve something from his pocket. He pulls out his wallet and shuffles through the bills.
A fifty-dollar bill appears on the flat ledge of the door.
I push the money back to him. “No, that’s not necessary.”
“Please take it. It’s not just for the glove. It’s been a long time since…I just want you to have it.”
“Truly, I can’t accept it. For the same reason.”
He nods in understanding. He puts his hand over mine, the hand that’s trying to return the money to him. He doesn’t move, and neither do I.
Without warning, he begins rubbing his thumb over my hand, slowly. So slowly. My breaths begin to increase. His emerald eyes turn darker, hooded with a look that both scares me and arouses me. The warmth from his touch permeates my skin, setting the rest of me aflame. I can feel myself turning wet at the apex of my thighs. I press my lips together, determined not to break this moment. He is powerful and commanding. I can’t look away. And I don’t want to.
Then he moves in closer to me. His lush mouth opens to say something, his thumb still moving again and again over my hand.
“Do you think I could make you come just by doing this?”
“What?” I manage barely above a whisper.
“Answer the question,” he commands huskily.
Before I can answer him, a cell phone begins to ring inside his coat, which effectively breaks the moment. I step back as he shuts his eyes, emitting a low growl, then pulls out the phone, grimacing when he checks the caller ID. He lets it continue to ring as he shoves it back into his coat.
He pauses a moment, then takes the fifty and returns it to his wallet. Like a magician, he then reveals the glove’s mate from his coat, and I watch him put on both of them.
His hands now fully gloved, he looks at me again, both of his green eyes fixed onto my own. They seem darker, ominous almost.
I swallow. “Have a good evening, sir.”
He leans into my space, mere inches from me. His scent, something laundered with a hint of spice permeates my nose, his hot breath caressing my face once more. “Good night, Allegra.”
Once Davison Cabot Berkeley leaves, shaking Mr. Crawford’s hand on the way out, I step into a corner of the coat-check room, leaning against it in the darkness. I press my head against the wall as I try to catch my breath.
No man has ever affected me like that before, mostly because I would never allow it. I know it was just a moment. That’s what I tell myself. We will never see each other again. And it’s just as well, because I never let in a man far enough to know my deepest secrets.
Acknowledgments
There is a reason Crazy for Him is dedicated to my rock star editor extraordinaire, Megha Parekh. Over lunch at our very first meeting, she casually suggested that I should write a spinoff novella for Lucy, Allegra’s sassy best friend, and Tomas, her Czech boyfriend with the amazing voice and broad, muscled chest (“The Wall”). I tucked that idea away, wondering whether I’d have enough of their story to tell. It turns out I needn’t have worried. As I wrote Davison and Allegra’s story, scenes for Lucy and Tomas kept popping into my head, ones that I quickly jotted down to save for later. Well, it’s later, and I have to say writing Lucy and Tomas was such a blast! Pardon the pun, but yes, I really love Lucy! Thank you, Megha, for the idea and just…for everything.
To the team at Forever Romance/Grand Central Publishing, who are an infinite number kinds of awesome sauce—thank you, thank you, thank you to Leah Hultenschmidt, Fareeda Bullert, Jodi Rosoff, Marissa Sangiacomo, and Elizabeth Turner. I am so proud to know you, so lucky to be a Forever Yours author, and so grateful for everything you do for me!
My Forever Romance pub besties: Kennedy Ryan, Lia Riley, Lauren Smith, Chelsea Fine, Cecilia Tan, Leslie Wright, Eliza Freed, Christine Hughes, Shannon Richard, Shelley Coriell, Rie Warren, Mia Sosa, and Jessica Lemmon—so happy to know you’re all just a text/email/DM away if I need you.
A special shout-out to Kristen Ashley, who epitomizes the term “coolest chick ever”—you are just too awesome for words! MWAH!
Linda, Holly, Logan, Katana, K.M., Julia and Felice who were there from the start—thank you for believing in me and your constant words of encouragement, and to Rachael, Jane, and Colette who I met along the way and have become an important part of my life.
My family and friends—my love to you and gratitude for knowing me and still liking me in spite of that.
To all of the wonderful bloggers whose support for my books and romance in general is infectious and inspiring: thank you for everything you’ve done for this series! I hope you’ll enjoy what I have next in store!
Finally…
This year at RT in Dallas and my very first one as a signing author at the Giant Book Fair, I met a lovely reader from Brazil whose first words to me were, “Never stop writing.” Those three words floored me and turned me into a crying mess (happy tears, of course). That was the moment when I knew I’m doing what I’m meant to do with my life. To the amazing and passionate readers who have reached out to me on social media, bought my books, reviewed them online, or met me in person—THANK YOU! I hope you’ll continue with me on this crazy journey! Words are woefully inadequate to express how much you mean to me.
Love,
Sofia xoxo
About the Author
Sofia Tate grew up in Maplewood, NJ, the oldest of three children in a bilingual family. She was raised on ’70s disaster films and ’80s British New Wave music and classic TV miniseries. Her love for reading started when she received a set of Judy Blume books from her aunt when she was ten. She discovered erotic romance thanks to Charlotte Featherstone. She loves both writing and reading erotic romance. She graduated from Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY, with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Italian. She also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University. She has lived in London and Prague. Sofia currently resides in New York City.
Learn more at:
www.sofiatate.com
Twitter: @sofiatateauthor
Facebook: Sofia Tate
Instagram: Sofia Tate
Pinterest: Sofia Tate
Also by Sofia Tate
Breathless For Him
Devoted To Him
Forever With Him
You Might Also Like…
Looking for more great digital reads? We’ve got you covered!
Now Available from Forever Yours
Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.
To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest ebooks and apps, sign up for our newsletters.
Sign Up
Or visit us at hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
EPILOGUE
An Excerpt from BREATHLESS FOR HIM
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Sofia Tate
You Might Also Like…
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Ulyana Dejneka
Excerpt of Breathless for Him copyright ©2014 by Ulyana Dejneka
Cover design by Elizabeth Turner
Cover copyright © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Forever Yours
Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104
hachettebookgroup.com
twitter.com/foreverromance
First ebook edition: October 2015
Forever Yours is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.
The Forever Yours name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-4555-9070-4
E3
