by Anne Calhoun
For now, Milla Jackson is an American in London, but she’s also been an American in Paris, Rome, Prague and more. She’s working hard to combine her love of travel and growing social media presence into a career, even involving her followers in her (somewhat dismal) dating life. When the combustible heat between her and her best bloke, Charlie, explodes, she’s unprepared for the secrecy of “friends with benefits.”
Charlie’s an artist who’s already been burned by one woman who used social media against him. He’s determined to keep his hands on the glass he works with—and off the irresistible Milla, who’s sure to share every detail with her followers.
Will their best intentions survive a secret relationship? Or will the heat transform their fling into something that can overcome Milla’s fear of permanency and Charlie’s reluctance to trust again?
Dedicated to my sister Laura, who has endured more than her share of bad dates. Love you, sistah!
Acknowledgments
A big thank you to Angela James for her efforts and support, Julia Broadbooks for helping me flesh out Milla’s character over lunch in New Orleans, and Jeffe Kennedy for her thoughts on the draft. Finally, special thanks to Miranda Neville, who greatly improved this story with her insightful comments on the structure and generous assistance with all things British, especially Charlie’s background.
Dear Reader,
How did your last date go? Was he checking dating sites while he’s chatting you up? Glued to his mobile phone? Rocking a mullet? As any Cosmopolitan reader knows, dating in the twenty-first century can be both really exciting...and a real challenge.
Milla Jackson, the heroine in Working With Heat, knows this, too. An American girl living in London’s East End, she’s building her online brand as a travel vlogger, but her love life is one hilariously bad blind date after another. Milla doesn’t mind; she’ll finish the night at the pub quiz with her friends, including bad boy glassblower Charlie Tanner. But when Charlie becomes her lover, things get complicated. Can Milla and Charlie survive the risk that comes with sleeping with a friend?
Thanks for reading! Find out more about my books on my website, annecalhoun.com, and chat with me on Twitter (twitter.com/annecalhoun) about books, writing and whatever else catches your fancy!
Cheers,
Anne
Anne Calhoun
WORKING
WITH HEAT
Sexy, contemporary romance stories
for today’s fun, fearless female.
Cosmopolitan Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
Excerpt
Chapter One
“Watch it, love,” a man said, extending one arm to stop Milla Jackson from riding her bike into oncoming traffic on Whitfield Street.
“Thanks,” Milla said, and flashed him a smile. Taking advantage of the traffic, she leaned over the bracket holding her phone to her bike’s handlebars and thumbed in a quick text.
I’m here & looking forward to meeting you.
Well, almost there. The Crazy Bear, the bar in London’s tony Fitzrovia neighborhood where she’d agreed to meet her blind date, stood across the street, not yet flooded with smart media types looking to unwind after a busy day. Milla shifted her weight and looked forward to relaxing in the outdoor patio. After six glorious weeks of backpacking through Sweden, Norway and Iceland, she was back in heels, working as an assistant at the Darmayne Gallery in Mayfair.
Her phone buzzed as she set off across the street. Milla returned the now-distracted stranger’s favor and tugged on his sleeve to prevent him being flattened by an oncoming cyclist, got a nod of thanks in return, then her phone buzzed.
I’m outside.
Okay, then. No Great or See you soon. She pedaled along the pavement until she found a spot to lock up her bike just down from a flashy yellow Lamborghini idling in a no-parking zone. Bike pannier in hand, she used the back of the hand holding her phone to swipe her heavy fringe off her forehead, then snapped pictures of the street, the bar, the car. She never knew which image would spark an entry on her American-girl-in-London travel website and YouTube channel, and the city was showing off in the middle of its glorious, warm, sunny, short summer. To celebrate the weather, she’d worn strappy heels and a floaty vintage halter dress she’d picked up at the boutique where her friend Kaitlin worked part-time, in the hopes that this date would be worth the bike ride from Mayfair. Lately her dates had been missing a certain something she couldn’t quite name.
But there were no snappily dressed men, young or old, sitting alone on the Crazy Bear’s patio. Bewildered, Milla peered up and down the street, then hauled open the heavy door and keyed Where are you into her phone as she walked into the bar.
The interior was striving to be the final word on flamboyant. Red carpet dominated the floors, while red leather covered most of the chairs and booths. What wasn’t red was black, with the exception of the white bar stools lined up in front of bar running the length of the back wall. In the afternoon light the picture she took looked like a bordello caught yawning in the middle of the day.
Milla lifted her hair from her nape and caught the bartender’s eye. “A Manhattan, please,” she said.
Her phone buzzed again. I’m outside.
Maybe he’d meant he was on his way when he said outside the first time. Mildly annoyed, Milla waited while the bartender mixed her drink and set it in front of her. She snapped a quick picture, then mass-blasted it to her social media sites with the caption Like me, a Manhattan(ite) in London.
It was a bit of a stretch. The child of a former marine who’d eventually gone into the security industry, she’d been born in London and raised all over the world before attending Hunter College in New York. When people asked her where she was from, it was easier to claim New York than explain her convoluted history.
“I’m going to take it outside,” she said.
“You have to pay for it first,” he said.
“How much?”
“Ten,” he said.
Ten pounds for a single drink? The night was going to get really expensive if they stayed for a meal, but that was getting ahead of the game. She still hadn’t seen her date yet, and maybe she could talk him into going somewhere less...crimson. Milla fished out her credit card and handed it over, then collected her drink, receipt, phone and wallet, and went back outside.
There were still no men sitting alone in the patio, so she walked to the edge of the canvas railing enclosing the seating area and looked up and down the street. Then she texted, I’m outside. We agreed on Fitzrovia location?
Movement caught her eye. The man who’d been sitting in a convertible yellow Lamborghini the entire time she’d been in the bar boosted himself up in the driver’s seat, spread his arms wide and yelled, “Hello, darling! Shall we go for a ride?”
Heads turned up and down the street, staring first at the man in the car, then at Milla. Her jaw dropped. He’d watched her go in, then watched her come back out again, checking her out both front and back, making sure she was worth parking the car before making himself known to her. “You did not just do that to me,” she muttered. “You did not just do that to me.”
“Actually, he did,” said a woman sitting on the patio.
Milla squared her shoulders and flashed a really big smile. “I really just wanted to get a drink,” she called back, hoisting her ten-quid cocktail to demonstrate.
The crestfallen look on the man’s face was almost worth the price of the drink. Almost. “Oh. I’ll park the car.”
<
br /> He revved the engine and screeched around the corner in search of parking that would set him back fifteen pounds for half an hour. Milla looked at her watch. She could stay, or, if she pedaled like a madwoman, she could still make it to Spitalfields and the Fire Spell in time for the pub quiz.
No contest. She threw back the Manhattan, slammed the empty glass on a table and bolted for her bike.
* * *
“Budge over,” she said.
Kaitlin Connolly, one of her roommates, pushed through the growing crowd at the Fire Spell, their local pub in Spitalfields, and set a round of pints on the table. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on a date.”
Milla eased into the repurposed pew against the wall, kicked off her heels under the table and looked around. Mismatched vinyl tablecloths sporting polka dots, birds or red gingham, and small wood carpenter boxes holding ketchup, salt, pepper and malt vinegar. This was much more her style. “It was over before it began,” she said of the date.
“What happened? No, wait until I’m back. It’s my turn to buy the round. Pint of Dark Star?”
“A half, please. I’ll get the next one,” Milla said.
She wasn’t the only usual suspect late for the weekly pub quiz. Kaitlin and Elsa, her roommates in the first-floor flat they rented in renovated house in Spitalfields, in London’s East End, were there and holding chairs. Kaitlin returned with Milla’s half and set it on the table at the same moment bodies slid into the empty seats to either side of her.
“Hi, Charlie,” Kaitlin said. “You’re late. You’re supposed to get him here on time,” she added, wagging an admonishing finger at Billy.
“I did my best,” Billy protested.
“Got caught up at the studio. Sorry, love,” Charlie said, and gave her a quick kiss of greeting.
Kaitlin turned for the bar yet again, and Milla turned to exchange a quick cheek kiss first with Billy, then with Charlie Tanner, the artist who owned their house and lived on the top floor. He wore a loose, round-collared white shirt with the sleeves pushed to his elbows, faded blue jeans and boots as scarred as his hands and arms. The shirt hid the wiry strength of his shoulders and torso, honed by years of hoisting molten glass and turning it into the colorful spiraling shapes he sold to galleries in Asia and America.
“You’re supposed to be careful,” Milla said, ghosting the tip of her finger over a new, angry red burn nestled among the tattoos coiling along his forearms. She’d never really studied them before. One in particular caught her attention, an explosion of color from letters she couldn’t quite make out.
Heat flashed between them, sending an electric charge along Milla’s nerves. Charlie’s gaze lingered on her face, and for a moment they were the only two people at the table. She registered details about him in a way she never had before. His blue eyes were deeply set under a high forehead. His soft blond hair curled damply around his temples and ears from a recent shower. Both his hair and beard were longer than normal, which meant a long stretch of eating and sleeping at his glass studio a few streets away.
His blue eyes flicked down to her fingertips, resting lightly on his forearm. “And you’re supposed to be on a date. What are you doing here?”
“Another failure,” she said, but she didn’t lift her hand. This was what was missing from her blind dates—chemistry, the zing that set her nerves humming and made the whole world more vibrant. “Definitely qualifies as epic. Might even be classic,” she said, fighting to sound normal, because she had no idea if Charlie felt the same new connection. Probably he still saw her as one of the girls downstairs. Just a friend.
“Did I miss the story?” he asked.
Was that relief flashing in his eyes?
“She was waiting for me,” Kaitlin said and handed Charlie his pint. Milla’s hand dropped naturally from his arm, and she reached for her phone out of habit. “That’s it?” Kaitlin added. “No one else coming through the front door like we’re in a French farce, not a pub?”
“We don’t know anyone else,” Elsa said. “Everyone we know and love is right here.”
“Cheers to that,” Milla said, and lifted her pint to clink glasses.
“So, spill,” Kaitlin said. “This might be the shortest date on record.”
“What’s going on?” Billy asked.
“Milla, despite being one of the most famous travel vloggers—”
“At this table—” Milla said.
“—and a master of all things internet, is loathed by online dating services, which unerringly suggest the worst possible dates,” Kaitlin finished.
“If there’s a commitment-phobic fuckwit within fifty miles, some computer somewhere will match Milla with him,” Elsa added.
“Following the theory that my followers can’t possibly do worse than computer algorithms, I’ve been running a poll on my website. This week’s date was my fans’ choice, and he turned out to be an egomaniacal fuckwit,” Milla said as the quizmaster distributed sheets of paper for the first round. She searched through her bag for her lucky pen and gave the end a few experimental clicks. The quiz was about to start, and she couldn’t take her mind off Charlie, the little smile creasing his cheeks as he listened.
“So, what happened?”
She relayed the story, right down to the yellow Lamborghini and the hello, darling, and everyone at the table dissolved into laughter. “Because, of course, all I’m interested in is his car.”
“Have you noticed that men barely ask you about yourself?” Elsa said.
“I’m sorry, were you speaking?” Kaitlin said, deadpan.
“It’s funny to watch them flail for more things to tell you about themselves. And then I...”
“Oi,” Charlie said. “Half the time we’re not sure if we’re allowed to ask you about yourselves. Are we chatting you up or a creeper?”
“My entire life is online,” Milla pointed out. “I think it’s fairly obvious cars aren’t high on my list of priorities.”
The quizmaster tapped the mic to get their attention. “Right then, folks. Your entry fee is going to the Spitalfields Trust, restoring the East End, so you have nothing at stake besides bragging rights and a fabulous T-shirt, designed by our very own up-and-coming graphic designer Kaitlin Connolly.” Kaitlin waved, and a ragged cheer went up. The quizmaster pulled his cell phone from his pocket and waggled it at the crowd. “No using these to look up answers. Put them on the table where we can all see them.”
The sound of electronic devices thudding against the plastic tablecloths competed with the music for a moment. Milla took a picture of the pile, hurriedly sending it into her social media streams. At the Fire Spell for the pub quiz for the Spitalfields Trust. Come on down! #Pubquiz #thefirespell
“Come on,” Charlie chided. “You’ll be all right without that.”
“Just one more thing...” she said distractedly. She’d been tossing ideas around with a couple of travel sites that had showed some interest in sponsoring her trips in exchange for advertising, but so far none of them had actually made an offer. Her future depended on a steady online presence and increasing numbers of fans and followers.
Charlie plucked her phone from her hand and dropped it in the pile.
“Hey! I wasn’t done.”
“Whatever tweets or texts or messages you’re waiting for will be there in a couple of hours.”
“Are you calling me an addict?”
“It’s practically adhered to your hand.”
“It’s my work,” she said.
“Work is, by definition, something you leave in order to spend time with people. I left my work at the studio. You leave yours right there,” he said, nodding at the pile of phones in the center of the table.
“Yes, and two hours from now your paper will be covered with doodles and sketches for your next piece. I just doodle and sketch into my phone. If I took that pen from you, you’d be having kittens in no time.”
“Children. Stop squabbling,” Kaitlin said. “Ther
e is a T-shirt at stake.”
“We always come in last,” Elsa pointed out.
“But this week the topic is ‘80s music,” Kaitlin said. “Have you not looked at the sheet?”
“Sweet!” Milla lifted her hands and did a little chair dance.
“An area of expertise?” Billy said.
“I’m the worst possible person for a pub quiz team. I only know random historical facts about the places I’ve lived or visited, but I have an inexhaustible knowledge of pop hits from the ‘80s. And punk. And hair bands. All the ‘80s music, actually,” she said.
“Really?” Charlie said incredulously. “Is that what’s coming up through the floor when you’re getting ready in the morning?”
Milla’s phone, screen down on top of the pile, buzzed. She reached for it, but Kaitlin smacked her hand. “We actually have a shot at this,” she said. “Don’t shame us.”
The entire crowd shamed cheaters by forcing them to wear a filthy, ragged fool’s cap for the next round. The highly effective method virtually eliminated what little cheating might happen in a charity quiz. “We have a shot at winning a T-shirt,” Milla said.
“A very cool T-shirt,” Kaitlin said. “Designed by one of London’s up-and-coming graphic designers.”
“Can’t you make yourself one?” Billy asked.
“I could, but that would be cheating. I want to win one,” Kaitlin said. “Look sharp, everyone.”
The quizmaster settled onto his stool and started reading out the questions. The team huddled together around Milla. She was acutely aware of Charlie’s body pressed into hers, the heat he seemed to absorb from the furnace heated to over eleven hundred degrees Celsius, the tensile strength in his arms and hands. He shot her a conspiratorial grin, then leaned over to murmur in her ear.
“Be here, Milla. Be here, now.”
His breath against her ear and cheek reminded her exactly how long it had been since she’d felt a man’s rough skin against her face as he whispered to her. She bit her lip and felt her cheeks flush, and was glad everyone’s attention was focused on the quizmaster’s brisk pace.
