by Talya Bosco
Kansas City Shuffle
Talya Bosco
Kansas City Shuffle
Copyright © August 2009 by Talya Bosco
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ISBN 978-1-59632-993-5
Available in PDF, HTML, Microsoft Reader, and Mobi
Editor: Venessa Giunta
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
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About this Title
Genre: Full-Figured Heroine/Shape-shifter Ménage Paranormal
Larissa comes to Kansas City after winning a trip to see where her favorite series of books takes place. She expects to have a great time with her three scheduled fantasy dates and an all-expenses-paid shopping spree. When she meets two men at different points in her vacation, she is suddenly torn between them. Finding out they know each other, and are perfectly willing to share her, in and out of bed, is more than a dream come true. It’s a fantasy.
Devon and Jared know that Larissa is their mate; they just have to convince her. And hope she doesn’t freak when she finds out they are the werewolves she has been reading about for the past six years. But they can’t tell her until their pack has finished “testing her suitability” as an alpha female. All they can do is hope she will forgive them when she finds out the truth.
Yet, the real truth is something none of them suspects. And may be enough to drive them apart permanently.
Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse.
Kansas City Shuffle: When everyone thinks one thing is happening, when in reality something entirely different is going on.
Chapter One
Larissa stopped a few feet from the door to the restaurant and took a deep breath. This was it. Her first fantasy date.
She still couldn't believe she was here at a five-star hotel for a week. All expenses paid. But there was no denying it. She was the winner of Canid Publishing's first-annual Summer Fantasy Vacation.
So here she was, in Kansas City about to meet a cover model for one of Michelle Harrington's werewolf books.
She had three dates as part of the vacation package. Each with a model from a different book. And she had high hopes. Oh, she didn't expect to go back to her hotel room with a sexy stud. Women her size and shape rarely had those kinds of encounters, but she hoped she'd at least enjoy herself. It would be nice to have someone to have an intelligent conversation with. It had been a while since she'd been on a date worth remembering.
Hell, who was she kidding? It had been a while since she'd been on a date, period. She was tired of her friends, and even worse, her mother, setting her up on those blind dates with safe, boring men. Men who tended to be mama's boys, or men on the lookout for a mother for their future children. Larissa was over thirty, and her biological clock was ticking, as her mother reminded her regularly, but that didn't mean she had to settle on a man just because he'd be a good father. Larissa wanted passion. Excitement. Love.
She knew all those emotions wouldn't last in a long-term relationship, but she wanted to at least start out with them. She deserved to be more than a baby factory for a lawyer or accountant, destined to live in an upper-class cookie-cutter neighborhood.
It wasn't a bad life by any means, but it wasn't the one she wanted. Larissa wanted more than that. But she knew the odds of finding it were close to nil. But she refused to settle. Too many of her friends had done so, and many of them were either miserable and married, or miserable and divorced. She would take being content and alone over the other options any day.
Shaking herself out of her morose thoughts, she reminded herself where she was. It was time to meet her first fantasy date.
It still didn't seem real to her. She was the kind of woman who won nothing more exciting than a handmade afghan at a charity raffle. This wasn't her speed. She was a boring plus-sized accountant from Philadelphia. A fantasy for her was doing a tax return that had no problems. Things like this didn't happen to her.
But apparently someone at Canid hadn't done their research and didn't know that about her. So here she was.
She glanced around the lobby area and forced herself to accept that yes, she was here, and yes, something like this was happening to her.
It was ridiculous, really, but she felt her life was about to change drastically and she had no choice in the matter. Something told her the moment she reached for that door handle, her life would go down a totally unexpected path. A path she might not be happy following.
“Stop it,” she told herself. She was not psychic; nothing was about to happen. There was nothing ominous about this vacation, nothing that was life altering. She was here for a good time, and that was it. In less than two weeks she would be back in her apartment, alone, thinking about getting a cat. The best thing she could do was just enjoy this time for what it was and then get on with her life.
Realizing she had procrastinated long enough, she took the last few steps and reached for the door, only to have her hand covered by another.
Instantly a shock ran through her body at the contact, heating her skin to a flush with just a touch on her hand. She looked up at the man responsible and sucked in her breath, suddenly unable to remember how to breathe.
Adonis stood in front of her. Or at least as close to Adonis as any human male could ever hope to get. Tall, dark, and handsome. That was the only thought that ran through Larissa's mind. She'd finally met the epitome of a romantic hero, here on her Summer Fantasy Vacation.
Black hair that brushed his shoulders in a thick wave made her want to run her hands through it and feel it brush against her naked body. His deep brown eyes burned straight through to her soul and melted part of her heart.
Her body vibrated with his presence, screaming out for him without knowing anything about him. Her pussy grew damp, and her heart raced as she gazed at his dark chestnut brown face. Please, by all that was holy, let this man be her date.
“Mr. Jared! Welcome! So glad to see you again. Right this way to your table, please.” The hostess's words barely penetrated Larissa's lust-fogged brain, all her attention still on the man who seemed to be staring back at her.
He stroked her
hand with his thumb and whispered, “Later,” before he followed the hostess into the restaurant.
Larissa shook her head. Had she really just met perfection on two feet? And had he really said “later” in that deep, husky tone? Or was it a fantasy her overworked and undersexed imagination had conjured up?
“Ms. Myles. Glad to see you. Your party is waiting for you. Let me escort you to your table,” said a second hostess who was now standing at the podium. Larissa forced herself to concentrate on the words.
Susan, the publishing firm's liaison, had informed Larissa that the staff would know who she was and not to be surprised by the fact. Betran Hotel had less than fifty rooms, and they prided themselves on having personal service for each and every guest.
The staff were especially aware of Larissa as the winner of a high-profile contest, which was probably a good thing. Who knew what they would think after she met with three different men over a period of less than a week if they didn't know the truth? At least this way they wouldn't think she was a prostitute meeting a new customer every night. Although she was sure the kind of men who would pay for a woman of her generous curves wouldn't wine and dine their women in a five-star restaurant.
Larissa smiled and eagerly followed the hostess into the main section of the restaurant.
She looked around, trying to find the man who had sent her libido spinning into a pit of desire, but she couldn't see him. Maybe he was in one of the private rooms? If so, was he having an intimate dinner with another woman? The thought brought her spirits down more than it had any right to. She didn't know him; she had no right to be worried about who he was with.
Instead of finding the man from outside, she found herself escorted to a table with two very good-looking men who stood up to greet her.
“Ms. Myles?” A tall brown-haired gentleman put out his hand. “My name is Jeffrey Kroger, and this is Tony Gill.”
She shook their hands and then sat in the seat that the second man held out for her.
Jeffrey Kroger was about six feet tall with a nice face, but definitely not model material. Tony, on the other hand, was absolutely gorgeous. He had the face and build that most romance novelists would kill to have grace their front covers. In fact, she was pretty sure he had been on the cover of book two, Ozark Encounter, but she couldn't be sure.
She looked at both men, waiting for one of them to start the conversation. She didn't have to wait long.
“Ms. Myles, we have something to tell you,” Jeffrey started, but Tony interrupted quickly.
“No, not we. I have something to say.”
Jeffrey turned and faced the other man and frowned before continuing as though Tony had never spoken. “There have been some problems with a couple of your dates this week. Some unforeseen circumstances.”
“What's wrong?” Larissa sat back and took a sip of her water. It was obvious the men weren't very comfortable, and because of that she was intrigued. If there was a problem, though, she didn't know why Susan hadn't contacted her either in her hotel room or on her cell.
What could these men have to tell her?
“Tony is your third date. You were to meet him on Thursday night.”
Larissa turned to look at Tony. “Then why are you here tonight? Will tonight's date be here Thursday? And why are you here, Mr. Kroger?”
Kroger raised an eyebrow. “Couldn't I be your date for tonight?”
“You're cute, don't get me wrong, but something tells me you just aren't the model type.” Larissa smiled to take the sting out of her words. “And although you look familiar, I know it wasn't on a book that I've seen you before.”
He smiled. “Okay, well, we'll get to me in a minute. Right now we need to talk to you about Tony.”
“It's my partner,” Tony blurted out. All his poise and good-boy looks seemed to flee, and worry ran across his face.
Larissa sat forward, suddenly concerned. “What's wrong?” She somehow knew he didn't mean business partner.
Kroger explained, “Tony's mother-in-law had what they thought was a minor heart attack this morning. His lover has already left to go home to Vegas to be with her. Now they're saying she might not survive the week.”
“Well, then, what the hell are you doing here?” Larissa turned and asked Tony.
“My contract says I have to be with you for dinner, that I'm to be your escort for the evening.”
“But that's not till Thursday,” Larissa said.
“Exactly.”
“Fine, if anyone asks, we met for dinner, we talked about my plans here in Kansas City, we talked about family, and we parted. Now get the hell out of here and go be with the man you love. He doesn't need to be alone right now, trust me.”
“But—”
“Tony, just go. I'm sure if the company wanted to be a bastard about this, they could be. As far as I am concerned, we had our date. You fulfilled your obligations. Now go.”
Tony looked at her and then to Jeffrey.
“She said go, Tony. I told you she'd understand. Do what the lady said and go help Frank.”
“Thank you, Ms. Myles. I thank you, and Frank thanks you.” Tony stood up and grabbed her hand.
“I hope they're wrong, Tony. I hope she has a long future ahead of her.”
Tony nodded, tears in his eyes, and headed out.
“That was a very nice thing you just did.”
Larissa shook her head. “No, it wasn't. It was the only thing I could have done. And I hate to think the company wouldn't have let him out of the contract for such a reason.”
Jeffrey shrugged. “They probably would have, but he was afraid of getting Susan in trouble.”
“How so?”
“She's in charge of this fantasy vacation. He was worried that it would reflect badly on her, especially since she was the one to pick him for one of your dates in the first place.”
“Ridiculous. She has as little control over this as she did the traffic jam we got stuck in yesterday on the way from the airport.” Something clicked in her head, and Jeffrey's familiarity snapped into place. “That's where I know you from! You were the driver yesterday.”
Jeffrey nodded.
It didn't take Larissa long to realize why Jeffrey was here tonight. She snickered. “Don't tell me. Tonight's date couldn't make it either.”
“You aren't mad?”
“Just tell me why he couldn't make it.”
“His girlfriend went into labor this afternoon.” He looked at his watch. “Just about two hours ago, in fact.”
Larissa's snicker turned into a chuckle and progressed straight into full-blown laughter. Things like this could only happen to her. Finally, after wiping her eyes with the napkin, she looked him in the eye.
“And you thought you'd try to cover it up so Susan didn't get in trouble? And you are her, what, brother?”
He held up his left hand. “Her husband.”
“And does she know about any of this?”
Jeffrey shook his head. “No. Right now she's attending a wedding shower for a friend from college. There are still enough places within a short drive that cell phones don't work, and I don't have the number of where she's at.”
“Which is how you got roped into all of this.”
Jeffrey nodded.
“Do you normally have this many family emergencies at once?”
“No, ma'am. This has to be a first.”
“So were you going to be up front about it all or pretend to be my date for the night to keep me from getting upset?”
“I wasn't sure what I was going to do; I thought I'd play it by ear. But honestly, after hearing you talk with Susan yesterday, and what she's told me about you, I wasn't worried at all. I just didn't want you to be disappointed.”
“Because that would mean Susan had failed?”
“Partly. But also because you seem nice. You don't deserve to have half of your vacation blow up in your face through no fault of your own.”
“What about other models?”<
br />
“Canid Publishing tends to contract only for one cover at a time. This was a special assignment for each model. No one else was available. It's not like this is New York.”
“And if you'd gone out of company, they'd find out.”
“Exactly. Plenty of good-looking men around, but…”
Larissa nodded. “You know, to be honest, I thought it kind of silly to be granted three dates. It's not like I was gonna find the hunk of my dreams and have mad monkey sex all week.” Larissa's hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes grew wide. “Oh shit, did I just say that out loud?”
Jeffrey covered his mouth with his fist and coughed. “I didn't hear a thing.”
“Okay, then. Movin' right along. What about my third, no, second date? Bubonic plague? Facial herpes?”
Jeffrey's laughter was obvious, although he tried to keep it in check. “No, as far as I know, that date is still on.”
“Great. What can you tell me about him?”
Jeffrey motioned for the waiter to bring them menus. He'd obviously asked the staff to wait until he could ascertain how the night was going to go.
After they were done choosing and ordering their dinners, he answered her question.
“Honestly, nothing. I don't know anything at all about him, other than the fact he is the model on the newest book coming out later this summer.”
“Age? Sexual orientation? Relationship status? Serial number?”
His smile brightened up the room. His wife was an awfully lucky woman. “Sorry. Nothing.”
Larissa pursed her lips. She knew he had to know more, but he was just as tight-lipped as his wife was. Dammit. “You remind me of someone.” Larissa tapped the table. “Give me a minute and I'll figure it out.”
“I already said you were right. I was the driver yesterday.”
“No. Something more. Not your looks, but the way you act, your—I got it. You remind me of James from the first book.”
Jeffrey coughed. “Really? I'll take that as a compliment, since I've never read the books. It is a compliment, isn't it?”
