Saving the world one kiss at a time
Haley Feldonâs work with the United Nations means everything to her. She cares more about social progress than filling her social calendar. But that doesnât stop media mogul Jon Ecklund from pursuing the elegant beauty.
Jonâs used to getting whatâand whoâhe wants. And heâs not going to let anything get in his way of knowing Haley. But pain from her pastâand a surprise from her futureâthreaten to destroy everything theyâve started to build. Now Jonâs on a mission to open Haleyâs heartâ¦if only sheâll let him.
She put her empty glass on the grass beside her, leaned over and stroked his hair.
âIâm counting on your good judgment.â
âBe careful, Haley. Iâve made mistakes, and because Iâm still human, I may make some more.â
âNot to worry,â she said, still stroking, âIâll keep you out of trouble.â
âYeah. Just like you did the other night when we went to dinner.â She stretched out beside him, and he needed no further invitation. For the first time, she looked up into his face while lying supine, and frissons of heat plowed through her.
âKiss me. Open your mouth and kiss me.â
She gently pulled his tongue into her mouth and gripped his shoulders, asking for more, wanting him and relief from the tension stirring in her. He kissed her back, then stopped, took her hand and locked her fingers through his. âI havenât felt this content in years. I love being with you, Haley, and I want us to spend as much time as possible together. Can we?â
âI enjoy being with you, Jon, but letâs take it one day at a time.â
âIf thatâs all you can give me now, I have to accept it. But I want more. Much more.â
GWYNNE FORSTER
is a national bestselling author of forty-four works of fictionâthirty-four romance novels and nine mainstream novels, including her latest, When the Sun Goes Down. She has won numerous awards for fiction writing, including a Gold Pen Award and an RT Book Reviews Lifetime Achievement Award, and has been inducted into Affaire de Coeur magazineâs hall of fame. A demographer by profession, she is formerly a senior United Nations officer, where she was chief officer in charge of research in Fertility and Family Planning studies. Gwynne is author of twenty-seven publications in demography. She holds bachelorâs and masterâs degrees in sociology and a masterâs degree in economics/demography. As an officer, first for United Nations and later for the International Planned Parenthood Federation of London, England, Gwynne traveled and/or worked in sixty-three countries. She lives in New York with her husband, who is her true soul mate.
My sincere thanks to my beloved husband and stepson for their unfailing support and encouragement.
Chapter 1
Haley Feldon stepped out into the late summer sun, grateful for the trees that shaded New York Cityâs East Sixty-Fourth Street. She both loved and hated New York City, but if her dreams were ever to have the slightest chance of materializing, it was where she had to be.
Sheâd had a difficult meeting with Tom Brennan, one of her backers, that morning. The conceited old coot never missed an opportunity to remind her of his wealth or to mention his generous contributions to the numerous foundations that depended upon him and others like him to finance their philanthropic work.
As she walked swiftly down Second Avenue, Haley sighed. She hated having to work with Brennan, but their meetings were unavoidable. As founder and president of the International Institute for Social Progress (IISP), she devoted herself to projects that improved the lives of poor women and children. Her immediate goals were to improve educational opportunities for children living on reservations and to establish a program to reduce pregnancies and school dropouts among teenage girls in New York City.
She was determined to make a difference. Unfortunately, her work brought her into contact with men like Brennan, because making a difference cost money. And funding for projects like the ones she envisioned for IISP was hard to come by.
Haley glanced at her watch and saw that she had about an hour before her appointment with Nedia Edstrom, head of the United Nations Conference on Social Change. That would give her time for coffee and a few minutes to focus on the proposal that she was presenting to Nedia. Inside the United Nations Secretariat Building, she took the escalator to the second floor and walked down the heavily carpeted corridor toward the North Delegates Lounge. Walking toward her was the tall, sandy-haired man she seemed to glimpse almost every time she came into the Secretariat Building. Elegant and well-built, he exuded an aura of power, strength and pure animal magnetism.
Her response to him always astonished her. How could she react this way to a man she had not even met? Haley was sure that he had his share of female admirers, but she was definitely not going to become one of them. She vowed she wouldnât even though, or perhaps because, he showed up regularly in her dreams and often interfered with her daytime thoughts, too. No, she didnât fool herself. She was acutely aware of him, even if she always tried to pretend that she wasnât. It had gotten so bad that she looked for him every time she entered the building. And she knew that she flushed whenever she saw him. What was it about him? she wondered.