âDonât stop,â Juliette whispered fiercely
Stop? It would have been easier to stop a freight train, Shay thought. Desperation and desireâa volatile combination. It made the ordinary extraordinary. The act of making love took on a whole new dimension.
Greedy, she devoured his mouth. âMore. I want more,â she demanded.
âEverything Iâve gotâ¦promise,â he told her, and then moments later, he was as good as his word as he tightened his hold on her and she on him and their tension built to release.
Slowly, reality returnedâbodies cooled, vision cleared, the night once again took on form and dimension. Shay still held her in his arms, not wanting to let her go, positive that if he did, heâd wake up and discover it had all been a dream.
âAll right, princess?â he breathed into her ear.
Her answer came, still dreamy with passion as she tightened her legs, reluctant to let him go. âPerfect. But you donât need to call me Princess. I donât use the title.â
âWhat title?â
Her eyes popped open. Oh, damn!
Dear Reader,
Havenât you ever wished you could run away from your everyday life and have an adventure? Havenât you ever wished you would be swept off your feet by a bold, handsome man who whisks you away to a life of passion and laughterâ¦with no laundry to do? I sure have.
And this is exactly how Princess Juliette Fortier feels as she sits on a park bench in New Orleans and wishes for a man to sweep her away, temporarily, from the future stretching before her. The only problem is she gets more than sheâd bargained for when her adventure begins for real. She gets Detective Shay OâMalley, a hot-blooded cop hot on the trail of a criminal.
I hope youâll love this story as much as Iâve loved writing about Juliette and Shay. Please let me know. Iâd really enjoy hearing from you. You can e-mail me: [email protected], visit me at www.eclectics.com or through www.eHarlequin.com or send a letter to: Meg Lacey, P.O. Box 112010, Cincinnati, OH 45211.
Happy reading!
Meg Lacey
SHE SAT ON THE PARK BENCH, naked and alone.
Or at least thatâs the way she looked to Shay OâMalley as his gaze skimmed over her. She was actually dressed in navy-blue silk and dainty heels, but the expression on her face told him she was stripped to the bone emotionally and isolated from the lively activity around her.
Shay sighed. Damn, she looked so young. Or was that because he was studying her with his jaded copâs eyes? He took another look. On second thought, not that young. Early to mid-twenties, at least. He glanced toward the street. In any case, she seemed too innocent and lovely to be sitting by herself on the fringes of the rowdy, wicked Mardi Gras crowd.
He knew immediately that he couldnât walk away. Heâd have to make sure she was all right. His damn hero-to-the-rescue complex came out at the most inconvenient times.
Swearing under his breath, Shay shrugged his shoulders, feeling the weight of his old, brown leather bomber jacket as it shrugged with him. Slowly, he walked over to the park bench. âMiss? You look like you got a problem. Can I help?â
The woman gasped, then glanced up at him with an air of surprise that made her seem ill-prepared to face the world. Her ocean-blue eyes were as wide as a childâs. Shay wanted to groan as he compared her with the sultry hooker who was flaunting herself by a lamppost near the street.
âYouâre kind of young to be out here with this type of crowd, arenât you?â Regardless of her actual age, Shay knew firsthand there were too many predators waiting to prey on those who looked like innocents.
Her gaze raced over him from the top of his head to his toes, but still she said nothing. She only gripped her fingers more tightly together and stared at him, as if he were the devil sent to tempt her to hell.
Shay frowned. âDonât be scared, okay? I wonât hurt you. Whatâs your name?â
The tip of her tongue moistened her naked mouth, running slowly over her full bottom lip. Shay felt a jolt that was purely sexual. It singed his gut and quickened his breath. âI said, whatâs your name?â Uncomfortable at his reaction, he spoke more harshly than heâd intended.
âIâ¦â She blinked, her mouth trembling for a moment, and then she said, âI canâtâ¦â She stared up at him, her breath coming a bit faster as her gaze roamed his face, touching on each feature.
He cocked his head, considering her. âYou canât tell me your name?â
âIâ¦â Still she stared, then gave a little shrug. âI canât remember.â
âYou forgot your name.â
She looked confused for a moment. âUh-huh.â