Niall suspected that little Gigi had a bit of a foot fetishâ¦
âCome, Gigi,â Niall called the dog.
Gigi ignored him, squeezing beneath the fencing and launching herself across the neighboring yard like a seven-pound rocket. Just as Niall reached the fence line, Gigi attacked the pair of bare toes hanging over a chaise lounge. The woman screamed and leaped to her feet.
In an instant, Niallâs world tilted on its axis. His neighbor was heart-stopping, blood-pumping naked. He struggled to focus on the womanâs face. It was damn hard.
âLet me guessâyouâre my new neighbor and this belongs to you.â She nodded toward Gigi. Her distinctly Southern drawl held more than a note of amusement.
âUh, yeah. Iâm sorry weâ¦uhâ¦interrupted you.â
âNo problemâI didnât want to burn anyway.â Her friendly smile was faintly provocative.
Although totally nude, the woman was calm, cool and collected. He, on the other hand, couldnât put together a cohesive sentence.
But he did know that he liked the neighborhood alreadyâ¦.
Dear Reader,
I first met Tammy Cooper when I wrote my first Temptation novel, Barely Mistaken. Tammy, the heroineâs sister, was a bad girlâbad attitude, bad track record, bad reputation. But the more I got to know Tammy, the more I realized she wasnât all that bad, just misunderstood. Itâs trite, but true. Beneath the rebellious facade beat the heart of a vulnerable woman who deserved to be happyâeven if she didnât think so.
Thatâs the beauty of writing for TemptationâI got to give Tammy her own happy ending. But not just any man would do. Tammy had already tried that, and it didnât work. No, Tammy needed a man who would delve deep enough to discover the true woman who hid behind the reputation. And lucky for her, that man moved in just next doorâ¦.
Things heat up pretty quickly between them, and they learn two valuable lessons. One, that Tammyâs not as bad as she pretends, and twoâthat Niall is even better than he looksâ¦. I hope you enjoy Barely Behaving. Iâd love to hear from you. You can write to me at P.O. Box 801068, Acworth, GA 30101.
Happy reading,
Jennifer LaBrecque
Books by Jennifer LaBrecque
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
886âBARELY MISTAKEN
904âBARELY DECENT
HARLEQUIN DUETS
28âANDREW IN EXCESS
52âKIDS+COPS=CHAOS
64âJINGLE BELL BRIDE
To Jake, forever in our hearts, Advantage and Cleopatra (formerly known as Fair Game). Also to Catherine McGovern and Southeastern Greyhound Adoption (SEGA) for their tireless dedication to saving these magnificent animals.
âSEX, MARRIAGE AND MEN donât mix. I like sex and I like men. But Iâm skipping marriage from here on out. And this time I mean it.â
Tammy Lorelei Cooper Williams Schill Brantley tossed her latest divorce decree onto her kitchenâs tiled island. The papers skidded past the miniature tabletop Christmas tree toward her younger sister, Olivia. âAnd Iâm taking back my maiden name. Iâm going back to Cooper. Iâve finally figured out who I am.â And by God, she liked the woman sheâd come to know.
âI wish youâd let me kick your ex-husbandsâ no-good cheating butts.â Oliviaâs gray eyes held a blood-thirsty glint.
Tammy laughed and shook her head as she scooped ice into the blender. Her quiet, conservative little sister had a whole other side. Especially now that Olivia was nine weeks pregnant. With her wildly fluctuating hormones, Olivia could shift from butt-kicking mad to uncontrollably weepy in sixty seconds.
âI appreciate the sentiment and Iâve thought about doing it myself a few times, but theyâre not worth it. Men are all pretty much the same when you come right down to it. Theyâre made that way. Which means theyâll take good sex any way they can get it. Even mediocre sex. Hey, just make that readily available sex.â
Or at least that seemed to be the case with her ex-husbands. Tammy dressed sexy and she was an admitted flirt, but sheâd taken her wedding vows seriouslyâshe didnât fool around when she was married and she didnât fool around with someone elseâs spouse. Unfortunately, her ex-husbands hadnât shared her outlook.
She poured cranberry juice in the blender and tossed in pineapple chunks and a banana. She topped it off with a vitamin and soy packet.
Olivia pulled out two glasses from the cabinet. âNot all men are that way. You married good old boys who thought you should wait at home while they played the field.â
Not pretty, but apropos. âThat about sums up Jerry, Allen and Earl.â
âBut theyâre not all like that. You just havenât met the right man yet,â Olivia said.
Tammy shook her head. Newlyweds. They always wanted to share the love.
âPersonally, I donât believe in Mr. Right. But I wouldnât mind a round or two with Mr. Right Now. A year without sexââ Olivia checked her with a raised brow. âOkay. If I have to count the attempted reconciliation quickie with Earlâand I shouldnât have to because it wasnât very goodâthen itâs been ten and a half months. But as of today, Iâm no longer a married woman, so when Mr. Right Now comes along, watch out. Itâs been so bad lately Iâm afraid to be left alone in the produce section.â And she was only partly kidding. Ten and a half months was a long time.