Praise for New York Times bestselling author
LORI FOSTER
âSay YES! to Lori Foster.â
âElizabeth Lowell
âLori Foster delivers the goods.â
âPublishers Weekly
âKnown for her funny, sexy writing, Foster doesnât hesitate to turn up the heat.â
âBooklist
âOne of the best writers around of romantic novels with vibrant sensuality.â
âMyLifetime.com
âFoster outwrites most of her peers and has a great sense of the ridiculous.â
âLibrary Journal
âFoster proves herself as a bestselling author time and again.â
âRT Book Reviews
âFilled with Fosterâs trademark wit, humor, and sensuality.â
âBooklist on Jamie
âFoster supplies good sex and great humor along the way in a thoroughly enjoyable romance reminiscent of Susan Elizabeth Phillipsâ novels.â
âBooklist on Causing Havoc
âFoster executes with skillâ¦convincing, heartfelt family drama.â
âPublishers Weekly on Causing Havoc
âSuspenseful, sexy, and humorous.â
âBooklist on Just a HintâClint
SHE HAD THE soft, sweet mouth of a woman. And as she bent slightly at the waist, peeking out the front window of the quaint grocery shop, he inspected her bottomâand found it equally sweet. His palms itched, and he wasnât certain if it was with the need to caressâor swat.
Maybe she was a cross-dresser. Or she just had really bad taste in clothes. But she was definitely female, of that Harry was certain. He hadnât even noticed her until sheâd gotten too close to him, and then heâd picked up on her scent. It made him feel like a buck in mating season, it hit him so hard. He stared, unable to help himself, until she noticed he was staring. Then she gave him a sour look and moved away.
And still he stared. The battered brown leather jacket was a couple sizes too big, ripped at one shoulder seam. And the flannel beneath it was baggy and hanging loose over ill-fitting, patched jeans. Scuffed, low-heel boots with chains on the back gave the impression she was trying for a bad-boy biker look. Absurd. Even her slicked back, glossy dark hair, held in a short blunt ponytail at her nape looked more female than rebel male. She had only one pierced ear, a small spent bullet dangling from the tiny silver hoop.
She kept her hands in her back pockets and a sneer on her face. Harry wondered what sheâd done with her breasts, for they werenât noticeable through the bulky clothing. Of course, maybe she was naturally small. He wouldnât mind. He was a bottom-man himself, and he liked petite women, heâ¦
Harry drew up short, appalled at the direction his wandering mind had taken. He wanted nothing to do with the woman, absolutely nothing.
Whatever her excuse for aping a man, she didnât need to be here now, at this precise moment, possibly screwing things up for him, definitely distracting him.
Harry Lonnigan eyed the unfortunate female with annoyance, now dividing his attention between her and the two men working their way to the cash register. He had a job to attend to. Yet there she was, trying to saunter like a man, trying to sneer in a manly way. Harry snorted, then despite himself, he breathed deeply, trying to detect her sweet scent again. Not the smell of perfume, but the smell of warm woman, a smell proven to drive men crazy.
He wanted to ignore her, but couldnât. Who was she and what was she up to with her outrageous costume and bizarre acting? Only a complete imbecile would believe her to be male.
But just then one of the two men turned, eyed her, and gave credence to her costume by dismissing her without so much as a raised eyebrow. Harry was stupefied.
He came out from behind the rack of chips and strolled casually forward, in no hurry to draw attention to himself, but the female was getting entirely too close to the two men, trying it seemed, to keep surveillance out the front display window without being seen. Whatever she was up to, she apparently wasnât aware of the danger. Harry had no claims on being a hero, far from it, but he also wasnât callous enough to watch a woman get injured, not if he could stop it.
âGo away.â
Harry halted, then blinked. The little imposterâshe barely reached his shoulderâhad hissed at him out of the corner of her mouth. How had she known he was behind her? He hadnât made a single sound!
The two men looked up. They were cocky and obnoxious young men, overly confident because theyâd been running their scam in this area for far too long, at least thatâs what Harryâs friend, Dalton, had said. He owed Dalton, and stopping these ruffians from their petty extortion would be adequate compensation, but it was a nuisance. Especially if some stray with a weird agenda was determined to interfere and complicate matters.