âI bet we could find at least one thing we both enjoy.â
âWhat did you have in mind?â
âItâs way too early in the night for me to tie myself down to anything specific.â
âYouâve got an answer for everything, Ms Devine. Sadly itâs too late in the night for me to stay on and find out what youâll tie yourself down to. Or tie yourself up with. Itâs been ⦠interesting.â
He leant a hand on her shoulder and leaned down for the obligatory goodbye cheek-kiss. He smelled productâperfume, hairspray, cosmetics. He touched smooth skin. He let his lips linger for a second too long to be strictly platonic. He curled his other arm round her waist, drawing her closer into him. Her body was soft and nestled perfectly, and he moved his lips to her other cheek. But her lips were in the way, so he placed his kiss there. Just one.
She. Was. So. Hot.
Dear Reader
When Tara Devine first burst onto the page even I was taken aback by her sass! Every time she met a challenge she climbed right over itâin her highest, most inappropriate heels. Sometimes I had no idea how she badly she would behave, but one thing was for sure: when she met her match, the feral cat would turn into a kitten. Getting to that stage was never going to be easy, and only a very tough guy showing her very tough love would cut it.
Enter one super-sure, super-hot Michael Cruz. Heâs seen more than enough of life to see right through Tara. But what he does see hooks him. And even though she pushes him to his very limits, and brings out every chest-thumping, testosterone-pumping part of him, heâs her guy and heâs prepared to hold on until all the champagneâs been drunk and the partyâs over.
I truly loved these characters. I loved their hot sex and their love story. And I so admired Michael for the patience he was prepared to show. Falling in love with love is easy. But playing the long game and putting yourself second is what really counts.
I hope my very first Modern Tempted⢠rocks you the way it rocked me. To be part of this wonderful world of writers and readers sharing the eternal quest for eternal love is the best feeling ever!
With my warmest wishes
Bella x
Unable to sit still without reading, BELLA FRANCES first found romantic fiction at the age of twelve, in between deadly dull knitting patterns and recipes in the pages of her grandmotherâs magazines. An obsession was born! But it wasnât until one long, hot summer, after completing her first degree in English Literature, that she fell upon the legends that are Mills & Boon>® books. She has occasionally lifted her head out of them since to do a range of jobs, including barmaid, financial advisor and teacher, as well as to practise (but never perfect) the art of motherhood to two (almost grown-up) cherubs.
Her eclectic collection of wonderful friends have provided more than their fair share of inspiration for heroes, heroines and glamorous locations, and it was while waiting to board a flight home after a particularly lively holiday that the characters for her first competition success in So You Think You Can Write, were born.
Bella lives a very energetic life in the UK, but tries desperately to travel for pleasure at least once a monthâstrictly in the interests of research!
Catch up with her on her website at www.bellafrances.co.uk
DRESSED TO THRILL is Bella Francesâ debut book for Mills & Boon>® Modern Tempted⢠and is also available in eBook format from www.millsandboon.co.uk
DEDICATION
For Margaret Isabella Mustard, who loved literature and life. Governess, teacher, farmerâs wife, mother and grandmother. Thank you.
ONE
Tara Marie Fitzpatrick Devine knew how to behave badly. Very badly. She made it her business to work hard, play hard and then read the hard online copy of her triumphs. It was quite simply the most delicious way to promote herself in the dog-eat-dog world of international fashion. And tonightâthe culmination of a whole season of glamorous graftâtonight, her wild streak was shining like neon body paint in a nightclub-dark room.
âBut what am I going to do?â
Barely aware of the feet that drummed beside hers under the table in the shady booth, Tara dipped into her clutch and pulled out her compact. Another streak of siren-red over her pout while she was still sober enough to care.
âYouâll be fine,â she managed to say, looking at her reflection in the tiny mirror.
The thick slicks of liquid eyeliner were almost perfectâcrazy that she had never rocked this look beforeâit was so, so burlesque!
âBut Iâm sure heâll be on his way here next! And if he catches me hereâ¦after I told him I was going straight homeâ¦â
Tara replaced the lipstick in its little case. Honestly, there was no getting through to this girl.
âFernanda.â
She swept a glance from the now resting silver platforms to the mouthwateringly beautiful face of Fernanda Cruzâthe sexiest Spanish teenager to grace the runways and the tabloids in a decade. Her brown mane hung sexily over one eye and her fuchsia silk mini-dress rode high on endless thighs. The girl looked as if she had never even heard of the word carbohydrate.