In Hot Pursuit
NYPD detective Josh Winger has never been pursued like this before. Instead of focusing on his undercover investigation, he's being distracted by the gorgeous Lexi Mansfield. Josh can't bring himself to use his best evasive maneuvers to escape her. With his thoughts on steamy nights and tangled sheets, he really doesn't want to get out of her sights.Following the tempting-looking stranger at her fund-raiser starts out as a sexy game for Lexi. She'll spend a few anonymous hours in his company and be free to move on. But she never imagines that when Josh turns his scorching gaze on her, the game rules change. Now Lexi is being pursued in the most tantalizing, skillful way…and the stakes are for more than just a few hours of sexual pleasure.
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Josh was proving every bit as tempting as she’d imagined
He stood close, one hand on either side of Lexi, bracketing her against the door. The dominant position made her think about lying beneath him in her bed, his arms levering him above her body as he made love to her.
At that moment she looked up at him, only to find his gaze focused on her mouth.
He made a hungry sound that rumbled right through her in the moment before his mouth met hers. She shivered at the wet heat of the kiss, and twisted her way closer to the hard wall of his chest.
Josh’s hands moved to hold her against him. He stroked his way down her spine, sealing her body to his. His arousal nudged her belly, making her want to drag him inside and indulge herself in him.
Suddenly he pried himself away.
“Honey, I need to know if this is what you want.”
Lexi wriggled against him shamelessly, wanting more of this feeling. “Don’t make me break out the handcuffs again, Detective. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
Dear Reader,
New York police detective Josh Winger has never been so relentlessly pursued, but then again, he’s never had fashion critic Lexi Mansfield on his tail before. He needs to remain anonymous to protect his drug-smuggling investigation, yet Lexi seems determined to drag him into the spotlight. When the outrageous beauty clicks a pair of handcuffs on him at a ritzy buy-a-celebrity’s-freedom fund-raiser, Josh doesn’t know whether to put up a fight…or encourage her.
I had so much fun writing Lexi and Josh’s story. These characters first appeared in my Blaze novel #26, Silk, Lace & Videotape last February, and they captured my imagination from the moment they stepped on the scene. I hope you enjoy their rocky—and very steamy—road to love.
Visit me at www.JoanneRock.com to learn more about future releases or to let me know what you think of Lexi and Josh. I’d love to hear from you!
Happy reading!
Joanne Rock
P.S. Don’t forget to check out tryblaze.com!
In Hot Pursuit
Joanne Rock
To my father and favorite storyteller, Cornelius Goes. If I can weave a tale half as entertaining as the ones you’ve been telling me all my life, I count myself fortunate indeed. To my mother, Louise, thank you for the unwavering support and for showing me how to move through life with quiet strength and grace.
I am grateful to you both for the model of
your marriage—a wonderful testament to happily-ever-afters.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
1
“STEP ASIDE, LADIES. Jailer coming through.” Dangling handcuffs from her manicured fingers, Lexi Mansfield swept past the other socialites thronging the ladies’ room mirror in the trendy Manhattan bar.
She didn’t need to see her reflection to confirm she looked as good as her hodgepodge of features would allow. She’d blown two paychecks to ensure New York’s best hair and makeup people maximized her questionable beauty assets for tonight’s fund-raiser.
A girl couldn’t go into battle unarmed, after all.
She stuffed her handcuffs into her purse for safekeeping until her jailer stint for tonight’s Buy a Celebrity’s Freedom event kicked in. She would have served as MC tonight, if not for the rampant gossip currently making the rounds about her. Being demoted to jailer might be a step down, but Lexi was determined to wrest all the fun she could out of the handcuffs.
Behind her, a compact snapped close and a pair of high heels clicked double time on the ceramic tile. “Hold up, Lex,” Lexi’s girlfriend Amanda called.
Lexi forced herself to stop, even though she couldn’t wait to leave the smothered giggles and gossipy whispers of the powder room behind. She knew all too well that she was the hot topic of the night, and the knowledge ate away at her stomach far more than did the two glasses of merlot—although the smoke and hair spray fumes didn’t help much, either.
No doubt the ladies’ room rumor mill couldn’t wait for Lexi to scram so they could continue their discussion of the day’s scandal. Lexi Mansfield—one of New York’s leading fashion reviewers and most popular magazine columnists—had been shredded to ribbons in a scathing letter to the editor written by an up-and-coming designer.
The designer in question, Simone Bertrand, had been Lexi’s nemesis since boarding school. A trust-fund baby with more boobs than brains, Simone had the morals of a tomcat, but her scads of money usually covered up the fact.
Amanda smoothed a hand over a nonexistent stray lock of light brown hair and frowned at Lexi. “You are dangerous tonight. I about twisted my heel to catch up with you.”
Lexi couldn’t help a twinge of envy for her gorgeous friend, a ringer for a young Grace Kelly, except for the darker hair. Despite Lexi’s designer duds and expensive makeup job, she paled in comparison to Amanda’s born beauty.
“Amanda, I appreciate what you’re doing, but you don’t need to baby-sit me. I’m a big girl, I can handle the gossip hounds.” Lexi opened the bathroom door to greet the pulsing bass of a pop dance tune.
