âI thought you were going to comfort me.â
Taylorâs words messed with Macâs head, tempting him. He knew if he so much as touched her, heâd never stop. He took a deep breath, needing to put some distance between them.
âYouâre going to be fine.â It was himself he was worried about at the moment.
As he watched, she shrugged her robe off, leaving her shoulders bare, leaving her body bare except for that column of silk and the ribbon beneath her breasts. Crossing her arms, she ran her hands up and down her arms and shivered. âIt cooled off tonight.â
Had it? He was hot as hell, sweating just watching her.
When she shivered again, he sighed, recognizing the inevitable, and took a step toward her.
The top of her gown dipped low, exposing the soft curves of her breasts. The material clung to her, molding and outlining every part of her that heâd been dying to touch, taste since heâd first seen her.
âWarm me up,â she whispered.
His hands slid to her hips before he could stop himself. âTaylorââ
âNo, donât think. Just touch me.â
Dear Reader,
I had so much fun writing my first Harlequin mini-seriesâSOUTH VILLAGE SINGLES. I have to confess a particular soft spot for this story. The hero, Mac, is a deliciously sexy, alpha guy with a heart of gold. And whether he likes it or not, heâs met his match with Taylorâa tough, brave woman who, for all her outrageous wit, isnât so sharp when it comes to men. Oh, boy, the fun I had pitting these two against each other!
I hope you enjoy their fall into love. If you havenât already, be sure to read the other Harlequin Temptation SOUTH VILLAGE SINGLES storiesâ#910 Roughing It With Ryan and #914 Tangling With Ty. Also, look for Men of Courage, a May 2003 anthology where I team up with Lori Foster and Donna Kauffman. And keep an eye out for my first single title, The Street Where She Lives, coming out in October 2003, when we return to South Village.
Happy reading!
Jill Shalvis
P.S. Iâd love to hear from you about this or any of my other books. You can reach me at P.O. Box 3945, Truckee, CA 96161, or check out my new Web site at www.jillshalvis.com.
ONE OF THESE DAYS, Taylor Wellington figured sheâd be old, maybe even wrinkled, and then, finally then, her best friends would stop trying to convince her she needed love.
No one needed love.
Having been both with it and without itâmostly without itâshe knew this for a cold, hard fact. Still, Taylor held the cell phone to her ear and let Nicole and Suzanne, via three-way conferencing, ramble on about how amazing the L-word was.
âYouâve got to try it.â This from Nicole, whoâd been swept off her feet a few months back by Ty Patrick OâGrady, Taylorâs rebel Irish architect.
âItâs even better than ice cream,â Suzanne promised, and coming from Suzanne, this was quite the promise, but sheâd recently fallen in love, too, and had even gone one step further and gotten married. âCome on, Taylor, give up on singlehood and try a man on for size. Itâll change your life.â
Taylor wasnât buying it. Not one little bit. In her opinionâand she had very strong opinions, thank you very muchâlove sucked. Always had, always would.
She was speaking from firsthand experience and hard-earned knowledge, not that her friends would understand. They wouldnât because she hadnât explained, she hadnât known how to in the short time theyâd been together, which had begun when, in order to keep up with lifeâs little luxuries like eating, Taylor had rented out two apartments in the building sheâd just inherited. Suzanne had come first, then later Nicole, and both had happily joined her in a solemn vow of singlehood.
Only theyâd each caved like cheap suitcases in the face of true love, and had both recently moved out again, having found their soul mates.
âJust because you two willingly gave up your freedom doesnât mean I have toââ Taylor stopped at an odd noise and cocked an ear. âHang on a sec.â
The building, her building, shuddered. Not surprising really, as she considered it an amazing feat the entire thing hadnât fallen down long ago, but in Taylorâs world, things didnât happen off schedule. Her building crashing to the ground definitely wasnât on her schedule for today.
And yet there it went again. Another shudder. And then again. Something was systematically banging, in tune with her growing headache. âGuys, much as Iâd love to listen to you tell me whatâs wrong with my life in singular excruciating detail, I have to run.â
âHold up. Is that more construction I hear?â Suzanne asked casually. Too casually.
The question didnât fool Taylor. Both Suzanne and Nicole had found their happiness due to construction. Her construction.