âI want you,â Zach said. âBut thereâs no room. We canât.â
âOh, but we can,â Chelsea corrected, drawing his mouth to hers.
Sensations flooded through him as her mouth moved on his, her tongue probing. Her heat, her scent, her taste, swirled in his head until he couldnât separate them. All night long, heâd watched while she danced in other menâs arms. Now she was his. Slipping his fingers beneath the thin straps on her shoulders, he began to push them aside.
âNo.â Chelsea drew back. âYou canât take off my top. Iâm sewn into it. If you loosen it, the skirt wonât stay up.â
âDamn the skirt,â Zach said. âI need to touch you. Iâve been waiting to touch you all day. And you dragged me into this closetâ¦.â
âTo have my wicked way with you.â Settling back on the shelf, Chelsea grinned seductively. Then, taking his hands, she ran them along her thighs, pushing the skirt out of the way. âNow, Zach, donât tell me youâre complainingâ¦.â
Dear Reader,
What happens when a single girl navigating her way through the dating scene in a big city gets a little help from a skirt that has the power to draw men like a magnet?
Thatâs what the heroine of Moonstruck in Manhattan is about to discover!
Sick of the singles scene in the Big Apple, Chelsea Brockway has sworn off dating, period! From now on, sheâs just going to write about it. And she sees her friendâs supposed man-magnet skirt as her ticket to a lucrative contract with Metropolitan magazine. All she has to do is prove to Zach McDaniels, the sexy new editor-in-chief, that the skirt works. And it does, all too wellâ¦.
If you enjoyed Moonstruck in Manhattan, donât miss the rest of the SINGLE IN THE CITY miniseries: Tempted in Texas by Heather MacAllister in January 2002, and Seduced in Seattle by Kristin Gabriel in February 2002. In the meantime, I hope Zach and Chelseaâs romantic adventures will brighten your holiday season.
Happy Holidays!
Cara Summers
P.S. I love to hear from readers. Write to me at P.O. Box 718, Fayetteville, NY, 13066. And check out our Web site at www.singleinthecity.org!
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
813âOTHERWISE ENGAGED
HARLEQUIN DUETS
40âMISTLETOE & MAYHEM
56âTHE LIFE OF RILEY
To my Aunt Kathleenâfor introducing me to Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins when I was seven. And for always being there for meâin the best of times and in the worst of times.
To my Uncle Jimmy, tooâand to the romance that you and Aunt Kathleen have lived together.
I love you both.
âTHE BRIDE is not going to throw her bouquet.â Chelsea made a wide sweep with her foot under the table and located the sandals sheâd kicked off earlier. Her feet were killing her. Getting married on a California beach at sunrise sounded romantic. But it wasnât so much fun when the bridesmaids had to walk around the rest of the day with sand in their shoes.
âWhat are you talking about? She has to throw her bouquet!â Gwen said. âTorrie is the most conventional person I know.â
âI might even get up the energy to make a try for it. That is if I could believe catching a bunch of posies would get me a decent date,â Kate said.
âA date? Whatâs that?â Gwen asked.
âItâs been that long, huh?â Chelsea asked and then joined in the laughter. After rooming together during their senior year in college, she and Kate and Gwen had each gone on to pursue career goals in separate cities. But theyâd managed to keep in touch by phone. Chelsea couldnât help recalling how often theyâd had similar conversations over the years, discussing the dating wasteland theyâd encountered in the big city. And the dangers, she thought as a little band of pain tightened around her heart.
Loud cheers and whistles drew their attention to a raised platform at the far end of the dance floor where the groom was removing the garter from the brideâs leg.
âYouâve got to be wrong, Chels,â Kate said starting to rise from the table. âThe bouquet comes right after the garter.â
Chelsea grabbed her arm. âBut itâs not the bouquet sheâs going to toss. Itâs the skirt.â
Her two friends stared at her, comprehension, surprise and finally amusement flickering across their faces.
âNot the man-magnet skirt?â Gwen asked.
âThe one she picked up on that island during her cruise?â
âYou got it,â Chelsea said. Theyâd all listened countless times to the story of how Torrieâs cruise ship, blown off course by a storm, had dropped anchor at a small out-of-the-way island, and how sheâd found this little shop where an elderly seamstress had sold her a special skirt. According to the woman, each spring, the old ladies of the island gathered on a moonlit beach to spin the fibers of the lunua plant into thread. Any woman who wore a garment woven out of this thread that had been supposedly âkissed by moonlightâ would draw men like a magnet. And one of those men would be her soul mate.