Handcuffs. A sexy stranger.
What did she do last night?
Med student Stella Holbrook just had the best night of her life meeting a hot, hunky firefighter, making out with him at the roller rink and then engaging in a whole lot of deliciously wicked behavior in a swank hotel room. Only, when she wakes up the next morning, she canât remember a thing...
Owen Perkins has no idea how he ended up naked in a bathtub with Stella. All he knows is that while their minds are blank, their bodies definitely remember what happened. All they have to go on are cryptic notes they left for themselves. Piece by piece, theyâll uncover the truth about last night...one exquisitely sexy moment at a time!
âYouâre looking at me like you want to touch me...â
Hell, Stella wanted to do a lot more than touch. In her mind, the image flashed of her fingers on the button of Owenâs jeans and working down the fly. A memory? No, more like wishful thinking. Because that was what she would have done last night. And after sheâd slid the zipper down she would have shoved the soft material down his hips just far enough to free him. Sheâd lick his collarbone. Nip his skin with her teeth. Trail her tongue down his body until she reached hisâ
âDonât do that,â he gritted out. âIâm doing everything I can to not lift you onto my shoulder, carry you into that bedroom and make up for what I donât remember.â
âOwen, Iââ
He squeezed his eyes shut. âDonât say my name. You say it like a moan. Donât look at me like you want my hands all over your body.â He gripped her shoulders and his gaze locked with hers. Hunger blazed in those hazel depths. Hunger for her.
âI want you. But not like this...â
Dear Reader,
Iâve done my fair share of odd things in the name of volunteering, from being dunked in ice-cold water to participating in a rum study. But never once have I woken up in handcuffs (yet)! Of course, a lot worse happens to Stella and Owen, but really, they only have themselves to blame.
I had a blast writing this story about this soon-to-be doctor and a smoke jumper, and itâs not because I had to look at a lot of pictures on the internet of sexy firemen doing their job. Although Iâm truly humbled by the amazing work all first responders and our medical professionals take on every day at all hours. I loved writing the sizzling connection and unexpected attraction between Stella and Owen. They werenât prepared for love, but had to adaptâstat!
It was also fun to catch up with Larissa and her long-term crush, Dr. Mitch Durant, as well as the other couple they send on a winding happily-ever-after pathâHayden Taylor and Anthony Garcia. If youâd like to read Hayden and Tonyâs story, check out Naked Thrill.
I can be found hanging around my website, jillmonroe.comâhandcuffs optional!
Best,
Jill
JILL MONROE makes her home in Oklahoma with her family. When not writing, she spends way too much time on the internet completing âresearchâ or updating her blog. Even when writing, sheâs thinking of ways to avoid cooking.
As always, this book is dedicated to my family.
Thanks go to Gena Showalter, Candace Havens, Allison Kent, HelenKay Dimon, Stephanie Feagan, Wendy Duren and never last (except in this list) Kassia Krozser.
Special thanks to Deidre Knight and Adrienne Macintoshâyou ladies rock!
Prologue
âYOU CANâT LEAVE,â Larissa Winston said as she gripped the wood molding lining the doorway, blocking the exit from the patient lounge into the lobby with her body.
Was she really doing this? When had jamming herself between the door and the hallway become part of her job description at PharmaTest?
Four faces stared back at her, each one reflecting a different response: wildness, humor, recklessness and utter disorder. None of which sheâd seen in previous test subjects.
Under the watchful eye of the amazing Dr. Mitch Durant, the drug HB121 had been in clinical trials for nearly a year. Usually the test patients simply went to their bunks and quietly slept the night away. In the morning, Larissa would ask a few exit questions, take the subjectsâ vitals and process the paperwork for payment. Easy-peasy.
There had never, not one time, ever been a patient revolt. Until now.
She manufactured a stern voice, a combination of the voices of her mother and that scary teacher sheâd had in the second grade. âIf you will all please return to the patient lounge, I can get you something to eat. Iâm sure youâll be getting very tired soon. I have assigned you each a room for you to rest in until morning. Why donât youââ
âAre you preventing us from leaving?â the pretty young brunette asked, subject number thirty-five.
âThis should make for a very interesting angle to my film,â test subject seventy-eight informed Larissa as he lifted his phone and aimed the camera lens in her direction. Ah yes, this volunteer was the California documentary filmmaker. âPlease confess to the world how PharmaTest kidnaps patients and holds them here at the testing center in Dallas, Texas, against their will.â