âWhat about all the nasty things Mirandaâs said about you over the years, Ivan?â asked one of the more dogged reporters, pitching her voice above the rest. âHave you hashed all of that out behind closed doors?â
It was an American reporter, and Ivan recognized her. Give this woman the right soundbite, he knew, and it would dominate the entertainment news. He slid his sunglasses from his face. He looked at Miranda for a long moment, until she flushed againâunaware, he was sure, that it looked as if what had passed between them in that glance was purely sexual. Carnal and burning hot. Then he looked back at the camera.
He knew exactly what he was doing. He did it all the time. Enigmatic. Dangerous. And impossibly, explosively sexy.
Ivan smiled. Slowly and knowingly. He dragged it out, knowing his famous smile was the most lethal weapon in this particular arsenal.
âThat was just foreplay,â he said.
CAITLIN CREWS discovered her first romance novel at the age of twelve. It involved swashbuckling pirates, grand adventures, a heroine with rustling skirts and a mind of her own, and a seriously mouthwatering and masterful hero. The book (the title of which remains lost in the mists of time) made a serious impression. Caitlin was immediately smitten with romances and romance heroes, to the detriment of her middle school social life. And so began her life-long love affair with romance novels, many of which she insists on keeping near her at all times.
Caitlin has made her home in places as far-flung as York, England, and Atlanta, Georgia. She was raised near New York City, and fell in love with London on her first visit when she was a teenager. She has backpacked in Zimbabwe, been on safari in Botswana, and visited tiny villages in Namibia. She has, while visiting the place in question, declared her intention to live in Prague, Dublin, Paris, Athens, Nice, the Greek Islands, Rome, Venice, and/or any of the Hawaiian islands. Writing about exotic places seems like the next best thing to moving there.
She currently lives in California, with her animator/comic book artist husband and their menagerie of ridiculous animals.
Recent titles by the same author:
A DEVIL IN DISGUISE
THE MAN BEHIND THE SCARS
(The Santina Crown) IN DEFIANCE OF DUTY HEIRESS BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Did you know these are also available as eBooks?
Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
This book could not have been written without the wonderful ladies on Sharon Kendrickâs gorgeous writing course at the Watermill in Posara, Italy. Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and enthusiasmâit made all the difference!
Victoria Parker, Jennifer Drogell, Lorna Sweeney, Louise Okafor, Ann Burnell, Shirley Knight, and Jane Carlingâthis one is for you.
Special thanks to the incomparable Sharon Kendrick and the always inspiring Jane Porter: Iâll always treasure what amounted to a Master Class in writing with the two of youâin glorious Tuscany, no less!
And to my private and personal ninja Jeff Johnson, for teaching me about martial artsâand how to breathe.
ONE moment Professor Miranda Sweet was trying to slip through the scrum of people outside the Georgetown University Conference Center, where sheâd just delivered her keynote speech to attendees of the Global Summit to End Violence in Media, and the next, someone was gripping her arms. Hard. Mean. Enough to bruise.
She clenched her hands tight on the handle of her bag as she was swung around, wholly against her willâand then there was a manâs face much too close to hers, invading her space. The warm spring afternoon in Washington, D.C., seemed cold and hostile, suddenly. She had the hectic impression of angry words with a belligerent scowl, and the swift and terrifying understanding that this man wished her ill.
And like that, she was a girl again. Helpless and scared and cowering in the corner while her father raged and smashed things, then turned his furious glare on her. Just like the girl sheâd been then, she shook.
âWhatââ she began, shocked to hear the quaver in her voice that reminded her of that helpless version of herself sheâd thought sheâd buried almost ten years ago.
âYou need to listen instead of talk, for once,â the strange man growled at her, his words heavily accented.
Mirandaâs instinct was to apologize, to obey. To cower and agreeâanything to deflect his anger, to appease itâ
But then there was another hand, this one smooth and gentle against the small of her back, though it was also undeniably strong. It felt almost possessive as it drew her inexorably away from the man whoâd grabbed her and brought her up against a broad male chest. Miranda lost her breath. She knew she should have protestedâscreamed, swung out with her bag, perhapsâbut something stopped her. It was the strangest sensation, as if she was safe, despite all evidence to the contrary. The hard fingers around the tender flesh of her upper arms dropped away, at last, and she tilted her head back to blink in astonishment at the man who still held her close to him.