Sex, Lies and Designer Shoes
Guarding her body…CoCo Abelli is the last woman Rian Dalton wants to protect. A spoiled heiress to a designer shoe empire with a reputation for hard partying and getting into trouble? Nope, Rian wants nothing to do with CoCo's kind of trouble. Especially when she has a body designed to make grown men fall to their knees…Rian is rude and hostile, and CoCo can't resist baiting him—especially with her, uh, assets. When their sparring suddenly erupts into one naughtily hot night, CoCo wonders if maybe this “bodyguard” thing might be okay after all. Until someone tries to kill her. Now Rian has compromised himself, and there's only one way to put distance between CoCo and her killers…by putting himself in the most dangerous position of all!
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Guarding her body...
CoCo Abelli is the last woman Rian Dalton wants to protect. A spoiled heiress to a designer shoe empire with a reputation for hard partying and getting into trouble? Nope, Rian wants nothing to do with CoCo’s kind of trouble. Especially when she has a body designed to make grown men fall to their knees...
Rian is rude and hostile, and CoCo can’t resist baiting him—especially with her, uh, assets. When their sparring suddenly erupts into one naughtily hot night, CoCo wonders if maybe this “bodyguard” thing might be okay after all. Until someone tries to kill her. Now Rian has compromised himself, and there’s only one way to put distance between CoCo and her killers...by putting himself in the most dangerous position of all!
“What are you doing?”
The towel was barely larger than a hand towel and hardly covered CoCo, but she didn’t care.
“Why aren’t you dressed?” Rian asked, sitting up straight as an arrow, his eyes wide.
“I’m going out tonight. If you want to babysit me, fine, then you’re going to have do it while I’m having some fun.”
“Like hell you are. Now get some clothes on,” he growled, and she taunted him with a smile.
“What? You don’t like me in my towel? Is there something wrong?” she asked coyly, enjoying the sudden flush in his cheeks as she toyed with him. “I wonder what would happen if I did...this?” Then in a deliberate move she dropped the towel to the floor, and she could see Rian trying to swallow.
That’s right, Rian Dalton...two can play games, but only one is going to win.
Me.
I love writing stories with characters who have a lot of growing to do. CoCo and Rian were two people who just needed that little push to become the best versions of themselves. And sometimes the best way to create change is to apply a whole lotta heat!
I had fun playing with these two characters and putting them in all sorts of trouble for the sake of a happily-ever-after, and I hope you do, too. This was my first two-book series with Blaze and I think I’ve found a fun new place to hang out. If you missed my first Blaze novel, The Hottest Ticket in Town, featuring Kane Dalton, you might want to check that one out, too!
Hearing from readers is a special joy. You can email me at [email protected], or find me at kimberlyvanmeter.com or facebook.com/kim.vanmeter.37. Or mail me at PO Box 2210, Oakdale, CA 95361.
Happy reading!
Kimberly
KIMBERLY VAN METER wrote her first book at sixteen and finally achieved publication in December 2006. She writes for the Harlequin Superromance, Blaze and Romantic Suspense lines. She and her husband of seventeen years have three children, three cats and always a houseful of friends, family and fun.
To all the people still living under the umbrella of others’ expectations...step out. Don’t be afraid to be who you are. An original is always worth more than a copy.
Contents
RIAN DALTON, CO-OWNER of Elite Protection Services, stared at the offer on the table and couldn’t believe he was about to say this but the fact was, it wasn’t enough to put up with CoCo Abelli. The hot-blooded heiress was a common enough sight in all the trendy Los Angeles clubs and the paparazzi loved catching her falling on her ass, slipping a nip or otherwise acting like the wild child she was.
And Rian was smart enough to steer clear of that hot mess. He regarded the older man awaiting his answer and said without regret, “Sorry, I can’t take your money. You need someone who can do the job without bias and frankly, I know enough about CoCo to know that I don’t want that headache—no matter how much money is put on the table. I can recommend a few highly qualified alternatives if you’d like...”
“I don’t want second best for my daughter,” Enzo Abelli, a paunchy man in a finely tailored suit, said in a thick Italian accent, his jowls jiggling as he shook his head. “You are the best. So I hire you. No exceptions.”
“I’m flattered but I’m respectfully declining. The fact is, CoCo is the worst sort of client—determined to do the exact opposite of what I tell her to do for her own safety—it’s a headache I don’t need.” Rian was usually the charmer, the schmoozer of the two Dalton brothers, but he was taking a page from Kane’s playbook by going with the blunt approach. He fished out his phone, prepared to give the man some digits, but Enzo wasn’t finished.
“She is my only child. Perhaps I have indulged her too much. She is willful, spoiled to a fault, but that is not her fault. She has a good heart. Someone is trying to use my love for her against me. They are threatening to kill her if I do not give in to their demands. Without CoCo, everything I’ve worked for means nothing. I would pay any sum you desire if you would agree to take my case.”
Rian wanted to shut the man down again but there was something about the sincerity in the older man’s voice that tugged at his sense of right and wrong. The man—a billionaire three times over—was simply a father trying to protect his daughter. Rian didn’t know what it was like to have a father who gave a damn about his kids—his own father had been a miserable son of a bitch who’d nearly killed him on several occasions. Hell, if it hadn’t been for Kane, he’d probably be dead. So, hearing the desperation in Enzo’s voice did something to a long-buried childhood wish that his father had been decent.
