Cathy blushed, coming across a tad too indignant for a woman who was half out of her bra.
âI saw everything.â Zackâs lips grazed her tilted chin, followed the line of her neck to her delicate collarbone. âI saw these.â He closed both hands over her breasts, kneading until an arousal nearly as hot as his own was radiating from her in shimmering waves. âI saw you.â
She gave a deep sigh and leaned against him, her body lax. âKiss me again,â she said, parting her lips and cutting the last string of his control.
With a groan, he covered her mouth with his and ground his body against hers.
âI canât take this,â he said, wrenching away. âEither we go home now or wind up flat on the dirt floor.â
She glanced down, then lifted her gaze to his. âI guess Iâm too practical not to prefer a bed.â
He pressed his fingertips to her swollen lips. âThen hold that thought,â he said, silently thankful that he still had the Jaguar parked outside.
Zero to ninety in a matter of seconds sounded almost fast enoughâ¦.
Dear Reader,
Remember your first crush? Maybe it was on Davy Jones or Kevin Bacon or Brad Pitt. And maybe it was on the cutest, most popular boy in the fifth gradeâ¦.
Cathy Timmerman remembers her first crush, Zack Brody. And when she returns to the town where they first met, she learns that heâs grown up even better than sheâd imaginedâin fact, the man is a legendary Romeo! It turns out that a group of Zackâs old girlfriends are looking for a woman to give the âSmooth Operatorâ a taste of his own medicine. Cathyâno longer the chubby social outcastâfinds herself volunteered. But can she really seduce Zackâ¦and then leave him? Especially when heâs even better in person than in her dreams?
Happy reading!
Carrie Alexander
P.S. Please let me know if you liked Zack and Cathy. You can write to me in care of Harlequin or by e-mail at www.tempationauthors.com.
FOR SUCH AN ordinary middle-American town, Quimby had its share of legends. There was the ghost who haunted the clock tower of the old stone courthouse. There was Eunice LaSalle, the 1962 prom queen whoâd gone to Hollywood and costarred in an Elvis beach flick. Reputedly, a monster muskie lived in Mirror Lake and nibbled on the toesâor various other bobbing appendagesâof unwary skinny-dippers. And on one unforgettable night in 1985, the Quimby Kingpins had beaten the Buxton Bluejackets with a half-court lob at the buzzer, 53 to 52.
Then there was Heartbreak.
Zachary âHeartbreakâ Brody, aka The Smooth Operator.
A man who was a legend in his own time, according to the female half of Quimbyâs populace.
And they would know.
As it happened, the five women whoâd been most seriously âHeartbrokenâ gathered every Wednesday evening at Cathy Timmermanâs arts and crafts shop. Scarborough Faireâformerly known as Kayâs Kraftsâwas at 1208 Central Street, Quimbyâs version of Main Street, U.S.A. An innocent setting for the chicanery to come. Although, as it would turn out, appearances were decidedly deceiving.
The weekly meeting of the five women in question was purported to be an informal craft class. Local ladies signed up left and right for Cathyâs other classes, even woodburning and china painting, but the Wednesday-night calligraphers had closed their ranks to the uninitiated. Group therapy hadnât been their initial intention, yet nearly every week the talk turned to Zack Brody: What heâd done to them, how they still hadnât recovered, where he was now, whose heart he was currently breaking with his deceptively charming and oh, so smooth and seductive ways.
Which was not to say that the five women hated the man. Goodness, no.
It was Zackâs particular skill that heâd left even his jilted bride harboring certain feelingsâdefinitely more than fondâfor him. In fact, if the truth be known, several of the women maintained a secret fantasy that someday she would be the one to capture the legendary Lotharioâs heart for good. The likelihood that the rest of his perfect male specimen body would be included in the deal wasâ¦not unpleasant.
Be that as it may, there were also times, when the hour grew late and strong ink fumes had gone to their heads, that the five women bandied about a suitable revenge. âTwas only fair, they said. Heartbreak should have a taste of his own medicine.
Thus, upon the fateful evening of Heartbreak Brodyâs prodigal return to Quimby, a scheme was afoot. A nefarious plot that would turn out to be neither as easy nor as simple as intended. But far more effective.