Sexy is as sexy does. And in Plum Orchard, sugar, it does!
Emmeline Amos is sick of her ex saying sheâs boring and prissy. After all, she works for a phone-sex company! (As general manager, but still.) On a rare girlsâ night out, fueled by blender drinks and bravado, Em accepts a shocking dareâto handle a call herself. But itâs tipsy Em who gets an earful from an irate single father on the other end of the line. Awkward.
But not as awkward as discovering that same mad dad is Call Girlsâ gorgeous new programmer. Jax Hawthorne is still upset that his daughter called the âgirlfriend storeâ on his behalf, but he canât deny heâd choose a hot-librarian type like Em if he were looking for love. Which heâs not.
Em wants to do more than just talk the talk. So she makes a bawdy bargain with Jax. Theyâve both been burned beforeâthis time, theyâll keep it strictly physical. Except as soon as they settle on no strings attached, things start to get tangled.â¦www.DakotaCassidy.com
To my amazing sister-in-law, Laura. Without the peace and quiet of your beautiful mountaintop, and the bedroom that overlooks it, this book would have never been done. Thank you, thank you for the respite, the peace of mind while we house-hunted.
For my BFF, Renee George, honestly, is there anyone else who could talk me down in the middle of shipping my son off to college, downsizing my house, writing five books in a year, and moving across country, like you can? Methinks not. :) Youâre an amazing friend, and I treasure you so.
And my youngest son, Cameron, my well-adjusted, funny, super smart, way more mature than Iâll ever be college kid. I miss you, son. I miss your chubby cheeks as an infant. Your haughty glare of disdain as a tween. Your grunts hello as a young adult. Your amazing conversations just before you left for college to take the world on. You are, and will always be, one of the brightest moments of my life. To say Iâm simply proud of you will never, ever be enough.
One
âHellooo,â Emmaline Amos growled comically slow into her cell phone. âThis is Mistress Taboo. Are you worrrthy?â The infamous line her best friend Dixie Davis had perfected during her three-month stint as a phone-sex operator bounced off the walls in the offices of Call Girls Inc., sounding ridiculous coming from her lips.
As a follow-up, Em looked in her best friend Dixieâs direction, and attempted to mimic her famous sultry gaze. Or what their group of mutual friends had all officially dubbed the âDixie Smolder.â
The smolder was a combination packâone part come-hither glance, one part dreamy half wink of her eyes. When Dixie did it, all the men fell at her feet in a big pile of redneck limbs and puddles of drool.
When Em tried it on for size like she had tonight during girlsâ night outâit was as though sheâd invented the unsexy.
From behind her reception desk, Nella Carter, Call Girlsâ new operator in charge of assigning calls, began to giggle until she had to hold her stomach and cover her mouth.
When she caught her breath, she pointed at Dixie. âYou,â she snorted, âwere Mistress Taboo, boss? I still get calls for her. Seriously, you?â
Dixie rolled her eyes at the mention of her former phone-sex operator nom de plume. âEmâs had too much wine. I absolutely never, ever sounded or looked like that,â she protested, sipping her glass of wine with a giggle, knowing full well she had.
Em reached for the bottle of wine between them on Nellaâs desk and nodded her head, the giddy buzz in her brain making her mouth work overtime. âYou did, too. You sounded just like that, all sexified and naughty.â
âThen we can all thank heaven Mistress Taboo is officially retired from phone-sex operatinâ and instead became the owner of Call Girls, âcuz that was plain painful to my ears.â Dixie mocked a shudder.
Em poured herself another glass of wine, the fluid sloshing in time with her liquid-filled stomach. âDo not deny the win that encompasses Mistress Taboo, Dixie Davis. Just look what that very naughty name, and winning this crazy phone-sex contest Landon thought up for you and Caine, got you.â
Nella adjusted her headset, her hazel eyes wide with surprise. âYou won Call Girls? In a contest?â
Em slapped her hand on the desk. âYou bet she did. Not only did she win a multimillion-dollar phone-sex company, but she won a house the size of Atlanta, with that camel you pass by every day in the backyard, no less. She got Sanjeev, the personal assistant from heaven above. The whole shebang, lock, stock and flyswatters posing as floggers. To boot, she also found her way back to the arms of your other boss, Caine Donovan, a man so divine, angels weep with longinâ for him.â She waved a wobbly hand around the lush guesthouse office where Call Girls was headquartered and grinned. âAnd she talked me into running it all as general manager. This wasnât just a win, it was an epic win.â