âI am not going to have sex with youâ¦â
There. Kim had said it. Now they could sleep. Even if they were sharing the same king-size bed.
âSweetheart, forget about sex. Iâd be happy if you would just share some of the sheet,â Stuart teased.
Kim knew that if she turned to look at him she would see a most excellent male body wearing nothing but silk boxer shorts.
âI usually sleep naked,â he had explained earlier. âI bought these to impress you.â
She gazed into his dark chocolate eyes. âIt will take more than that.â
âI can take them off,â he murmured.
At her pointed look, he said, âOkay, I shouldnât be lusting after the baby-sitter.â
Kim smiled in the darkness. âDo not call me the baby-sitter, as if Iâm some teen earning money to spend at the mall.â
âAll right. Youâre the sexy photographer accompanying the heart surgeon to Maine. Weâre about to have a sexual encounter in a romantic, historic inn while the baby sleeps like a log and doesnât wake up till nine the next morning.â
Maybe I am going to have sex with youâ¦.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the Cooper family! Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jill Shalvis and I have the good fortune to introduce a new Harlequin continuity series by bringing you stories about Kim, Kate and Nick Cooperâthe Rhode Island branch of the Cooperâs Corner family. Charles Cooper sired twin sons, John and Justin, before dying in World War II. John grew up with a camera in his hand and talent for photography that led to a newspaper job and his own studio in Rhode Island.
Kim and Kate, Johnâs twins, run the familyâs photography business after their parents retire to Florida. When shy Kim meets Stuart Thorpe, little does she know sheâs about to hit the road with a baby and the man of her dreams. So, of course, sister Kate will have a wedding to plan, while trying to stay out of bed with the best man. And then thereâs older brother Nick, an adventurer looking for peace and quiet only to discover heâs hiding a mysterious woman and her large dog.
The day after I finished this book, my husband and I took off for Plymouth to visit the ârockâ and enjoy a gorgeous autumn day. We followed Kim and Stuartâs trail and, like this storyâs characters, promptly became lost outside Boston. Weâve also been lost in Salem, Providence, Concord and New Haven, so thereâs a pattern here!
I hope you enjoy our branch of the Cooper clan. And please visit New England. Order a lobster roll. Spend a romantic night at a bed-and-breakfastâmaybe in the town of Cooperâs Corner. But please donât forget to buy a map.
Happy reading!
Kristine Rolofson
âI GOT YOU OUT OF BED? That figures.â
âPayne, I worked until five-thirty this morning.â Stuart Thorpe, dressed in his oldest T-shirt and khaki shorts, took the baby from his sisterâs arms and watched Payne dump an armload of baby paraphernalia on his marble-tiled floor. âIâm relaxing. What do you think Iâm doing on my day off?â
âHaving orgies, wild parties, and other sorts of things I wonât mention,â she answered, giving him that disapproving older sister look he was very familiar with, having experienced it for all of his thirty-five years.
âMy college memories are very important to me,â he teased, since Payne knew full well that he had worked too many hours studying to spend time on parties of any kind.
âYou donât have a woman asleep in there, do you?â
âNo.â His sisters tended to exaggerate the extent of his social life, only because he hadnât settled down yet, something that seemed to worry both of them. âBambi left early to go to work at the Foxy Lady.â
Payne glared at him. âI never know if youâre joking or not. Isnât the Foxy Lady that place where exotic dancers serve breakfast?â
âYes, it is and yes, Iâm joking. I swear. I havenât been to the Foxy Lady since my twenty-first birthday.â
âYou donât need to,â she muttered, moving past him to deposit a fistful of bottles in his refrigerator. âWomen throw themselves at you all the time. Itâs ridiculous.â
âI think itâs nice.â He grinned at his niece, whose chubby fingers patted his cheek. âUncle Stuart has lots of very pretty friends.â
âWell,â Payne said. âKeep your pretty friends away while Bree is here. I donât want you distracted from baby-sitting.â
âSure.â Stuart would have laughed, but he didnât dare. He kept his family and his social life separate, so whatever lovely lady he was dating wouldnât get the wrong idea and think there was going to be anything permanent in the future. Payne didnât look the least bit relieved, but she couldnât take the baby to Maine with her either, not right now.
âDo you really think you can handle this until Temple gets home?â she asked. Temple was their younger sister.
âNo problem,â Stuart uttered, but he knew and his sister knew that taking care of a six-month-old baby was one hell of a job and not under the âno problemâ category at all. But Stuart figured he and Bree could muddle through. âWhatâs an uncle for?â