âI want to taste you,â Hunter said
He took a step toward her. âGive me one kiss and Iâll do everything I can to get you the interview.â
Rory thought that her heart might just beat out of her chest. Kissing this man might be the biggest risk sheâd ever take. But she wanted the kiss. Desperately. What could it matter? She dared herself to do it.
âOne kiss,â she agreed.
He backed her up against the mirror. âLast chance to change your mind.â
âIâm not going to changeââ
Before she could even finish her sentence heâd lowered his head, drawn her up on her toes and covered her mouth with his.
There was such heatâglorious waves of it. And each movement of his hands, of his tongue seemed to throw fuel on the fire. She arched her body, straining against him, but it wasnât enough. She had toâ
âI want you.â His voice was a rough whisper in her ear.
No, she told herself to say.
âYes,â she said. âYes. Please hurry.â
Dear Reader,
Writing a miniseries about triplet sisters Natalie, Rory and Sierra Gibbs has allowed me to create three very special women who find the courage to risk it all to get what they want. As they came alive on the page, I found myself admiring each one of them. But if I had to pick a favorite, Iâd lean toward Roryâperhaps because she lacks the confidence of her more focused sisters.
Wannabe magazine writer Rory Gibbs has always thought of herself as the âmuddled in the middleâ triplet. Her sisters are tall, beautiful and successful; sheâs short, still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up, and as unlucky with men as sheâs been with jobs. However, her latest planâto land an interview with reclusive businessman Jared Sladeâwill allow her to prove to herself, her boss and everyone else that sheâs finally found a career sheâs good at. Problem number one is she canât get past Hunter, Jared Sladeâs handsome and dangerous bodyguard. Problem number two is she doesnât want to get past himâshe wants to make love with him!
I hope youâll enjoy reading about how Hunter and Rory dare to take the greatest risk of all. And I hope youâll want to read Natalieâs and Sierraâs adventures, as wellâin The Proposition (May) and The Favor (July). For excerpts, contests and news about my future books, please visit www.carasummers.com.
Happy reading,
Cara Summers
To my cousins, the Kansier women: Jane, Kathy, Mary, Margaret, Amy and Debbie. I admire your strength, your courage, your love of adventureâand especially your unfailing sense of humor. You inspire the kind of women I try to create.
Thanks.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Summer 1999
IF HE FAILED, the drop to the alley below would kill him. Harry Gibbs stood on the roof of the Hotel LâAdour Paris and glanced at the gap between the two buildings. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and grinned.
He didnât allow himself to look down, or to take in the picture-postcard view that the roof of the hotel offered. At 3:00 a.m., the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame were still bathed in light, but Harry focused all his concentration on that dark narrow spaceâten feet at the most. Heâd paced off the distance in the alley that morning. Just in case the robbery didnât go quite as planned.
And it hadnât. Heâd gotten the necklace out of the safe, but he hadnât had time to close it and replace the tapestry before Madame Cuvelier had awakened in the next room and rung for her maid. There was only one route from the maidâs quarters to Madameâs bedroom, and that was through the salon heâd been standing in.
Madame Cuvelier, a resident of the small hotel for the past ten years, was a restless sleeper. That information was in the dossier heâd compiled on her. That made the theft riskier.
And more fun. Instead of exiting through the door, the way heâd come in, heâd had to hurry out onto a balcony and climb to the roof.
When the sound of sirens pierced the night air, Harry turned and strode to the far end of the roof. Then, he did what he always did when the stakes were high. He dared himself to make the leap. As he crouched down into the position of a sprinter, he thought of his daughter, Rory. Heâd been thinking a lot about her lately. Tonight, he promised himself. Heâd write to her.
Clearing his mind, he murmured, âYou can do it, Harry. Dare you!â Then he ran, lengthening his stride as he raced across the roof. Fifty yards became forty, thirty, twenty, ten. He prepared for the jump, felt his right foot hit the parapet. Then he leapt.
For a prolonged second, he was arcing over the alley, his body slicing through the air. If something happened to himâ¦
Before he could complete the thought, his foot came down hard and he tucked and rolled across the roof. Lungs burning, blood singing, Harry got to his feet and ran toward the door. It took him less than three minutes to finesse the lock. The sirens were still blocks away.