Too Close For Comfort
WHEN IT'S THIS CLOSE…Jeffrey Bradshaw's wellordered life has just taken a detour. Instead of being in L.A. making the pitch of his career, he's stuck in Alaska with a feisty bush pilot. Seductive, independent Cyd Thompson has him so captivated, he's not even thinking about his career. All Jeffrey can focus on is the snow-melting heat he and Cyd create. He'll let his newly discovered twin handle L.A. until he's gotten Cyd out of his system.MAYBE THE ONLY THING TO DO IS GET CLOSER!Cyd wants Jeffrey…she just doesn't want him here. His big-city plans are bound to destroy the Alaska she loves. So she'll do anything she can to distract him from finalizing his business. And if that means seducing the guy…well, she'll do that. But she doesn't count on falling for Jeffrey's intoxicating kisses.So what else can Cyd do but convince him that in the Arctic, there's no such thing as getting too close for comfort?
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âYouâre getting awfully stressed, Jeffrey.â
Cyd took his hand and squeezed. âI know just the antidote.â The moment sheâd been waiting for. The chance to take his mind off business.
Jeffrey pulled his hand from hers and started pacing. âYou donât understand. This could make my career.â
While he walked away from her, she quickly doffed her robe. And when he turned aroundâ¦Honestly, sheâd never seen a man stare at her like that. His eyes were shiny, focused right on her.
She placed her hands behind her head, the way sheâd seen a pinup poster girl do. For extra effect, Cyd thrust out one hip.
Jeffreyâs hot gaze traveled along her arms, down to that thrust-out hip, then back.
âWhat are you doing?â he said in a choked voice.
âTaking a hot bath. You should, too. Itâs the perfect way to relax,â she answered, trying to sound coy and suggestive. She swiveled ever so slowly and walked toward the tub, hoping that heâd follow her.
And the squeak in the floorboard told her he was doing just that.
Dear Reader,
Too Close for Comfort and its sequel, Too Close To Call, Temptation #940 by Barbara Dunlop, are the result of a brainstorming session where Barbara and I gleefully latched on to the idea of a âParent Trap for adultsâ story. Two guys from totally different backgroundsâoneâs a rugged Alaskan, the other a sophisticated big-city executiveâdiscover theyâre twins and, as a last-stop ploy to ensure the success of a major business venture, swap places.
In my book, Jeffrey Bradshaw, senior executive for Argonaut Studios in Los Angeles, takes a trip to a remote region of Alaska to research the location for a TV seriesâ¦and gets stuck there! Think James Bond stuck in Fargo. No martinis, no five-star hotelsâ¦But Jeffreyâs greatest challenge is matching wits with a feisty, wild-hearted bush pilot named Cyd Thompson whoâs more woman than Jeffrey has ever handled. Hey, when it gets too close for comfort, maybe the best thing to do is just get closerâ¦.
To read about my upcoming books, as well as enter contest for prizes, please visit my Web site at http://www.colleencollins.net.
Happy reading,
Colleen Collins
Books by Colleen Collins
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
867âJOYRIDE
899âTONGUE-TIED
913âLIGHTNING STRIKES
HARLEQUIN DUETS
10âMARRIED AFTER BREAKFAST
22âROUGH AND RUGGED
30âIN BED WITH THE PIRATE
39âSHEâS GOT MAIL!
107âLET IT BREE CANâT BUY ME LOUIE
To Barbara Dunlop, who made brainstorming this series too much fun!
Acknowledgments:
Special thank-yous to Jay Kelley, Fly Alaska, who walked (flew?) me through the world of being a bush pilot in Alaska; Sara âthe Stove Princessâ at the Good Time Stove Company for educating me about oil stoves; Matt Carolan for letting me pick his brain about life in the Alaskan interior; and Shaun for the writing cheers during deadline.
Contents
1
JEFFREY BRADSHAW STEPPED FROM the mind-numbing outdoors into the heated reception area, glad his breaths no longer emitted clouds of vapor. He flicked his wrist and checked his Rolex. Almost 4:00 p.m. He looked up. No monitors to announce if his four oâclock flight was on time. And if he glanced out the window outside, no commuter planes on the tarmac. Jeffrey looked around at the Alpine âAirport,â which consisted of a pop machine, an assortment of chairs and a counter. He headed toward the latter, pounding his hands together and wishing to hell it would stun the blood to start pumping again. So this was autumn in Alaska. Frozen land. Frigid air. What Iâd give for a hot tub, a hot toddy and a very, very hot woman.
âCan I help you?â The guy behind the counter was fiddling with his computer.
âTrue North Airlines?â
The fellow did a funny salute. âYou got it. Iâm Wally.â
Jeffrey smiled while trying not to stare at Wallyâs blazing red plaid shirt. Maybe all Alaskans wore such shirts in case they got stuck in a snowstorm. âFlight to Arctic Luck,â Jeffrey said. âFour p.m.â He reached into the inner pocket of his Italian cashmere suit jacket, pulled out his wallet and extracted a credit card. âOne. Jeffrey Bradshaw.â
Wally took the credit card, giving Jeffrey an odd look. In certain circles, Jeffrey was accustomed to people recognizing him. At thirty-four, heâd held prominent executive positions at several global corporations, the most recent being Acquisitions Director at Argonaut Studios in Los Angeles. Just last month Forbes had done an article on how Jeffrey increased Argonautâs profits in the third quarter by a phenomenal fifteen percent due to his innovative business ideas. The article even made Jeffrey look like a damn movie star by plastering a photo of him and a hot new television actor, Gordon Tork, on the cover.
Not bad for a kid who grew up on the streets. But growing up tough had been a bonus for Jeffrey. He had both street savvy and business savvy, which meant he could deal with just about any type of personality thrown at him, from cons to CEOs.
