Waking up with Mr. Wrongâquite literally!
When film location scout Ellie Summers sneaks into a colleagueâs hotel room with seduction in mind, sheâs thrilled by her own daring!
But the smug morning-after glow morphs into red-faced mortification when she wakes in the arms of a total stranger! Ruben Theroux might be fine with the situation, but a flustered Ellie most definitely is not.
Ellieâs only defence against this very attractive guy is to insist theyâre friends onlyâstrictly no benefits! But Ruben isnât a successful businessman for nothingâtheyâll be good together, and heâs happy to play dirty to get what he wants....
âIâm so sorry this happened,â she said again, determined to ignore the savage desire rippling through her like some internal beast that refused to be tamed. What kind of depraved animal had she turned into?
âIâm not.â
She hardly heard him as she apologized another ten times, interspersing the phrase with a few more choice words beneath her breath. Clutching the sheet to her with one hand, she put her now freezing hand to her face.
He sat up, resting his weight on one hand behind him, and spoke more forcefully. âYou didnât do anything I didnât want you to.â
That silenced her for all of a second. âYou didnât have much choice.â She looked across the bed at him. âI seduced you.â The guy had been sound asleep and sheâd been stroking him all over. Like everywhere.
His smile burst forth again. âYeah, well, it wasnât like I said no.â He chuckled. âAnd it wasnât like I was a virgin.â
Well, no, he hadnât been that. Ellie bit her lips to stop from smiling. Heâd had all the moves. And he executed another nowâa languorous stretch that drew her attention once more to his completely fit length.
Hell, she had to move away before she did something stupid again. So she stood, taking the sheet with her. She didnât care about leaving him exposed; he didnât seem to be bothered by it. Whereas all she wanted to do was hide. She tried to wind the sheet around herself, glanced up to see him watching closelyâ with undisguised amusement and arousal. Man, was he aroused.
âYouâre free to take advantage of me anytime you like,â he said softly, lying back down again. âOr you can come back to bed and let me take advantage of you this time.â
Possibly the only librarian who got told off herself for talking too much, NATALIE ANDERSON decided writing books might be more fun than shelving themâand, boy, is it that! Especially writing romanceâitâs the realization of a lifetime dream kick-started by many an afternoon spent devouring Grandmaâs Harlequin romances....
She lives in New Zealand, with her husband and four gorgeous-but-exhausting children. Swing by her website, www.natalie-anderson.com, any timeâsheâd love to hear from you.
For Juneâthank you for giving us such a great port in our ground-shuddering storm.
We would have been lost if it werenât for you.
CHAPTER ONE
SOME wicked time beyond midnight, Ellie darted along the hallways of the luxury lodge in an almost sheer slip. The plush carpet absorbed the rapid beat of her bare feet. The puff of air-conditioning didnât cool the mad heat blushing her skin. She was on an indulgence mission and, imprisoned by hedonisticâchampagne-riddledâimpulse, sanity didnât stand a chance.
She danced down the stairs to the next level, to where she knew he was sleeping. She counted the doorsâone, two, threeâand opened the next.
But his bedroom was empty. The dim light of an almost moonless night invaded through open curtains, revealing no body-sized lump in the bed. In fact it was so smooth it looked like a perfectly iced cake.
Disappointment dashed her spiritsâbecause she wasnât hungry for cake. She was starving for something way more meaty than that. Sheâd gone fun-free for too long. So, inspired by the fabulosity of the location, sheâd decided to hell with it and to take what heâd been offering for weeks. Until now sheâd parried his flirtatious invites, unsure of his integrity. But here, in this most seductive location, what did anything matter but the moment? And this moment she wanted to enjoy some male, physical, attention. In a place as beautiful as this, surely fantasy could come true?
Yes. Having finally got the courage, she wasnât going to let fate confound her. Reckless joie de vivre bubbled again and she slipped back out to the hall. Maybe sheâd counted wrong, or had the wrong side of the corridor? She pivoted one eighty and counted again. One, two three. Carefully she turned the handle of the fourth door.
Occupied.
Her over-wired senses instantly assimilated the signsâwarmth, gentle, regular breathing, a light spiced scent. She quietly closed the door behind her. A couple of steps in she nearly stumbled over the shoe. The size said it allâa manâs boot. This was the one, then.