Temptation 101...
Newly crowned psychologist Justin Maxwell is celebrating his last night as a stripper before he starts his career. Then he spies her in the audienceâGrace Cooper. Heâs wanted her for years, but as his student, sheâd been off-limits. Now Justin has only one goal: sweet, irresistible seduction.
Grace is through skirting around her fierce attraction to Justin. Sheâs leaving Seattle in two weeks, so why not allow herself one mind-meltingly hot night with Justin? But no pleasure comes without cost. And indulging in their insatiable desire for each other could cost both of them their futures...
âYou donât hide very well, Ms. Cooper...â
Her breath hitched. âMaybe I wanted to be found, Mr. Maxwell.â
âDid you now,â he murmured.
âI bit my lip when you pulled me around.â His mouth was so close to hers their lips brushed, featherlight, as she spoke.
âI apologize.â
âDonât.â Her pulse thundered. âKiss it and make it better.â
Tipping her chin up, he closed the distance between them.
Their lips slid together like two puzzle pieces clicking into place, solid and secure. Tongues touched, tentative yet growing bolder. Hands roamed, slow but desperate. And in no time at all, she was lost to the moment.
Seconds turned into minutes as he caressed her face, her neck, the upper swells of her breasts. He treated her like a sensual feast. Short breaths skated over her skin. When he slipped a hand under her shirt and deft fingers found one nipple, she gasped his name and let her head fall back.
Hunger. All she could think was that he made her hunger for him. Deprived of such sensual sensation for so long, she couldnât do anything more than follow his lead in the moment. She knew she needed to get her feet underneath her, and she would.
Dear Reader,
Welcome back to the world of Beaux Hommes, the hottest and most exclusive all-male revue in Seattle. Itâs Friday night, the place is packed and the musicâs just cuing up. Youâre in for a real treat, because the men who dance here? They know just how to crank the patrons up when they take it all off.
Writing the second book in this trilogy was an exciting challenge. It takes our hero out of the strip club environment for part of the book and places him in his first post-university jobâthe one heâs dreamed of for so long itâs become as familiar as a well-worn pair of jeans. Heâs comfortable with the opportunities heâs created for himself. Thereâs no doubt in his mind heâll be successful if he sticks to his five-year plan. Nothing is going to derail him from giving back to the same community service that saved his life all those years ago.
Enter the heroine, who just happens to be the conductor on the heroâs train to contentment. Sheâs not about to settle for his cautious plan when she finally finds herself in the arms of the one man sheâs craved for so long. Nope. Content just wonât cut it, and settling isnât in her vocabulary.
This is a story of heartache and hope, but itâs also about the power to be more than the sum of your pastâwhether you chose it or until you worked up the bravery to claim those things that always seemed out of reach. Particularly love.
Fondly,
Kelli Ireland
From stable hand to a name on the door of a corporate American office, KELLI IRELAND has been many things. (Never a waitress, however. Thank-you cards for her sparing the unsuspecting public from this catastrophe can be sent in care of her agent.) Writing has always been her passion, though. And writing romance? An absolute dream come true. Her theory is that a kiss should be meaningful regardless of length, a hero can say as much with a well-written look as he can with a long-winded paragraph and heroines are meant to hold their own. Sheâs no Cinderella, and Shakespeare wrote the only Romeo and Juliet, so Kelli sticks to women who can save themselves and tortured heroes who are loath to let them.
Kelli and her husband live in the South, where all foods are considered fry-able and bugs die only to be reborn in bloodsucking triplicate. Visit her online at lkelliireland.com anytime.
To Heather Tebbs, who has never met a challenge she couldnât conquer.
1
THE METRO TRANSIT belched a nauseating exhaust cloud as it pulled away from the curb. The transit authority might have a clean-fuel initiative, but Justin Maxwell couldnât breathe. He wiped his tearing eyes at the same time a luxury coupe sped by the bus stop and blanketed him in a sheet of gutter water.
Drenched and sputtering, he cursed. The first thing he was going to do when he started his new job next week was start saving to buy a car. It didnât have to be a sports car. It didnât even have to be a new car. Hell, he couldnât afford new. Just something with a roof, and doors and windows that didnât leak. Anything that kept him from having to take public transportation through the rotten Seattle weather.