Body Heat
by Susan Fox
Kensington Brava
November 27, 2012
ISBN 9780758274809
Blurb:
When a leather-jacketed biker rides down the avenue of
pink flowering trees, Maura knows there’s trouble, right here in Cherry Lane…

“Opposites attract in this sizzling contemporary... In
asking whether her two sympathetic leads can overcome their personal issues,
Fox will have readers fervently hoping for a happily-ever-after.” (Publishers Weekly)
Excerpt:
[Maura has been supervising
Jesse’s work for a day. They have just made a trip to a garden center to buy
plants for Cherry Lane’s courtyard, and are in the van, ready to return to
Cherry Lane.]
Jesse watched Maura fumble in her bag for her cell phone.
She answered, then said, “Oh! Cindy, I didn’t expect—”
He heard an animated female voice break in, but couldn’t
make out actual words. Should he get out of the van, give Maura some privacy?
Nah. If she wanted him to, she’d say so. He leaned back against his open window
and watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was acting flustered and he
was curious.
“Oh,” she said, “didn’t I send that in?”
Her right hand clenched on the steering wheel. “Well,
actually, I’m not sure I can. My schedule’s pretty busy and—”
The other woman sure wasn’t letting her finish a sentence.
Though he still couldn’t hear actual words, he got the impression of a
high-powered sales pitch.
“No, I realize a lot of planning’s gone into it,” Maura
said, finally managing a complete sentence. “Cindy, this isn’t a good time.”
A pause, then, “I do not have my head in a book. I’m with
someone and—”
Her back went ramrod straight. “No, not my parents. As a
matter of fact it’s a man.”
This time he caught the other woman’s words, because they
pretty much screeched out of the phone. “A man?”
“Yes, a man.” A muscle twitched in Maura’s cheek. “A very
attractive man, in fact.”
He started with surprise.
Her cheeks deepened from pink to red, all those cute
freckles hidden by her blush now, as she stared straight ahead, listening.
“Maybe I will,” she said. The muscle twitched again. “Fine, I’ll be there.” A
moment later, she exclaimed, “Yes, put me down as a plus one!” She slammed the
flip-phone closed and buried her face in her hands.
Jesse had no idea why she was upset, but it was weird
seeing his usually poised boss lose her cool. Cautiously, he said, “Sorry for
eavesdropping, but did you just make me your plus one?” He must’ve got things
wrong.
She raised her head and stared at him, face on fire. “I’m
sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I . . . well, yes, I
used you. I was so annoyed at Cindy. ”
“Yeah. I got that.” He was pretty sure she didn’t really
mean for him to be her date, but did she really find him attractive, or had she
just said it to piss off this Cindy person? “Hey, it’s okay.” With a hint of
sexual innuendo, he said, “You can use me anytime you want.”
Her eyes widened, then she gave a splutter of laughter and
banged her forehead with her fist. “I can’t do anything right today. I can’t
even apologize properly.” Her cheeks were still rosy, her eyes gleamed with
humor, and he wanted to grab her face and plant a kiss on those smiling lips.
Fortunately, before he gave into the impulse, her lips
straightened and she frowned. “Boy, have I got myself into a mess.”
Should he ask? “Yeah?” he ventured tentatively.
“It’s so silly. There’s a high school reunion. It’s next
weekend and Cindy is calling all the people who haven’t RSVP’d. I really don’t
want to go.”
“So don’t go.”
“I told her I would.”
“Got the impression she was pretty determined, but why’d
you agree?”
She dropped her head into her hands again and groaned.
“She goaded me. She basically implied . . .” Her voice dropped, and it was
so muffled he didn’t catch what she said.
“What?”
Her head jerked up and she glared at him. “That I couldn’t
get a date.”
Cindy was crazy. He frowned.
Maura groaned again. “See?”
“Uh, see what?”
“You agree with her!”
He shook his head, baffled. How come women never made
sense? “That plus one thing? You, uh, didn’t really mean that you wanted me—”
“Oh, Jesse, no! I’m so, so sorry.”
No, she’d never want a guy like him taking her to her high
school reunion. He’d known that—and he’d hate an event like that—so he
shouldn’t feel pissed off.
“It was a spur of the moment thing,” she was saying, “and
I know better. I should always think things out ahead of time and have a plan,
not leap impulsively.”
“Sounds like a recipe for a boring life,” he snarked.
Another groan. “And that’s the whole problem, isn’t it?”
“Uh . . . You lost me.”
“You know who I was in high school? President of the
History Club. My adoptive father—he’s a history professor—was so proud. At the
prom, my date— No, forget that, I’m not telling that story. Then I went to college
and you know what I studied? Accounting and business admin. And where do I
work? With a bunch of senior citizens. There’s not a single interesting thing
about me!”
Somewhere in the middle of her rant, his mouth had fallen
open.
The wind teased a tendril of fiery hair free from its knot,
and it danced beside her delicate ear. Her blue-green eyes were huge and
intense. Her breasts rose and fell against a light green blouse. Her neck was
pale and slender and begged to be touched.
He shook his head. Was she having him on? Was this some
bizarre kind of game? No, wait, women did this stuff all the time. Like, they’d
say they were too fat, and you were supposed to say they looked great. Okay, he
knew what she wanted. “There’s nothing wrong with you or your life.” Aside from
her being uptight and snotty, but he knew better than to say that.
“You just implied I live a boring life, and you’re right.”
Did she mean that, or was it another “tell me I’m not fat”
game. Cautiously, he asked, “Your job is boring?”
“Not to me. I think it’s great. But anyone else would find
it boring.”
“Why?”
She raised nicely arched eyebrows. “I’m an accountant.
Working with numbers isn’t most people’s idea of fun.”
“Numbers are good.” Jesse liked numbers. They didn’t give
him the same trouble that letters did. Somehow, they kept their shape and
stayed in place; they didn’t get all jumbled and distorted. The only subject
he’d ever done decently in at school was math. He’d even helped girls with
math—and other, more fun things—in exchange for their help with essays.
“Numbers are good?” she echoed. Then she flicked her head.
“Oh, I get it. You’re kidding.”
He shrugged, not wanting to explain. “Bet you’re good with
them.” She liked things to be orderly. “And there’s more to your job than
numbers. You’ve got a way with the old folks. You make them feel good. That’s
important.”
Her face softened and she was truly beautiful. Not just
striking, not just sexy, but totally beautiful. “Jesse, I think that’s the
nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” She leaned toward him, her lips parted.
He stared at that mouth. Peachy-pink lips, a glimpse of
white teeth. Last night, when she’d almost bumped into him in the hallway as he
was leaving, he’d stared at that mouth, thought about kissing her. Had known it
was a bad idea. Same thing earlier, when she’d been all flushed and laughing.
It was still a bad idea. Very bad.
His body had other ideas. He leaned forward so that his
lips brushed hers. God, she was soft.
He hardened instantaneously, but forced himself to go
light on the kiss, to test and see how she responded. Not much pressure. Lips,
just lips, nothing more.
Her eyes had slammed shut and she was so still he wasn’t
sure she was even breathing. She didn’t respond, but she didn’t draw away.
Then, a little sound seeped out. Part moan, part whimper, part
sigh. Her lips softened, then she was kissing him back, but not totally into it
yet.
He caressed the crease between her lips with an
experienced tongue, back and forth, trying to persuade her.
Her lips quivered, then opened for him.
Before she changed her mind, he dipped his tongue into
wet, honeyed heat. Jesus, she was sweet. Her mouth tasted as lush as it looked.
She made that sound again, reached up to thread her
fingers through his hair, and finally she was with him, totally with him. Lips,
tongue, all raw and hungry like she was as hot for him as he was for her.
His dick pulsed with need. Either it had been way too long
since he’d had sex, or there was something special about this woman. Oh, hell,
of course Maura was special. He’d known it when he first laid eyes on her.
He deepened the kiss, wishing she’d open her eyes so he
could see their amazing color. He slid his hand down her shoulder and across to
the soft curve of her breast. Cupping it, he felt the hardness of her budded
nipple through thin layers of fabric.
And now her eyes did open—to widen in what looked like
horror. She jerked backward.
* * * * *
Maura gaped at the man beside her. Was this another of her
crazy fantasies? “Jesse! Oh, my God, tell me that didn’t really happen.”
“What’re you talking about?” He stared at her like she’d
gone crazy. Which maybe she had. “I kissed you. You kissed me.”
Her hard nipples and the ache of need between her legs
could have come from a dream, but her lips felt swollen and tender. From his kiss.
“You did,” she murmured, still finding it hard to believe. “You really did.”
He shouldn’t have. She shouldn’t have responded. It was
all wrong. But . . . did he really want her? Find her attractive? That was so
hard to believe. “Why did you do it?”
He made an untranslatable masculine sound. “You’re hot.”
Hot? Hot? No,
she definitely wasn’t. That must be the standard line he fed every gullible
woman, every woman who made the mistake of thinking she was special to him.
What he really meant was, she had lips and breasts—albeit small ones—and they
were there, available—or so he thought—so he just took them. Kissed her,
invaded her mouth, then groped her. And then he had the audacity to say she was
hot? “Don’t insult me,” she snapped.
He heaved himself back in the passenger seat, arms crossed
over his chest, and she could feel the tension radiating off him. “It’s a
fucking insult to kiss you?”
“What? You think every woman should be flattered if you
kiss her? And don’t swear. Macho crudeness doesn’t impress me.”
“Nothing impresses you, lady,” he growled. “You’re so
damned high and mighty.”
“I am not!”
“And you know what?” He slanted a glittery-eyed gaze in
her direction. “You kissed back.”
She closed her eyes briefly, remembering those minutes of
bliss. Then she shoved the memory away, shaking her head. “I did, but it was
wrong. All wrong. You shouldn’t have, and I shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that message.”
“You didn’t even really mean it.” Or at least, it hadn’t
mattered that it had been her. Any female would have done.
“Mean it? Jesus, were you there for that kiss? I sure as
hell meant it.”
He wasn’t getting her point, and she didn’t feel like
elaborating on her own undesirability. “Yes, fine, I’m female and you’re a
red-blooded male with instincts. Physical ones. But we’re completely different.
We’re from different worlds.”
His jaw looked so tight that she was surprised he could
actually speak. “Sure as hell are.”
“We’re opposites.”
“I get it,” he ground out.
And that wasn’t even the worst thing. “I supervise you.
That kiss was completely unprofessional. It was stupid.” It could cost her her
job, much less the promotion.
“Stupid. Yeah. That’s for sure. It won’t happen again.”
Of course it wouldn’t. It had been some silly,
mood-of-the-moment instinct on his part. She’d only responded because,
inexperienced as she was, for a moment she’d confused fantasy and reality. Now,
though, she was firmly grounded.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, him still with his
arms crossed over his chest, her upright in the driver’s seat wishing she could
take back the past ten minutes of her life. Although . . . would she really
give up that kiss? It had only lasted a minute or two, but it had been the
hottest, sweetest one of her life.
Jesse cleared his throat. “Look, about my community
service . . .” The gravel in his voice was more pronounced than usual.
“Yes?” She glanced over.
Challenge in his hazel eyes, he asked, “You going to kick
me out?”
She pressed her lips together, considering. “You want to
stay?”
His jaw worked. “Need to.”
He didn’t want to work with her, but he needed to complete
the community service assignment or he’d go to jail. Well, she didn’t want to
work with him, either, and maybe she had the perfect excuse to throw him out.
She sighed. “It wouldn’t be fair to kick you out. We both did something we
shouldn’t have, and we both regret it. Right?”
“Hell, yeah.”
Of course, for him that kiss had been completely
unmemorable. “Then perhaps we can try to forget it.” No, she could never do
that. “I mean, pretend it never happened.”
His gaze fixed on her mouth for a long moment, then he
turned his head to stare out the windshield. “Forget it. Sure.”
“And we’ll continue with the community service just as
before.”
The muscles in his throat rippled as he swallowed. “Thanks.”
She sensed how hard it was for him to speak that single
word. “You’re welcome. And, uh, Jesse, neither of us will say anything about
this, right? It wouldn’t look good for either of us.”
He didn’t turn to look at her. “It didn’t happen.”
“Right.” Of course
it did! “Thank you.”
Why on earth had she kissed him, rather than slapping his
face and ordering him to back off?
The man radiated sex appeal. That was why she’d kissed
him. She was weak. Ruled by hormones. She’d been off balance, off guard; too
many disconcerting things had happened.
Author bio:
Susan Fox, who also writes as Susan Lyons and Savanna Fox,
is the award-winning author of “emotionally compelling, sexy contemporary
romance” (Publishers Weekly). She is
published by Kensington Brava, Berkley Heat, and Harlequin Spice Briefs. A
resident of both Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., Susan has degrees in law and
psychology but would far rather be writing fiction than living in the real
world.
Sounds like a winner. I must put this on my tbr list... Thanks fro bringing this book to my attention.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathleen. I hope you enjoy my book!
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