Flirting With Danger (15 page)
Sasha sniffed and reached for a tissue of her own.
Jasmine smiled. “And isn’t that what we all want? To be loved for the person we are
and not for the makeup and clothes?” She looked from one friend to the other. “Someone
who sees through all the external stuff and loves the woman inside?”
“Yes,” Leanne said. “That, and a real commitment.”
And that was exactly what she’d found in Aaron, Jasmine knew. She couldn’t be happier.
Sasha handed her the simple bunch of purple daisies she’d chosen to carry. “Ready?”
She nodded, and the three of them made their way outside and down the wide stone steps
to the terraced garden where her father was waiting for her. She smiled up at him
as she took his arm. His pride was evident as he gazed down at her, and as his eyes
filled with tears, he sighed.
“I’ll be all right, Dad.”
“I know you will, sweetheart. Aaron’s a lucky man, but he knows it.”
“Yes, he does.”
She could see him waiting in the gazebo at the end of the lawn. She loved him so much
her heart ached with the weight of it.
Sasha and Leanne stepped onto the red carpet and started a slow walk toward the gazebo.
Jasmine followed with her father. She spotted John, Dave, and Kane on one side of
the aisle, and on the other, her brothers, but then she forgot about the guests because
she was close enough to the gazebo to see the expression on Aaron’s face.
If she’d had any doubt that she was the only woman for him—which she didn’t—it would
have vanished in that moment.
He was all hers.
About the Author
Claire Baxter writes contemporary romantic fiction of all lengths. Her short stories
have been published in commercial women’s magazines around the world, while her novels
have been translated into 20 languages and have finalled in the Romance Writers of
Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year Award, the Booksellers’ Best Awards, the
RT Book Reviews
Reviewers’ Choice Awards and the Cataromance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.
Before following her passion to write full-time, Claire was an award-winning corporate
communications manager. Earlier, she worked as a translator and a PA.
Claire grew up in Warwickshire, England, but for more than 20 years has called Australia
home. She considers herself lucky to live near one of Adelaide’s beautiful metropolitan
beaches where she loves to walk and think up stories.
Visit her online at
www.clairebaxter.com
.
Find your Bliss with
Rachel Harris’s
Sweeping her hands aside, he glided his thumbs across her cheeks. Wiping away the
lines of smeared makeup, he looked into her clearing gray eyes and said, “You’re gorgeous.”
A flash of uncertainty crossed Colby’s face, and he bent his head to prove it.
The first brush of his lips was light. He didn’t want to take advantage of her emotions.
He just wanted to assure her that regardless of her tears, she was still one of the
most beautiful women he had ever seen. But when a sigh escaped her parted lips, and
she fisted her fingers in his hair, Jason abandoned timid and gentle. He gave in to
the desire that had been snapping and building between them since the day of the competition,
and proceeded to kiss her senseless.
Reaching down, he palmed the smooth skin of her calf. It felt like silk in his hands.
He skimmed his fingers down the soft length to her ankle, hooking it around his hip.
Colby made a satisfied noise in her throat. She wiggled closer and, happy to oblige,
he tugged her fully against him and deepened the kiss. He swallowed her moan.
Leaves rustled in the wind. Unseen wings fluttered and buzzed. And their heavy breaths
filled the air, turning Jason on even more. Colby’s mouth tasted of citrus. Sweet,
like the daiquiri she had drank, and like her. He teased the corners of her mouth.
Licked the satiny skin of her upper lip. And gently bit down on her pouty lower one.
He knew he needed to break the kiss soon—his daughter was sleeping in the tent only
a few yards away—but this woman was like a drug. And he was quickly becoming an addict.
Jason shifted to press his lips to the sensitive skin just under her ear.
Breathless and panting, Colby tilted her head as he trailed his mouth along the column
of her neck. “I’ve always wondered,” she admitted with a shiver, “what it would be
like to kiss you.”
He arched an eyebrow in surprise and grinned against her skin. “If memory serves me
right, this is our
second
kiss.”
A shocked gasp of air escaped her throat. “You remember Kiss and Catch?”
He looked at her and nodded, remembering every stolen moment of that childhood kiss.
She gazed back with dazed eyes, and chewing the corner of a slightly swollen lip,
admitted, “That was my first kiss.” Her tone was almost bashful, the flush of her
skin darkening to rose before a hint of the vixen came back and she said, “Okay, so
I’ve been curious how the
adult
Jason would compare.”
He chuckled as he dipped his tongue into the hollow where her pulse fluttered. “And
the verdict?”
“Meh.”
Find your Bliss with
Cindi Madsen’s
“Cut, cut cut!” Sawyer stood. “Was that supposed to be more passionate? Because it
sucked.”
“This is supposed to be the eighteen hundreds,” Brynn said.“It can’t be too passionate
or it would seem inappropriate for the time.”
The next instant Sawyer was charging up the steps to the stage. “I’m not saying it’s
got to be a kiss with tongue, I’m saying you’ve got to look at each other like you’re
in love so the audience will want it to work out. Our
modern
audience.” Sawyer shook his head. “Take it again, from before the proposal.”
It was impossible to concentrate with Sawyer standing right there, so close she could
hear every shift of his body and feel his gaze on her like a weight. All her lines
were swimming together.
Leo knelt, told her she was an angel. She said her line, trying to peer into his soul
like she wanted to be with him, and then Leo kissed her. And it was sloppier than
usual. She did her best to not jerk back, though it was her first instinct.
“Okay, that was just…” Sawyer moved in front of her. He looked at the playbook, then
lowered it by his side and stared into her eyes. The air thickened around them and
she could feel every thump of her heart. “What a perfect angel you are, Cecily.” He
said it so tenderly, his smile close-lipped but full of joy.
“You dear romantic boy,” she said, all out of instinct because thoughts were getting
fuzzy.
He leaned in and kissed her, a soft kiss with his lips barely parted. The pressure
of his lips increased for a delicious moment, and then they were gone. A quick, simple
kiss, but when his mouth left hers, she felt its absence so strongly that she couldn’t
think about anything else for a couple seconds. Her breath was stuck somewhere in
her lungs and her lips still tingled, living the sensation over and over again. Heat
wound through her body, her hands itched to reach out and touch him. And then she
remembered she was supposed to. She ran her fingers through his hair and felt the
whisper of his breath on her wrist as he exhaled.
“Wow, that was good,” Wendy said from the front, breaking Brynn from her trance.
Brynn stepped back and swallowed, but her throat wasn’t working right. Sawyer’s eyes
never left hers, and one corner of his mouth curved up in a smug, self-satisfied way.
“It was all right, I suppose,” Brynn said, working to keep her voice steady. She crossed
her arms and shrugged. “For a first-timer, anyway.”
That only made Sawyer’s smile grow wider.
Brynn couldn’t help but watch Sawyer as he jumped off the stage. Funny how she’d dreamed
of kissing him all the time in high school, but her fantasy wasn’t even close to the
real thing. Her heart felt like it’d just been wrung out and shoved back in her chest.
And her scene with Leo
was
better. She was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that she closed her eyes
and pretended it was Sawyer kissing her again.
Nope. Nothing at all.
Find your
Bliss
with these new releases
Tempted in the Tropics
by Tracy March
Nothing’s more important to Paige Ellerbee than her struggling bakery, Sweet Bee’s.
When Lane Anderson, the temporary new doctor hot enough to rival McDreamy, moves in
next door, though, she’s sure things are looking up. Until he threatens her business
in their first conversation. But when Lane finds himself traveling down to the Caribbean
to play guitar for Paige’s best friend’s wedding, suddenly the sight of the blonde
in a bikini eclipses the fact they can’t agree on anything. Will these polar opposites
be able to forgive their feud and find lasting love?
Fake Fiancé, Real Revenge
by Roxanne Snopek
In order for Mitchell Granger to secure a lucrative real-estate deal with an eccentric
client, he told the teeny white lie that he was engaged…and now he needs to prove
it. Sabrina doesn’t mind posing as Mitch’s fake fiancée. She’s got a plan to exact
revenge on her first love, the boy who left her and Three River Ranch behind. But
will both Mitch’s and Sabrina’s grand plans get derailed by love?
Bikers and Pearls
by Vicki Wilkerson
When rebel biker Bullworth Clayton meets pastel-and-pearls- clad April Church, sparks
fly immediately. Sure, April would clearly rather be paired with anyone else, but
if working together means a successful charity event for a sick little boy they both
care about, then so be it. Bull tempts her to don a pair of leather pants and go for
a ride with him, while April desperately tries to keep her wild side hidden from her
small town. Can they meet in the middle in order to find love?
Desire by Design
by Paula Altenburg
Eve Doucette is thrilled to finally have landed her dream job of designing Halifax’s
new City Hall. That is, until a handsome architect sweeps into town to commandeer
her blueprints. Matt Brison just wants to do his job, but then sparks fly between
him and his new colleague. Before they know it, their already shaky foundation might
be about to come crumbling down…
Love Him or Leave Him
by Sara Daniel
Connor O’Malley and Becca Sanders were once high school sweethearts, ripped apart
by rumors in the small town of Kortville, Illinois. Now that Connor’s back as the
town sheriff, Becca finds herself struggling to resist the too-handsome man who once
broke her heart. When a scandal rocks the town, suddenly Connor and Becca must trust
in each other if they want to weather this storm together.
