Flirting With Temptation (32 page)
“I want commitment,” she said, realizing that commitment of any type was the main thing that had always been missing in her life, and now, she realized why. She did take after her grandmother, and she did have Granny Gert’s gumption, only wanting things when she could have them her way. So she’d tell Jeff now, exactly how she could have what she wanted . . . her way. “I want commitment,” she repeated, “but I only want it if I can have it with you.”
He gently pushed her hair away from her face, and that tender motion sent goosebumps down her arms, and an arrow of sharp desire to her center.
“Babette,” he said, turquoise eyes looking at her as he eased, slowly eased, his hands beneath her shirt. His palms skimmed her skin, touching her, exciting her. “I want you now, but it won’t be just sex. It hasn’t been just sex in quite a while.”
Her tears slipped free. He’d felt it too, the change between them that had occurred sometime over the past few days, or perhaps whatever had always been there, but they’d finally set it free. The emotional pull of one person to another that said that this wasn’t merely mutual satisfaction, but a bonding of the souls.
“I know.”
B
abette had always suspected if she had a double wedding, it’d be with her sister. But Clarise had married six years before, so that wasn’t a possibility. However, she was still having a double wedding, and a beach wedding, too.
The brides wore matching antique ivory dresses, except one of the dresses was altered for curves, and the other was altered for none.
Their rings varied as well, with the older of the two brides wearing a rock that would almost warrant a wheelbarrow to help her carry it down the aisle. Granny Gert held it up in the sun as they neared the preacher, and it made Babette (and everyone else around) squint from the glare. Paul was into big and flashy, he said, but Babette suspected he was merely trying to cater to Granny Gert’s spunk.
The ring Jeff slid on Babette’s finger was much, much smaller by comparison, but it meant the world to Babette to have it, and it meant the world to Granny Gert to give it to her. The tiny diamond that had adorned her grandmother’s left hand for the majority of her life, the one Grandpa Henry had given her shortly after her day of extreme gumption in his barn, would grace Babette’s hand now.
With all of their friends and family surrounding them, including the residents of White Sands and Sunny Beaches, the two couples married on the small strip of beach that centered the two resorts, which was only fitting, since they would all be residing there as soon as their honeymoons ended. Granny Gert and Paul had bought a condo at Sunny Beaches, and Babette and Jeff would live in his place at White Sands.
Babette had already set her Love Doctor business into place in Destin, letting all of the seniors at Sunny Beaches spread the word to their neighboring retirement condos that her services were now available, and that they could pay with cooking lessons (anything but cinnamon rolls).
When the last “I do’s” were said, Babette accepted a hot and heated kiss from her husband, and it lasted nearly half as long as the one Dr. Stovall distributed to his new bride.
The crowd laughed and cheered with both sets of newlyweds, and Babette took the opportunity to whisper to the man that she’d loved for as long as she remembered, “I’m so glad I found my gumption.”
“I’m so glad I found you,” he responded.
Then she held her hand out and was tickled to see that it captured nearly as much light as Granny Gert’s new rock. Undoubtedly, love made everything shine a little brighter. Babette’s world was sure shining bright now.
KELLEY ST. JOHN’s previous experience as a senior writer at NASA fueled her interest in writing action-packed suspense, and she also enjoys penning steamy romances and quirky women’s fiction. St. John is a two-time National Readers’ Choice Award winner and was elected to the Board of Directors for Romance Writers of America.
St. John’s media appearances include the CBS
Early Show
and NBC’s
Daytime
(WFLA). St. John and her novels have been featured in the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
,
Publishers Weekly
,
Pages
magazine,
Quick and Simple
magazine,
Foam
magazine, A
ccent on Tampa Bay
magazine, and the
Writer’s Digest Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market
. Visit her Web site at
www.kelleystjohn.com
Dear Reader
If you’re one of the many readers who sent the request for Jeff and Babette’s story after meeting them in REAL WOMEN DON’T WEAR SIZE 2, thanks! I hope you enjoyed reading about their wild journey to love in FLIRTING WITH TEMPTATION.
And if you haven’t read about Babette’s sister, Clarise, you still can! REAL WOMEN DON’T WEAR SIZE 2 will let you in on how Clarise learned to stop hiding and start flaunting those Robinson Treasures at Tampa’s Gasparilla Festival. Naturally, you’ll learn a bit more about Babette, Jeff and Granny Gert along the way. So pick up a copy, and enjoy!
Happy Reading!
THE DISH
Where authors give you the inside scoop!
From the desk of Susan Crandall
Dear Reader,
Oh, how I love to write a twisted villain, preferring the play of psychological tension to physical gore. Villains are so complex, for who in this world is completely good or completely evil? Hollis Alexander in SEEING RED (on sale now) provided a wonderful opportunity to explore the depths of darkness that can lurk in the soul, the evil behind the mask of physical beauty and agreeability.
I always like to center my novels on what I call an “everyman” story, one that could happen to any of us (although we certainly hope it doesn’t). I like to make it personal, to delve into the emotions of my antagonist and my protagonist. Therefore, I rarely venture into the arena of irredeemable evil. Hollis Alexander is the exception. He’s bad and that’s all there is to it. He’s smart and uses mental manipulation to its fullest—this, to me, is the scariest kind of villain. And if I admit that I really enjoyed writing him, does that make you worry about my mental state?
Well, I did. I loved it, even though the idea of a
real
Hollis Alexander gives me chills and makes it difficult to sleep. Luckily, the idea of the
real
Nate Vances, our real-world heroes, makes me feel safe enough to turn out the lights and close my eyes.
Thanks for coming along with me on this journey. May our real-world heroes always be there when you need them.
Happy Reading!
From the desk of Kate Perry
Dear Reader,
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to have superpowers?
If someone gave me superpowers, I’d be stoked. Or would I? Gabe Sansouci, the sassy heroine in MARKED BY PASSION (on sale now), inherits an ancient Chinese scroll that does just that, only she finds out really quickly that having powers isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Don’t get me wrong—if someone tapped me with a magic wand and said I could fly, I’d
so
be soaring through the sky. But there are a few powers I’d turn down:
I Can’t Go for That, No Can Do:
Three Powers Kate Doesn’t Want
1. Causing earthquakes.
I’m just being practical with this one. Like Gabe, I live in San Francisco. If I made the earth tremble every time I got upset, there’d be chaos. San Francisco is beautiful; it’d be a shame if it lay at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
2. Reading minds.
Shudder. The idea of reading minds is so horrifying to me that I couldn’t bring myself to even torture Gabe with it. Imagine your Aunt Millie thinking about sex. I rest my case.
3. Killing by touch.
Gabe has the capacity to harm people through touch, but she also has the balancing ability to heal. Um, in theory.
Of course, Gabe’s not alone in this thing. With the help of Rhys Llewellyn, man of mystery and all-around hot guy, she’s sure to get a handle on her new powers. Eventually.
Hope you enjoy MARKED BY PASSION! And keep an eye out for CHOSEN BY DESIRE, the second book in the Guardians of Destiny series.
From the desk of Kelley St. John
Dear Reader,
One of the best parts of writing a novel with a multitude of passionate characters is learning that your readers want to know more of their story. That’s what makes it so much fun to give you the “what happened next” portion of their lives, because, as you very well know, those characters continue to live in your heart . . . and mine. Thankfully, you can revisit several of your favorites, since they tend to find their way into my other books. For example, Lettie Campbell’s sister, Amy, from GOOD GIRLS DON’T, is one of Rissi Kincaid’s best friends in TO CATCH A CHEAT! And—you guessed it—if Amy’s there, then that means her sexy cowboy Landon is also along for the ride. So if you didn’t get enough of Amy and her sex toys or Landon and his famed massage oils in GOOD GIRLS DON’T, then you can have another delicious taste in TO CATCH A CHEAT!
And if you’re one of the many readers who sent the request (okay, the demand) for sexy-and-sizzling Jeff Eubanks to get together with wild hellion Babette Robinson after meeting them in REAL WOMEN DON’T WEAR SIZE 2, I promise you that FLIRTING WITH TEMPTATION (on sale now) will give you exactly what you’ve been asking for—and then some!
Ever true to her impulsive nature, Babette is still changing jobs, addresses, and hair colors as often as possible. (And changing men just as frequently!) Even though she can’t find a man who will stick, she’s finally found a job that will: Birmingham’s “Love Doctor,” where she heals love that’s gone wrong. Her business is—
until
Kitty Carelle hires Babette to get her back with her ex—none other than Jeff Eubanks.
Jeff believes that women—not men—are the ones who can’t commit, and he has the power to completely ruin Babette’s new career if he refuses to take Kitty back. So Babette is determined to make him see things her way, even if it means adhering to his ridiculous challenge of no flirting for a week. She can do it. She
can
. In fact, she could do it rather easily, if the no-flirting policy only applied to beach hunks who didn’t have the last name of Eubanks. Because Jeff is looking mighty good, and Babette has been a long, long time wanting . . . everything he’s tempting her with.
Have mercy, seven days never seemed so long!
Happy Reading!
