Harlequin KISS August 2014 Bundle (59 page)

He shook his head. ‘Nope, I don’t. I’ve got to get Security in here to remove you from the premises.’

The panic erupted in her chest; this was her chance and she’d blown it. Unless... Maybe now was the time to utilise her black belt in taekwondo.

Propelled by the sheer impossibility
of failure, Olivia launched herself at him.

‘What the—?’

Taking advantage of his millisecond of surprise, she knocked the phone from his hand.

To no avail.

In a fluid movement he’d caught the mobile and shock juddered Olivia’s body as she collided with an immovable wall of chest. Strong arms locked behind her back in a hold way too powerful for her to break even as she leant
back, shoving her palms flat against his chest.

Her breath escaped in short, sharp pants as she looked up at him. For a fleeting second his light brown eyes darkened and focused on her lips. Unable to help herself, she dropped her gaze to his mouth as a sudden shiver prickled her skin.

A shiver not of fear but of desire.

Which was ridiculous. Right now her instincts should have
kicked in; she should be at least attempting to struggle free. Instead she couldn’t stop staring at the mesmerising shape of those firm, capable lips. His heart pounded under her hand; her fingers curled into the silk of his white shirt.

As she pressed her own lips together to moisten them something primal flickered in his eyes. His arms tensed to pull her forward. Then abruptly he released
her.

Her skin tingled where his arms had touched her and Olivia stepped backwards, until the cold marble of the counter pressed into the backs of her thighs. Her heart thumped painfully against her ribcage. Perspective—she desperately needed to locate some. Along with control. Her master plan was in tatters and somehow she had to salvage it. Before Adam Masterson called Security.

He
stood there, those gorgeous lips set in a grim line. Anger darkened his face; his eyes were cold chips of mud. ‘Lady, just how far are you prepared to go to bag me?’

‘Excuse me?’ What was he talking about? Perhaps his proximity had addled her brain cells completely. Somehow she had to pull herself together and try and turn this situation around. She had no idea what had happened in those
charged seconds in his arms but she couldn’t let it ruin everything. ‘I don’t understand.’

An exasperated sigh hit the air. ‘Drop the act. I know you’re here to “bag me”,’ he said, hooking his fingers in the air to indicate quotation marks.

‘As in murder you and put you in a body bag? Tempting, but given your security levels I’ll pass.’

For a second she thought she saw his lips
give the tiniest of quirks. Was it possible the man possessed a sense of humour?

He swiped his hand over his mouth and shook his head. ‘You haven’t heard of Bag a Billionaire?’ The narrowed eyes, the creased forehead were both clear indicators of patent disbelief; the gleam of humour had obviously been a mirage.

‘Nope. Honest.’

His frown deepened. ‘In a nutshell, some idiot magazine
reporter wrote an article advising wannabe gold-diggers on how to bag themselves a billionaire and identified me as the target. Since then I’ve arrived home to find a naked woman in my bed with “Kiss me Quick, Kiss me Slow” tattooed on her stomach and an arrow pointing downward, my mail yesterday included some rather explicit photographs, I have had women break the heels of their shoes and collapse
in a heap in front of me, and women’s cars seem to miraculously break down wherever I go.’ Pausing, he eyed her. ‘I’m sure you get the picture.’

‘That’s terrible,’ Olivia said. ‘But...’

‘Terrible?’ he echoed, the mocking note jarring through the air. ‘I agree. Though I must say no one has resorted to gatecrashing a party with quite such style as you have.’

It took a minute for the
implications of his words to sink in before outrage smacked her mouth wide open. ‘You think... You mean... You think I’m like one of those women?’

He leant back against the wall, arms folded. ‘You’ve broken into my hotel and thrown yourself into my arms in a dress that is conveniently falling off you—what do you expect me to think?’

Anger started to bubble at his sheer arrogance, stirred
frothier by the small part of her that conceded the devil had a point.

One hand slammed on her hip even as the other held the dress up. ‘I admit I’ve broken into your hotel, but I did not
throw myself
at you. I promise you I haven’t risked arrest for the supposed pleasure of “bagging” you.’

For a moment he studied her face and she met his gaze full-on, saw something flicker in the milk
chocolate depths. She prayed he could hear the truth in her voice. Otherwise he would have her marched out of here any second now and she couldn’t let that happen. There was way too much at stake here—and not just for herself.

‘Please,’ she said. ‘I understand why you are suspicious but you don’t need to be. I promise. Give me a chance to prove it to you. Hear me out. Please.’

‘Fine,’
he said. ‘You’ve got ten seconds.’

Copyright © 2014 by Nina Milne

ISBN-13: 9781460337059

HERE COMES THE BRIDESMAID

Copyright © 2014 by Belinda de Rome

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either
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www.Harlequin.com

Another “billionaire bagger” caught climbing through the
restroom window!

Except Olivia Evans has no interest in billionaires—even
those as delicious as Adam Masterson. She just wants to track down Adam’s
father…and if crashing a superswanky party is the way to do it, so be it!

Only, she’s caught red-handed by Adam himself! And now that
Adam has become
the subject of a “billionaire hunt” he has a proposition for
Olivia. He’ll help Olivia in her quest—but only if she poses as his adoring
girlfriend for the paps. It’s a deal she can’t refuse…even if it does come with
a luxury trip to Thailand and a whole heap of trouble!

SNEAK PEEK EXCERPT FROM

How to Bag a Billionaire

“Let’s make sure everyone believes that
we are on a date, okay? And try to look happy about it. A lot of women would pay to be in your shoes.”

“I’m not a lot of women.”

He’d gathered that. “Then you’ll have to fake it. Let’s go.”

“Give me five minutes. I need makeup. And shoes, for that matter.” She leaned down to pull out a silver clutch bag and a pair of shoes. Long, elegant feet slipped into lime-green high-heeled
wedge sandals and his pulse kicked up a notch.

Enough.
Straightening up, she pivoted to face the mirror, leaving him with an alluring view of her bare back, the black dress tapering down in a V to the voluptuous curve of her bottom.

Adam forced himself to turn away.

“I’m ready.”

He swiveled around and a whoosh of air was expelled from his lungs as desire upped another notch.
In a few minutes she’d been transformed from au naturel beauty to glamorous allure.

Her hazel eyes shimmered and her lips were outlined in glossy dark red. Lips he wanted to claim right here. Right now.
Oh, hell.
He was screwed; no way was his libido leaving this party.

Dear Reader,

This book is incredibly special to me—partly because it is my debut book for Harlequin®, but also because I am so excited that Olivia and Adam, who lived inside my head for a long time, have made it into the big wide world.

The first chapter of this book wrote itself—I knew that nothing would stop Olivia from getting to Adam once she had him in her sights. I also
knew that Adam would put up the fight of his life to avoid being bagged.

But there the book stopped. Until one day not so long ago when Olivia and Adam demanded I get them out of the ladies’ restroom and let them try to sort out what happened next…

So I did!

I hope you enjoy reading about the trials and tribulations that beset them on their sometimes rocky path to love.

Nina
xx

How to
Bag a Billionaire

Nina Milne