In the Running (3 page)

About the
Author

Writing a book was number one on Mari’s
bucket list and on her thirty-fourth birthday, she set out to see
that goal achieved. Now her computer is jammed full of stories
— novels, novellas, short stories and dead-ends. A New York Times
and USA Today bestseller as well as winner of the Passionate Plume,
Mari found time for writing by squeezing it into the hours between
3 a.m. and daybreak when her family is asleep and the house is
quiet.

To learn more, visit
her
website
at
www.maricarr.com. She is also on
Facebook
and
Twitter
. She blogs
at
International Heat
and
hangs out on the Heat Wave Readers
Yahoo group
.

More titles from Mari
Carr

Because Books

Because of You

Because You Love Me

Because It’s True

*****

Second Chances

Fix You

Full Moon

*****

Black and White Collection

Erotic Research

Tequila Truth

Rough Cut

Happy Hour

Power Play

Slam Dunk

Naughty Is Nice

*****

Compass Brothers

Northern Exposure

Southern Comfort

Eastern Ambitions

Western Ties

*****

Compass Girls

Winter’s Thaw

*****

Wild Irish

Come Monday

Ruby Tuesday

Waiting for Wednesday

Sweet Thursday

Friday I’m in Love

Saturday Night Special

Any Given Sunday

Wild Irish Christmas

*****

Foreign Affairs

Misplaced Princess

Misplaced Cowboy

Misplaced Lessons

Misplaced Hands

*****

Cocktales

Party Naked

Screwdriver

Bachelor’s Bait

Screaming Orgasm

*****

Trinity Masters

Elemental Pleasure

Primal Passion

*****

Other Titles

Sugar and Spice

Everything Nice

Do Over

Kiss Me, Kate

Three Reasons Why

Black Jack

White Knight

Spitfire

Rekindled

Inflamed

Retreat

Covert Lessons

Mad About Meg

Assume the Positions

Erotic Research

By Mari Carr

Available now

It was just a little innocent research…

Romance writer Julia Martin is fine with her life,
just the way it is. Her simple apartment, successful career and
Thursday-night pizza dates with her too-hot-for-words editor Ross
are more than enough for her. At least, that’s what she thinks
until her cat dies.

Ross Philips has spent years lusting after his shy
best friend, but fears his rather strong sexual desires will be too
much for Julia. When she falls into a depression over the death of
her cat and stops writing, Ross decides she needs a change.

His suggestion? Try a new genre—erotica. And, of
course, being such a good friend and editor, he even plans to help
her do a little research.

Excerpt from Erotic
Research

A loud knock at the door had her jumping up.
Suddenly feeling very isolated and unprotected, she scanned the
room for some sort of weapon. Spying a big log in her pile of
firewood, she grabbed it, cowering in the corner. The pounding on
the door continued, louder this time, and Julia’s heart began to
race. Who the hell would be on top of a mountain in the middle of
nowhere on a day like this? It was a virtual whiteout outside.

“Jules, open the damn door. I’m freezing my
ass off out here.”

Ross? She sighed in relief, rushing to
unlock the door, and there in the doorway stood her very tall, very
wet editor.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, aware
her tone was distinctly unfriendly, but he had scared her half to
death.

Eyes narrowed, Ross entered the cabin, his
arms laden with packages, a large duffel bag thrown over one
shoulder, a backpack over the other. “I tried to call, but the
phone lines are down,” he answered gruffly.

“My cell?” she asked sarcastically.

“No service up here,” he replied with equal
irritation.

“Is something wrong?” She couldn’t imagine
what could be so bad it would compel Ross to leave the comfort of
his penthouse apartment in New York City to drive for nine hours to
the mountains.

“Blizzard.” He unloaded his bags on the
kitchen counter. “Headed this way. I was worried you’d be snowed in
without enough food.”

Secretly pleased at his incredibly sweet
gesture, Julia smiled and helped him unload the soggy paper bags.
“You’ve brought enough food for an army.” She gaped at all the
meat, vegetables, fruit and snacks he carried in. “I hope you don’t
think I need all this to survive. Hey, I didn’t hear a car. How did
you get here?”

“By the grace of God and my four-wheel
drive. I almost made it all the way to the cabin. The snow is
already pretty deep. I got stuck about a mile down the road. Had to
walk the rest of the way. Looks like we’re going to be stuck here
for a while.” Pulling off his drenched coat, he hung it on the peg
by the door.

“My God,” she exclaimed, glancing out the
frosted window, “it’s freezing out there and the visibility must be
zero. You’re lucky to have made it at all. What the hell were you
thinking? You could have been killed.” She put her hands on her
hips, suddenly aware of the very real danger he’d just escaped.

“What was I thinking?”

“Yes. Good Lord, Ross, of all the idiotic
things to do. What if you’d crashed the car? What if you’d gotten
lost in the snow while looking for the cabin? You could have frozen
to death.”

Ross shook his head. Clearly, of all the
receptions he’d imagined, this nagging scold was not one he’d
considered. “I guess, like the idiotic fool I am, I thought you’d
be glad to see me. That you’d offer me a warm drink and some
supper. I thought you’d be happy not to be stuck up here in this
godforsaken cabin alone in a blizzard!”

Biting her lip, she said softly, “Well, I
am. Happy, that is. I was feeling rather trapped—and alone.”

As quickly as his anger came, it left him.
Smiling, he admitted, “It was a damn stupid thing to do.
Unfortunately that fact didn’t occur to me until I was about
halfway up the mountain and I realized it was too late to turn
around.”

“Let’s get you out of those wet clothes,”
she said, suddenly very pleased to have him with her. “I’ll put
some water on for tea.”

“Don’t bother with the tea. I brought a
bottle of Southern Comfort.” His hands shaking, he attempted, with
little success, to tackle the buttons on his soggy flannel shirt.
“We are in the South, after all.”

“I’m not sure West Virginia classifies as
the South. It’s really sort of the middle. Here, let me.” Pulling
his trembling hands away, she quickly unbuttoned his shirt and
tugged it off. His skin was like ice to the touch. “You’ll be lucky
if you don’t catch pneumonia or frostbite,” she said, unable to
resist one more scold. “Come stand by the fire.” Taking his icy
hands in hers, she rubbed them lightly. “I’ll get a blanket for
you. Stay here and try to get warm.”

Crossing the room, she retrieved a fleece
blanket from the foot of the bed as Ross struggled with the button
fly on his damp jeans.

“I’ll do that,” she said, concerned for his
health. His hands were still trembling and looked blood red and
chapped. No doubt he’d lied about how long he’d really been roaming
around in the snow and wind.

“Jules,” he started to object, but she was
already working the buttons free, concern distracting her from
exactly what she was offering to do. When she had the last button
unclasped, she grabbed the waistband and started to pull the
clinging denim off his legs. The task was harder than she would
have thought, but sheer determination and worry kept her going. She
struggled for several minutes, working the material down his
muscular legs, stopping only to pull off his boots and socks,
before finally peeling the jeans completely off.

“There,” she exclaimed, looking up into
Ross’s suddenly pained face. Her mouth went dry as she realized
that during her exertions she’d knelt in front of him and was now
eye level with his barely clad cock straining through the material
of his silk boxer shorts. This part of him certainly gave new
meaning to the term “frozen stiff”.

“I—” she stumbled, unwilling to take her
eyes off his very large appendage. She was sure she’d never seen
anything quite so big and her curiosity outweighed her
embarrassment.

“My God,” she whispered, awestruck as the
monstrous cock seemed to grow even larger before her eyes. Without
a thought, she reached up and nearly touched it before a growl
above her and a strong hand on her wrist stopped her.

“Brown Eyes,” Ross said, his deep voice
flowing over her like honey, “if you don’t move away from that this
minute, I’ll keep you kneeling there the rest of the night.”