The Dirty Secret (20 page)
Authors: Kira A. Gold
Killian chuckled. “You could help me work on the designs for the new model house for Sugar Maple Estates. I’ve a bathroom that might have sight line issues.”
“They want you to do another one? They’re showing two of your designs?”
He shook his head. “It was sold.”
“But it’s a model house. It’s just for show.”
“Someone made an as-is offer the developer couldn’t refuse. So now he wants another one.”
“Oh.” She clutched a pillow to her middle. “That’s strange, thinking about someone else being there. Do you know who bought it?”
He nodded, watching her face. “Donna Edith.” He laughed at her expression, and kissed her mouth. “She wants the basement finished. And she has some very interesting requests as to the decor.”
Vessa’s eyes glinted in the smudges of glitter. “The first day I met her, Donna Edith told me that the world is a lonely place if you can’t tell people who you really are.”
“She told me I was starved for sex.” He tugged the pillow from Vessa’s arms and kissed her between her breasts. Yeah, he was starved for her. He was ravenous for her skin, famished for her laughter. His cock stirred, hungry for her heat yet again.
“Do you think she knew this would happen?” Vessa ran her fingers through his hair. “Us? That I would fall in love with you?”
“She knew I was in love with you when I saw her last month.” He cupped her face in his hands. “So can I keep your world from being a lonely place, Vessa Ratham?” He kissed her, a light tease, stealing a second of sweetness from her lips. “Will you tell me who you really are?”
“Ask me something.” She smiled, naked mischievous mouth on a gorgeous naked woman. “Anything.”
* * ***
To purchase and read more books by Kira A. Gold, please visit Kira’s website
here
or at
bit.ly/1WWC8I5
.
Acknowledgments
Libby Murphy, my editor, saw what my story could be and showed me how to get it there. Thank you for bringing me into the fold at Carina Press.
Laura Zats, my agent, held my hand through the process of making all this real. Thank you for giving me a home at Red Sofa Literary.
Cyndy Aleo, of Four Little Bees Writing and Editing, is my lightning rod of Truth, extinguisher of Flares, and comma Domme. Thank you for grounding me when I need it and never saying, “I told you so.”
Thanks to Kerri Buckley for delaying The Call when phone service was knocked out by a storm; Jill Mueller for copyedits; Brenda Drake for giving so many opportunities to new writers; my husband for saying, “Go for it!”; and the entire state of Vermont for all things maple-flavored, young love and fireflies.
About the Author
Kira A. Gold is a costume designer, textile artist and Shakespeare enthusiast. An expat of cold places, she writes odd tales of Vermont, Sweden, backstage wings and other magical settings.
Her first full-length writing endeavor, the fanfic
Tropic of Virgo
, has had over four million hits online. Her short story
A Midummer Flight’s Dream
was part of
The Frequent Flyers
collection featured on
USATODAY.com
.
She enjoys bourbon, chocolate and sleep, in no particular order.
Follow her on Twitter,
@kiraagold
, for book news, bad puns and general inappropriateness.
Satisfy your appetite for more deliciously sexy erotic romance with Jeffe Kennedy’s
Falling Under
series.
GOING UNDER
Falling Under
, book one
“Kennedy shows her talent for organic relationship building in this erotic romance; both Emily and Fox display emotional growth and maturity, and their relationship develops from tentative flirting to domination to equality without feeling forced or implausible.”
—
Publishers Weekly
UNDER HIS TOUCH
Falling Under
, book two
“[UNDER HIS TOUCH] has all the addictive tension and high-stakes passion that fans crave. Her main couple’s interactions are intense from the start, and she doesn’t shy away from either realistic details or dreamy fantasies. Best of all, she moves beyond their overwhelming physical passion to the emotions that drive them both, including the achingly real fears that threaten their happiness. As a result, this book is as touching as it is torrid.”
—
RT Book Reviews
UNDER CONTRACT
Falling Under
, book three
“Kennedy handles her subject matter with authority and makes the premise and choices of her characters entirely believable, all while grabbing her readers by their hearts. Recommended for fans of the
50 Shades
trilogy.”
—
Library Journal
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ISBN-13: 9781459294349
The Dirty Secret
Copyright © 2016 by Kira A. Gold
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.