Alison Kent - All Tied Up

What was it about a wet naked man? Macy wondered. So much clean skin in which to bury her nose and breathe, in which to dart the tip of her tongue and taste.

“Macy?” Leo called. “Are you cooking yet?”

If he only knew, she mused. “I was thinking of bringing a couple of eggs in here and poaching them in this steam.”

Leo’s movements stilled and then she heard the magnetic latch click. The door eased open and Macy got her first unintentional look at his body before she jerked her gaze up to his face.

He wore a grin that was pure ego and conceit. The brief look she’d caught of his body was enough to confirm he had good reason.

Besides, at the moment, she was willing to forgive him just about anything. Water streamed down his face, dripping from spiky lashes, matting his hair to his head with a boyish charm.

The complete picture destroyed her resolve and she stepped into the shower, pajamas and all.

Dear Reader,

I admit it. Fashion fascinates me, as do fads. Who would have thought we’d see the return of tie-dye and bell-bottoms? Or that individuality and flaunting convention could make for such eye-catching style?

I also find myself fascinated by the entrepreneurial spirit and boundless imagination (not to mention energy!) found in so many members of Generation X.

Welcome to gIRL-gEAR, the combination of my fascinations, where you’ll meet a group of six twenty-something women who’ve launched an urban fashion empire and, because this is my fantasy, have set the retail world on fire.

All Tied Up, the first story, follows the Peter Pan adventures of Macy Webb, who wildly embraces her inner child—until she meets corporate attorney Leo Redding, who is all grown up.

If, like Chloe Zuniga, the heroine of the second story, you enjoy those sexy scenes from classic cinematic love stories, you won’t want to miss No Strings Attached.

Finally, join Sydney Ford as she sets sail toward a romance that was Bound to Happen!

Enjoy!

Alison Kent

P.S. To learn more about the girls, the company and the series, visit www.girl-gear.com, where you can always find the latest in fun and games, dating tips and more!

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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A big thank-you to:

Birgit Davis-Todd for your enthusiasm and your patience Karen Solem for your encouragement and patience Susan Sheppard for the conversation over dinner on the River Walk—and did I mention your patience? And to Walt, for too many things to mention but, on this book in particular, for your patience with my need for tiramisu and caramel lattes.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

The gIRLS behind gIRL-gEAR

by Samantha Venus for Urban Attitude Magazine

This month we begin a multipart series introducing the women responsible for the cultural phenomenon that is gIRL-gEAR. (And to think it all began at an Austin, Texas, Starbucks!)

Three years ago, the firm blasted onto the retail scene with urban fashion’s next best thing, and now gIRL-gEAR has had every department store across the country scrambling to catch up. All we at Urban Attitude have to say is, Good Luck!

Let’s meet our first gIRL…Macy Webb—a fitting choice for our initial profile, as Macy works as content editor for the Web site’s discussion forums and advice columns, offering tips on dating and suggestions for singles. And let’s be honest here. Do we doubt for a minute that the gIRLS whose fashion advice we’ve followed now for three years would steer us wrong when it comes to M-E-N? I don’t think so!

Creator of gIRL gAMES and gIRL gUIDE, the site’s fun and advice columns, Macy’s currently organizing a trial run of her latest gIRL gAMES project—a very sexy scavenger hunt. “An after-hours, adults-only, you-find-mine-I’ll-find-yours kind of contest,” she says. The rules will be posted in her next column, due online at the end of the month. (www.girl-gear.com)

MACY WEBB READ the laminated copy of the magazine article tacked to the corner of her drafting board while waiting for her printer to spit out the lists she’d be needing later tonight. When she considered how far the company had come in such a short period of time…She shook her head, amazed that the firm’s partners still possessed a shred of sanity, what with the out-of-control pace of the business.

The six friends who’d founded gIRL-gEAR, hadn’t even met until their senior year at University of Texas, while sharing late night shifts at a new Austin Starbucks. Macy had been a psychology major. Her roommate, Lauren Hollister, had been working toward a degree in commercial art.

Sydney Ford, gIRL-gEAR’s CEO, had managed the coffee shop while studying business and finance. Kinsey Gray, Melanie Craine and Chloe Zuniga, the last of the partners, had been on equally diverse career paths, from marketing to technology to fashion.

Until one fateful night following a late November football game, the six women had assumed they’d go their separate ways come commencement the following June. That night the UT Longhorns had trounced the Houston Cougars in a nearly unheard of Texas windchill of seventeen degrees.

And the teamwork involved in ordering, brewing and serving enough lattes, mochas and cappuccinos to defrost what seemed to be every single spectator, convinced business-minded Sydney that she’d be a fool not to capitalize on a sure thing.

The sure thing had launched with the explosive sparkle and flash of a Fourth of July bottle rocket. Each of the women brought her own individuality and vision to bear on the corporation’s mission statement. Each brought her own field of expertise as well, putting her degree to work to expand the conceptual whole.

Macy and Lauren worked as respective editors of content and design for the interactive e-commerce Web site and mail-order catalog. Chloe headed up gRAFFITI gIRL and gADGET gIRL, the cosmetics and accessories lines.

The gift line, gOODY gIRL, and the technology line, gIZMO gIRL, were in Melanie’s capable hands. Kinsey divided her time between gO gIRL and gROWL gIRL, the active-wear and party-wear divisions.

Sydney had been forced by time limitations and ever-increasing executive responsibilities to hand off the original gIRL-gEAR fashions to the firm’s junior associates, who did their best to keep up with consumer demand.

Thirty-eight months after graduation and two years into incorporation, the six founding partners had revised their five-year business plan for the second time. But even if the corporation’s fireworks fizzled next week, each of the women had a portfolio reflecting an investment in the future.