Tori Carrington - Flavor of the Month

He couldn’t have been more surprised. Before he could blink, Reilly had essentially ripped off his clothes, pulled her T-shirt over her head and shimmied out of her decadent jean cutoffs. Then she’d pushed him to the couch and straddled him, her lips full and pouty and her body primed and more than ready.

Now her hazel eyes twinkled, amusement and a hint of a challenge in them. “I’m a woman into extremes. When I do something, I go all the way.” She wore a determined expression. “What’s the matter, Ben? Afraid you can’t handle a woman like me?”

This Reilly was so different from the self-conscious woman he was coming to know that he had to take another look to make sure it was the same person.

And the contrast turned him on to no end.

“Not the case at all, Reilly. I just want to know where the fire is.”

She curved her fingers around his wrist, then tugged his hand down until his fingers rested against the front of her panties. She grinned wickedly. “Right here.”

Dear Reader,

Sugar ’n spice and everything naughty literally applies to the second heroine in our KISS & TELL miniseries. Not only does Reilly Chudowski own a pastry shop named Sugar ’n Spice, but the treats she offers to Ben Kane are impossible for him to resist!

Only a woman who spent her childhood known as Chubby Chuddy would grow up to own a sweets shop…and be stupid enough to date L.A. restaurateur Benjamin Kane, a man renowned for his good looks and never-ending series of model girlfriends. But oh, how he feeds Reilly’s growing appetites on every level. Only, when push comes to shove, can Ben convince her that there is life for them beyond dessert?

We hope you enjoy Reilly and Ben’s delicious journey to sexily-ever-after! We’d love to hear what you think. Write to us at P.O. Box 12271, Toledo, OH 43612 (we’ll respond with a signed bookplate, newsletter and bookmark), or visit us on the Web at www.BlazeAuthors.com and www.toricarrington.com for fun drawings.

Here’s wishing you love, romance and hot reading!

Lori & Tony Karayianni

aka Tori Carrington

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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We warmly dedicate this book to our niece Elena:

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:

that word is love.

—Sophocles

May you and Pantelis have love, always.

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

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Hollywood Confidential—October 13, 2003

“…if you want this reporter’s informed opinion, the crème de la crème of Hollywood eateries are Benardo’s Hideaway and Sugar ’n’ Spice. If the owners of these two delectable hot spots were to combine their talents, we’d all be in for a treat….”

REILLY CHUDOWSKI read and reread the piece in the daily paper her best friend, Layla, had left behind, gob-smacked by the unsolicited rave from the popular L.A. reporter. She sat back in the bar-style chair in her favorite corner of Sugar ’n’ Spice and glanced out the floor-to-ceiling windows onto Wilshire Boulevard, taking in the autumn sunrise and the cars cruising by. A deep breath filled her nose with the smell of yeasty sweet rolls baking and coffee brewing and a touch of cinnamon from yesterday’s cookies. Who would have guessed she’d be where she was now? Six months ago, she’d finally used the small amount of money her grandmother had left her and opened the doors to the pastry shop. Now, not only was she operating in the black, she was beginning to make a tidy profit. And with coverage like the Hollywood Confidential had just given her, things would likely get even better.

Yes, all was definitely right with the world….

Her smile slipped. Okay, maybe there was one little blemish. Her name had been linked with that of the owner of Benardo’s Hideaway, Ben Kane. She didn’t make a habit of buying the Hollywood hot sheets herself, but between her customers and her friends Layla and Mallory leaving the papers behind, she was kept pretty well informed when it came to L.A. social happenings and people of interest. Suffice it to say that dark-haired, sexy Ben Kane had enjoyed being the Hollywood Hunk of the Month for the past two years running. And while the Confidential reporter had likely met him, she probably had no idea who Reilly was, even though she’d obviously been in the shop. Because if she had, she’d never have linked Reilly and Ben Kane together in print, or in any other manner. Simply because people didn’t come any more different than her and Ben Kane.

He was the captain of the football team and she was the fat girl in the back of the class.

He was the star and she was the extra with no lines.

He was the president and she was the disposable intern.

She lived in the cramped apartment over her shop and her only mode of transportation was a white ten-year-old minivan with the shop’s logo painted on it. He likely had a sprawling mansion in the Hollywood Hills and drove a Ferrari.

Reilly absently folded the paper, the pad of her thumb catching on the edge.

“Ow.” She shook her hand then stuck her thumb into her mouth. The cowbell above the front door clanged. She turned to find one of her morning steadies squinting against the change in light.

She pulled her thumb from her mouth. “Morning, Johnnie.”

“And an awesome morning it is, too,” Johnnie aka Johnnie Thunder said, just like he did every morning.

Reilly wondered if she was the only one who didn’t operate under an alias in the greater L.A. area. She pushed from the stool, finding it amazing that she had steady customers. She took in Johnnie’s limp, shoulder-length brown hair, his thickset torso bearing a pea-green T-shirt with a white logo of some kind on it peeking from the open flaps of his thriftshop army jacket. Worn jeans and tennis shoes finished off the effect of urban unchic. On a teen it might have been okay. But Johnnie had to be in his thirties.

“Can I interest you in a cream puff this morning?” she asked, scooting behind the counter where her eighteen-year-old niece, Tina, was stocking the display.

“No. I’ll take a sweet roll and a small coffee.”

“In other words, the usual?”

“Yeah.”

Instead of immediately heading for his spot as he usually did after receiving his tray of items, Johnnie lingered awkwardly at the counter.

Reilly blinked at him as she rearranged the rolls for maximum effect. “Is there something more you wanted, Johnnie?”

Was it possible for a man his age to blush that deeply? Yes, she realized, it was.

“I was just wondering,” he said. “I have tickets for this great music festival this weekend and I was thinking maybe you and me…well, if you wanted to go with me…”