Julie Leto - Exposed

Max cupped Ariana with his hands, flicking his thumbs over her moistened flesh, while his kiss wandered across her collarbone and up her neck. Their lips clashed in a hot, breathless battle. She touched him everywhere. Down his back, up his arms, her fingers pushing through his hair, then dipping into his boxers. Learning him as he learned her.

He lifted her as he stood, letting her feet touch the ground long enough to remove the last scraps of clothing between them. Then he wrapped her legs around his waist and carried her to the ledge of the balcony.

Max settled her down and turned her toward the glorious view of the bridge and the bay drifting in and out of the fog. Twinkling lights appeared behind Ariana’s heavy eyelids when Max slid his hand down her belly and through her dark curls, testing her need.

Stroking her gently, he said, “Open your eyes, Ari. I promised to show you the view.”

Swallowing deeply, Ariana mumbled, “I don’t need to see. I just want to feel.”

Max tugged her earlobe with his teeth. “You can do both. Don’t settle for less when you can have it all. When we can have it all.”

Dear Reader,

This month marks the launch of a supersexy new series— Harlequin Blaze. If you like love stories with a strong sexual edge, then this is the line for you! The books are fun and flirtatious, the heroes are hot and outrageous. Blaze is a series for the woman who wants more in her reading pleasure….

Leading off the launch is bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson, who brings us a heroine to remember in the aptly titled #1 Notorious. Then popular Jo Leigh delivers a blazing story in #2 Going for It, about a sex therapist who ought to take her own advice. One of today’s hottest writers, Stephanie Bond, spins a humorous tale of sexual adventure in #3 Two Sexy! Rounding out the month is talented Julie Elizabeth Leto with the romp #4 Exposed, which exposes the sexy side of San Francisco and is the first of the SEXY CITY NIGHTS miniseries.

Look for four Blaze books every month at your favorite bookstore. And check us out online at eHarlequin.com and tryblaze.com.

Enjoy!

Birgit Davis-Todd

Senior Editor & Editorial Coordinator

Harlequin Blaze

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For the members of the Tampa Area Romance Authors (TARA), who continuously and generously buoy and cheer both my career and me.

My success is rooted in your loving support.

I vividly remember the day I fell in love with San Francisco. I was sixteen and on my first trip without my parents, visiting a place that was on the other side of the country. The romance, the craziness and the sensuality of the City by the Bay snared me instantly. It was a different world than anything I’d ever seen before—and I was in love!

Now I love to travel, and big cities are my favorite destinations. San Francisco. L.A. New York. When the idea behind the SEXY CITY NIGHTS miniseries came to me, I was in Chicago. The idea hit so hard, I nearly called my editor from my cell phone (which, to Toronto, isn’t cheap!). The skyscrapers, the crowds, the nightlife—cities like San Francisco offer everything to everyone, if you’re only willing to take a chance.

I hope you get as caught up in the SEXY CITY NIGHTS as I was that first time in San Francisco. Please drop me a line and let me know. You can write to me at P.O. Box 270885, Tampa, FL 33688-0885. Or, if you’d like to get a sneak peek at the next books in the series, link to my web site at www.Julieleto.com—and send me an e-mail while you’re there!

Julie Elizabeth Leto

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

“HEY, SWEET THING. Wanna lift?”

Ariana Karas swung her pack securely over her shoulder, ducking her head so the tube of architectural plans shoved inside didn’t knock off her lucky hat. She secured the Greek fisherman’s cap by pressing the brim firmly over her dark bangs and stepped onto the Powell-Hyde cable car for her ride back to the restaurant. She flashed a weary grin at Benny, the sixty-something brakeman who flirted with her on a nightly basis, just enough to make her smile—even tonight.

“Sweet thing?” she asked, eyebrow cocked. “I should be offended, Benny.” She produced her transit slip.

Benny rubbed his bearded jowl and laughed. He released the lever and tweaked the bell, setting the car—empty except for her in the front and a group of chilled tourists riding inside—in motion up Powell Street toward Fisherman’s Wharf.

“Heaven help me if I ever offend you, Miss Karas. That tube you’ve been carting from the restaurant to Market Street for the past few months would end up whacked upside my head.”

Ariana laughed silently, wondering how Benny and everyone else in the world could ever get the idea that she was so tough. Sure, she talked a good game to keep her rowdy bar patrons in line or to ward off the aggressive transients that sometimes hung around in front of the restaurant, but on nights like tonight, Ariana relived all the uncertainty she’d felt when she’d left home, young and starved for independence. Against the wishes of her entire family—grandparents, father, mother, two brothers and two sisters—she’d packed up and moved across the country from Tarpon Springs, Florida, to San Francisco, California. She’d had a degree in accounting from the local junior college and little knowledge of the world outside her tight-knit Greek community.

But she’d also had dreams taller and wider than the Golden Gate Bridge. She’d wanted to be her own woman, make her own dreams come true—on her terms and with few debts owed to anyone when her lifetime of fantasies became reality.

Eight years had passed. And tonight, three years of marriage, one divorce and five years of fourteen-hour days later, she was one week away from seeing her dream begin. Starting tomorrow afternoon, the restaurant she operated would be closed for business for the first time since her uncle had turned management duties over to her. When the remodeling was done and she reopened, she’d have a large, airy, modern space to serve locals and tourists alike. Customers would line up to taste her eclectic blend of hearty Greek and Italian foods and sip original libations in her signature bar.

She’d call it Ari’s Oasis.

She’d worked so long, so hard to compete with the other operations on the Wharf, some of which had been serving food to San Francisco since the turn of the century. Her uncle inherited the building from her aunt Sonia’s family, fishermen who used to sell their catch from makeshift carts. The permanent structure had evolved over the years, but the crisp, white-paneled walls, quaint fishing nets strung from the ceiling and red checkerboard tablecloths, while homey, were showing their age. Even Uncle Stefano knew the time for change had come. But he enjoyed sipping strong Turkish coffee in the mornings and ouzo in the evenings with customers more than supervising the menu or balancing the books.