Harmony Evans - Lesson in Romance

You can’t teach this kind of passion…

Alex Dovington is a man with a secret. The internationally famous jazz musician never learned to read. If the world—and his legions of fans—knew, it would be a disaster. When he learns Cara Williams has been hired to teach him, he is reluctant to follow the plan. The sultry teacher will be given only three days to teach the music legend everything she knows. But the instructor becomes the student when Alex turns their mountaintop classroom into a sensual duet of passion.

Cara will do anything to keep the doors of her Harlem literacy center open. Even tutor the scandalously handsome saxophone player at his romantic weekend retreat. Alex may be schooling her in the fine art of lovemaking, but Cara has her own secret—one that could tear them apart forever.…

Her heart skipped a beat when Alex leaned into the microphone and thanked the band. His baritone voice sounded even sexier reverberating through the small room.

Cara watched in amusement as a small crowd immediately gathered around the stage. Many were women, both young and old, with cameras in their hands, primping and waiting for the perfect photo opportunity. Over the next few minutes Alex posed for every picture and signed every autograph.

If this was what it was like to be famous, she’d pass. She was glad the only notoriety she’d ever have was the full-page ad for Beacon House in the yellow pages.

Cara straightened as Alex slid into the booth next to her.

“Why didn’t you warn me about the groupies? I am seething with jealousy over here.”

He draped his arm around the back of the booth, and she unconsciously inched closer to him. “There’s no competition here.” He twisted a lock of her hair around his finger and tugged on it playfully. “You’re still my biggest fan, right?”

She lifted her eyes to his and nodded, wishing that he knew, that she had the courage to tell him, just how much of a fan she was.

He laid his hand against her cheek, and she felt his warm breath on her lips. “And I’m yours.”

Their lips melted together in quiet intensity, and everything else—their fear, their pasts and their uncertain future—disappeared.

HARMONY EVANS

writes sexy, emotional contemporary love stories for women. A former jazz/classical pianist and radio announcer, she is currently a single mom with an overactive imagination still searching for her own happily-ever-after. For more love stories that last a lifetime, visit www.harmonyevans.comor follow @harmonyannevans.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

What if you couldn’t read the words on this page, a letter from your child or husband, or a menu? Those are the sobering questions I asked myself one day and what drove me to write Lesson in Romance, my debut novel.

I am always crushing on hot jazz musicians, so Alex is the culmination of my dreams. Although he can’t read, the notes he plays on his saxophone and the touch of his hands speak only pleasure. His sexy looks and vulnerability are irresistible to Cara, who’s on a mission to help end illiteracy in her Harlem community. Along with the ABC’s, she’s teaching Alex how to trust and love again. The secrets and experiences they share along the way will change their lives forever.

How has the gift of love and reading affected your life? Please share your thoughts with me at harmonyevans@roadrunner.com!

Be blessed,

Harmony Evans

I’d like to thank Nancy Oakley, Founder,

Project Learn, for her time and patience

in answering my endless questions about tutoring adult nonreaders and the issues surrounding illiteracy. Thanks to Mom and Dad, for loving me and

teaching me how to read. Finally, thanks to

Michelle Tackla-Wallace, for believing in me.

To my beautiful daughter Angelina,

my first and dearest fan.

Contents

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 1

Cara stepped out of the taxi on West 135th Street in Harlem clutching her briefcase like a life preserver, her eyes fixed on the building before her. The growling sounds of a saxophone poured out through an open window belonging to Alex Dovington, a man she’d wanted to meet for nearly thirteen years.

And the same man she had to teach how to read…in three days.

A cramp gripped her stomach like a vise and she bit her lower lip against the hard ridge of pain. For the millionth time, she questioned herself. Could she do this? If Alex found out who she really was, there was no telling how he would react.

The truth was she had no choice.

Her heels crunched through rust-colored leaves as she walked up the stairs of his home, an ornate renovated brownstone. Inhaling the earthy fragrance of the air calmed her nerves.

How she loved autumn! The season was especially beautiful in New York City. But lately, she’d been so busy trying to raise funds for Beacon House, the adult literacy center she’d founded and struggled to keep open, she barely noticed the warm days blending into cool nights.

She’d simply…existed.

She desperately needed the substantial donation she would receive if she succeeded in teaching Alex to read in three days. Failure was unthinkable, and she would do whatever it took to avoid it.

She reached the landing, sucked in another deep breath, pressed the doorbell. Chimes amplified the fresh wave of panic that rippled through her. She spotted a jack-o’-lantern perched on the stoop next door. The ghoulish sentry seemed to mock her with its crooked smile, and she stuck her tongue out at it in defiance.

Just then, the door swung open. Startled, she jerked backward and grabbed hold of the railing to avoid falling off the edge of the stair.

Good Lord.

Her heart scampered into her throat and her eyes widened at the man towering before her.

Album covers and magazine pictures did not do the brother justice. Nearly six feet tall with dark honey-caramel skin and a body that looked like it was made for a woman’s most scandalous dreams, Alex was more than fine. He was “now-that-I’ve-seen-U-I-can-die-now” gorgeous.

A tenor saxophone dangled like an upside-down question mark from a navy blue lariat around his neck. The large instrument looked like a child’s toy nestled against his bare chest and flat, ripped abdomen.

Stop staring! She knew it was rude, yet she found she couldn’t help herself.

“Miss Williams?”

Although Cara sensed Alex speaking, her attention focused on a serpent tattoo curled like a vise around the taut muscles of his upper right biceps. The head and forked tongue licked his bent elbow, igniting her curiosity, and she wondered if he had more tattoos and if so, where they were located on his body.

Face flushed, she lifted her eyes to discover he was staring right back. A frown tugged at the corners of his full lips and his fingers gripped the edge of the door, as if to warn her he could slam it shut at any moment.