Carolyn Hector - Tempting The Beauty Queen

Booklist Also By Carolyn Hector Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Dedication Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Extract About the Publisher The Magic of Mistletoe The Bachelor and the Beauty Queen His Southern Sweetheart The Beauty and the CEO A Tiara Under the Tree Tempting the Beauty Queen Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Title Page Tempting the Beauty Queen Carolyn Hector www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-08483-3 TEMPTING THE BEAUTY QUEEN © 2018 Carolyn Hall Published in Great Britain 2018 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, 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. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Version: 2020-03-02

Introduction “Why are you doing this?” Kenzie asked. “What?” He had the nerve to sound innocent. “I’m trying to be chivalrous. Haven’t we moved beyond the hostility between us?” “There’s nothing between us,” Kenzie lied. The smirk on his face proved he didn’t believe her. “We need to get some things out of the way before we work together on this post office proposal and Felicia’s wedding. All this tension between us is going to make Auntie Bren wonder.” “Stop calling her that,” Kenzie started to squawk. Before she knew it, Ramon lowered his head and captured her lips with his. Any sense of irritation or anger fell to the wayside. Kenzie pressed her hands against Ramon’s broad chest. Her thumbs brushed against the buttons of his oxford shirt, tempting her to rip the material open. The familiar dance of their tongues excited her. Ramon broke the kiss and straightened to his full height. Kenzie wanted to smack him and kiss him at the same time. “Good,” he breathed. “I needed to get that out of the way.” Maybe they needed to kiss—get those confusing feelings out of her system. The problem: she wanted more.

Dear Reader Dear Reader Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Dedication Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Extract About the Publisher , Grab your church fans, ladies and gentlemen, it’s summertime in Southwood, Georgia. Wedding season is upon us—three weddings, a gala and a beauty pageant to be exact—and Kenzie Swayne doesn’t have a date to a single event! This small Southern town is celebrating its one hundred and fiftieth year—which is about the length of time Kenzie would prefer to have before dealing with Ramon Torres ever again. But being dateless has Kenzie sorely tempted to turn to the man who abruptly ended things with her last summer without a word. You may have picked up on the behind-the-scenes chemistry between Ramon and Kenzie in The Beauty and the CEO. Their story needed to be told! In Tempting the Beauty Queen, Kenzie mentions her group of friends, the Tiara Squad, and I’ve got the rest of their stories for you, as well. Stay tuned! Carolyn

Dedication I would like to dedicate this to Dr. Henry J. Hector III, aka my dad—The World’s Best Father.

Acknowledgments Acknowledgments Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Introduction Dear Reader Dedication Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Extract About the Publisher I would like to acknowledge all those in the pageant circuits—those on stage, in front of the stage and behind the curtains who come together to make their own Tiara Squad. They remind me of all the fabulous people at Harlequin Kimani Romance—the folks who can take someone like myself and make me sparkle. Thanks!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter 1

“I was able to find a Hamilton ticket easier than trying to find a date for this month,” said Kenzie Swayne, Southwood, Georgia’s town historian. To say she had problems was the understatement of the century. Her strictly platonic go-to date, Rafael “Rafe” Gonzalez, bailed on her this morning. Something about the time being right to go after the woman he loved. Deep down inside, Kenzie knew she needed to be happy for her friend, but damn, couldn’t love wait a month?

With a heavy sigh, Kenzie flipped her word-of-the-day calendar over. “ Lugubrious ,” she announced. “Yep, gloomy, bummed and bleak pretty much summarizes my life right now.” Where else could a girl get a hot guy who lived in the next town over to show up for important dates and who wasn’t looking for long-term commitments?

At the hint of a chuckle, Kenzie glanced up at her dear friend, Lexi Pendergrass Reyes, who graciously hid her laughter behind her left hand, where her blindingly gorgeous wedding ring caught the fluorescent lights of the room. Kenzie grumbled and leaned back in her black leather office chair and rolled her eyes when the chair hit the wall behind her. Sure, her tiny headquarters in City Hall were small but she had bigger problems. She needed an escort for her cousin’s wedding tomorrow and the four major events of June, when three friends were tying the knot, along with a gala and a beauty pageant.

“Come on now,” encouraged Lexi. She shifted the four teal garment bags into her left hand and leaned against the door jamb. “What about one of the Crowne twins? Surely they’re going to their brother’s ceremony?”

The last wedding Kenzie agreed to attend and be in was a surprise for the bride. At least with Waverly Leverve, knowing about the nuptials meant she could at least back out of this one. Kenzie shook her head from side to side. The coppery, red-gold hair fell over her shoulders. She frowned as she twisted it up into a bun. She couldn’t control her hair in this humid weather, so what made her think she’d be able to control her life?