Heather Macallister - Personal Relations

Brooke scooted inside the car, to the far side of a padded bench seat. Chase slid in beside her and gave her hand a squeeze. Across from them, Reverend Bob took his place and pulled out some papers. Looking around the interior of the limo, Brooke was overwhelmed by the garlands of greenery, flowers and ribbons that decorated the small space.

“Since we have some time before the ceremony, I’ll just point out the special features of this particular limo.” Reverend Bob gestured to the opaque glass partition behind him. “Soundproof. We’ll lower it during the ceremony so the driver can be your witness, but once you begin the honeymoon, it will be raised.”

“Honeymoon?” Brooke asked.

“Yes. You’ve got the limo for two hours.” He gestured for them to move apart, reached between them and lowered the padded panel. “You pull that handle there, and the seat will fold down to make a bed.”

Brooke was dumbfounded. He expected…people actually…

“Cool,” Chase said, giving Brooke a wicked grin.

Dear Reader,

I thought I’d get right to the good stuff—aphrodisiacs. After all, this is a Harlequin Temptation, right? In researching the scene where Brooke’s sister and Chase’s brother are trying to kindle a romance between their siblings, I learned some interesting things. Did you know that through the ages, there were a lot of foods—not just oysters—that were considered to have erotic powers? So, of course, I had to mention them….

One of the aphrodisiacs I used in the book was pine nut soup. Would you believe that pine nuts have been used to inspire romance since 116 B.C.? Do they work? I’ll let you be the judge of that. Look below for a recipe.

In the meantime, sit back and have fun watching Chase and Brooke as they struggle to avoid being caught in the romantic snare set for them by their siblings—and find themselves caught up in love anyway!

Have fun,

Heather MacAllister

P.S. You can visit my Web site at HeatherMacAllister.com

Recipe for Pine Nut Soup

Puree 1/2 cup of pine nuts and 3 egg yolks in a food processor until you have a smooth paste. Put the mixture in a saucepan and add 1 cup of chicken broth and 1 cup of cream. Add 1/8 teaspoon of saffron and heat gently, stirring consistently until the soup thickens. Don’t let it boil!

Serve immediately—and enjoy!

Personal Relations

Heather MacAllister

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Trudy and Bill Hanes.

And Pilgrim.

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

I’m a female West Houston High senior and am looking for a valentine for my overprotective older sister who’s cramping my style. She’s a babe-in-waiting, not a woofer. If you’ve got an available older brother who’s at least twenty-five, and isn’t a troll, call me and let’s hook them up. I’ll make it worth your while.

“HI, MY NAME IS Jeff Ryan and I’m calling about the ad you put in Additudes.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m glad my sister didn’t answer the phone. Hang on and let me kick my door shut…okay. I’m Courtney Weathers, by the way.”

“Uhm, I know who you are—you’re in South Pacific at school, right?”

“Yes, just the chorus, but I am the understudy for Nellie.”

“Is that good?”

“Well, not as good as being cast as Nellie, since that’s the lead, but better than not being the understudy. I mean, people can get colds, right? Anyway, you’ve got a brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, is he cute?”

“I’m a guy! I don’t know if he’s cute or not.”

“Do you look like him?”

“Not really. He’s my stepbrother, actually, my ex-stepbrother, but he never has a problem getting dates, if that helps.”

“So why doesn’t he have a girlfriend now? And I’m assuming he doesn’t or this call is so over.”

“He works all the time and they get mad when he bails on them. And when he’s not working, he’s bugging me.”

“I hear that.”

“I mean, he’s a great guy, and he’s letting me live with him while I finish up at West Houston, but he’s got this idea that I’m going to ‘follow in his footsteps,’ or some garbage like that. He’s got my whole life planned out to be just like his.”

“Oh, wow! You just described my sister! I’ve got a major case of goose bumps going here.”

“Hey, yeah?”

“I mean, Brooke, that’s my sister, she’s just so totally into this whole college thing and, like, I’m telling her I want to be an actress and she just so won’t listen.”

“And your parents are listening to her, right?”

“Oh, it’s so bad. My dad’s working in El Bahar, so they’re living overseas and they think that my sister is this perfect goody-goody, mainly because she is. They’re always taking her side. It’s like they think I’m still this little kid.”

“Well…I don’t think Chase—my step-bro—is the kind of guy to go for a goody-goody.”

“But that’s just it—she didn’t used to be. It’s this responsibility trip she’s on. It’s got her way too tightly wound. She needs a distraction.”

“Yeah…I’m thinking that’s what Chase needs. All he does is work—”

“Then is he going to have time to date my sister?”

“If your sister looks anything like you, he’ll make time.”

“Oh! Hey, thanks. That’s sweet.”

“Uh, yeah. See, here’s the thing. He’s trying to set this good example for me and so if he knows I’m watching how he treats your sister, then he won’t cancel out, or I’ll make a big deal out of it. You know, push the guilt button.”

“Okay. So we need to get them together. Do you have anything going on after school?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you volunteer to help backstage with the sets and props? We need more people.”

“I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“They’ll teach you and this way, I can introduce Brooke to your brother when they come to pick us up after rehearsal.”

“Uhm, I have my own car. Or right now, Chase’s.”

“Cool. So take it to get the oil changed or something.”

“Okay. I’ll think of something. So, when do you want to do this?”

“How about tomorrow?”

DOWNTOWN TRAFFIC had been worse than usual, so Brooke Weathers was later than she liked to be when she pulled her car into the West Houston High parking lot by the auditorium. Several teenagers gathered in clumps by the brick sign. It looked as though the South Pacific rehearsal had already finished.

She scanned the clumps looking for her dark-haired sister and finally found her draped against a silver Porsche as she talked to the occupants.

Some father had just had his midlife crisis, Brooke guessed, since the fancy car was out of the league of most of the students here.

She lowered her window. “Courtney!” she called just as Courtney spotted her. Her sister straightened and gestured for Brooke to come closer.