Millie Criswell: No Strings Attached

Samantha nodded. “It’s only natural. We’ve known each other a long time.”

Leaning over, Jack drew Samantha into his arms and kissed her. The kiss was brief, nice…and not at all what she had expected. She felt nothing extraordinary and was almost relieved.

“Your turn,” he said.

Nervously she leaned toward him, and their lips touched again. But this time he clasped her head between his hands and kissed her as if he really meant it. His lips moved over hers softly yet firmly, then his tongue slid between her lips and she could hear him moan. Or was that her? Somewhere in Samantha’s mind lurked the thought that she should stop kissing Jack before things got out of control. Finally, and with a great deal of effort, she pulled back.

“Well, well,” he said, his smile disgustingly erotic. “You are full of surprises. Must be my lucky day.”

“For charming, outrageous fun, read Millie Criswell!”

—New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips

“A book by Millie Criswell is better than chocolate.

Don’t miss it!”

—USA TODAY bestselling author Leanne Banks

BODY LANGUAGE

“For an amusing and heart-warming story, be sure to check out Body Language.”

—Romance Reviews Today

“An entertaining…second chance at romance starring a delightful protagonist…. Readers will enjoy this love-at-the-U.N. tale.”

—Harriet Klausner, reviewcenter.com

“Simply a joy to read.”

—Kathy Boswell, The Best Reviews

MAD ABOUT MIA

“Once again the irrepressible Criswell provides readers with a funny and heartwarming story.”

—Booklist

“Lighthearted and good-natured reading.”

—Romantic Times

MORE PRAISE FOR MILLIE CRISWELL

“Criswell…makes her delightful contemporary debut with a funny and sexy romance…a worthwhile read.”

—Publishers Weekly on The Trouble with Mary

“Romantic comedy has a new star, and her name is Millie Criswell.”

—New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich

“Very entertaining, lots of laughs and some tears.”

—Philadelphia Inquirer on What To Do About Annie?

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To my son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Staci Criswell—brilliant attorneys, wonderful parents and the best son and daughter-in-law a mother could ask for. I love you both!

BODY LANGUAGE

SUDDENLY SINGLE

MAD ABOUT MIA

STAYING SINGLE

THE TRIALS OF ANGELA

WHAT TO DO ABOUT ANNIE?

THE PREGNANT MS. POTTER

THE TROUBLE WITH MARY

THE MARRYING MAN

THE WEDDING PLANNER

TRUE LOVE

DEFIANT

DANGEROUS

DESPERATE

PRIM ROSE

SWEET LAUREL

WILD HEATHER

ASKING FOR TROUBLE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

IN THE LIVING ROOM of Samantha Brady’s Upper East Side apartment, right next to her aging laptop, sat a small, green ceramic frog.

The frog would have been considered ugly by most standards, with its bulging dark eyes and a semblance of a mysterious smile, as if it knew something she didn’t. But Samantha loved it. Her best friend, Jack, had won it for her years ago at the Dutchess County Fair, and it had come to symbolize all the unsuccessful relationships with men she had experienced over the years.

Samantha had kissed a lot of frogs while looking for her Prince Charming, but all she’d gotten for her trouble was chapped lips.

The Big Romance that everyone wrote and sang about continued to elude her. The closest she’d come was The Bastard, which was how she always thought of Tony Shapiro, the man she had given her heart to shortly after her arrival in the city, and the man who had caused the naive little farm girl from upstate New York to smarten up and quick.

The Bastard had been married with three children. She’d been humiliated and decimated by the experience. But it had served to teach her a good lesson: Men were pigs, not frogs!

The exception to that was Jack Turner. She and Jack had grown up together in the quaint upstate community of Rhinebeck. He was exasperating and bullheaded, but also kind and caring.

She’d had a secret crush on him in high school and entertained wildly romantic ideas about him during her senior year. But he’d begun dating the very popular Suzy Stedman exclusively, and Samantha knew she was no match for a gorgeous cheerleader with boobs the size of bowling balls; hers were more in the golf ball category. At any rate, she’d put aside her foolish notions and settled for being best friends.

To the left of Samantha’s computer sat another ceramic figurine—a shiny red apple that her mother had given her before she’d left home to pursue a writing career. An inscription in gold leaf read: Take a bite out of the Big Apple. Love, Mom. She’d taken many bites of that apple since arriving to pursue her career as a freelance writer and novelist. But so far Samantha had come up with a lot more seeds than pulp.

And quite frankly, it was the pits.

Writing a book, especially finishing it, was a lot harder than Samantha had originally thought, owing to the fact that she was something of a perfectionist and agonized over every word. There was also the minor problem that none of the publishers she’d queried were interested in a humorous pseudo-mystery/romance novel about two old ladies and their niece, who ran an inn and were suspected of murder because of some buried bones found in their basement.

Apparently, those uninformed editors hadn’t seen Arsenic and Old Lace, or they’d have jumped at the chance to buy her book.

“Are you going to sit there and stare out the window all day, or are you actually going to write something? I thought you had a deadline.”

The front door closed and Samantha turned to face her roommate. Arms crossed over his chest, six-foot-one Jack Turner was disgustingly handsome, every woman’s idea of Prince Charming. He was frowning at her in that no-nonsense way he always did, but she could see the twinkle in his dark eyes and knew he was only teasing.

He’d been her knight in shining armor when she’d finally gotten the courage to move to the city despite her overprotective father’s vehement protests, and then hadn’t been able to find a decent apartment, if there was such a creature to be had.