Carrie Alexander - Sinfully Sweet

Devlin said. “When they come back, you say you know nothing. Be convincing. Very convincing.”

Mackenzie spoke tentatively. “What if I don’t want to—”

He was fast. Before she could blink, Devlin was standing in front of her, dragging her close against his chest. The move was supposed to be intimidating—and it was—but the great threat was the way he made her feel.

Alive. Scared, but so incredibly alive.

“You’ll do it,” he said grittily.

“Or what?”

Devlin’s lips came down on hers, knocking out every objection with one striking blow. His mouth was hot and his tongue was wicked. The shock was staggering. Mackenzie hadn’t known that a kiss could be so savage and still turn her molten with desire.

He wrenched his mouth away.

Mackenzie was paralyzed, swaying on her frozen feet. “Or what?” was all she could think to say.

“Or I’ll never kiss you like that again.”

Dear Reader,

I sum up this book in five words: Bad Boy Goes Willie Wonka.

Does a tough-guy hero like Devlin Brandt have the same sexy charisma if he’s wearing rather outlandish seventies garb instead of a leather jacket and jeans? What if he’s hiding out from the bad guys by working behind the counter at a penny-candy store? In Sinfully Sweet, Mackenzie, the youngest Bliss sister, discovers that her old high-school crush on Devlin is still going strong. And she just might have a few surprises of her own up her sleeve…or in her candy dish!

If you enjoyed Sabrina Bliss’s story in The Chocoloate Seduction (Temptation #925), I think you’re ready for another wild ride into the world of SEX & CANDY. Indulge!

Carrie Alexander

P.S. Don’t forget to stop by my Web site at www.carriealexander.com to sign up for my SEX & CANDY giveaways. And drop me a note while you’re there—I’d love to hear from you.

Books by Carrie Alexander

HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

839—SMOOTH MOVES

869—RISKY MOVES

925—THE CHOCOLATE SEDUCTION*

HARLEQUIN BLAZE

20—PLAYING WITH FIRE

HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

1042—THE MAVERICK

1102—NORTH COUNTRY MAN

HARLEQUIN DUETS

25—CUSTOM-BUILT COWBOY

32—COUNTERFEIT COWBOY

38—KEEPSAKE COWBOY

83—ONCE UPON A TIARA**

—HENRY EVER AFTER**

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Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

“I AM GOING TO DO IT,” Mackenzie Bliss said with all the bravado she could muster.

Sabrina glanced at her with an easy nonchalance. “You don’t have to do it.”

Everything comes easy to Sabrina, Mackenzie thought, taking in her sister’s sloppy appearance. In a denim skirt and a sleeveless ribbed T-shirt that showed her flat tummy, Sabrina still managed to look good. Whereas Mackenzie had groomed herself for an hour and felt like potatoes stuffed into a designer gunny-sack.

“I’m not going to force you.” Sabrina squinted into the distance, avoiding her sister’s eyes.

Mackenzie knew why. Sabrina was hoping that she’d fail first. If their bet was off, Sabrina would be free to pursue the gorgeous chocolate chef, Kit Rex.

“Hmm,” Mackenzie said as if she were thinking about bailing. It was only to torture her sister, who was one year older but didn’t often act like it. “Ah—no. I’m definitely going through with this.”

“All right, but then we have to go inside, don’t we?”

They stood near the glass double doors of a glam Madison Avenue salon. It was the type of place Mackenzie used to walk by with a guilty speed, as if the stylists might be standing in the window, rating the bad haircuts and fashion faux pas of the rabble who couldn’t afford their services.

“Hold on, hold on. I’m thinking about it.” Mackenzie adjusted the wide belt slung around her hips. A personal shopper at Barneys had sworn the belt enhanced her shape without actually drawing attention to its healthy proportions. An impossibility, in retrospect.

Sabrina had finally grown frustrated. “Really, Mackenzie, this is ridiculous. Get in there. It’s only hair, not an arm or a leg. Nothing to be nervous about.”

“Says you.” Mackenzie pulled her waist-length braid over one shoulder, feeling protective now that she was on the verge of cutting it off. Sabrina also had long hair, but she hadn’t even combed hers, just dragged it up into a messy ponytail. She was gorgeous nonetheless, although her looks weren’t very important to her. She’d probably shave her head on a whim.

The difference was that Sabrina didn’t need the reassurance. She had an interesting character, a striking face and a skinny model’s body, while Mackenzie was quiet, even shy, and a model-size twelve. She’d grown comfortable with her shape—most of the time—but avoided being the center of attention if she could, unlike her sister. Why Mackenzie had agreed to a bet that made her exactly that was a mystery as great as the Pyramids.

Two months ago, Mackenzie and Sabrina’s parents had remarried after having been divorced for sixteen years. The wedding had been a catalyst for the sisters to examine how they’d let their parents’ breakup misshape their lives. Swept up in the air of romance and possibility, they’d challenged each other to change, to find their own true happiness. Sabrina had even put up stakes—the heirloom diamond ring that had been passed down to her on the eve of their parents’ wedding. Their mother had chosen to start off fresh with a ring that hadn’t already been through a divorce.

Suddenly, the challenge had become a bet. Sabrina, the wanderer without a committed bone in her body, was to try settling down for the first time in her life. She’d also agreed to forego men until she became serious about just one. Now, two months later, she’d already signed a lease, found a job and developed an intense attraction with Kit.

Whereas Mackenzie was undergoing the opposite process. She’d left her long-time career as a buyer in the sweets division of Regal Foods and had invested all her savings in her own business, a penny-candy store called Sweet Something. She’d let go of her steady old boyfriend, Jason Dole, even though being single again after several years of comfortable, if unexciting, companionship made her feel like an untethered kite. Last of all, she’d agreed to put herself in the hands of a stylist and personal shopper and was on the way to a brand-new look, just in time for her store’s grand opening.

Cutting her waist-length hair was the last step. One she’d been resisting.

She’d always been comfortable with long hair, simply because she’d always had it. She was a person who rarely ventured outside her comfort zone.

Yes, that was her reasoning and she was sticking to it. It wasn’t as if she was actually hiding behind her hair. And she certainly wasn’t still clinging to an ancient memory of Devlin, who’d once said…