Jo Leigh - Minute by Minute

Everything from his voice to the crinkle of his eyes when he smiled hit Meg where it counted. Yeah, it probably didn’t help that she hadn’t had sex since the Ice Age.

Time. That’s all she needed. Time to feel as if the man sprawled on her bed was the same man she liked so much online.

Meg felt her cheeks fill with heat. She’d told him so much about herself. They hadn’t actually had sex, of course. But the man definitely had a starring role in all her sexual fantasies.

Which they’d discussed. In detail.

She knew Alex liked things intense. That he was a very oral kind of guy. And that he had a thing for white panties.

Should she just pounce on him? It wasn’t her style. Not that she had an actual style, but jumping him after an hour and a half together seemed…excessive. So how long was enough? Four hours? Five?

Of course, she’d known him a year online. More than enough time, Meg thought, grinning. She might not jump him in the next ten minutes, but it wouldn’t be long….

Dear Reader,

I don’t know about you, but when I daydream about a perfect setting for romance, there’s always a beach involved. Soft breezes, warm sand, puffy white clouds and a gorgeous man in a hammock. That’s where I lived while writing Meg and Alex’s story for 24 HOURS: ISLAND FLING. Okay, so it was all in my imagination but surely that counts.

I got the idea for Minute by Minute because so many of my girlfriends have been meeting men online. The conversations have been intimate, revealing, enticing and very, very safe until they decide to meet in person. That’s when things get…interesting.

Was he telling the truth? Will he be as funny? As kind? As sexy? Will it be as easy to talk when you’re lying together in that hammock? There are so many things that can go right or wrong and it all comes down to the first 24 hours! So get ready for a wild ride, and don’t forget your piña colada!

I hope you enjoy all the books in the 24 HOURS: ISLAND FLING miniseries. And don’t forget to check out my Web site at www.joleigh.com.

Cheers,

Jo Leigh

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To Cara and Kimberly,

for many hours of Island fun!

Prologue

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 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Epilogue

[DCWatcher] First…don’t be mad, Meg.

[MtnVet] Don’t be mad?

[DCWatcher] Yeah.

[MtnVet] About?

[DCWatcher] You need to go to the door.

[MtnVet] My door?

[DCWatcher] Ha, yes. Your front door. I’ll wait.

[MtnVet] Be right back.

[MtnVet] Alex, what is this?

[DCWatcher] Tell me what you got.

[MtnVet] Flowers. Beautiful, I might add. And a pretty big envelope.

[DCWatcher] I’m glad you like the flowers.

[MtnVet] Calla lilies are my favorites. You knew that, didn’t you?

[DCWatcher] I try to pay attention, Meg. Now, open the envelope.

[MtnVet] Alex????

[DCWatcher] It’s the island, Meg. I couldn’t believe it when I found it. It’s everything we talked about. The thatched bungalows, the scuba diving, the hammock in the palm trees.

[MtnVet] We were drunk. It was New Year’s Eve.

[DCWatcher] I know. I was there.

[MtnVet] It was a fantasy, Alex.

[DCWatcher] But it doesn’t have to be. What’s it been, a year now that we’ve been meeting online like this?

[MtnVet] About that, yeah.

[DCWatcher] So, here’s the deal. It’s your birthday today. You got me that incredible Mingus album on mine, and I wanted to do something special for you.

So when I found out about Escapades, I said what the hell.

[MtnVet] Alex, there’s an airline ticket in here. And a reservation.

[DCWatcher] Five days, four nights. And don’t worry. The bungalow has a loft with an extra bed and bathroom. I don’t want you feeling any pressure.

[DCWatcher] Meg, you still there?

[MtnVet] I am, but I don’t know what to say. We don’t even know each other. This is so extravagant.

[DCWatcher] We don’t know each other? What are you, nuts? I’ve told you more about myself than any other living human. And honey, the things I know about you…

[MtnVet] Yeah, yeah. I guess so. I have been incredibly indiscreet, haven’t I?

[DCWatcher] Don’t worry. I’ll never tell a living soul about your spanking fetish.

[MtnVet] Alex!!!

[DCWatcher] Just kidding.

[MtnVet] Jeez, tell a man one little fantasy.

[DCWatcher] Say yes, Meg. I know you need this break. You haven’t taken any time off for so long. I don’t know how you’re walking around, considering all you do.

[MtnVet] I know, but so soon? In two weeks? Oh, man, Valentine’s Day?

[DCWatcher] Don’t read anything into it. It’s when I could get the reservation.

[MtnVet] My ass. But it’s sweet anyway. Only, who’s going to fill in when I’m gone?

[DCWatcher] How about Scott?

[MtnVet] He didn’t get much out of his last stay here.

[DCWatcher] But maybe, if you’re gone, your loving patients and their owners will have to turn to him.

[MtnVet] I suppose.

[DCWatcher] Meg, you’re stalling. Listen to me. We both need this. I’m tired of just looking at that picture of you, although God knows, you look great. I want to see you. I want to hear your voice, listen to your laugh. It doesn’t have to go anywhere. Hell, it can’t. I’m in D.C., you’re in L.A. But for just five days and four nights, can’t the twain meet?

[MtnVet] The twain, huh? I’ve never heard it put quite like that before.

[DCWatcher] Man, do you have a dirty mind.

[MtnVet] Me? You’re one to talk.

[MtnVet] Would you really sleep in the loft?

[DCWatcher] If necessary.

[MtnVet] And this bungalow. It doesn’t have a TV?

[DCWatcher] Nope. But it does have room service. And a masseuse.

[MtnVet] Oh, God. That sounds like heaven.

[DCWatcher] So what are you waiting for?

[MtnVet] Alex, what if we hate each other on sight?

[DCWatcher] How could I hate you? You’re what I look forward to most every day. I leave the damn computer on all the time, just listening for that little tone announcing I’ve got mail. Don’t you get that by now?

[MtnVet] I’m grinning like an idiot here.

[DCWatcher] That’s a good start.

[MtnVet] And that picture of you in the Washington Post? You did say it was a recent one, yes?

[DCWatcher] Yep. If you weren’t sickened by that, we should be okay in person.

[MtnVet] Well…

[DCWatcher] Come on, woman. Take a risk. What’s the worst that could happen?