Kimberly Raye - The Pleasure Principle

And after downing four beers, followed by a champagne chaser at the Pink Cadillac a few hours earlier, the solution to Brady’s problem suddenly became clear. He’d find a woman and satisfy her fifty ways ‘til Sunday.

But not just any woman would do. It had to be the woman who’d always managed to get him hot and bothered when he was younger, the woman who’d haunted his dreams since he left town. Eden Hallsey, Cadillac’s resident bad girl. If he could satisfy Eden, then he would know, deep down in his soul, that his ex-wife had been lying.

Just the thought of Eden brought to mind a vision of her as she’d been tonight, staring up at him in the hallway of the bar, her lips plump and parted, desire gleaming in her eyes. Brady’s groin tightened and he shifted in the bed to make himself more comfortable.

Yes, he was going to sleep with Eden Hallsey. And prove to the world, once and for all, that he was every bit a man.

Dear Reader,

Harlequin Blaze is a supersexy new series. If you like love stories with a strong sexual edge, then this is the line for you! The books are fun and flirtatious, the heroes are hot and outrageous. Blaze is a series for the woman who wants more in her reading pleasure….

This month, USA Today bestselling author JoAnn Ross brings you #5 Thirty Nights, a provocative story about a man who wants a woman for only thirty nights of sheer pleasure. Then popular Kimberly Raye poses the question of what women really expect in a man, in the sizzling #6 The Pleasure Principle. Talented Candace Schuler delivers #7 Uninhibited, a hot story with two fiery protagonists who have few inhibitions—about each other! Carly Phillips rounds out the month with another SEXY CITY NIGHTS story set in New York—where the heat definitely escalates after dark…

Look for four Blaze books every month at your favorite bookstore. And check us out online at eHarlequin.com and tryblaze.com.

Enjoy!

Birgit Davis-Todd

Senior Editor & Editorial Coordinator

Harlequin Blaze

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For Brenna Evelyn Groff,

My little miracle from above. Mommy loves you!

And, as always, for Curt, Brenna’s wonderful father

and the man of my dreams.

I feel truly blessed.

Kimberly Raye has always been an incurable romantic, so she considers romance writing the perfect job for her. Especially when all her books feature her favorite type of hero—a rough-and-tough cowboy with tight jeans and a killer smile! Kim lives in the Lone Star State with her very own cowboy, her young son, Joshua, and her brand-new baby girl, Brenna.

For those of you who enjoy The Pleasure Principle, you won’t want to miss the prequel! Get to know Eden Hallsey and the townspeople of Cadillac, Texas, in Show and Tell, Kim’s contribution to Midnight Fantasies, the 2001 Blaze Collection, which hit the stands in July.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

AS OWNER AND OPERATOR of the only bar in Cadillac, Texas, Eden Hallsey came into contact with more than her fair share of men. Males of all shapes and sizes—rich and poor, young and old, annoying and nice, homely and handsome. But never had she seen one as handsome, as sexy, as hot as the man standing on the side of the road, next to a steaming black Porsche.

Handsome, as in short, dark hair that framed a GQ face, complete with a straight nose and strong jaw and sensual lips.

Sexy, as in the sensual way his white dress shirt outlined his muscular shoulders and broad chest, while soft, black trousers accented a trim waist and molded to his hips.

Hot as in the beads of perspiration that clung to his forehead, slid down his cheeks, the tanned column of his throat. He wiped his brow as he lifted a hand to flag her down.

Before she even realized what she was doing, her foot shifted to the brake and she started to slow. A few seconds later, she pulled up in front of the sleek sports car and rolled down her window.

“Need some help?” she asked as he walked up. She reached beneath the seat for the Triple A kit her waitress and friend Kasey had given her last Christmas. A click and she started rummaging in the tackle-size box. “Let’s see. I’ve got jumper cables. A jack. Spare can of oil.” A girl had to be prepared, as Kasey always said. Of course, in this situation her friend would have been referring to the tube of Passionate Pink lipstick she’d taped inside the top of the tackle box.

Eden barely ignored the urge to grab the tube and rub some of the color on her lips. Eden Hallsey primped for no man, even one as handsome as this one.

“Pick your poison,” she told him after she’d licked her lips and ticked off the remaining contents of the box.

“A gun would be nice.”

Her head snapped up and her gaze collided with his. She realized he looked vaguely familiar as her breath caught and her mouth actually went dry at the sight of the most intense, vivid blue eyes she’d ever seen.

A crazy reaction, because Eden’s mouth never went dry over a man. Sure, she appreciated the opposite sex. She even enjoyed them on occasion—though the last being so long ago she could hardly remember. She liked men, all right, as everyone well knew. But she never, ever let any one man get to her.

Until this man.

She ignored the crazy thought and concentrated on finding her voice. “Pardon?”

His grin was slow and easy and as breath-stealing as the record-breaking hundred degree heat baking the surrounding stretch of pasture. “To put her out of her misery.” He motioned behind him. “The engine block is cracked and nothing short of a miracle is likely to revive her.”

She couldn’t help but return his smile. “Sorry, but I’m fresh out of miracles today.”

His grin faltered and something passed in his gaze. “Me, too. Thankfully.”

His last comment, coupled with the flash of relief in his blue eyes, made her think that Mr. Handsome, Sexy and Hot wasn’t all that disappointed to see his fifty-thousand-dollar car steaming in the midday heat.

The thought passed as he turned his attention back to her. A hungry light fired his gaze and her breath caught. It was a look she was all too familiar with since she’d given her virginity to Jake Marlboro back in high school. He’d violated her trust and turned what should have been something beautiful into a tawdry good time to brag about to his friends. Thus, her reputation had been born and she’d endured it ever since. The bold pick-up lines, the raunchy comments, the hungry looks.

But this was different. Her response was different. She didn’t just want to slap his face. She wanted to throw her arms around him and see if his lips felt as soft and mesmerizing as they looked.