Gwyneth Bolton - Make It Hot

As he took her in, he realized his chocolate beauty was probably thanking heaven her beautiful, delicious dark skin wouldn’t show any signs of blushing.

She looked really cute when she was contrite, and he found himself enjoying her uneasy stance.

“I’m sorry. I don’t usually give my opinion in this manner with clients. You can of course feel any way you wish. I just wanted to highlight that you really have a lot to be thankful for…” Her voice trailed off.

“Oh, your point is very much noted, Ms. Dash.”

He watched her back straighten and her hand absently twirl her hair. She sucked her bottom lip in and nibbled on it for a moment, and in that moment he wished he were her teeth.

He wanted to nibble and suck on those lips in the worst way.

Clarity struck. In that very moment, he realized no matter what he was going to have to kiss Little Miss Spitfire soon.

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was born and raised in Paterson, New Jersey. She currently lives in central New York with her husband, Cedric. When she was twelve years old, she became an avid reader of romance by sneaking her mother’s stash of Harlequin and Silhouette novels. In the nineties, she was introduced to African-American and multicultural romance novels, and her life hasn’t been the same since. She has a B.A. and M.A. in English/creative writing and a Ph.D. in English/composition and rhetoric. She teaches classes on writing and women’s studies at the college level. She has won several awards for her romance novels, including four Emma Awards and a Romance in Color Reviewers’ Choice Award for New Author of the Year. When she is not teaching or working on her own romance novels, she is curled up with a cup of herbal tea, a warm quilt and a good book. She can be reached via e-mail at gwynethbolton@prodigy.net, and readers can visit her Web site at www.gwynethbolton.com.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

Thanks for taking the time to read Joel and Samantha’s story. Every now and then a couple comes to my imagination and they are so perfect for each other they almost lull me into believing that telling their story will be a snap. Joel and Samantha were two peas in a pod, but writing their story was not easy.

These two characters proved to me without a doubt that even when the loving is easy, staying together and building something worth having is difficult—but worthwhile—work. What would you do if loving someone meant you might lose your job? What would you do if the career that you’d had for a long time, that made up such a large part of your identity, was no longer an option for you? Would you be able to open yourself to love no matter how vulnerable it made you feel? Joel and Samantha took a chance and opened up their hearts and souls to love. I hope their story inspires you to take a chance, too.

Be sure to pick up my December 2008 release, The Law of Desire, for the next installment in the HIGHTOWER HONORS series: four brothers on a mission to protect, serve and love…

Gwyneth Bolton

First I want to thank God for the many blessings in my life, especially the blessing to share my stories. I’d like to thank my family: my mother, Donna, my sisters Jennifer, Cassandra, Michelle and Tashina, my nieces Ashlee and Zaria and my husband Cedric. And I’d like to thank all the readers who have taken the time to write me and let me know what they thought of my novels. Your words have meant more than you could ever know.

To my readers, thank you for reading the words I write and inspiring me to write the best books I possibly can.

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

Epilogue

“He’s gotta be okay, man. This is Joel we’re talking about!” A raspy voice choked out the words as two emergency medical technicians wheeled a stretcher past Samantha Dash, almost knocking her out of the way.

“Excuse us, miss. We need to get through here.” The taller of the two technicians pulling up the rear was at least courteous as he brushed past her.

Samantha nodded and stepped out of the way as two firefighters dressed in full gear with faces full of soot and grime followed the EMTs. The patient was clearly one of their own.

The firefighters were led back out to the waiting room by the head nurse. Instead of heading back to the clinic next door where she worked, Samantha decided to stick around for a minute.

She had been in the emergency room, showing a patient with a broken leg how to use crutches. Normally, she never paid any attention to the hustle and bustle of the E.R. when she was called in from the clinic to do crutch care. Most physical therapists found it to be the most tedious part of the job, but they knew the small service meant a lot to patients getting used to walking with crutches. Somebody had to show them how to use the things; plus, this time she’d picked the shortest straw so out of the few physical therapists, it was her turn.

“What happened?” Samantha asked the head nurse. Nurse Madison was all of five feet tall but ran the E.R. like a drill sergeant. She also knew more about what was going on in the hospital than anyone on staff.

“I just had to show those two where they could wait. Things are going to get crazy hectic around here in a minute. That big warehouse fire downtown got out of control, and at least one firefighter was badly injured. Before you know it, this place is going to be swarming with firemen, media folk…and if this guy is who I heard them say he was, we’ve got a whole heap of Hightowers on the way.” Nurse Madison placed her pointer finger on her chin before turning to another nurse who happened to be walking by. “Is that Joel Hightower back there? One of Sophie’s nephews?”

The red-haired and freckled nurse stopped and nodded. “Yep, and you know ‘Ms. Retired’ will be here trying to tell us all what to do in a bit.”

“Mmm, hmm. That’s what I thought. Lord Jesus, I don’t need this. I ain’t able to deal with that woman today.” Nurse Madison spun and took off down the hall, full of sprite for an older woman. She turned and waved. “Gotta go, sweetie.”

Samantha didn’t have any more appointments at the clinic, so she followed Nurse Madison and watched as the doctors ran to and fro working on the firefighter.

“He’ll be lucky to walk again. Both legs are broken—the tibia and fibula on the right and the tibia on the left, and the injuries to the back and spine are extensive.” Dr. Lardner, a blond, old world, Viking-looking man, noted with a frown.

“The cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions of the spine are severely damaged. We have to operate if he is going to have a shot at walking again, much less fight fires,” Dr. Samuels, an older fair-skinned African-American concluded.