Kristin Gabriel - Propositioned?

She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. No, she didn’t want to stop herself.

“All the better to hold you with,” Michael said, taking her mouth in a hungry kiss, before pulling her body flush with his own. Sensations overwhelmed Sarah. Cool against hot. Soft against hard. The intimate contact made her long for more, made her forget everything but this man. This moment.

As his mouth devoured her, his fingers stalked the buttons of her blouse, the zipper on her skirt. Before she knew it, she was wearing nothing but her lacy red bra and panties, lingerie bought on a whim yesterday to implement her New Year’s resolution to take more risks. No more boring beige underwear.

No more boring beige life.

“And what big hands you have,” she gasped as his touches became more intimate.

She could sense rather than see his predatory smile.

“All the better to ravish you with, my dear.”

Dear Reader,

My New Year’s resolutions are usually fairly tame: lose weight, become more organized, stop procrastinating. Resolutions I usually manage to break before Valentine’s Day, unlike my heroine, Sarah Hewitt, who makes a New Year’s resolution to take more risks—a resolution that ultimately lands her in the bed of Michael Wolff, a sexy stranger who’s determined not to let her go…literally. Now all Sarah has to decide is if she wants to escape!

I had so much fun writing a story for THE WRONG BED, one of Temptation’s most popular miniseries. And I’d love to know what you think about Michael and Sarah’s story. You can reach me online at www.KristinGabriel.com or write to me at P.O. Box 5162, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801-5162.

Enjoy!

Kristin Gabriel

HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

834—DANGEROUSLY IRRESISTIBLE

868—SEDUCED IN SEATTLE

896—SHEERLY IRRESISTIBLE

HARLEQUIN DUETS

7—ANNIE, GET YOUR GROOM

25—THE BACHELOR TRAP

27—BACHELOR BY DESIGN

29—BEAUTY AND THE BACHELOR

61—OPERATION BABE-MAGNET

OPERATION BEAUTY

Propositioned?

Kristin Gabriel

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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I hope wonderful things await you in the New Year!

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

Epilogue

SARAH HEWITT had never crashed a party before. Or broken into a safe. But there was a first time for everything, and tonight she was planning to do both.

Her black leather boots crunched in the snow as she stealthily approached the Wolff mansion. Bright lights shone from the tall windows gracing the front of the grand edifice, casting an eerie crystal glow on the snowy mountainside. Towering pine trees surrounded the open black wrought-iron gate, making it easy for her to slip inside the private grounds unnoticed.

She’d left her twelve-year-old Toyota parked on an unpaved road a half mile away. The crisp mountain air had numbed her cheeks as she’d made the remainder of the journey to the Wolff mansion on foot. Now her breath came in quick, uneven puffs of frosty air, though more from the anticipation of the night ahead than the steep uphill hike she’d just taken. Adrenaline pumped through her veins now, warming her from the inside out. She wiggled her frozen toes inside her boots as sharp pinpricks of feeling slowly flowed back into them.

From her vantage point on the mountain, she could see tiny dots of lights marking the city of Denver, which lay twenty miles to the east. That’s where she lived with her grandfather, who assumed Sarah was out celebrating New Year’s Eve with her friends.

Little did he know she was about to follow his footsteps into a life of crime.

She moved swiftly in the shadows toward the mansion, watching as a steady string of shiny black limousines made their way around the circular driveway. Each one stopped briefly at the front entrance to let its costumed passengers disembark.

The Wolffs’ annual masquerade ball was one of the highlights of the Denver social season. Or so she’d heard. Sarah didn’t pay much attention to lives of the rich and famous. She was too busy trying to earn enough money so she could finally pursue her master’s degree in sociology. She was currently working two jobs—as a bank teller during the day and a waitress evenings and weekends.

When Sarah had glimpsed an invitation to the Wolffs’ masquerade ball on the bank president’s desk, she knew it had been a little nudge from fate. It couldn’t have simply been by chance that she’d been given the perfect opportunity to correct a horrible mistake before it came back to haunt her family.

Standing near the front entrance now, hidden behind a massive marble column, Sarah watched as the doorman stood inside the open foyer to welcome the arriving guests. She pulled her long, hooded red cloak more tightly around her, grateful she’d picked a warm costume.

Little Red Riding Hood’s red wool cloak, elbow-length red gloves, and black leather boots were perfect for traipsing around a mountain in the middle of winter. As an added advantage, the gloves would ensure that she left no telltale fingerprints behind.

Peering through the slits of her red mask, she leaned farther around the column to see a commotion in the foyer. One of the arriving guests, a woman dressed as a Las Vegas showgirl, had gotten her tall feather headdress stuck on the crystal chandelier.

As the doorman struggled to untangle the distraught showgirl, Sarah quickly raced up the steps and moved inside the foyer, heading rapidly for the ballroom. The loud band music reverberating down the hallway would have led her there, even if she hadn’t memorized the blueprint of the mansion’s floor plans the night before.

Sarah held her breath as she hurried down the hallway, half-expecting someone to sound an alarm and cut her off before she could lose herself among the crowd of costumed guests milling around the opulent ballroom. But to her surprise, no one tried to stop her. She soon found herself standing at the arched doorway to the ballroom, mercifully anonymous behind her mask.

Relief washed over her, though she knew the greater challenge lay ahead. She let her gaze wander over the ballroom, impressed with the polished marble floor and the crystal chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling. All of the guests wore masks to conceal their identity. According to the party invitation, the grand unveiling was scheduled for midnight.

That’s when Sarah intended to make her move.

She checked her watch, realizing she’d allowed herself plenty of time. Now she simply had to blend in and mingle for the next hour or so, try to act as if she really belonged here. Sarah couldn’t wait until this night was over. Then she could return to her regular life. In a regular house. With regular people.