Yahrah John - Lost Without You

Rivals in business. Partners in love?

As the creative genius behind Georgia’s most fabled cosmetics dynasty, Shane Adams has a legacy to live up to. The freewheeling Atlanta bachelor also knows how to romance a woman, wining and dining the city’s most eligible beauties. Only Gabrielle Burton seems immune to his legendary charms. Yet Shane has never been able to forget his stunning rival, whose sweet desire is like a lingering perfume.…

The hunky Adams Cosmetics VP has always held Gabby spellbound. But the workaholic perfumer never thought she could attract the sexy playboy’s attention. Until she undergoes a major makeover. Suddenly she’s on everyone’s A-list…including Shane’s. As intrigue swirls around the company, is the sensual scent of passion leading Gabby and Shane to love?

Gabrielle was breathless and just a tad bit giddy as they danced.

Shane guided her easily around the dance floor to the mid-tempo jazz tune. He bent down to rest his head lightly against the side of her face, and she could feel his breath against her cheek.

A slow song came on and Shane slowed the tempo. Shane closed the gap between them until they were chest-to-chest and hip-to-hip. When he ground his hips against hers, Gabrielle thought she might faint. Her cheeks became warm, and she could feel liquid heat, unlike she’d ever felt before, pooling in the lower half of her body. There was no mistaking that Shane Adams knew exactly what turned her on.

And when his hands reached out to caress her face, Gabrielle couldn’t help but look up into his hazel eyes. She understood what she saw there: lust, plain and simple. But she never expected him to act on it. So she was surprised when Shane leaned down to brush his lips gently across hers. It was the softest of kisses, but it sent a shiver running up her spine all the same. She didn’t—couldn’t—stop him when he deepened the kiss.

YAHRAH ST. JOHN

is the author of ten books and numerous short stories. A graduate of Hyde Park Career Academy, she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Northwestern University.

Her books have garnered four-star ratings from RT Book Reviews, Rawsistaz Reviewers, Romance in Color and numerous book clubs. A member of Romance Writers of America, St. John is an avid reader of all genres. She enjoys the arts, cooking, traveling, basketball and adventure sports, but her true passion remains writing.

St. John lives in sunny Orlando, the City Beautiful.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

Lost Without You continues the Adams saga introduced previously in Need You Now, but will focus on Shane Adams and Gabrielle Burton. When I originally conceived the book, it started out as a makeover story: Gabrielle as the prudish chemist and Shane as the gorgeous bachelor. It quickly evolved into more, with the epic rivalry between Adams Cosmetics and Jax Cosmetics as the backdrop.

Since fragrance played a big role, I realized a great conflict would be to have the fragrance stolen and have Gabrielle appear to be the culprit.

Remember the spoiler alert I gave you about Andrew Jackson of Jax Cosmetics? He is back in a major way as the villain of Lost Without You. So you can only imagine what will happen when his estranged son, real-estate mogul Jasper Jackson, falls in love with sexy spokesmodel, Courtney Adams. Stay tuned for the final chapter of the An Adams Affair trilogy, Formula for Passion, coming September 2012.

Visit my website at www.yahrahstjohn.com for the latest updates or contact me via email at Yahrah@yahrahstjohn.com.

Warm regards,

Yahrah St. John

I couldn’t have reached my goal of publishing

my 10th book without the love and support of all my family, friends and readers. Thank you for continuing to allow me to do what I love, and that’s bringing you stories of love, passion, drama and intrigue. I hope to bring you more great books in the future as

I challenge myself to reach new heights as an author.

Dedicated to my Dad, Austin Mitchell, for believing

I could reach my goal of seeing my 10th book in print.

Contents

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

Chapter 1

“Thanks to Hypnotic and the backing of Graham International, Adams Cosmetics is back in the black!” Kayla Graham announced during a midweek board meeting in early March at the Adams Cosmetics corporate office in Atlanta. “The holiday sales numbers are in and the outlook is promising. We are beating our competition, Jax Cosmetics, in every division from cosmetics to skin care to fragrance.”

“Was there ever any doubt?” Shane asked.

Kayla smiled at her brother’s confidence. “Of course not, we—” she pointed to the other family members present: her husband, Ethan Graham, and younger sister Courtney “—know how talented you are.”

Shane had graduated at the top of his class at the Fashion Institute of Technology with a bachelor of science degree in cosmetics and fragrance marketing. He’d then gone to perfumery school in Paris before apprenticing at the Fragonard perfumery in Grasse, France.

Kayla knew her brother was well trained to bring Adams Cosmetics into the twenty-first century, but he needed help. He’d already been spearheading developing new products for the past six years, but they couldn’t continue to rely solely on him. Otherwise, he would burn out.

“Thank you,” Shane replied. “Andrew Jackson must be spinning on those alligator heels of his.”

Andrew Jackson owned Jax Cosmetics, their main competitor. Theirs was a bitter rivalry that spanned back to the days when their father, Byron, and mother, Elizabeth, went to college together. Their mother used to date Andrew, and when she chose Byron over Andrew, the feud began.

“We need to capitalize on the momentum Hypnotic is bringing,” Ethan Graham said as he joined the conversation. He was happy to see that Adams Cosmetics was finally starting to break even. It would make his board of directors very happy, considering they hadn’t been pleased when he’d decided to purchase Adams Cosmetics last year for his company, Graham International. He hadn’t cared, though, because thanks to his acquisition, he’d fallen in love with Kayla and she was expecting their first child, a son, in a few months.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Shane returned. “I’m working on the next fragrance.”

“How’s it coming along?” Courtney inquired.

Shane rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. “It’s coming.” Truth be told, he was having a hard time coming up with just the right notes to finish the fragrance on top of all his other work.

“We don’t mean to pressure you.” Kayla could see the tense look on Shane’s face. “But we’re hot now.”

“I’m well aware of that fact.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Courtney asked. She wasn’t good with chemistry, but she had a degree in marketing and finance.

“I have a solution,” Ethan stated.

Kayla turned and looked at her husband. They’d discussed his solution at length over the past several days. She’d hoped that Shane would have better news about his progress, but since he didn’t, they didn’t have much choice but to proceed with Ethan’s suggestion. Kayla held her breath and braced herself for the blowup she knew was about to come.