Jeanie London - Between The Sheets

Rex smiled, his smile alone overloading her senses. “I promise to be a gentleman and stop when you tell me to.”

Stop? The man had her surrounded. He blocked out the whole world with his body, sparked all those achy places he’d awakened with his magic hands while massaging her.

“Just one kiss to see if you like it.” And then he lowered his face toward her with exquisite slowness, allowing her a chance to retreat.

Decision by indecision.

The instant their lips met, April knew this would be like no kiss she’d ever experienced before. He seemed to explode with emotion. His muscles gathered against hers. He tucked her into all the sculpted places of his body, enfolded her in a layer of hard, aroused male.

Her every sense was heightened, focused on him intently. The steady beating of his heart. The feel of him draped over her. Her every breath became his as his mouth prowled hers hungrily, coaxing her lips wide, thrusting his tongue inside, devouring, demanding a reply.

She replied with the only answer that made any sense. She kissed him back

Dear Reader,

Once upon a time I worked for a Fortune 500 company and lived the whirlwind life of a career woman on the road. I discovered firsthand how easy it is to get caught up in the challenge of the job to the exclusion of all else.

Rex Holt is a man who loves his life on the road—or so he thinks. Once April Stevens arrives to help him research the market for the Sensuous Collection, he realizes there is a whole lot of life he’s missing out on. It doesn’t take much more than some steamy nights between the sexy sheets to convince April that Rex is the man she wants to enjoy her life with, but there’s one not-so-little problem….

Blaze is the place to explore red-hot romance, and I’m excited to write for a series that excels in steamy happily-ever-afters. I hope April and Rex’s story brings you to happily-ever-after, too. Let me know. Drop me a line in care of Harlequin Books, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada. Or visit my Web site at www.jeanielondon.com. And don’t forget to check out www.tryblaze.com.

Very truly yours,

Jeanie London

For Ann Josephson, Kimberly Llewellyn and Tara Randel, the brilliant brainstorming buddies who helped me fan a tiny spark into a flaming love story.

And special thanks to Francine Bauer for introducing me to the fascinating world of nibbies!

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

To: Wilhemina Knox (mailto:president@luxuriousbedding.com)

Date: 3 Mar 2003 07:59:54-0500

Subject: Effective Stress Management

Install glory holes in the employees’ bathroom stalls for a low-cost method of stress management!

Studies prove that the regular release of sexual tension contributes to the effective management of work-related stress, improving overall mental and physical performance. Condom dispensers located beside tissue holders will adequately meet all OSHA standards and state health requirements.

“Glory holes, hmm?” April Stevens frowned down at the hard copy of an e-mail post. She’d never heard of a glory hole, much less seen one, but she had no trouble grasping the concept. Or imagining the protruding body parts and variety of sex acts that might be performed through one.

As an investigative researcher for J.P. Mooney Investigators, Ltd., the premier agency in the Dallas area, April had witnessed a variety of oddball human behaviors during her eight-year tenure. The recommendation of glory holes in bathroom walls as a way to relieve work-related stress was a definite first.

Scanning the e-mail header, she noted the address and glanced back at her boss. He sat behind his desk, primed and ready for her reaction, as though he’d sensed sex was the very last thing in the world she wanted to think about right now.

But her boss wasn’t a mind reader, so she cocked a hip against the edge of his desk and gave nonchalance a stab. “Did someone send this post to Wilhemina as some sort of joke? I can’t imagine she found it funny. It’s…well, raunchy.”

John Patrick Mooney steepled his fingers before him and grinned a grin that April imagined had stopped quite a few hearts some thirty-odd years earlier. An undeniably attractive man in his sixties with knife-creased features, steely gray hair and piercing black eyes, he had this whole I’ve-seen-it-all-and-lived-to-tell attitude that people often found intimidating. The grin softened his appearance considerably.

Not that he needed softening for April. Not at all. Years ago John and Paula, his wife, had opened their home to April. And she’d worked for John in some capacity since her junior year in high school—the year her search for her birth parents had introduced her to the world of private investigation. A world that had fascinated her enough to go into the field herself.

She’d convinced him she’d be an asset to his team despite her youth. He’d been insightful enough to give her a chance to prove herself. During her years with the company, she’d worked her way up from an administrative assistant to her current position as investigative researcher. While John Patrick Mooney might intimidate some people with his hard stare and deadpan expression, he didn’t intimidate April. She’d seen up close what a fair and even kindhearted man he could be.

“It is raunchy,” he said. “And you’re right. My sister-in-law didn’t find it remotely funny.”

April could well imagine. Professionalism was the end-all and be-all of Wilhemina’s world. She was a woman who’d forged a corporate career for herself during a time when executive management positions were filled by men through the good-old-boys’ network.

Wilhemina had chosen career over marriage and made no apologies, which meant that at holidays she showed up at John’s house to commune with family. This also meant that she and April were kindred spirits because April had attached herself to the Mooney family, too.

“Why did Wilhemina send this?” she asked. “What’s up?”

“This post isn’t the only one to come across the Luxurious Bedding Company’s computer network.” Reaching across his desk for the copy of the e-mail post, John held it up between them. “It’s one of over six dozen.”

“Oh my.” An image of the proposed glory hole sprang to mind and April shook her head to clear it. “All to Wilhemina?”

“No, she’s only one of the recipients. Someone is stalking employees at corporate headquarters with similar posts on a variety of, er, diverse topics. They’re showing up in the different departments—executive management, operations, sales, human resources, even the warehouse.”

“Suggestive e-mails popping up during business hours.” She gave a short laugh. “I’ll bet that makes for an interesting day on the job.”

“No joke. Wilhemina said the place has been bedlam. And the timing couldn’t be worse. She’s preparing to launch the Sensuous Collection. It’s a high-profile launch and a risky time for the company. These posts are distracting the employees from their work. ‘Sex on the brain’ is the way she described it.”

April would just bet. Whether a person was offended or titillated by the idea of what two employees might do with a stall wall and a cleverly positioned hole between them, one thing was clear—that person would be thinking about sex.

And thinking about sex was exactly what April didn’t want to do. She couldn’t afford a case of sex on the brain right now. No way. No how.