Vicki Thompson - Notorious

Dear Reader,

Eight years ago Harlequin senior editor Brenda Chin invited me to write the first Harlequin Blaze novel, and that honor ranks as a major highlight of my career. Harlequin Blaze was a new millennium concept then, and the line continues to set the standard for sensuality and great storytelling. With innovation like that, no wonder Harlequin Books is now celebrating its sixtieth anniversary of publishing the romances women want to read! I’m thrilled to be a part of that legacy.

When Harlequin Blaze debuted, it brought a sense of adventure and freedom to both authors and readers. I was inspired to write Notorious, a no-holds-barred story of a woman who allows a man to believe the worst about her, and then tortures him with glimpses of how naughty she can be! Creative freedom is a heady experience, both for me and for my characters.

Apparently that heady experience still calls to me, because I’m starting a whole new series within Harlequin Blaze that debuts in the summer of 2010. I couldn’t return to Blaze without returning to the cowboy heroes I love, men like Noah, the hero in Notorious. Poor Noah—he’s determined to save Keely from a decadent life. He has no idea what he’s let himself in for with a feisty woman like Keely!

I’m sure Noah and Keely are delighted to be part of Harlequin’s sixtieth anniversary, as am I. Here’s to sixty more wonderful years of reading!

Gratefully yours,

Vicki Lewis Thompson

“Vicki Lewis Thompson is one of those rare, gifted writers with the ability to touch her readers’ hearts and their funny bones.”

—#1 New York Times bestselling author

Debbie Macomber

“Master storyteller Vicki Lewis Thompson dishes up a sizzling romantic romp guaranteed to spice up our reading pleasure.”

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

“Thompson’s love scenes combine emotion and erotic drive, making her one of the best sensual writers in the field.”

—Affaire de Coeur

“Ms. Thompson does a wonderful job of blending the erotic with romance that is sometimes tender, sometimes funny, and always exciting.”

—Diana Risso, Romance Reviews Today

“When you pick up a book that bears the name of Vicki Lewis Thompson on the cover, you can expect a great read. She…will make you laugh, cry, need a cold shower and most important fall in love.”

—Fallen Angel Reviews

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

For my editor Brenda Chin,

fellow trailblazer…still.

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

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Epilogue

GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!

The electronic message on the billboard over the Pussycat Lounge expanded against a background of cascading fireworks, then disintegrated as a new message took shape.

ON STAGE NOW!

Noah Garfield walked past the entrance to the bar, located two streets over from the Las Vegas Strip. Although he had no intention of entering the place, he wouldn’t be a normal guy if he didn’t spend a moment picturing topless women dancing inside the darkened interior. Sexual adventure seemed more wicked when it was offered at two in the afternoon.

And sexual adventure still made him think of Keely, even after ten years. He could hardly believe so much time had gone by since she’d shocked the good folks of Saguaro Junction, Arizona, by posing for the centerfold of Macho magazine. With no trouble at all he could still see her stretched out in all her nineteen-year-old glory, smiling at him and about half a million other guys. Born to be wild, that was Keely Branscom.

He’d love to know where she was now. Maybe married with three kids, although he had a hard time picturing that. More likely she was performing in a club exactly like the one he’d just passed. That wasn’t so hard to imagine.

The bachelor party tonight would be at a similar kind of place, and Noah wasn’t really looking forward to it. He didn’t have a steady relationship with a woman like the other guys in the wedding party, which meant he was sexually on edge. It wasn’t a good idea to watch a lot of seminaked women bobbing around when you were in that state.

The heels of his boots tapped out a steady rhythm as he continued on his way. The last time he was in this town for a pro rodeo about five years ago, he distinctly remembered a little neighborhood-type bar in this area. No dancers, no loud music, just cold beer and a couple of outdated slot machines.

Now he couldn’t find it.

He’d counted on that little bar to be his hidey-hole over the weekend, whenever the festivities for his good buddy Brandon threatened to overwhelm him. He was glad, honored even, to be a groomsman—he really was. But Brandon and Jenny’s engagement last fall had meant that Noah was the only one of his rodeo buddies who hadn’t found himself a wife.

To top it off, his little brother, Jonas, had become engaged, and of all people, he’d picked Keely’s sister, B.J. Noah wouldn’t mind getting married. In fact, he would love getting married. But he’d been kept busy with the ranch, and Saguaro Junction wasn’t exactly overrun with eligible females. Until recently, any that happened along had been instantly appropriated by Jonas.

Well, maybe now that Jonas was settling down, Noah would have the time and opportunity to find a wife of his own. But, in the meantime, here he was, smack-dab in the middle of Sin City at a time when he was feeling especially vulnerable to suggestions.

You could do just about anything you wanted to in this town, and that was way too much freedom for his taste. After only a few hours here he could already feel the sexual pull of the city, the urge to do things you’d never think of doing in your own hometown. It made him nervous.

Keely had affected him that way, all those years ago, and he’d wisely decided to steer clear of her. If he could just get that centerfold picture out of his mind, he’d be all set. But this was the sort of place to freshen that memory, not erase it.

At the next intersection he paused and glanced around at a passel of gift shops, liquor stores and pawnshops. No neighborhood bar. It had probably gone out of business. With a sigh he turned around to retrace his path to the hotel.

The hotel had several bars, but they were all too trendy, too noisy. He hungered for worn vinyl stools and a little country music. Someplace like the Roundup Saloon in Saguaro Junction.

It was a pitiful thing for a man of thirty-two to be homesick, but that’s what he was. He wouldn’t even mind mucking out stalls right now if he could be back on the ranch looking forward to a barbecue this evening and a sunset that would make your eyes water with its beauty. He loved that ranch the same way his daddy had, and his daddy before him. It was Garfield land, and Noah always felt better when his feet were planted on it.

He was so caught up in his daydreaming that he wasn’t paying any attention to the other people on the sidewalk. It took him a while to realize that the redhead walking toward him looked a lot like Keely. But his mind was probably playing tricks on him, considering he’d just been thinking of her.