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“Okay,” Kate said, closing the door. “You can come out now.”
Brock slowly slid out from under the bed, his dark hair slightly tousled. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve hidden under a girl’s bed.” He smiled. “Makes me feel seventeen again.”
His smile made her stomach feel funny. “Glad to know I’m not your first.” Kate held out her hand to help him to his feet, her heart skittering at the way his big hand closed around her fingers.
“Thanks,” he said, straightening to his full height.
“You’re welcome,” she replied, automatically reaching up to brush the dust bunnies out of his hair. Suddenly she realized just how intimate her actions were and drew back her hand as if she’d been burned. “Sorry.”
“Me, too,” Brock said huskily. “I’m sorry you stopped.”
Kate swallowed, the tone in his voice making her skin tingle. It’s the skirt, she reminded herself. Brock wasn’t really attracted to her. He was just reacting to the skirt’s magnetic qualities.
But after seeing how good he looked in her bedroom, Kate was tempted to take Brock any way she could get him….
Dear Reader,
Do clothes make the man, or in this case, the woman? Most people think so. As a poor college student, on the first five dates I had with my future husband, I actually wore clothes I borrowed from friends. I really wanted to impress him, and I was sure that nothing I had in my meager closet could do the job. And I wouldn’t be surprised if young women today were having the same problem. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a special store that sold clothes guaranteed to attract men?
In Seduced in Seattle, Kate Talavera doesn’t find the store—but she gets The Skirt! And she’s determined to use it to catch the man of her dreams. Only, when she meets sexy Brock Gannon, her dreams begin to change….
I hope you enjoy the third installment of the SINGLE IN THE CITY miniseries. Cara Summers, Heather MacAllister and I had so much fun writing them! And the fun isn’t over yet! To find out more about our ongoing series, check out our Web site at: www.singleinthecity.org.
Enjoy,
Kristin Gabriel
Books by Kristin Gabriel
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
834—DANGEROUSLY IRRESISTIBLE
HARLEQUIN DUETS
7—ANNIE, GET YOUR GROOM
25—THE BACHELOR TRAP
27—BACHELOR BY DESIGN
29—BEAUTY AND THE BACHELOR
61a—OPERATION BABE—MAGNET
61b—OPERATION BEAUTY
Seduced in Seattle
Kristin Gabriel
This book is for Brenda Chin—editor, adventurer and friend.
Contents
Prologue
FATE WAS CONSPIRING against Kate Talavera. There could be no other reason she found herself locked in the ladies’ room of the reception hall the very moment the bride was scheduled to toss the skirt.
“Let me out of here!” Kate pounded on the bathroom door, hoping someone could hear her over the loud music reverberating from the reception hall. The strong odor of pine-scented air freshener was giving her a headache.
When her fist grew sore, Kate leaned against the sink and debated her options. Staying stuck in the ladies’ room wasn’t an option. Not when an event that could change her entire future was about to take place.
She glanced at her watch, noting that it was almost time for the bride, Gwen Kempner, to toss the bouquet. But Kate didn’t care about that. She wanted the skirt. The secret weapon that had snared husbands for all three of her old college roommates.
The skirt came from an island hidden deep in the Caribbean and a rare, powerful thread ran through it. A thread that drew men to the woman who wore it and entranced them forever.
Wearing the skirt, which she had caught at Torrie’s wedding, Chelsea Brockway had found true love with Zach McDaniels and been married at Christmas. Kate and Gwen had both been bridesmaids, only Gwen was the one lucky enough to catch the skirt that night. Shortly afterward, Gwen had met Alec and this morning, on Valentine’s Day, she had become Mrs. Alec Fleming. Now it was Kate’s turn.
If she could get out of the bathroom.
She looked around the small lavatory for some kind of tool that she might be able to use to pry the door open. But all she found were some extra rolls of toilet paper and an empty tube of lipstick. This couldn’t be happening. Not when she’d finally found the perfect man.
Todd Winslow, her former next-door neighbor and the current owner of one of the most successful home shopping channels on cable television. He was smart, successful and, best of all, single. In two weeks, he’d be coming to Seattle to attend her parents’ fortieth wedding anniversary party.
That’s when she planned to snag him. All she had to do was catch the skirt, then catch Todd. She’d waited so long for true love that she wasn’t about to let a locked door stop her now.
Kicking off one shoe, she whacked the three-inch heel against the edge of the sink until the small rubber tip on the end of the