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Maybe he could allow himself one kiss
Mitch leaned close enough to breathe in the scent that had teased his senses all day. Tessa smelled like exotic flowers and it aroused the hell out of him.
He just needed one taste. Just to see if she was as sweet as he remembered.
“There are so many potential customers here.” Her voice faltered as he hovered near. “So many opportunities.” She edged away as if that would discourage him.
Fat chance. He could tell by the agitated flick of her tongue over her lips that she wanted the kiss as badly as he did.
He skimmed his hand over her thighs. “I’m only interested in following up on one particular opportunity, Tessa.” Sliding one arm around her waist, he pulled her to him. Her breathing hitched at the contact.
When her eyes drifted shut, Mitch homed in on her mouth for the kiss he’d dreamed about since their last one. Every drop of blood in his veins surged south. At just one blasted kiss.
What made him think he could ever stop at just a kiss?
Dear Reader,
The wintry Adirondack Mountains have never seen such a heat wave as when Tessa O’Neal reunites with former snowboarder Mitch Ryder…and ends up igniting a relationship that’s too hot to handle!
Marketing maven Tessa has as much competitive spirit as the next woman. When her best friend challenges her to stay out of her old flame’s bed for a whole week, however, Tessa begins to think some bets are meant to be lost!
I hope you enjoy this steamy trip to the winter wonderland of Lake Placid, New York, as much as Tessa does. Visit me at www.JoanneRock.com to learn more about my future releases or to let me know what you think of this book. I’d love to hear from you!
Happy reading!
Joanne Rock
Books by Joanne Rock
HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION
863—LEARNING CURVES
HARLEQUIN BLAZE
26—SILK, LACE & VIDEOTAPE
48—IN HOT PURSUIT
54—WILD AND WILLING
Tall, Dark and Daring
Joanne Rock
To K. Sue Morgan, friend and mentor extraordinaire. Thank you for caring about my characters as much as I do!
To the Rocks, for accepting me into their big, happy clan and inspiring my love of the North Country. And to Dean, a thrill seeker in his own right.
Contents
Prologue
“WHAT WILL IT BE, Tessa? Truth or dare?”
Tessa O’Neal tossed back another Jell-O shot, the South Beach sunset twinkling rainbows through her thick crimson drink. How could she live in this paradise full of gorgeous men and still end up playing adolescent games with her girlfriend on a Friday night?
“Truth,” she answered, loud enough for Ines to hear over the salsa music and happy hour crowd at the open-air bar on Ocean Drive. Forget the dare. Ines would think of something really embarrassing for her to do.
Ines Cordova’s armful of silver bracelets jangled as she waggled a chiding finger at Tessa. Ines was more than Tessa’s boss at Westwood Marketing. The two of them had been friends since Tessa was a freshman in college and Ines had been a grad student.
“That is your third truth in row, chica. I remember a time when you did not always run from a dare.”
Tessa started to shake her head, then stopped when the thrum in her temples informed her she’d almost reached her Jell-O shot quota. “Let’s not go there.”
Tessa wouldn’t be sitting around getting toasted if she hadn’t had a colossally bad day. She’d planned this night out with Ines weeks ago as sort of a last hurrah before Tessa left Westwood to start her own business.
But the night had taken a decidedly glum turn since Tessa ended up breaking off her engagement to a perfectly great guy. What had she been thinking to give him his ring back just because he didn’t leave her breathless every time he walked in a room like a certain guy she’d dated so many years ago?
She definitely didn’t need to go there.
Where was the waiter with those shots?
“Now is the ideal time to go there.” Ines shoved the plate of nachos they were sharing in Tessa’s direction. “You say you do not know why you broke things off with Rob, but you do. The man is as much fun as a surfboard in Kansas, querida, and he is all wrong for you.”
“He’s reliable, and responsible, and he’s a grown-up.” Unlike others she’d dated, especially one playful hunk she wouldn’t forget even with a truckload of Jell-O shots.
Ines shook her head. Her long earrings hopped back and forth over her bare shoulders. “You need a man with a sense of adventure to match your own.”
Tessa leaned across the table, hoping to make her point. “I’ve outgrown my sense of adventure, Ines. Maybe racking up one divorce and one broken engagement in five years has sapped it all. But I don’t have any desire to dance on the table with a rose between my teeth or start a bunny-hop chain through the bar. It’s not me.” She pulled off the cheesiest nacho on the plate and crunched a big bite.
Ines scowled. “It was not the bunny hop, it was the locomotion, Tessa, and everyone had a blast.”
Mouth full, Tessa shrugged.
“So you’ll take a truth over a dare?” Ines asked, crossing her braceleted arms.
“Any