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INNUENDO
JULY 2006
ISBN:
0-373-79265-4
Buy Online:
Amazon.com
Powell's Bookstore
Barnes & Noble
Tamara’s Blind Date
Name: Kyle Sullivan
Appearance: Black hair, gray-blue eyes—yum!
Personality: Confusing: sometimes wild, sometimes
Verdict: Gorgeous and sexy, but there’s something not right...
Tamara Clarkson just wants a guy for some good times. And fun-loving Kyle Sullivan fills the bill! But he’s a puzzling contradiction: charming and superficial one minute, and intense the next. It’s almost as if he’s not the man he says he is....
When his insensitive cousin decides to stand up his blind date, do-the-right-thing Murphy Sullivan offers to pose as goodtime-boy Kyle. He’ll just buy the lady a drink and be done with it. But he finds Tamara irresistibly sexual--and if pretending to be his uninhibited cousin is what it takes, hey, why not? After all, it can’t hurt to keep up the act for more wild nights...can it?
Tam wanted to go home, but she also wanted to wait for Kyle Sullivan—if that’s who the guy had been—to come back into the bar. If it was her blind date, had he run far away as fast as he could after getting one look at her?
Middle-school-bred insecurities rushed back to her: long face, long nose...
She didn’t want to think about it. But he’d booked out of the lounge pretty quickly with that cell phone to his ear and never returned.
The reminder made her feel lonelier than ever, kicked her into departure mode. A hole numbed her stomach, an empty place where she could hide the ugly truth: he’d thought she wasn’t pretty. Her clothes, her determination to look approachable hadn’t worked.
Stinging, she reached into her small shoulder bag and retrieved a couple of dollars to leave as a tip for the waitress. Then she headed for the door, telling herself that she was fine, chalking the night up to just another crummy day in the jungle. A day that would probably set her back another year in the dating department but—what the hell—she’d get over it.
Eventually.
But, as she threaded her way to the door, she stopped in her tracks.
Because there he was, standing not five feet away, gazing at the table she’d deserted. Three college girls had already claimed the space, giggling and offering each other cheers at their good fortune.
He put his hands on his hips, turning around, surveying the room, and…
Oh. My. God.
Tam’s heartbeat thundered in her head. If this was her date, he’d lived up to the advertisement, what, with those blue-gray eyes that were more gorgeous than she could’ve ever imagined. Dark eyebrows winged above them, lending him a wry edge. He also had the promised black hair, cut short, anti-hippy conservative, although she did sense a hint of wildness where the strands had grown out, showing a bit of curl. He was built tall, muscles roping through his arms. A T-shirt covered a wide chest.
Very, very hot. So hot she wondered how long he would talk to her before realizing he was too hot to be talking to her.
Should she go to him and find out if he was her guy?
She heard a group of voices in the back of her mind. The Sisters of the Booty Call, their chant rising in power:
Do it, do it, do it…
If not now, when? She was here to take control, right?
Sucking in a breath, she forced her body in his direction, walking with determination.
All too soon she was standing in front of him, her heart jittering against her ribs.
“Looking for this?” she said, flashing her fan.
Was that her sounding all flirty and confident again? See, she could cover what she’d been feeling only moments ago. And why not? She’d spent most of a lifetime being good at it.
When he spun around, spotted the date marker and grinned in acknowledgement, she almost tumbled to the floor.
Oh. My. God. Part two.
That smile…it was aimed at her. Her. Tamara Clarkson, the girl who, only moments ago, thought her date had burned rubber.
Over the hard-rock Chinese music, he motioned toward an empty spot near the wall, gently grabbing her elbow to lead her. Her skin blazed against the pressure of his fingers, a bolt of stiffness zigzagging down through her tummy, just about splitting her apart, leaving her aching.
“I had some difficulty getting back in here,” he said, battling the music with his voice. “Sorry about keeping you waiting.”
See, everything was okay. In fact, he was leaning against the plank wall, aiming his body toward her, giving her an appreciative glance that made her skin flush.
“Want a drink?” she asked, bold as the day is long.
Go, girl, go, girl…
He paused, sending a flash of terror into her chest. But then he seemed to consider something, and he broke into that sexy, slow smile.
“What’ll you have?” he asked, his eyebrows raising suggestively.
Whoo-boy. Tam knew what she wanted.
And until now, she hadn’t realized that such a long, tall drink could be on her list of choices.
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| Go to Crystal Green's alter-ego Chris Marie Green Vampire Babylon | ||
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