Welcome to Paradise: Welcome to Paradise, Book 1 (14 page)

Laughing, he pulled her into the elevator and said, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

About the Author

A RITA-award nominated author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!

Elle loves to hear from her readers. Visit her Web site
www.ellekennedy.com
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Look for these titles by Elle Kennedy

Now Available:

Bad Moon Rising

Dance of Seduction

Midnight Encounters

Going for It

Red Hot Summer

Hot Summer Nights

Hidden Desires

Out of Uniform

Heat of the Moment

Heat of Passion

Heat of the Storm

Heat It Up

Heat of the Night

The Heat Is On

Coming Soon:

Take Me Home Tonight

It’s all about the thrill…

The Heat is On

© 2011 Elle Kennedy

Out of Uniform, Book 6

As a Navy SEAL, Matt O’Connor specializes in Bad Boy. At least, that’s what he thinks…until he finds himself face down on the floor during a bank robbery, arguing with a sexy, bad-girl blonde who wields her sharp tongue with surgical precision.

Just like that, Matt begins to wonder if maybe the idea of settling down with one woman isn’t as crazy as he thought. 

Savannah Harte is addicted to first kisses and whirlwind romances. Once the thrill is gone, though, she’s outta there. She’s eager to follow the adrenaline rush she feels with Matt into the nearest bed, but when tangled sheets begin to feel like tangled heartstrings, her first instinct is to cut him loose. There’s only one problem: Matt’s not going anywhere. And not even a steamy threesome seems to dull her growing feelings.

Which leaves Savannah having to decide what she wants more. The casual thrill of now…or the scary thrill of forever. 

Warning: This title features a hot threesome with explicit sex, a bad-girl heroine, and two Navy SEALs guaranteed to make you sweat. 

Enjoy the following excerpt for
The Heat is On:

For the first time in his life, Matt was actually nervous about a date. As he stepped out of the shower, dripping water all over the bathroom mat, he suddenly wondered if he should ask Annabelle to come downstairs so he could ask for clothing advice. Jeez. What the hell was wrong with him? He could seduce the panties off a nun, for fuck’s sake. Women freaking loved him. If he was the kind of guy who ticked off notches in his belt…well, he’d be on his tenth belt by now.

But Savannah made him feel like an anxious teenager again. It wasn’t just her looks that captivated him, though her smokin’ body did make his mouth water. She was just so…self-assured. She seemed to know exactly who she was, completely comfortable in her own skin, and her easygoing attitude and sharp wit were a total turn-on. He didn’t usually think beyond the first date, but with Savannah, he already wanted more, and they hadn’t even gone out yet.

Which was why he couldn’t have sex with her tonight. As much as he wanted to, as much as his body throbbed with arousal at the mere thought of her, he needed to force himself to keep his hands off her this evening. It was messed up, but he feared that if he slept with her so soon, this fascination would disappear, and he wasn’t ready for that to happen yet.

Another first—he wanted to get to know a woman before he screwed her.

God help him.

Deciding to forgo calling Annabelle—he wasn’t in the mood to be ridiculed—he strode into his bedroom and threw open the closet door. As he dressed, he marveled at the silence in the apartment. Ever since Ryan moved upstairs into Annabelle’s place, Matt was living solo. Made it easier to bring chicks back here without worrying about keeping Ryan up, though he didn’t do it often. He didn’t like having women over. They always wanted to stay when he only wanted them to leave.

Clad in a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt and an open blue button-down, he grabbed his keys from the basket on the hall table and left his second-floor apartment. He took the stairs two at a time, suddenly eager to get going and see Savannah again. The black Dodge four-by-four he’d just signed the lease on had decent speed, and he made it to Savannah’s shop in less than fifteen minutes. Shutting off the engine, he took a deep breath and hopped out of the SUV. There was a separate entrance to Savannah’s upstairs apartment, with a small intercom mounted on the wall. He buzzed, then waited until her chirpy voice said, “Come up.”

Uh-oh.

She wanted him to come upstairs?

That wasn’t part of the plan. He’d hoped to wait down here for her, then drive her to the classy bar he’d researched on the web. He was kinda scared to be alone with her. At least with other people around, he wouldn’t be able to rip her clothes off and devour her body the way he so desperately wanted to.

Gulping, he opened the door and climbed the narrow staircase up to the second floor. Savannah’s door was painted a bright yellow, and it swung open the moment he reached the landing. She appeared in the doorway, wearing a pair of tight black yoga pants and a loose red T-shirt that didn’t hide the fullness of the breasts beneath it.

“Hey,” she said with an easy smile. “I figured we’d stay in, if that’s cool with you?”

Another gulp. Crap. Looked like he needed to conjure up some willpower. Pronto.

In a strained voice, he said, “Sure.”

Savannah gestured for him to come inside, and when he stepped into the apartment, he immediately saw her personality splashed all over the place. Mismatched furniture, some modern, some antique, filled the spacious living room. Colorful abstract paintings hung on the wall, with the occasional breathtaking landscape sandwiched between them. A small kitchen was tucked off to one side, and the living area was separated from the sleeping area with a see-through Japanese screen that featured bright pink cherry blossom trees. He caught a glimpse of a large futon with a bright magenta bedspread, but tore his gaze away. He couldn’t focus on the bed. Beds meant sex. And he was determined not to sleep with Savannah Harte until he figured out why he liked her so much.

“I like your place,” he said, turning to meet her silver-gray eyes.

“Thanks,” she said simply.

“Have you lived here long?”

“About eight years now.” She headed to the kitchen and pulled open the fridge, appearing a moment later with a six-pack in her hands. “I moved in when I bought the shop.”

They headed over to the plump brown sofa. Savannah flopped down, removed two beer bottles from the case and held one out to him. After a second of hesitation, he joined her on the couch and accepted the beer. At least three feet of space separated them, but it was still too damn close for comfort. Her sweet scent wafted over, surrounding him in a lust-crazed cloud. Of course, she smelled like flowers. Roses and lavender, with a hint of minty soap thrown in.

He unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a long swallow of beer, hoping the cold liquid would ease the burn in his groin. But then Savannah reached up to untie her ponytail, letting her pale blonde hair fall loose, and the burn deepened. Fuck, he wanted to run his fingers through that silky hair, feel it tickling his pecs as she straddled his naked body, riding him…

No sex,
a little voice ordered.

Right, no sex. He took another sip of beer, then set the bottle down on the coffee table.

“So,” he started. “Your dad teaches at Stanford… Does that mean you’re from Palo Alto?”

“Yeah, I grew up there. I moved here after I dropped out of college.”

He grinned. “You’re a college drop-out?”

“Sure am. I was never a school person. I wanted to work with flowers, so I moved down here to work at a nursery one of my mom’s friends owns. When this store came up for sale, she went in on the deal with me. We were partners until about three years ago, and then I bought her out.”

Matt was impressed. Savannah couldn’t be older than twenty-seven, twenty-eight, and she already owned her own business. A successful one, judging by the fact that she’d been able to buy out her partner.

“Where are you from?” she asked him.

“Nashville. Well, just outside of it. My family owns a cattle ranch.”

She laughed. “You’re a cowboy, huh?”

“Naah, I wasn’t cut out for cowboy life. I left home at eighteen, joined the Navy, and now I live here full-time.”

“Too bad.” Her gray eyes darkened to smoky silver. “Cowboys are extremely sexy.”

He swallowed. Fuck, why did she have to look at him like that? Like she wanted to lick him up. He was normally the one dropping the loaded remarks, while his date steered the conversation to more wholesome topics. He found this role reversal totally disconcerting.

Savannah slid closer and rested her hand on his thigh.

Matt nearly jumped off the couch. Her hand was warm, her fingers teasing as she ran them along the denim seam of his jeans.

“How do you like owning your own business?” he blurted out, desperate to ignore the searing bolts of heat moving from the tips of her fingers to his suddenly throbbing thigh.

Savannah let out a sigh. “Are we really going to do this?”

“Do what?”

“Carry on with the idle chitchat when we both know what we
really
want to do?”

His cock jerked, strained against his zipper. She instantly noticed the reaction, a small smile spreading across her lush pink lips.

“Look, I don’t like relationships,” she said bluntly. “They don’t interest me. But I am interested in flings. Fun, casual flings, no strings, no promises, just a good time and great sex.”

He wanted to ask
why
. Why did she hate relationships so much? But his vocal chords had gone numb. She was using his own lines on him. Fun, casual, good time, great sex. He couldn’t even count how many times he’d uttered those exact phrases.

And as much as he wasn’t sure he liked being the recipient of his own speech, the moment the word
sex
slipped from her luscious mouth, all he could think about was shoving his cock deep inside her.

“So if you want me—” her gaze moved to the bulge of his crotch, “—and I think you do, what do you say we just skip the tell-me-about-yourself and get to the fun part?”

This time, he plans to do it with class. Style. And more than a little groveling…

Once and Again

© 2011 Lauren Dane

Petal, Georgia, Book 1

Seven years ago, Lily Travis was only too glad to see her hometown of Petal, Georgia, in her rearview mirror. Thanks to her father running off with a twenty-year-old, though, here she is, trying to pick up the pieces. First order of business: meet with her brother’s teacher in a quest to pull his grades out of a downward spiral.

Nathan Murphy is pretty much resigned to his bachelor status—until he looks up from his desk to see an all-grown-up Lily walking into his classroom. Of all the women who turned out to be totally wrong for him, she’s the only one who felt right. At least until his foolish, immature mistake drove her away.

Lily has to admit that time has been more than kind to gorgeous, sexy Nathan. Except there’s no room on her full plate for another complication. Especially with a man who broke her heart once before.

With a little help from his friends, Nathan has a plan to rekindle the flame. It isn’t long before they’re burning up the sheets. Winning her heart? That’s another matter.

Warning: Hot, sexy high school teacher in denim and boots. Strong-willed females abound. Bad words and naughtiness, too. Come on, you know you want to read it.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Once and Again:

There they sat and she liked him.
Still
. He was funny and charming and sweet even. He’d helped her with Chris, and his apology, though late, was genuine. She knew him enough to understand it in his words.

People made mistakes. She made them too. And she was so tired of avoiding him. But it wasn’t wise to let him back into her heart. He had too much power over her, and she hadn’t been lying when she told him it took her a long time to get over it. She never wanted to feel that kind of misery again. Ever.

“I accept your apology. But we can’t date.”

His gorgeous features darkened.

He was as alpha as they came. Used to getting his own way. It was gloriously sexy, but she had enough to manage. He was a man now, not even a young man in graduate school. He’d be even worse. Which would mean he was way hotter in bed, but she wasn’t going to think about that. Much. At all. Ever in the next ten minutes.

“You still don’t like being told no, I see.”

That broke his sour expression. “Why can’t we date?”

She was totally going to have to make up for the whopper she was about to tell. “First because I’m over you. Second, and far more importantly, because my brother is in your class. He’s got enough to deal with right now. The last thing he needs is to have anyone think he’s getting special treatment because you’re dating his sister. Or for him to worry you’ll retaliate if we broke things off.”

He growled a sigh, and her insides got all warm and gooey. She really needed to date nice men who didn’t growl.

“Do you really think I’d do that?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have accepted your apology. But this is Petal. Gossip is as common as marshmallows in Jell-O salad. He’s had enough, don’t you think? My lands, the boy can’t even go out for a burger without people knowing his dad left his mom for a girl barely older than him. I can’t be part of anything that would harm him even more.”

“You said you were over me.”