Emergency Ex (13 page)

Fangly, My Dear #1: Byte Marks

Fangly, My Dear #2: What’s a Ghoul To Do

Fangly, My Dear #3: Playing with Matches

    Fangly, My Dear
series
print anthology—includes all 3 novellas

Fangs ’n’ Foxes

Heliotropic #1: From the Light

Heliotropic #2: In the Dark

Heliotropic #3: To the Light

    From the Light
series
—Heliotropic 1, 2, and 3

Long Slow Ride
(
Oh, Yum
series)

    Long Slow Ride
in the
Better with Age
print anthology

Love for Hire

    Love for Hire
in the
Down and Dirty
print anthology

Noel, No Way
(Christmas Cookies series)

Pantasia #1: Hook, Wine & Tinker
(also in print)

Pantasia #2: For Pete
’
s Sake
(also in print)

Pantasia #3: Forever on the Isle of Never
(also in print)

Perfect Pear

    Perfect Pear
in the
Ripe and Ready
print anthology

Petits S’Mores
(
Rookery Cove
series)

Possession

Reluctant Goddess

Réunions Dangereuses

Sherry Amor

Soap Bloke

Tamsin’s Choice

Teach Him Tonight
#1:
Photo Finish

Teach Him Tonight
#2:
Emergency Ex

Third Time’s the Charm

Tingle Bells

Triple Booked
(
Torrid Tarot
series—also in print)

Whatever Maura Wants

    Whatever Maura Wants
in the
Perfect Peridot
print anthology

Young Vampires in Love
(also in print)

Young Vampires in France
(also in print)

Coming Soon from Mardi

After Class

Teach Him Tonight, Book #3

a contemporary romance novella

Check
http://www.MardiBallou.com

An Excerpt from
PHOTO FINISH
: Teach Him Tonight, Book # 1

© Mardi Ballou, 2012

All rights reserved.

Now Available!

Chapter One

Invasion of Love Slaves from Planet X
. Alex DeLuca cocked an eyebrow at the book lying facedown on his paralegal’s desk. She’d slipped out for a coffee break. Evidently he didn’t give her enough work. His other brow shot up when he got an eyeful of the cover with its artistic depiction of alien love slaves. Startling as that was, his real surprise came when he glimpsed—and then stared at—the photo on the back. The print claimed the author was K.C. Corrigan, but there was no disguising Cassandra Harrell—opposing legal counsel in the Martin divorce case. Even worse, Cassandra was
the woman who’d invaded his nightly dreams for months. A tall, green-eyed brunette with the long legs of a dancer, a hot body he longed to liberate from her no-nonsense career suits and a killer brain. Alex’s day just got much better.

Cassandra Harrell, a.k.a. the hotshot ice princess of McLaine, Berman and Arthur—the second most successful law firm in town, right after his own Levine, James and DeLuca. Was it coincidence or fate—seeing the photo just before Alex had to face off against Ms. Harrell at a deposition? He chuckled to himself, rehearsing how he’d tease Cassandra about her secret identity. Lawyer by day, erotica queen by night. If he played his cards right, maybe her nighttime activities would soon include him. Her other identity hinted at her undiscovered depths, just inviting him to explore…

Alex reined in his wandering mind and rising lust. He needed to concentrate on the deposition at hand. Though that wouldn’t prevent him from having a little fun with Cassandra…and taking their acquaintance to a whole new level.

* * *

The deposition did not go the way Cassandra Harrell had rehearsed and practiced with her client. She bit her lip in frustration. After all parties agreed to call a halt to the morning’s lack of progress, she packed her papers in her voluminous briefcase. Though her client, Parker Martin, swore that his soon-to-be-ex had offshore bank accounts and other undisclosed assets, Cassandra hadn’t been able to budge Ms. Templeton-Martin from her previous denials. Cassandra would spend much of the evening to come mentally rehashing the deposition. She was already thinking of strategies for what to do next and how to deal with the current setback.

Worst of all, Cassandra felt like Alex DeLuca, whom the Bay Area Single Women’s Coalition had nicknamed Alexander the Great, was undressing her with his eyes. His gaze even seemed to hint that he knew she was wearing black lace under her gray flannel pinstripe power suit. He always made her feel like an awkward tenth grader with a crush on the senior class president/captain of the football team. She hadn’t felt like that since she’d
been
an awkward tenth grader.

Cassandra chided herself to get a grip and not to let her personal quirks mess up her life. She was
not
about to become another entry in Alex DeLuca’s little black book. She glared at him with icy professional resolve, determined to prove to him and the world that she was immune to his tall, dark Mediterranean good looks. Bad enough that he had thick black hair she ached to run her fingers through. She needed to run, not walk, when he laser beamed her with his smoldering blue eyes and George Clooney grin.

Given her penchant for Alex DeLuca, she’d almost turned down the Martin divorce because he was representing the wife. But Cassandra had to take the case and win or she’d lose her spot on the fast track to early partnership—and she was determined to come out on top. After years of financial struggle, a.k.a. poverty, Cassandra was firmly focused on achieving a gilt-edged life. Partnership in her firm was the shortest route there. This meant repressing any desire for bad boys, her biggest weakness. It also meant sublimating all her sexual energy and horniness into work, work, work. Making her dreams come true would be worth the frustration.

Once she made partner, she’d finally be able to pay her sister K.C. back for years of support. Cassandra planned to buy K.C. the house she currently rented and make her secure for life. Until Cassandra did
that
, every other area of her life was on hold.

She did not need any complications coming up, but today’s deposition left her with a niggle of doubt. And then Alex DeLuca
leered
at her. He’d leered at her as if he knew her deepest, darkest, most erotic longings—and just how repressed, not to mention horny, she was feeling these days. Rattled as she was, she didn’t need to hear his final question: “So how’s it going, K.C. Corrigan?”

Cassandra nearly faltered as she stuffed her papers into her case. K.C. Corrigan? What brought that up? As K.C. used a different last name, there was virtually no public link between them. Cassandra, hyperaware she’d suddenly become the center of attention, took a deep breath and, in her frostiest voice, asked, “Why are you calling me by my sister’s name?”

DeLuca snorted a laugh that made him look even more like a charming rake. “Your
sister
? You mean as in your evil twin?”

She furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about?”
Being linked with K.C. in this context is not a good thing.

He flashed her a “come on, don’t try to pull my leg” look. “I saw the author photo on the back of
Invasion of Love Slaves from Planet X
. Looks like a great book. And a really wonderful head shot of you. But why the different name?”

She peered at him as if he had three, albeit gorgeous, heads. “A book called
Invasion of Love Slaves from Planet X
? I don’t understand.”

“I saw it right before I left my office.”

She raised an eyebrow and willed herself to appear calm and cool. “
Invasion of Love Slaves from Planet X
? Is that what you read to prepare for today’s deposition?”

He didn’t appear at all rattled. Instead, he laughed again. “My paralegal had it on her desk. Maybe she’ll let me borrow it. Do you think I’ll like it?”

“Knock your socks off, counselor. But I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right,” he said. “For some reason, you won’t admit your authorship. Heck, I’d be proud if I could write a book like that. I think I will read it. Get to know a bit more about the enigmatic Cassandra Harrell, a.k.a. K.C. Corrigan.”

Still laughing, Alex walked out in triumph with his client. Cassandra balled her fists. She suspected the two of them were headed to a celebratory lunch.

She, on the other hand, was going to take time off from a busy day to pay a very unpleasant visit to her older sister, the one and only K.C. Corrigan.

What had K.C. gotten her into this time?

An Excerpt from
AFTER CLASS
: Teach Him Tonight, Book # 3

© Mardi Ballou, 2012

All rights reserved.

Coming Soon!

Chapter One

Todd Marek cringed when he saw the notice.
Invasion of Love Slaves from Planet X.
Why was the title of his former student’s book plastered in big screaming letters on the bulletin board in the teacher’s break room? He’d dropped in to grab a coffee before his night class at the university extension. The book’s title stopped him in his tracks.