Secret Moves (Secret Dreams Contemporary Romance 3) (21 page)

"Oh. What about Sandy? Are they well and truly over?"

"In Adam's mind, they are. But like Adam said, Sandy's like a dog with a bone when he's involved. I think he's flattered by that."

"Hmm."

"Anyway, let's not talk about them, I want your mouth for something else," Trey said seductively.

"Oh, yeah? What for?" she asked, pulling herself up and settling on top of him. She felt his burgeoning erection and deliberately brushed it with her leg.

"Anything, as long as you put it to work on my body," he croaked.

Hmm.
She ran hungry eyes on his delectable body. She couldn't believe this hunk of a man was hers. All of him. He might still be a long way away from being an excellent dancer, but she was more than happy—and ecstatic, and satisfied, and contented—with the way he moved in bed.

That thought reminded her of something. "You know," she said to him. "Since I won our original bet, you didn't have to dance in front of anyone."

"I know that. But I wanted to show off my newly developed skills," he grinned. "I knew it would make you happy," he added softly.

She smiled at him, her heart bursting with love.

Oh, yeah. She definitely wanted to put her mouth to work on his body. It would make both of them very happy indeed.

###

Thank you for reading!

Secret Tastes (Secret Dreams Book 4)
, the love story of
Samantha Lane
and
Adam Craig
is expected to be published in January 2014.

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Secret Tastes
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WILL TO LOVE (LIFESTYLE BY DESIGN BOOK 1) EXTRACT

(This is a free book.
Click here to download
from your preferred site).

The Love Story of Clarise Carson and Will Matthews

CHAPTER ONE

Victor will be there with me, looking like his usual gorgeous self. He assured me he'd be very attentive. Everyone will see how mad we are for each other. Well, hopefully, that's what they'll see. Surely this will work. It should stop my dear sister from going ahead with her matchmaking plans. If it doesn't, well, plan B is to die from embarrassment. It will work
, Clarise Carson thought confidently before taking a deep sigh and returning her focus to her last piece of work before she ended the working day.

After a final review, she was done with her latest article for
Lifestyle by Design
, the popular monthly magazine read by those with loads of disposable income keen to know which restaurants and bars were worth going to, which exotic destinations they could holiday in next and which new gadgets they must own to make their busy lives easier.

She was still salivating at the memory of the glorious food she had at Stillwaters, the newest restaurant in Sydney, owned by an upcoming Australian chef, and the latest establishment she had researched and reviewed.

Yes
, she nodded.
They definitely deserve this glowing article.
She knew the new restaurant would soon have a very long waiting list of patrons wanting to dine there once next month's issue became available.

Satisfied with her day's accomplishments, she shut off her laptop, grabbed her handbag and walked into the office of Victor Michaels, the magazine's very good-looking head graphic designer.

"I'm done for today, darling. Are you ready to go? I'm starving," she said to Victor. "I'd also like to talk to you again about Megan's engagement party this Saturday night. Seriously, if you can't go with me, I don't know who else to ask," she said, voicing her worry.

"Just give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go. And of course, I'm going with you to your sister's party," Victor replied with a grin. "I'm really excited about it. I'm already looking forward to meeting your family and showing them just how much I want you," he said in a low, sexy voice.

If it hadn't been Victor who made the comment, she would have blushed. Instead she laughed and settled herself on a chair and waited for him to finish.

Renewed hope flowed through her. Having Victor for her date should stop Megan's plan to introduce her to single men at her and Rick's engagement party. Who knew how many of them they had invited? And it was supposed to be a small affair only! She shuddered at the thought of being introduced to a line-up of bachelors, with everyone there knowing what was going on. That would be way too embarrassing!

I wouldn't make a spectacle of myself, even though Megan thinks she's only doing me a favour.

She had wondered why Megan was so intent on playing matchmaker. She wouldn't be surprised if their mum was in on it, too. Both of them must have felt sorry for her when she broke up with Daniel, especially when she'd asked if she'd ever meet 'The One'. She winced. She could still remember her conversation with her mother.

"Don't worry, darling, maybe Daniel's not really meant for you."

"Do you really think I'll ever find 'the one', Mum? You know, like you have Dad and Megan has Rick?"
 

"Of course, you will! You are gorgeous and you are beautiful on the inside, too. Somewhere out there, there's a man just for you. And I'm not saying that because I'm your mother. But you won't find this person if you don't go out enough! Most of your contacts are work-related and you have such strict rules about not dating anyone connected to your work. You should socialise more, Clarise."

Her mother hadn't hidden the fact that she was worried she would end up a spinster and would have no one to share her life with. With her track record of hardly going out on dates and her past relationships not lasting more than two and a half months—her time with Daniel being the longest—she shared her mum's concerns.

Ruefully, she remembered the time when she and Daniel took her parents out to dinner. At twenty-nine years of age, she had finally introduced a boyfriend to her parents. Her mother had been so excited it was like she herself was going out on her first date.

Three weeks after that, she was single again. She felt she had failed at something significant and swallowed the pain and guilt that attacked her at disappointing her parents—and herself.

   
"Are you okay, Clarise?" Victor's voice brought her back into the present.

"Yes, I was just thinking of Megan's plan to foist single men on me. I don't want to look desperate! How mortifying would that be?"

She smiled at the man in front of her. She couldn't help but think that it was, indeed, very unfortunate for the female population that Victor was gay. He was really hot-looking and a decent guy to boot.

"I'm so looking forward to your sister's engagement party but I seriously hope there are no handsome, muscular hunks there or I won't be able to keep up our pretence."

They laughed out loud.

CHAPTER TWO

Victor got out of the car, looking gorgeous in his light grey, long-sleeved, collared shirt and black pants. He went to the passenger side to open Clarise's door. With her in a chic, blue silk dress that hugged her figure in all the right places, the two of them were a picture of a beautiful couple.

"Thank you, darling," she murmured to Victor as she gracefully got out of the vehicle. Her eyes danced with controlled laughter as she watched him act out their game. "What is your mantra again tonight?" she teased him.

"I'm a sexy, handsome, straight man who's crazy about you," he whispered with a snicker. "Don't make me laugh or we'll give the game away. Your parents are watching us."

Clarise waved to her parents. They, too, had just arrived and were patiently waiting for them, trying not to stare at Victor.

She knew Megan would have told their mum straight away about her 'new boyfriend' after she had called a couple of days ago. She'd informed Megan she was bringing a date to her party after all.

"Is this your new boyfriend?" her sister had asked with open interest.

"I work with Victor, and we, umm, get along really well and we really like each other," she had answered. "There's the complication of working together but we seem to be managing it quite well. I'm really looking forward to introducing him to you guys."

She wasn't good at lying and had tried to sound mysterious. She wanted Megan to believe there was something romantic between her and Victor without actually saying the words. She must have succeeded because right now, as she and Victor walked hand in hand towards her parents, she could tell her mum was trying to hide a huge, pleased grin.

She made the necessary introductions before they proceeded towards Rick's parents' house, where the engagement party was being held. Before they walked in, her mum pulled her aside.

"Well, he's better looking than Daniel, Clarise. And he seems like such a gentleman."

She smiled with relief.

~~~~~~~

The Smithson's house was in full party mode. There was a large marquee in their manicured backyard, which was decked out with gold, silver and light pink balloons with a small dance floor on one side and a sumptuous buffet and round tables on the other.

Clarise marvelled at the number of expected guests. For what was supposed to be a small party for family and close friends only, there were still around fifty place settings. But she knew Megan worried about their other friends she couldn't invite, as she and Rick had to be ruthless with their guest list.

She nervously thought of the single men Megan had invited. Not many, she hoped, feeling guilty. She should have thought of the charade with Victor much earlier.

She caught sight of her sister, looking radiant and beautiful with Rick beside her. She felt a warm glow in her heart with seeing her younger sister so happy. With only fifteen months separating them, they shared a very close bond.

"Meg!" she called.

Her sister ran to her and hugged her tightly before turning to Victor.

"Hi, you must be Victor," Megan said, discreetly checking him out from head to toe.

"Yes, how are you Megan?"

"I'm wonderful, thank you. I'm glad to meet you."

"Likewise," Victor responded.

"I'll leave you in the capable hands of Clarise, Victor. My boss just arrived and he's by himself. I better introduce him to some people."

"Don't worry about us," Clarise said. "Go attend to your guests."

Megan gave her another hug and whispered in her ear, "He's hot, sis."

"I know," she whispered back.

Megan winked at Victor before walking away.

This little charade seemed to be working and Clarise allowed herself to relax.

~~~~~~~

"Lilly!" Clarise heard Megan call out as an adorable and cute as a button three-year-old girl walked in with her parents, Mark—Rick's older brother—and his wife Bella. With them was Bella's brother Evan.

She felt Victor tense by her side. "What's wrong, Victor?"

"That's Evan," Victor responded a little nervously. "I know him. And he certainly knows me!"

"What do you mean 'he certainly knows you'?"

"Well, I met him at this speed dating thing two weeks ago, and we've been out on a couple of dates. He's really cute, isn't he?"

"Oh, no, Victor! You're supposed to be my boyfriend tonight!"

"Don't worry, darling. I'll tell him of our little secret and ask him to go along with it. I'll just go talk to him and we'll pretend we're talking about work or something." With that, Victor sauntered to Evan, his eyes shining.

She rolled her eyes upwards and prayed that Victor—and Evan, for that matter—could keep the charade up for her, just for tonight. How highly embarrassing would it be if the others noticed that Victor was gay when they'd already assumed he was her boyfriend?

Geez, I might as well have 'loser in love' stamped on my forehead. Please Victor, you're a straight man tonight.

"I didn't know Victor knew Evan," Megan said from behind her, making her jump.

"Oh, they met at an industry function, you know, for work and I think Victor wanted to talk to Evan about an article in the latest issue of
Lifestyle
," she babbled.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to bring a date tonight until you told me about him two days ago," Megan said with a grin. "It's a shame. There is a very eligible man here and Rick and I were excited to introduce him to you."

"Megan," she said with a warning in her voice.

"Yes, I know, I know. No matchmaking for me tonight," Megan said with a laugh.

"Well, that's a relief!"

"You know, we did invite this guy for the purpose of introducing him to you," Megan commented. "We'll just have to explain the situation to him."

"Are you saying there's only one of them here tonight? You certainly gave me the impression that you were going to invite all the single men you and Rick know. I'm glad you didn't, though."

Megan chuckled, "Yes, that was my original plan. But Rick and I decided that wasn't a good idea. One at a time would be better, we thought. More personal."

Megan's look became serious, her eyes narrowing. "Is there a possibility that Victor is 'The One'?"

"I couldn't be happier he's here with me tonight," she answered cryptically. It was the truth, although it wasn't an accurate answer to the question.

Megan, however, seemed satisfied with her response. Her sister patted her arm and walked off with a smile.

She said a silent 'thank you' to the heavens.

~~~~~~~

By the time dinner was served, Clarise had slipped into a carefree mode. She chatted cheerfully with Bella and Mark about their business.

The couple owned two popular restaurants that served food and beverages that were made of chocolate or had it as a main ingredient. The concept had been a huge success and they would soon be opening a third location.

Mark and Bella's story was an inspiring one and she recently had the pleasure of writing an article about their journey for
Lifestyle by Design
.

That was what she loved most about her job. She got paid to write about some of the best restaurants, hotels and professional services, which meant she got to sample their offerings and interview some very interesting, influential and successful people.