Weekend Lover (6 page)

Will the weekend
they spent together turn out to be more than they could have ever
imagined, or will past hurts and career ambitions stand in their
way? Only Cupid knows...

See Megan Run, See Her Fall
Series

All Megan Hazely has to do is stay
home for thirty days and attend her mother’s wedding to get the
deed to her father’s home. Except there’s Aiden Blake, Megan’s
ex-boyfriend. The boy she loved has become a man. Time hasn’t
lessened the spark between them, a spark that should have died the
day she hitchhiked out of her small town. A rock and a hard place
has nothing on Megan.

See Lynne Chased, See Her
Fall Series

Nathan Craine eats small businesses
for breakfast. There's one store he is dying to buy, but this time
it is for very personal reasons. He's certain the owner will hand
over the store; it's only the matter of naming a price. To his
surprise, Lynne Kelley refuses to sell, now or ever... In this
battle, someone has to lose. And the cost of winning might be far
more than either is willing to pay.

Sebastian and Nicole
aren't done just yet...

Down With Cupid
Excerpt

Chapter One

Nicole Harrison's heels clacked over
the granite floor of the office building in a rapid staccato. The
sound bounced off high vaulted ceilings lit with art deco
chandeliers.

The loud echo, unfortunately, didn't
drown out, Anna's voice coming from the earbud. “Please don't tell
me you're late.” The usually husky timbre grew sharp. Her boss was
about to start ranting.

So, Nicole wouldn't say she was late.
In this case, late was a technical term. She'd taken a break to get
a much-needed-afternoon-iced coffee. Keeping calm, she tapped a
thumb against the phone's screen. Ten minutes to make it to the top
floor. She downed more iced coffee—the reason she was ten minutes
from getting an ass chewing.

Stark quiet filled the earbud. Silence
was deadly, because that meant Anna was gearing up for a
condescending rant. It would involve telling Nicole all the things
she was doing wrong and implying that's why she hadn't made it to
the next level of managing director. Reins Anna held like a woman
in the 1950's clutched her pearls when bad words flew out of a
pretty girl's mouths. Since Anna was also the founder of Limelight,
an esteemed PR boutique, her word was law.

Nicole's grasp tightened on the phone.
“Am I late?” She pffted.

“
Then you're there with him
now? Because he's already here.”

Nicole choked. Tapped her
phone again. Nine minutes. Stay calm. Don't panic. The computer
mogul paid the company a
king's
ransom
to make him look good on paper and
TV, and despite this, the client never show up for scheduled
meetings. She usually had to hunt him down like a repo agent. If he
didn't fork over a buttload of money, Anna would have dropped him
long ago for tying up Nicole's schedule.

Reticent to do any kind of
public events, she still manged to talk him into a
bachelor auction,
on
Valentine's Day. In a month. Handsome and charming, he'd be the
perfect bachelor. Unfortunately, he hadn't finalized any of the
details, and it was nerve racking to say the least to build a buzz
when the man hadn't even confirmed he'd actually show
up.

Knots in her stomach had become a
constant companion, and they twisted in her gut now. After a quick,
mournful glance at her feet, Nicole broke into a run. At the first
sign of a trash can, she tossed the coffee.

“
Oh, that's wonderful he's
actually here. I'm right down the hall.” She rounded the corner to
the bay of elevators and skidded to a halt. Taped to one of the
closed doors was a "Down for Maintenance" sign. One elevator for
eight busy floors. Crap on a cracker. She tapped her phone again.
Seven minutes.

“
You sound winded. Where are
you really?”

She headed to the stair case, glanced
up. If she made it in time, the moment she got home, Nicole would
kiss her treadmill. “I really should go now.”

“
You
really
should let me tell you about
your new co-publicist. The reason I called in the first place, but
I got distracted by your lack of being where you're supposed to
be.”

“
Not that I'm on one, but
I'm allowed breaks.”

“
Not when you have a client
coming in.”

True, but Nicole needed breaks and
moments of solitude, with her phone off, for the past two months.
Sacrilegious behavior and so unlike her. Something had changed
within her and she didn't like it one bit. She had this feeling
before and had killed, burned and buried it. The troublesome
emotion had Nicole off her game and not her usual
go-getter-work-at-all-hours-of-the-day self. She'd been taking time
to relax. A publicity manager one step away from being a managing
director, at the top of her game, didn't relax until she quit or
died.

“
Do tell.” She cleared the
first flight with no problem. “Who is it this time?”

“
I didn't hire him as a true
co-publicist.”

“
Good, because you know I
don't need help.”

“
Of course you don't,” Anna
said as though talking to a simpleton. “You vet newbies for
me.”

Third floor and her calves
started to scream. Tap. Five minutes. She grabbed the rail, hand
slicked with sweat, and took a breath. “Giving them clients, I
don't mind. Training them, I do. Why me? It's a pain in the ass.
Other publicist on your payroll have patience.
Anyone else
has more
patience.”

“
If they can survive your
schedule, they can work on their own at a slower pace.”

Fifth floor. Four minutes. She grunted
in answer. There would be no kissing the treadmill any time
soon.

“
But this new guy might give
you a run for the money. I stole him from a competitive
firm.”

“
How? Giving me a run for
the money, not stealing. Buying loyalty isn't the shocking part of
this conversation.” She puffed and then sucked in a longer
breath.

Sixth floor. Nicole would probably pass
out the moment she made it. Two minutes. She moved
faster.

“
I hired him on as a
publicity manager. So, he's a co-publicity manager.” Anna let that
hang in the air before she added, “And, when I called him fifteen
minutes ago he was already sitting down with the
client.”

The damn knots turned into lead
weights, and it had nothing to do with the marathon. “No.” The word
came out like an epithet.

“
Yup.”

Probably explained why Anna wasn't
chewing her a new one. This was chastisement enough. Nicole growled
and pushed through the eighth floor's door. Her anger spiked,
killing any unease. Her and her addiction to iced coffee. Really,
her need to take a break. She had a little anger, too, for the
client actually showing up this time. And the rest for the
interloper ruining the initial interview for a new
campaign.

Oh, yes. He would have ruined it. Most
people Anna threw in Nicole's path didn't know their asshole from a
hole in the wall. Anna threw the newbies at Nicole to train,
toughen up and make competent. Anna didn't hire new publicity
managers. That was Nicole's job because she was fantastic at what
she did.

Her clients loved her and so
did her stuffed-to-the max contacts list. A list filled with
reporters, radio execs, TV and radio personalities, DJs... anyone
who would speak her clients' name with wonderful press
coverage.
Pretty much
everyone but God and the Pope. Not having the latter had
everything to do with a lack of trying on Nicole's part.

And some usurper felt it was ok to go
ahead with the interview without her?

“
Anna, I've got to
go.”

The plush carpet quieted the sound of
her heels, and the only click was Anna, finally, hanging up.
Passing the receptionist—blonde, young and pretty—she grabbed some
Kleenex and dabbed her damp face. Very little makeup came off.
Still she dug into her purse for lipstick and reapplied the
siren-red shade. Not missing a step, she followed the curve of the
hallway and dropped the Kleenex, lipstick, phone and earbud into
her purse.

Nicole gave herself a moment to breathe
deep and dispel any irritation. Calm. Efficient. Capable. Since
she'd practiced how that looked in the mirror, Nicole knew she
looked every inch of those words.

She turned the doorknob to her office
and stepped inside. Her gaze barely glossed over the back of the
client's head. Her gaze was too busy drinking in, and disbelieving,
who sat at her desk. The man's angular cheek bones gave his bronzed
skin a striking balance. The peak of his nose was thick but sharp.
Yet the steel-blue glint of his eyes held a depth that left her
breathless. She knew what it felt like to be under that intense
gaze.

The last time she'd seen him, his hair
had been mussed and tousled by continually running her fingers
through the ebony strands. He'd looked rakish and exactly like the
type of man you took to bed, but she got to know he was the type of
man you wanted around long after the sex glow dimmed. He was a man
who had started the small shift within her to relax and have a
little fun.

Now, not a strand of hair dared to
stick out from the slicked-back style. He looked like a shark. A
shark perched behind her desk as though it was his.

Damn him.

“
Sebastian?” The name
spilled from her lips.

End of Excerpt