Cleopatra Knight never expected to sleep with her handsome boss, Dante Damaso, during a trip to Tokyo. Their passionate nights lead to unexpected consequences, turning Cleo’s life upside down. Despite Dante’s jet-setting lifestyle and reluctance to settle down, he can’t forget Cleo. Living together, they both discover deeper feelings, and Cleo wonders if her heart’s desire is within reach.
Cleo moved to hug Blue, who was still cursing over her charred onions, and made her escape before the other woman could offer any further protest. Dante parked his Jaguar in front of his friend’s huge, rather creepy old house at exactly the same time as Luc drove up in his serviceable old Ford sedan.…
“I’m working up to something here, okay?” she hissed. “Let me do my thing.” “Get to the point, will you?” “Fine! But don’t snap my head off when I ask my next question.” “Oh my God, you’re so dramatic,” Cleo teased. “How did my practical brother wind up with such a drama queen? Just ask…
It was on that troubled note that she finally fell into a fitful sleep. Cleo called in sick the following day and drifted listlessly around the empty house for part of the morning, battling the familiar nausea she now dreaded. Once she’d managed to get the vomiting under control, she climbed into her battered old…
“That’s nonsense,” Blue dismissed, showing rare signs of anger. “You’re kind, considerate, loving, generous with your affection, and while things haven’t always gone your way, you found ways to cope. You have always bounced back and found a way forward. You’ll do the same this time.” “I’ve been completely directionless since I stopped dancing,” Cleo…
“Blue doing the cooking?” The woman was a fantastic cook. “Yep.” “Then it’s a deal.” Football, food, beer, and a good friend with whom to enjoy it all. Dante couldn’t think of a better way to spend the evening. “So, do you enjoy life in the HR department?” Blue asked Cleo, efficiently chopping up onions…
“Thank you.” “Look, you know that this job is way beyond your actual capabilities, right?” Why was he still talking about this? He sounded like a man who was determined to justify himself. “Well, if I didn’t before, I certainly know it now,” she said dryly, and his frown told her that he didn’t appreciate…
“Not optimistic,” he countered, and she grimaced when she realized that she’d spoken aloud. “Realistic. We have some crazy chemistry. A bit of backsliding was inevitable.” “No more after this, though,” she said adamantly, and she watched his shoulders rise and fall in a sigh. “No. I didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s probably…
She paused, her hand on the doorknob. She didn’t turn to face him, merely waited for him to say whatever was left to say. “I would prefer someone older. Someone less like you.” Now what the hell did that mean? Someone less like her? “You know,” he said lamely when she turned to face him…
She clung to him, feeling safe and cocooned in his embrace, and her urgency and desperation must have been obvious because his arms tightened. “Hey, sweetheart,” he muttered. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” She shook her head and kept her nose buried in his neck. She loved the familiar smell of him. He put…
“Well, if that thing points down, it just looks flaccid and . . . I dunno, incapable somehow.” “I’m not discussing this with you.” “Why not? You told me all about Frank Whatsisface’s, remember?” “I did not. This is the first time I can recall us discussing the angle of any guy’s erection.” “True,” he…