A Kiss in the Dark by Lisa Fox
Book Three of the Midnight Kiss Series, set in the dynamic
world of ONE KISS…
A bad boy can make a girl feel so good...
Grace’s attraction to her new web designer, amateur boxer
and all-around playboy, Ryan Granger, is off the charts. But the bad boy of
programming is not someone she needs to get entangled with. She’s got too many
responsibilities and no time for games. She has deadlines to meet and a sick
father to care for. Ryan is tempting, but being with him is completely
unrealistic. Still, a girl can fantasize, right?
Ryan wants Grace badly, but while he’s building her website,
they have to keep things strictly professional. Thankfully, walking her home
during a city-wide blackout is on his own time and whatever happens in the dark
doesn’t count. He’s falling hard for Grace and he is a man used to winning. The
only problem is, he’s got to convince her that he’s worthy of her trust.
Copyright © LISA FOX, 2015
All Rights Reserved, Harper Impulse, a Division of
HarperCollins Publishers
Grace looked at Ryan and sipped her coffee. Suddenly the
pressure was on. He had to make the right impression, but now that Kat was
gone, the funky feeling in his gut was insanely distracting. He would be
willing to wager a considerable amount of money that she was just as interested
as he was. It was loud and clear in the tension in the air between them. But he
couldn’t act on it. Couldn’t even consider it. She was his client.
“So, okay,” he said, fumbling a bit. What did he need to
know? He looked her over again. Was she free tonight? How did she feel about shameless,
hot, animal sex? He took a deep breath and bit down on the inside of his cheek
as hard as he could. “Let’s start with the basics. What kind of pages would you
like your website to have?”
“Hmm,” she said, thinking it over. “A page for my books for
sure. A bio, a contact page, maybe news and appearances? That can be one page.”
She tapped her index finger against her lip and his gaze fixed on her mouth.
She was turning him inside out and she didn’t even know it. “I think that’s it.”
He struggled to keep his face professionally plain. “Do you
have a fun kind of page? Or a blog? We’ve found that authors who give readers a
little something extra get a lot more traffic and repeat hits.”
She curled her upper lip, obviously not liking the idea. “I
don’t have time to constantly update things like that. I have a tight
schedule.”
Ryan nodded. “I understand. I could do the updating for you,
but the information would have to come from you. Quirky things that you’ve come
across while researching, free reads, giveaways. These things really help
traffic. It gives people something beyond the basic, ‘here’s my book, buy my book,
please’ kind of thing.”
She blew air out of her nose. “That does make sense. I’ll
have to think about it and get back to you.”
“Great,” Ryan said. “Make me a list and we’ll build
something from there.”
“Have you done this before?” she asked. “You sound like you
know what people want.”
“No,” Ryan admitted. “You’ll be my first author.” He did not
allow himself to fully contemplate the possibilities and implications of that
statement. “But Sharpe Designs has a lot of authors for clients, in all
different genres. We know what works.”
Her smile turned playful, flirtatious. “How’d you get that
black eye? An unsatisfied client?”
He laughed. “No, I box.” He rubbed his stubbly cheek and the
flare of pain was a welcome distraction. “I’m usually more put together than
this. Sorry. I was in a tournament last night.”
She leaned across the table toward him, offering him an
outstanding view of her plump cleavage. “Did you win?”
His mouth went bone dry, and he quickly lifted his gaze up
to her face. “I did.”
“You must be pretty good.”
“I’m very good.”
“But not the best?”
He grinned. “I don’t like to brag.”
She responded with a slow curve of her lush lips. How was he
going to get this woman into his bed? That had to happen. Because he wanted her
a whole lot.
Her cell phone vibrated, and she jumped. The way she
scrambled for it made him think she was expecting an important call. Or maybe
dreading one. Her face was tight and tense as she looked at the screen, and
then she visibly relaxed. Whatever it was, she decided not to answer it now and
tucked the phone back in her purse.
“Sorry,” she said, looking back up at him. She took a deep
breath, let it out. “I actually need to get going. Is there anything more I can
tell you? I have to get my words in for the day.”
“I think we’re good for now.” He wanted to see her again.
Needed to see her again. And it was perfectly reasonable. It was for the site.
Today was Thursday. He thought about the earliest he could have something done.
He didn’t want to stress Kat out with a tight deadline. She had at least three other
projects going on. “Can we meet again on Wednesday? I’ll have a solid working
outline for you by then.”
She bit her lower lip, looked away. “Do we have to meet?
Can’t we just do it through email?”
Ryan tried not to take it as hard as he did, but his heart
sank as the rejection set in. “Whatever you’d like, Grace. It’s your site. We
can do it however you want.” But please say you’ll meet me, that I’ll get to
see you again.
Grace grimaced. “No, never mind, it’s okay. I can come in.”
She gave him a beseeching look. “I just… I have tight deadlines and daily word
counts that I have to meet. This is just a bad time.” She let out a long
breath. “But I guess there never is a good time, is there? And I do want this
done. Wednesday is fine. Is the afternoon all right?”
“The afternoon is excellent.” Technically, he could do
everything by email. But he was selfish and far too happy to let any guilt ruin
his good fortune. “How about four?”
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
She rose out of the chair, and Ryan held the door open for
her as she exited the meeting room. He wanted to offer her his arm, not for
support like with Kat, but because he wanted to be close to her, touch her in
some way. He couldn’t get quite close enough to get a whiff of her perfume and
he was intensely disappointed. He really did want to know what she smelled
like.
She left the building, and he smiled to himself as he
watched her disappear into the crowd on Spring Street. He was a little pained
to see her go, but he would be seeing her again. They had a date. Well, an
appointment. Whatever. He was seeing her again and that’s all that mattered.
Back at his desk, he sat down and cracked his knuckles.
Before he could even begin her project, he had to do a little research on the
author. He needed to get a sense of her books, her style, before he could know
what was right for her. He tried not to feel like a creeper as he typed her
name into Google. It was for work. It was what he would have done with any
client. His personal interest had no place in it. The fact that he was thrilled
when he saw that she was single meant nothing. She was just another client. He
scrolled through the returns, picking up little tidbits about her professional
life. She’d won quite a few awards and was part of a reading series last month
at The New School. He opened a new tab, went to Amazon, and downloaded her
first book to his tablet. He’d read that over the weekend. He went back to his
search list and clicked on her Wiki page. It was time to get to know Grace
Betancourt.
BUY LINKS:
About Lisa:
World-renowned neurosurgeon, jet fighter pilot, secret member
of American royalty, seducer of legions of beautiful, outrageously sexy angels
and demons and vampires and werewolves and the occasional pirate, Lisa Fox has
done it all…in her own mind. In reality, she can generally be found at her desk
with a cup of coffee close at hand. Or maybe a martini. It really depends on
the day.
Lisa Fox is a multi-published author of contemporary,
erotic, and paranormal romance novellas. Feedback, comments, opinions, words of
wisdom, chocolate cake and the addresses of super hot men are always
appreciated and encouraged. Please feel free to contact Lisa any time.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaFoxRomance
Twitter: @LisaFoxRomance
.jpg)
