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Category: Erotica/Erotic Romance/Romance
Description: Lily Baxter ... Yoga instructor ... fantastic cook ... nude model for dirty pictures! If she'd known what an uproar posing nude for a nationally known men's magazine would cause, Lily would have chosen one with a smaller circulation. Now her father isn't speaking to her, her mother thinks she's going insane, and three-quarters of the male population in town is clamoring to get closer to her. To make matters worse, her ex-boyfriend (the drama king) accused her of contributing to the decline of morality in modern society--in the local newspaper. Even her neighbor, the hottest man she's ever seen, has started looking at her like she's dessert. So what else can a girl to do when the Adonis across the street suddenly wants her body, but take full advantage. No one's ever accused Lily of being conventional. Evan Acardi ... Architectural designer ... King of the Take-out ... Mr. Fine Ass! Evan moved from Chicago to Tranquility, New Hampshire, to escape the pain of his divorce. All he wants is a female friend to have hot, steamy sex with, but one who doesn't want a Relationship, Commitment, or worse, Marriage. He knows his shapely next-door neighbor and her friend watch him after each morning run. You can't miss their faces plastered against the window as they watch him do his cool-down stretches. But once Evan spots Lily's full exposure in Seduced magazine he figures he has found the perfect woman ... to bed but not to marry. Now all Evan has to do is keep his friendship with Lily, enjoy the best sex he's ever had, and avoid the dreaded L word. Love.
eBook Publisher: Ellora's Cave/Ellora's Cave, 2004 Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
eBookwise Release Date: May 2005

24 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [338 KB]
Words: 80413
Reading time: 229-321 min.

If she had known what an uproar posing nude for a nationally known men's magazine would cause, Lily would have chosen a magazine with a smaller circulation. She leaned against her partly-open front door, her hands gripping the doorknob so she didn't fall over and bash her face off the cement steps, her body swaying forward and back as the door moved on its hinges. She stifled a yawn, fighting to keep her eyes open while her brother Jake ranted and raved and waved the latest issue of Seduced magazine in her face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He smacked the magazine on the doorframe hard enough to crease the pages. His eyes bugged out, his face reddened with rage, and she might have found it comical had he not dragged her out of bed at six in the morning. "Do you realize what a mess you've gotten yourself into this time? And what are you doing answering the door in something so ... so ... revealing anyway? I could have been anybody, and you might have found yourself in trouble."

She glanced down at her ratty, washed-a-hundred-times, extra-large Metallica concert T-shirt and stifled a chuckle. "Oh, yeah. I dress like this just to seduce all the men in the neighborhood. Good thing I have you to watch out for me, Jake, since I apparently have no mind of my own and wouldn't be able to defend myself in any situation." Her annoyance at the interruption in her much-needed sleep left a tinny taste in her mouth. Or maybe that was just morning breath. Either way, she needed to go brush her teeth.

She leaned back a little too far and nearly lost her balance. The cool metal surface of the front door hit her in the chin as she yanked on the knob to keep herself from falling. She rubbed the spot with the heel of her hand.

Caffeine.

She needed caffeine, and lots of it, if Jake expected her to concentrate on his sermon. He might as well have been barking like a dog. It all sounded the same before her morning dose of java.

"Stop with the smart mouth. This is serious," he said, or rather, ordered.

She rolled her eyes. Serious for whom? Was the world going to come to an end because he'd seen his sister nude in a magazine? For crying out loud.

She snagged the magazine from his fingers and flipped it closed. How did he manage to get a hold of it, anyway? Jake the Saint, with a copy of Seduced magazine? It didn't fit. Her eyes widened when she saw the white subscription label in his name on the glossy front cover--along with the post office box he used for his business mail. She smiled--or the closest thing she could manage this early in the morning. It probably looked more like a smirk, but hey, that worked, too. "Shame on you, Jake. Does your wife know about this?"

He opened his mouth, gaping at her like some demented beached fish struggling for breath. After a few seconds of uncharacteristic speechlessness, he snatched the magazine back, rolled it up, and shoved it into his back pocket. A burst of laughter escaped her.

"Didn't think so. Are you through yet? You're going to wake the neighbors." He'd been droning on and on at her since she opened the door five minutes ago. Knowing Jake, he'd be able to go on for another sixty or seventy if she let him. Maybe being only semi-coherent wasn't such a bad thing, after all. She stifled another yawn as she squinted into the bright sun, scanning the street for any of her nosy neighbors. None yet. That was always a good sign. "I'd invite you in for coffee, but since I'd be too tempted to pour the entire pot over your head, that might not be such a wise idea. If you don't have anything worthwhile to say, can you please leave so I can get ready for work?"

Birds chirped in the silence that followed. Heat bugs buzzed already, signaling another scorcher of a day.

"No, I'm not through. I still have a lot more to say, and you're going to shut your mouth and listen."

Too bad he recovered his voice. She'd been about to forgive him for his little outburst. She shook her head in disappointment. "I think not, Oh Great Asshole. You can talk all you want, but I'm finished listening."

He started to speak again, but she didn't hear a word he said. She was too busy slamming the door in his face.

Brothers.

Men.