Secret Seduction. Lori WildeЧитать онлайн книгу.
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She knew a crossroad when she saw one…
It was stupid. All Vanessa could think of at the moment was how his eyes promised the pleasure of great sex. Sex that would help her forget the lousy day she’d had.
Outside the thunder boomed.
Vanessa’s heart galloped.
Tanner dipped his head and lightly pressed his mouth to the pulse beating at her throat. Heat shot through her body, pooling low in her abdomen. Against all common sense, Vanessa curved her body against his and opened her mouth. He inhaled sharply and slipped his tongue between her teeth. She came undone.
Was it so wrong to sate the yearning sexual needs she’d been holding at bay for so long? Would it be so terrible to have a one-night stand with this man?
Tanner deepened the kiss, breaking the last tenuous thread of restraint she’d managed to hold on to until this moment. Why not? As long as she accepted this for what it was—a fling—everything would be all right.
“Tanner,” she breathed. “Get us a room…”
Lori Wilde is the author of forty books. She’s been nominated for a RITA® Award and four Romantic Times BOOKreviews Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Her books have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan, Redbook and Quick & Simple. Lori teaches writing online through Ed2go. She’s a registered nurse. trained in forensics, and she volunteers at a battered women’s shelter.
Secret Seduction
Lori Wilde
To the Duetters. You guys inspire me so much. Thank you all for being there.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
“HEY, CHICA. Wanna come over, sit on my lap and see what pops up?”
Dr. Vanessa Rodriquez settled onto the bar stool, tugged down the hem of her flirty red dancing dress so as not to expose too much leg and bit back the scathing retort aching to spark off her tongue after her exceptionally disturbing day. At the same time, her mind was gauging how quickly she could get to the pepper spray clipped to the key chain at the bottom of her purse, in case things turned ugly.
The urge to seek refuge from the chic, white-bread world of Confidential Rejuvenations, the VIP boutique hospital where she worked as a resident in plastic surgery, had driven Vanessa to Emilio’s, a neighborhood bar in amostly Hispanic section of Austin, Texas, on this sultry evening in early August.
Lately, the staff of Confidential Rejuvenations had been left reeling from a series of odd occurrences and circum-stances that was chipping away at the hospital’s once impec-cable reputation as a soothing oasis for the rich and pampered with very private health issues. The stress was starting to take a toll on the employees; Vanessa wasn’t immune.
No matter how rough her childhood had been or how far she’d risen from that El Paso barrio, sometimes she simply had to sate her cravings for the culture she’d left behind.
She was feeling fragile, but was determined not to show it. She came to Emilio’s whenever she felt out of step with her environment. Seeking to wash away the blues with top-shelf tequila, chicken flautas and mariachi bands. Unfortu-nately, along with the food, drink and music came masculine attention. She was in no mood to fend off unwanted admirers, innocuous or otherwise.
All she wanted for the night was a place where she could lower her guard, let down her hair and blow off some steam. A place where, if she so desired, she could let her true per-sonality shine through. If the people she worked with at Con-fidential Rejuvenations knew the real Vanessa, they’d be thoroughly shocked at the bad-girl essence she struggled so hard to conceal.
At Emilio’s she was free to express herself. Maybe even take a wild turn on the apron-sized dance floor if the spirit moved her. Just not with the overweight, middle-aged man sporting a gold wedding band on his left ring finger and a sprinkling of tattoos on his Popeye forearms who was leering at her from the other side of the bar. It had been a long time since she’d had to live by her wits, but she still knew how to deal with the likes of this loser.
Vanessa batted her lashes and retorted, “What, Cabron? And waste all your Viagra on something you’ll never have?”
“She nailed you there,” his buddy snickered in Spanish and elbowed him in the ribs.
The man scowled darkly.
She ignored the guy, raised two fingers and motioned for Julio, the bartender. “Tequila shot straight up, best you’ve got, lime and lots of salt,” Vanessa ordered from the handsome, muscular man making his way over to her.
The corner of Julio’s mouth tilted upward. He had a white bar towel thrown over one shoulder. “Bad day?”
Now that was a serious understatement.
“I’ve had better,” Vanessa said evenly, hoping he wouldn’t fall into bartender-as-therapist mode. Julio