Sex Idol

by Shelley Munro

  Carly threw herself on her gel-bed. She gave an inelegant sniff and scrubbed her hands across her damp cheeks.

  “A man who tells the truth,” she muttered. “The whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Her eyes narrowed as her thoughts drifted to her ex-husband. “Not like Matt.”

  Definitely not another lying, cheating creep who blamed everyone but himself for his shortcomings.

  “A sense of humor,” she said, adding to her shopping list.

  Yeah, someone to make her laugh when the horrors of work became too much.

  “A man who doesn’t have a tantrum if I work late.” Carly screwed up her eyes, trying to force back the aching tears of self-pity. Strictly low-maintenance—that was what she wanted.

  “Very, very elusive.” She stared at the ceiling. “Don’t think there’s such a thing. It’s not as if I want Mr. Perfect.”

  Just Mr. Almost Perfect.

  Carly struggled from the comfort of the soft mattress and sat up to plant her feet on the floor. Needed to do something. Oh yeah. Work. She wobbled from her bedroom to her small office and over to her computer.

  “Computer on.” The burst of bright light from the screen had her screwing up her face. “Computer, mute screen color. Check incoming correspondence. Results to screen.” She sank onto her black office chair and hunched her shoulders while keeping her gaze off the screen. When the whirring and whining ceased, she straightened.

  “Six messages. Results on screen,” her computer warbled.

  She forced herself to focus. “Spam. Spam. Spam. Computer, trash first three messages.” Jeesh, did she look as if she needed a longer penis? A bark of laughter erupted. Not according to her ex. He was adamant that she—Carly Abercombie—was a ballbuster.

  Nope, she did not need a dick to add to her arsenal.

  Her gaze went to the next message.

  Interplanetary Love. You are one click away from finding your true mate.

  “Yeah, right,” Carly scoffed. “Computer, trash Interplanetary Love. Aha!” She scanned the one she’d been waiting for, then slumped back in her chair. A week of investigation down the toilet tube. Solid alibi for Michaels. Proof he wasn’t involved in the illegal Golden Dust sale—the new designer drug on the streets. He’d spoken the truth when he’d said he’d been at the Tonga atolls on business. Carly pillowed her head in her hands, the need to scream starting to build inside her chest.

  “You have a new message,” her computer droned.

  Carly jerked up her head and glowered at the screen. She couldn’t even manage a sexy masculine voice for her computer. The one she’d chosen droned some days and at other times, the voice rose to a falsetto that made her think of eunuchs.

  She gaped at the new message displayed. Pink. An explosion of corny flowers and hearts, and oh, no—the stupid thing came with music. Old-fashioned country and western blared into her room, something about cheatin’ hearts. Hellfire, she knew about them.

  “Computer delete message.” The message cut off abruptly, leaving blissful silence. A beautiful thing—for all of two seconds. Suddenly it reminded Carly she didn’t have a warm body to curl up with at night. No one to heat her cold feet when she climbed into bed in the small hours of the morning.

  Swaying slightly, she stood and stooped to pick up her shoes and dress as she crossed the room to her bedroom.

  “All by myself,” she warbled before halting, her mouth twisting into a scowl. “Talk about a pity party. Not an attractive trait, Carly.”

  Interplanetary Love.

  Would it be so bad taking one more chance? The email called her like a tempting chocolate dessert. Not the artificial cocoa stuff, but the rich, full taste of the real product she’d tried once at a posh party and had dreamed about ever since. She stomped back to her computer, stared at the blank screen. Words poured from her mouth, against her better judgment. “Computer, retrieve Interplanetary Love message from trash.”

  After reading the entire message including the small print, she muttered, “Five hundred and fifty dollars.” Not bad, considering she’d spent more than that on the new dress, the giraffe-shoes and her share of dinner tonight. “Computer, complete form with personal details.”

  “Running task,” her computer droned. “Form complete.”

  “Approve debit and transmit form,” she ordered. Probably a scam. Probably a rip-off, yet some of the tension residing in her shoulders dispersed, some of the unhappiness, because she’d taken steps to fix a problem.

  Purchase Interplanetary Love

  About Shelley

  USA Today bestselling author Shelley Munro lives in Auckland, the City of Sails, with her husband and a cheeky Jack Russell/mystery breed puppy.

  Typical New Zealanders, Shelley and her husband left home for their big OE soon after they married (translation of New Zealand speak – big overseas experience). A twelve-month long adventure lengthened to six years of roaming the world. Enduring memories include being almost sat on by a mountain gorilla in Rwanda, lazing on white sandy beaches in India, whale watching in Alaska, searching for leprechauns in Ireland, and dealing with ghosts in an English pub.

  While travel is still a big attraction, these days Shelley is most likely found in front of her computer following another love – that of writing stories of romance and adventure. Other interests include watching rugby (strictly for research purposes), cycling, baking bread and curling up with an enjoyable book.

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  Other Books by Shelley

  Paranormal

  Sea of Change

  Price of Love

  Blue Moon Dragon

  Lynx to the Pharaoh

  Curse of Brandon Lupinus

  Middlemarch Capture

  Snared by Saber

  Favored by Felix

  Lost with Leo

  Middlemarch Shifters

  My Scarlet Woman

  My Younger Lover

  My Peeping Tom

  My Assassin

  My Estranged Lover

  My Feline Protector

  My Determined Suitor

  My Cat Burglar

  My Stray Cat

  My Second Chance

  My Plan B

  My Cat Nap

  My Romantic Tangle

  Bundle

  Middlemarch Shifters 1 – 3

  Middlemarch Shifters 4 - 6

  House of the Cat series

  Sampled & Seduced

  Captured & Seduced

  Claimed & Seduced

  Merry & Seduced

  Stranded & Seduced

  Seized & Seduced

  Hunted & Seduced

  Festive & Seduced

  Bundle

  House of the Cat

  Contemporary

  Wild Child

  Cat Burglar in Training

  One Night of Misbehavior

  Blindside

  Fringe Benefits

  Lovers at Last

  Ain’t Misbehaving

  Playing to Win

  Summer Encounter

  Reformed Bad Girl

  Stranger Things Happen

  Military Men

  Innocent Next Door

  Soldiers with Benefits

  Safeguarding Sorrel

  Bundle

  Military Men

  Sci-fi/Futuristic

  Interplanetary Love

  Sex Idol

  Alien Encounter series

  Janaya

  Hinekiri

  Alexandre

  Gay Romance

  No Defense

  Best Man

  Last Wish

  Curse Across Time

  Eye on the Ball

  Historical


  The Spurned Viscountess

  Evening Tryst

  Copyright Page

  Sex Idol

  Copyright © 2017 Shelley Munro

  ISBN: 978-0-9941483-2-2

  Cover: The Killion Group Inc.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Shelley Munro