Maybe he had simply missed his room number, she thought absently, still aware of him.
As they reached the end of the car, however, her pulse picked up. Something was askew. Suddenly she felt very alone in the hallway. She reassured herself that if she screamed, people would certainly hear her.
Brenna turned without warning and planted a hand on the man’s chest, stopping him in his tracks. His expression more surprised than menacing.
“Why are you following me?” she asked, looking him in the eye. His were deep, dark brown, like the best chocolate and coffee. His hair was curly—not shaggy, but not styled either. A little wild, actually. Slightly darker than his eyes.
“I’m not following you. Not in the way that you mean. I’m going to my room.” His eyes dropped to her hand.
She removed it, her lips twisting in doubt.
“The only room left in this car is mine. Yours must be behind you.”
“No, mine is right down there.” He gestured to the end of the car.
She detected a hint of Brooklyn in his tone, or maybe it was New Jersey or Philadelphia. She could never quite sort them out.
“That’s not possible. I specifically reserved that berth,” she said pertly as she turned and walked away.
When she slipped the key card into the slot on the door, it flashed green. She smiled, stepping inside and looking at him victoriously.
“See? Yours is back there somewhere. Have a nice day.” She closed the door in his face.
Turning her back to him and the door, she looked at the room.
Just as she remembered. Except for the bouquet of flowers on the table by the window. Curious, she walked toward them, picking up the card. They were from her friend Mel, wishing her luck.
The windows were small, with shades, but they let in enough light. The bathroom was also narrow, fitted with the bare necessities, but if she left the door open, she would be fine.
Brenna felt good. A thrill ran through her. She could do it this time.
The door behind her clicked, buzzed, then clunked. The same noise it had made when she was opening it with her key card. Shock had her fingers fisting around the handles of her bags as she turned to find him standing there in the entry.
He smiled, waving his key card at her.
“Well, look at that,” he said and winked at her with wicked satisfaction, stepping inside and closing the door behind him with a click of finality that echoed in her brain.
Numbness set in. This couldn’t be happening. Brenna’s mind blanked as she confronted the one thing she couldn’t ever have prepared for.
What’s a little lie between strangers?
Back on Track
© 2013 Donna Cummings
A Strangers on a Train Story
Allie Whittaker is in a dating slump, too busy getting her fledgling marketing company off the ground to have a personal life. All that could change, though, if she can get baseball superstar Matt Kearns on the cover of a charity calendar. Except Matt won’t even talk to her.
Matt is in a slump, worried his career might be over. A Napa Valley wine tour isn’t enough to take his mind off his troubles—until sexy, funny Allie plops into the adjacent seat and tells him three things about herself. One of them, she says, is a lie.
Matt can’t resist playing along, and soon the afternoon getaway becomes an interlude with lies, truths, and desire flowing as fast as the wine. Then Ally lets slip one truth too many…and they both realize they’re playing for keeps.
Warning: A handsome hunk, a determined lady and a few glasses of wine. Throw in a little on-the-run action, and what more do you need to while away an afternoon?
Enjoy the following excerpt for Back on Track:
“How did you talk me into this again?” Allie Whittaker gave her best friend a mock glare over her wineglass and then took a sip of Riesling. It was fruity and smelled like honeysuckle, and it made her taste buds incredibly happy. “Oh, that’s right. Wine.”
“Lots of wine.” Sandra lifted her half-empty glass in salute. “And don’t forget the wonderful scenery.”
Allie glanced out the window. They were sitting in the comfiest club chairs on the Napa Valley Wine Train, watching sun-drenched vineyards pass by in a leisurely green blur. “You’re right.” She sighed with contentment, gazing at the hills in the background, which sheltered the acres of vines in their long, tidy rows. “It really is beautiful.”
Sandra laughed. “I was talking about all the gorgeous guys on this train.”
“I’d nearly forgotten about that part.”
“I sure didn’t,” Sandra said, patting her perfect blonde hair into place.
Allie spun around in her swivel chair to avoid Sandra’s pointed look. Pretend as she might, she knew exactly why she’d been dragged away from working this weekend.
There were clusters of men chatting with women throughout the lounge car, some of them standing in the aisle, others seated at the upholstered booths scattered among the club chairs.
All of them were laughing and drinking wine and clearly having a wonderful time.
Her heart sank at how effortless it seemed for everyone. “I barely remember how to flirt, or mingle, or any of that stuff.”
“You do it with your job on a daily basis. Getting people to do what you want is your specialty.”
“That’s different. Plus, I’m failing at that right now too.” All she needed was one more sports figure to say yes, and the celebrity calendar project would be a go. After that, she hoped to use the victory as a springboard to lure more lucrative accounts to her fledgling marketing business.
But right now, it was the hardest “yes” she’d ever gone after.
“You just need to get your mojo back. And this is the perfect place for it. It’s only three hours. It’s not in our neighborhood.” Sandra ticked each item off on her fingers. “If you like someone, great. If not, you never have to see them again.”
“Tell me again why I can’t sit here and drink wine all afternoon?”
“You’re in a dating slump.”
Allie sat up, stung by Sandra’s brash statement. “It’s not a slump. It’s just been a little while since I’ve dated.”
“Months.” Sandra dragged out the word.
“I’ve been incredibly busy with work,” Allie said defensively. “It’s not easy starting up a business. It takes every minute of my time—”
“Slu-ump,” she continued in a singsong voice.
“Stop that. This doesn’t qualify as a slump. I’m not sure I like that word.”
“You’re in a slump. I know. I’ve been in one before.” Sandra shuddered. “And slump is a better description than dry spell.”
“Oh God, you’re right.”
Allie took another gulp of wine. She gazed wistfully at the other people laughing and having so much fun. It had been a long time—too long—since she’d felt that carefree. It had been even longer since she’d had fun with someone of the male persuasion.
She was so stingy with her non-work hours, she barely spent time with Sandra, her best friend, which is why she had finally agreed to go on this trip.
Allie settled back in her chair. She deserved an afternoon off. Maybe it would help her figure out how to get her calendar project back on track. And as nerve-wracking as it was, she liked the thought of possibly meeting someone who could take her mind off work, even for a few hours.
“Nobody knows you,” Sandra said in a beguiling voice, “so you can be anybody you want. Celebrities do it all the time. Julie in Accounting saw that funny weather guy here once, and hardly anybody recognized him.”
“You know, speaking of celebrities, the stadium isn’t that far from the train station. Maybe we could swing by there on our way home—”
Sandra gasped. “I can’t believe you sometimes.”
“I’m not thinking about work. I’m not.” God, she was hopeless. “Okay, I was, but I promise I won’t think about it for the rest of the afternoon.”
“I mean it. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“Easy. You walk up to someone who looks cute—”
That snapped her back to reality. “What am I supposed to say?” She leaned toward Sandra, giving her a leer. “Nice wine rack you’ve got there.”
Sandra laughed, waving her away. “We’ll come up with something.” She thought for a moment. “I know. Say you’ll tell them three things about you, and one of them is a lie. They have to figure out which one is which.”
Allie frowned. “I’m not sure that will work here—”
“It’s a mingles thing. On a train. With unlimited wine.” Sandra practically snorted. “The hardest part is going to be staying upright.”
Allie giggled, and Sandra joined in after giving her a mock glare. “I meant because of the train bouncing side to side.”
“It all sounds so—”
“Meat market-ish?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s it,” Allie admitted. “A mobile meat market.”
“But that’s the beauty of it! Like I said, if you don’t want to see these people again, that’s it. It’s not like you’re going to bump into them, unless you want to.”
“Why does it seem like when you say ‘bump into’, you mean something else entirely?”
Sandra chuckled. “That’s your mind rolling around in the gutter. This is meant to be fun, so try to view it like that. Don’t worry.” She gave Allie the patented Sandra warning look. “And do not think about work.”
“It’s hard not to. I should charge extra for all the worrying I do on my own time.”
“Not today.”
Allie took a deep breath, ready to take on this challenge. “We’re here to have fun, and that’s what we’re going to do.” She clinked her wineglass against Sandra’s. “Who should I try first?”
“Ooh, that’s the spirit.” Sandra perused the potential men, shaking her head occasionally. She finished one sweep of the room and started a second. Just as Allie thought they’d have to survey the occupants of another car, Sandra’s face brightened. “Why don’t you go chat with him?”
“The one with the baseball cap pulled down low?” Allie sighed. “Why do guys always do that? It makes them all look the same. You never know what hair color they have. Or if they have hair.”
Sandra shrugged. “Maybe he’s shy.”
“Could be.” Allie watched him checking out the rest of the passengers, as if he was doing his best to keep his distance from everyone. In a way, she sympathized, since she’d spent most of her life doing the same thing—using work as a shield to keep from getting too involved with anyone. Maybe it would give them something in common, make it easier to talk to him.
And maybe it would be easier to drink her wine and plot how to get her calendar project moving along.
“There’s no guarantee this will get me out of my so-called dating slump.”
“I know,” Sandra said cheerfully. “That’s why I’ve got us signed up for stripper-pole lessons next.”
Allie bolted out of her chair. “Okay, I can do this.”
After all, how hard could it be to tell a couple of lies?
Bending Over Backwards
Samantha Hunter
They both lost everything, and then they found each other.
Jasmine Stanford has to be the most stressed-out yoga instructor on Cape Cod. Years after a childhood trauma left her penniless, homeless and parentless, working hard to maintain her hard-won success and security is all she knows.
Controlling her carefully rebuilt life is Jasmine’s first priority, and there’s no room or time in it for sexy former stockbroker Leo Fischer. But the more Leo comes around, the more Jasmine feels her resolve crumbling.
Leo is—or was—a hotshot investment banker until a workplace tragedy wiped out his memory and his career. On Cape Cod to recover, he’s at loose ends, his future uncertain…until Jasmine becomes his north star. But their relationship is only physical, and Jasmine keeps her distance, even when she’s as close to him as any woman can be.
Jasmine is anything but indifferent to the desire exploding between them. A summer fling was fine when she thought Leo would return to New York. But she’s falling hard—and the last thing she wants to catch her is the past…
Warning: This book contains a wounded hero hotter than a summer sun and sex in very flexible positions.
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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, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Bending Over Backwards
Copyright © 2013 by Samantha Hunter
ISBN: 978-1-61921-534-4
Edited by Anne Scott
Cover by Lyn Taylor
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: July 2013
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author
Look for these titles by Samantha Hunter
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Copyright Page
Bending Over Backwards Page 13