HOT, SEXY & BAD
8 New Stories
8 Bestselling Authors
This Holiday Season grab the gift everyone wants. Eight BRAND NEW novellas by Eight Best Selling Authors that will light your fire and warm your heart. But be warned, unwrap this collection with caution!
Hot, Sexy and Bad: A Holiday Collection features original novellas written by New York Times, USA Today and Bestselling Authors:
Judy Angelo
Melody Anne
Kathleen Brooks
Ruth Cardello
Lynn Raye Harris
Sandra Marton
Shadonna Richards
Danielle Stewart
Hot, Sexy & Bad
By Judy Angelo
Melody Anne
Kathleen Brooks
Ruth Cardello
Lynn Raye Harris
Sandra Marton
Shadonna Richards
Danielle Stewart
Copyright © 2013
ISBN 13: 978-0-9898610-2-1
All rights reserved. Novellas within Hot, Sexy & Bad are used with permission from the author. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author(s).
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America.
Published by RCardello Publishing, LLC
Hot, Sexy & Bad Book Bundle Contents
Rome for the Holidays by Judy Angelo
Holiday Treasure by Melody Anne
Dancing Beneath the Mistletoe by Kathleen Brooks
Recipe For Love, An Andrade Christmas Novella by Ruth Cardello
Hot Package, A Hostile Operations Team Christmas Novella by Lynn Raye Harris
The Gift by Sandra Marton
The Belmont Christmas Bride by Shadonna Richards
Half My Heart by Danielle Stewart
ROME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
JUDY ANGELO
Copyright © 2013 Judy Angelo
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise (mechanical, photocopying, recording or stored in a retrieval system) without the prior written consent of the Publisher. Such action is an infringement of the copyright law.
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. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
New York Times Best Seller Judy Angelo’s Rome for the Holidays
Talk about sexy as sin...
Arie Angelis is floored when she lays eyes on the handsome hunk seated at the head table at the holiday event she's catering. She literally can't take her eyes off him. She's always prided herself on being the consummate professional, but not this time. But, attracted or not, when she finds out who he is she realizes he's way out of her reach. But you can't stop a girl from dreaming...
Rome Milano is used to getting what he wants but when he meets the hot and heavenly Arie Angelis he learns that he can't always have his way. He's used to calling the shots but, if the lady has her way, not this time...
Table of Contents for Rome for the Holidays
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
CHAPTER ONE
“Arie Angelis, will you get over here? Stop staring at that man.”
Arie ignored Lena’s fierce whisper. Her business partner didn’t know a good thing when she saw it. “Are you kidding me?” she whispered back as she hid in the shadow of the passageway. “Look at him.”
From her hiding place she drank her fill of tanned skin, chiseled jaw and lips that were dying to be kissed. Mercy, had God given him those lips to torture women the world over? She couldn’t tear her eyes away from them.
And then those eyes – deep, dark, liquid brown – they gleamed in the light cast by the candles on his table, now making him look so intense and then giving him a look so sultry that her heart literally picked up pace. A smile curled Arie’s lips. If the man only knew the effect he was having on an unknown woman hiding in the shadows, a total stranger to him.
But then again, maybe he did. He probably had that effect on every woman within viewing distance of him…and he knew it. She could see it in the way he sat, back straight, confidence exuding from him as he surveyed the room. And it didn’t help that his raven-dark hair curled sexily just above the collar of his obviously expensive suit. God, he was just too much.
“Aristotle Angelis, if you don’t remove yourself this minute -”
“All right, all right, I’m coming.” Arie backed away then turned to give her friend a searing look. “And will you stop reminding me about my joke of a name? You know I hate it.”
Lena, her hands filled with table napkins and her face sporting a grin, came a step closer and nodded. “It got your attention, didn’t it?” Her smile widened. “Like it always does.”
Arie smiled back and shook her head. “My birth mother must have hated me, to saddle me with such a name. She must have been one weird Greek girl.”
“Oh, come on. It’s a beautiful name. It makes you sound smart even if you’re not.” Lena almost burst out laughing when Arie made after her but then she stifled it and drew closer to the drapes behind which Arie had been hiding. She peered out at the banquet hall full of diners as they ate their meal, some chatting, some laughing while others focused their attention on the sumptuous spread before them. “Finished checking him out?” she asked.
“No, not yet,” Arie said, drawing closer so she could peep out again, “but how can I, when I have you bugging me every second?”
“I’m bugging you,” Lena said slowly, almost patiently, “because our team members are wondering why they’re busy working while the boss is over here ogling one of our clients.”
Arie rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. I bet they didn’t even notice.”
Lena chuckled. “Don’t be so sure of that. They’ve been doing some ogling of their own. And not just the girls, either. Everybody’s checking out the celebrity.”
That got Arie’s attention. “Celebrity? Who is he? An actor? No, he’s got to be a model, right?”
“Nope. He’s a bigwig in the company. They say he likes to keep a low profile but he’s pretty big.”
Arie lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, he is, is he?”
Lena nodded. “Yes, he is, so take your eyes off him, sister. He’s way out of your league.”
Now if that wasn’t a dare, Arie didn’t know what was. And if Lena had really wanted her to back off, the last thing she should have done was present her with a challenge like that.
“Oh, yeah?” she mumbled even as she turned to head back to the kitchen and to her catering staff. “We’ll just see about that.”
Arie was soon back in ‘boss’ mode, making sure her team moved with the smooth efficiency that had made Talk of the Town the catering company of choice for corporate and social events all across Louisiana. She and her college roommate had formed the company four years earlier and now, at the age of twenty-seven, she could count herself as one of the successful business people in her community, the classic rags-to-riches story.
She’d been
one of the unfortunate ones who hadn’t been adopted into a family. Maybe it had been her independent spirit, maybe her unusual name. Who knew? Instead of enjoying the security of one loving family she’d moved from foster home to foster home, spending two years here then four years there until, before she knew it, she was eighteen and off into the big, wild world. Thankfully, she'd been the independent, 'go-getter' type. She’d survived on her own, graduated magna cum laude, and had done darned well for herself, all things considered.
With a savvy friend like Lena Rossini in her life how could she have gone wrong? Every day she thanked the stars that fate had thrown them together in that tiny dorm room on the Duke campus. That had been the beginning of a partnership that had blossomed into a catering company that benefited from Lena’s business acumen and showcased Arie’s culinary skills.
And today was more of the same. They’d been contracted by the planning manager of Belitalia to host their sales award dinner and the fact that the occasion was scheduled just days before Thanksgiving did not faze her one bit. Sure, they had six events scheduled over the next four days but that was what made Talk of the Town so special. When it came to being organized and handling multiple projects efficiently their reputation was spotless.
But there was just one little problem. Today, for the first time since she’d started her business, Arie was distracted. And it was all the fault of that too, too sexy man sitting at the head table, making her think thoughts that had absolutely nothing to do with cooking or catering.
She shook her head, trying to clear him from her mind, then turned toward her tuxedoed team of well-trained servers, some of them talented apprentice chefs. “Time for the Bananas Foster, guys. Let's get some fires going.”
“We’re on it, boss.” That had to be Paul, always willing, always the first to tackle a task. She smiled as the young man led the way into the massive banquet hall, straight to the specially prepared table in the middle of the room.
There, four of them would prepare the classic New Orleans dessert right there in front of a rapt audience. Of course, with all that fire flaming in the pans there would always be two other servers watching and waiting in the wings, fire extinguishers in hand. Thankfully, in all her years in the catering business they’d never had to use that contingency plan.
With the guests totally caught up in the show her team was putting on, Arie saw the perfect opportunity to glide out and, as inconspicuously as possible, make her way from table to table, making sure that all was well. She often did that at big events just to reduce the likelihood of any eventualities but today she had an ulterior motive. What better way to get a closer look at the object of her admiration? And no, she wasn’t a desperate, sex-starved woman who had nothing better to do with her time. She was just enjoying the view, that was all.
Arie smiled when the staff members of Belitalia burst into applause as Paul finished the dish with a flourish, bowing low in appreciation of their praise. Showman that he was, he was never one to disappoint.
As the chatter and applause died down she turned, still smiling, and found herself staring directly into the deep brown eyes of a man who was watching her so intently that she almost stopped in her tracks. It was her Adonis.
She blinked and that fraction of a second was what it took to unfreeze her and release her from his unwavering stare. Earlier she’d been the stalker but now she knew what it felt like. Mercy, was he checking her out?
The idea was farfetched, she knew, but contrary or not, it made her nipples pebble in her blouse as she turned and hurried back to the safety of the kitchen.
Lena was laughing as she strode in. “Don’t give me that innocent look,” she said. “I know what you were up to.”
“I was just checking that things were going smoothly.”
“Among other things,” Lena said, coming this close to rolling her eyes. “You just remember what I said. Out of your league.”
Arie only smiled and busied herself with arranging the tea and coffee trays. Lena didn’t know it but her insistence that she back off only made her want to know this guy more. Call it the temptation of the forbidden fruit. Whatever.
All Arie knew was she would not stop until she knew exactly who her mystery man was and why the heck he’d sparked such a reaction in her. Lena would just have to live with it.
***
Bella. That was the word that came to mind as Rome’s eyes locked with the deepest blue ones he’d ever seen. The woman was staring at him with a wide-eyed gaze, a hint of a smile on her lips, a smile that seemed only for him. It was as if they shared a secret from which they’d excluded the rest of world, and that secret was sexy as hell.
As soon as she saw him watching her she dropped her gaze and headed back to the hallway, her long blonde ponytail bouncing behind her. Within seconds she’d disappeared into the shadows.
Who the devil was she? She’d stared at him with open candor, a look of admiration in her eyes and a smile on her lips. She was throwing him an invitation, that much was clear, and he planned to accept. He wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t.
Wanting to ask about her, he was leaning over to speak to his second-in-command, the chief operating officer of the US division, when he heard his name being called. Damn. Time to head to the podium. As award dinners went, he was expected to give a speech where he would congratulate all the winners and motivate those who had room for improvement. He’d done more than his fair share of these and he hated them. Public speeches were not his thing but, knowing how important they were, he did them anyway.
To the applause of his employees he stood and, looking around the room, he gave them a practiced smile. It was one that had served him well in the past and it would do for tonight, too.
As he approached the front the clamor rose and when he climbed the platform and stood behind the podium he had to hold up a hand to quiet them down. “Welcome, team, and thanks for coming out to support your colleagues as we recognize their efforts and achievements.” The applause went up again, with some of the sales reps patting the winners on their backs. “As I promised at our last meeting, because we exceeded the year’s sales target, for our next award banquet the entire team will be flown to the island of Grenada."
That was when the applause got really raucous with not just hand clapping but lots of table banging, whoops and cheers. It took a while before Rome could get them quiet enough so he could finish his speech.
As owner and CEO of a successful multinational corporation he was used to this, not just in the United States but in his European, Asian and Latin American divisions as well. He was happy when his teams did well and he was even more so when it was time to reward them for a job well done.
It took another fifteen minutes before he was finally able to return to his seat, handing over to the senior vice president of sales who would hand out the trophies. All the time he’d been on stage his eyes had been roaming the room in search of the mystery woman who had caught his eye.
And it had been in a big way. He couldn’t believe how distracted he’d been on stage, addressing his staff with only one part of his brain while the rest of him focused on locating the blue-eyed blonde.
And then he’d found her. Toward the end of his speech she’d returned to the banquet hall and stood watching him and this time she did not drop her gaze, not even when his eyes met hers. He’d locked gazes with her as long as would go unnoticed but even when he’d turned his attention back to his audience he was one hundred percent aware of her. There was just something about this woman that he could not shake. And, truth be told, he didn’t want to.
Now, freed from the stage and all the attention that came with it, he leaned toward his COO again. “I need some information,” he said, his voice low, “on one of the servers.”
Tom Billich frowned. “A server? Is there a problem?” He began to look around the room as if searching out the server in question.
“There’s no problem, Tom. There’s just some information I think she may
have, information that could prove useful to us.” Rome chose his words cautiously. Regardless of his position as CEO – in fact, because of it – he had to tread very carefully, making his interest seem nothing but professional.
Tom’s face cleared. “Can you describe her?”
“I can do better than that. Her name tag says ‘Arie’. Check her out for me, will you? Get her contact information to my personal assistant and she’ll take it from there.”
“Consider it done.” Tom gave him a brusque nod. “The planning manager made all the arrangements with the catering company. She can get that information to me in quick time.”
Rome did not lay eyes on the mysterious Miss Arie again that evening but by the time he returned to office on Monday his personal assistant knew exactly how to reach her.
“Have her come in to see me when I get back from Italy,” he told her. “Make it a week from Monday.”
Iyana looked up from where she’d been tapping on her keyboard. She swiveled her chair around to face him. “Do you have another date I could throw out there? What if she’s not available for this one?”
Rome almost laughed. The way that girl had looked at him, he knew she would make herself available.
“Just call her,” he said as he turned to go back into his office. “I have no doubt she will be.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Wow! He’s even bigger than I thought.” Arie stared at the computer screen as the face of Rome Milano filled her view.
With Thanksgiving and all the events that came with it, the past week had been crazy-busy, so busy that she hadn’t had time to even boot up her computer. Now that the holiday was behind them she was finally doing her checks on the man who’d so captivated her from the moment she first laid eyes on him.
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