Baby, It's Cold Outside: Men at Work, Book 1

by HelenKay Dimon

  The plan: sex with Justin Scott, her ex’s business partner. The man her husband invited into their marital bed, forcing her to realize it was time to get out. Justin was the star of the fantasies that helped her endure her marriage, so she can’t deny she wanted him—but not like that. She wants him like this—alone. In her bed. For exactly three nights.

  Justin screwed up with Lauren, and in the past she’s made no secret of the fact she loathes him. So when she walks into his office flashing miles of long, lean legs, his brain cells misfire. Three nights of meaningless sex? He’s all over it. Not only does he have the chance to unleash his desire for her, it’s the opening he’s been waiting for—to convince her to give him more.

  Warning: This book contains a little revenge, some bargaining, a lot of sex in hotel rooms and an inventive use for a bathrobe.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for A Proper Seduction:

  Two minutes ago, he was thinking about work. Now, every thought in his brain revolved around the color of her panties. He guessed they were some shade of blue, mostly because he liked her in blue, but she’d pack a punch in any color.

  She folded her hands in front of her and glanced up, her gaze bouncing around the office before settling back on him. “I have a proposition for you.”

  A job. She needed a damn job. It was no secret Gavin had made the end of their marriage as nasty as its duration. Justin had watched it all play out in the news headlines from the safety of his corner office. She asked for money to start over and Gavin responded by producing a draconian prenup that reeked of lawyer misconduct. She filed for divorce citing Gavin’s adultery as her grounds. Gavin turned around and accused her of sleeping with half of his business associates. He played the wounded victim and cast Lauren in the role of whore.

  The very public pounding on her integrity only stopped after Justin stepped in and threatened behind-the-scenes to testify on her behalf. Lauren didn’t know the details. Didn’t need to, but Justin made sure his former friend backed off and walked away, after writing Lauren a check.

  But, protecting her didn’t mean Justin could tolerate the thought of seeing her around his office every day. He’d have to keep his dick on ice to survive that. He’d tried to save her twice already. He was done. This time, he’d preserve his sanity and leave her alone.

  “Look, Lauren, I’m not hiring. It wouldn’t work out anyway, but I can give you a few dollars to get you through.”

  Her hand shot up and waved him off. “This isn’t about money.”

  In Justin’s experience, almost everything was about money. Sex, marriage, work—it all boiled down to cash, knowing when to spend it and how much to put on the table.

  He had taken a fledgling company and turned it into a thriving multimillion-dollar business by manufacturing the desalination plant used on aircraft carriers. He’d found the military’s need and filled it by turning saltwater into drinking water. And now he was pushing to take that product into the domestic market, a plan that put him at odds with Gavin, his former corporate attorney. Different business interests and different views on Lauren had ended the men’s friendship, and Justin didn’t grieve for the loss at all.

  “Tell me what you want,” Justin said.

  She stopped drawing doodles with her finger and stared him down. “You.”

  Did she… “Excuse me?”

  “For three nights.”

  Without knowing the details, a voice screamed “yes” in his head. But he wasn’t dumb enough to rush in without more information, so he let silence fill the room for a few seconds. When she started fidgeting, he spoke up again. “For what exactly?”

  Her eyes scrunched up at the corners as she shot him that men-are-idiots look she did so well. “What do you think I’m talking about?”

  No way in hell was he going to put the sexy scene running through his head into actual words. Her naked, with her mouth on him. Yeah, he’d keep all of that quiet until he knew they were talking the same talk. “Let’s be clear. Just say it.”

  “Sex.”

  “Sex.”

  “With me.” Her angry tone suggested she didn’t sound all that excited about her proposal. “It’s not a big deal. We’ve been together before.”

  As if he needed that reminder. “That was different. Gavin invited me—”

  Her mouth flattened. “Don’t say his name.”

  Now Justin got it. This was revenge sex. Gavin had dragged another man into their marriage bed—Justin knew he was the only one to get that invite—and forced Lauren into playing games she couldn’t handle and didn’t want to learn. Now she wanted to get Gavin back for the humiliation. This amounted to one last battle in a bloodbath of a divorce.

  Justin wanted her. Like, rip-his-shirt-off-and-get-her-on-his-desk wanted her, but he had a few rules of his own. One was not to get involved in another couple’s game of search-and-destroy. He’d learned that lesson from Gavin and Lauren. No way was he taking a second trip down that road to nowhere.

  “Why?” Not the question he’d meant to ask, but Justin figured it worked as well as anything else he might have said.

  “I’m officially divorced.”

  Best damn news he’d ever heard. “Congratulations?”

  “Definitely.” She smiled for the first time. “As of yesterday, I am no longer Mrs. Gavin Fennimore. Not that I've used the name since we separated anyway.”

  Suddenly Lauren wasn’t the only one who hated the other man’s name. “What does that have to do with us?” Justin asked.

  “You know.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  She didn’t back down. Her gaze met his and would not let go. “Gavin took away my choice about what I did with my body, when and with whom.”

  Guilt splashed over Justin. All thoughts of sex and memories of her bare body died, replaced with the need to squirm. To apologize and come clean. “Lauren, if I had known you didn’t agree…”

  He stopped then. He had to. To go any further would be to lie to her. He didn’t want to do that. Not when he had inflicted so many other scars. Not when she stood there, beaten yet so proud, eyes filled with pain, and propositioned him. He knew it took a lot for her to walk into his office. Gavin had stolen her sense of security and picked at her will and self-esteem until there was little left to rebuild.

  “I get that you’re trying to prove something.” Justin understood that sentiment all too well.

  “Don’t make this into something it isn’t. We’re talking about sex. I need a partner I can trust.”

  That answered one question. She still didn’t know the truth about those three nights last year. “And you came up with my name?”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I’m not looking for a commitment or a promise of any kind. This is about the act and bodies, heat and chemistry, not romance or feelings.”

  “I get it.”

  “I just want a few days of sex without worrying about my safety or—”

  Ten more seconds of her sterile explanation and he’d never get a hard-on again. “When do we start?”

  She stuttered a bit then took a deep breath and started over. “Do you have any other plans for the next few evenings? If not, we may as well go tonight.”

  “You don’t exactly give a guy a lot of time to prepare, do you? Lucky for you, I don’t have any performance issues.”

  “Yeah, lucky.”

  He decided to ignore her lack of enthusiasm. “I can grab some wine and food and then come to your place.”

  “No need. This isn’t a date.” She dropped a hotel key on his desk. “Room twelve-eighteen. Just bring yourself and be ready.”

  Her detachment to the act was starting to piss him off. Sex without commitment he understood. Sex without excitement, now, that didn’t do much for him at all. “Should I watch porn before I get there to get me in the mood?”

  She didn’t even smile at his joke. “If that’s what you need to get off.”

  “I was kidding.”

  “I’ll see
you at eight.” Then she turned around and took her sweet ass right across his office and out the door.

  He picked up the key and traced his thumb over the photo impression of the hotel on the front. These three nights would be better than the last three they’d spent together. Lauren would be his alone. And he vowed to give her only pleasure this time.

  What the mind forgets, the heart remembers.

  Baby, Be Mine

  © 2014 Vivian Arend

  A Thompson & Sons Story

  Since the moment Katy Thompson transformed from annoying tagalong to desirable woman, Gage Jenick has awaited his chance. When she kicks her boyfriend to the curb, he doesn’t hold back—in spite of the next-day work assignment that will take him completely off the grid for two long months.

  After a head injury sustained on a storm-swept road, Katy can’t remember her own email password, much less how the little pink “positive” on the pregnancy stick got there. Barring an influx of midi-chlorians, she’s at a loss to explain what happened, or when...or with whom.

  Suddenly Gage is back in her life as if he has a right to be there. While she vividly remembers the crush she had on him, she’s no one’s charity case. But another thing she’d forgotten was just how stubborn Gage can be—especially when her domineering ex tries to stake a claim…

  Warning. An unforgettable night that gets forgotten. A crazy redneck ex, and a hero who’s ready to take on the world, and his past, for his heroine.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Baby, Be Mine:

  If any place was the epitome of a laid-back, good ol’ boys, redneck tavern, Traders Pub fit the bill. Country music blared over the speakers encouraging those out for the start of the weekend to kick up their heels and let loose.

  Familiar sights, all too familiar sounds.

  Even more familiar was the ache in Gage Jenick’s gut as Katy Thompson shimmied past, her trim body clad in nothing fancier than a pair of jeans and a western shirt, but he was still damn near drooling.

  He deliberately turned his chair away and picked up his beer, the Alberta equivalent of an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

  If he didn’t look, she wasn’t really there.

  Wasn’t really there, in spite of the sweet apple-blossom scent clinging to her skin that wafted over, like it did during the day while they worked together at her family’s garage. How many times in the past six months had he been in the middle of welding repairs or lugging tires from one rack to another, and found his mouth watering? His head turning involuntarily as she sashayed across the wide concrete space with a question regarding billing or a parts order for one of her brothers working the floor.

  He hadn’t always had a hard-on for his best friend’s little sis. For years she’d been Katybug—the tagalong annoyance he’d tolerated for Clay’s sake, and later for the sake of the baking they’d snitch from the kitchen she’d taken possession of when her mom had passed away.

  It was like a switch flipped. One day she was this invisible creature, and the next?

  He could still vividly picture it—months earlier when he’d stopped work for the day. He’d rounded a corner at the garage in time to see a hose burst on her.

  Water sprayed everywhere as she’d struggled to catch the flailing end.

  “What the hell?” Gage rushed toward Katy who stood laughing, the broken hose writhing as if it were alive. It only took a minute for him to shut off the water at the source, but that was long enough to end with them both drenched to the skin.

  “Sorry, Gage.” Katy hiccupped, she was laughing so hard. “Oh, Lord that was fun. Good thing it’s a warm day, right?”

  He turned to deliver some timely big-brother-like, smart-ass comment, and got slammed with an eye-opening lightning bolt.

  Her shirt was plastered to her, revealing more than any trip to the lake or swimming hole ever had, and to his utter shock, Katybug had hips and breasts.

  And nipples.

  Nipples he could clearly see pressed to the front of her soaking wet T-shirt because she didn’t appear to be wearing a bra.

  “I told Clay that hose needed replacing,” she complained. “But, no. He insisted it could last one more summer. Ha.”

  She leaned over and dragged her hair into a bunch, squeezing out the extra moisture. God help him. His gaze dropped to her ass, the rounded curves beckoning him forward to grab hold and take a long, thorough, exploratory detour over this brand-new Katy.

  His wet clothes weren’t cold enough to deter his dick from waking up. And the rest of him as well.

  He hadn’t been looking for romance—he’d long ago sworn off connecting with anyone full-time in a forever kind of way. The last thing he needed was someone like Katy in his life.

  He had to stay in control. Had promised himself to never hold too tight to anything, or anyone. Yet in that moment he wanted little Katy Thompson with something near to obsession, and that truth rocked him to his core.

  She finally clued in that he hadn’t said a word. She straightened, and, oh my God, those breasts— “You okay, Gage?”

  No, but that wasn’t an acceptable answer. He dragged his gaze from her off-limits body and mumbled something.

  His brain had been mumbling ever since.

  Somehow he’d kept his growing hunger hidden from her, and her brothers, which was a miracle. And his best friend?

  Gage glanced across the table at Clay Thompson. At his best friend’s hands that would curl into fists the size of hams at the thought of anyone hurting his baby sister. They might go back a long ways, but Gage knew the truth.

  When it came to Katy, none of the Thompson boys would hesitate for a second to knock the head off anyone who so much as breathed wrong in her direction. Then they would calmly bury the remains in their backyard. Not even he would get a reprieve.

  Good thing he planned on never hurting her.

  Enough time had passed that he’d come to admit he’d like to get involved with Katy. The idea still scared him to death, but maybe with the constant threat of Clay and the rest of the hulking crew keeping him in check, he could avoid becoming what he feared. If the opportunity presented itself.

  You’re not your past…

  Laughter from the dance floor roused him, and he blinked in surprise. In spite of his good intentions, he was staring at her, soaking in every second he could of her spark of sweet, dark happiness. She was dancing with a group of her girlfriends, the four of them ignoring the guys hovering nearby in the hopes of a dance, or a grope, or maybe something more.

  At least she wasn’t with him. The shithead boyfriend, Simon.

  A hard nudge into his shoulder made his entire body shake, and he braced his beer to keep it from spilling.

  Clay grinned. “You’re daydreaming. So eager to get out of town you can’t stay awake at your own going-away party?”

  Gage laughed. “Is that what this is? I thought this was a typical Friday night at Traders.”

  “Didn’t you get the announcement?” Clay lifted the pitcher of beer in the air and offered to refill Gage’s mug. “I’d get you drunk, but you probably wouldn’t appreciate the long drive ahead of you with a hangover.”

  They fell back into a comfortable silence for a couple minutes. Clay passed the pitcher to the other Thompson boys and their friends who’d joined them.

  Gage took the opportunity to examine the room. So many people he’d spent time with over the past years. He was going to miss them while he did his stint in the north working in the oilfields, but the money was too good to turn down.

  And the chance to be away from temptation. Because, damn if he hadn’t automatically searched her out yet again.

  Clay spoke, dragging Gage’s attention off the dance floor and back to safer topics. “What time are you leaving tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Around ten. I don’t start until Monday, so I figured I’ll drive Saturday and get set up Sunday.” Gage chuckled at the expression on his friend’s face. “Stop looking as if I’m running away
to join the circus. I’ll be back in six months.”

  His friend grumbled. “I know, but we’ll miss you around the garage. Good slave labour is hard to find. Heck, I’d even hired someone to replace you, and not even a month later Cassidy’s gone and quit. I hate working harder.”

  “Can’t blame the man. He’s got a sweet deal with his new family.” Gage took in the Coleman family gathered in another corner of the pub, some of the members partnered up, some not. The man in question, Cassidy, was slow dancing with Ashley, one of his lovers. Cassidy’s other partner, Travis, looked on from the side as he chatted with his brothers.

  The trio’s relationship wasn’t typical, but it had happened, and in a way, Gage was a little jealous. Cassidy had gotten what he’d wanted and then some. In the meantime, Gage wasn’t willing to rock the boat to grasp the one woman he’d been lusting after.

  Running away to the north was safer for so many reasons.

  Katy lifted her hands in the air, swaying from side to side to the slow music. Her best friend Janey spun her, and wholesome, happy laughter rang, something Gage loved to hear.

  Although he wished he’d been the one putting that kind of smile on her face. Bringing that shine to her dark brown eyes.

  One thing was missing…one good subtraction to the evening. “Where’s Simon?”

  An enormous grin twisted Clay’s lips. “Katy dumped him.”

  Gage’s jaw hit the table.

  “I know, I’m so fucking glad.” Clay spoke as softly as he could and still be heard over the loud dance music. “You have no idea how hard it was not to tell him to get the hell away from her, but she gave me such grief the last time I scared off a boyfriend…”

  Gage nodded. “I remember. It wasn’t pretty. In fact,” he taunted, “you were damn scared, for someone who outweighs her by a good hundred pounds. I thought she was going to kick your ass into the next county.”

  “It’s not the size of the package, it’s the pressure. She might be a tiny thing, and she’s so quiet most of the time, but when that girl loses it? Me and the boys wear a cup when she’s pissed.”