Kiss & Tell. Alison Kent
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Praise for Alison Kent!
“For me Alison Kent’s name on a book means that I am guaranteed to have a story that is realistic, entertaining, compelling and sexy as all get-out.”
—ARomanceReview.com
“Alison Kent has created in her giRL-gEAR series a believable, modern world where men and women behave just a little bit naughtier than they do in real life.”
—AllAboutRomance.com
“An outstanding tale of passion, sensuality and a dark fascination, Ms. Kent’s romance turns up the heat.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on The Sweetest Taboo
“Alison Kent delivers a knockout read.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on All Tied Up
“Alison Kent mesmerizes us with a compelling love story brimming with scorching sensuality and abiding love.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Call Me
Dear Reader,
I am a pop culture junkie. Not an addict, mind you. Or overly obsessive. I do love hearing who has landed plum movie roles, finding out what television series are canceled or renewed, seeing unexpected guest stars show up on network TV, etc. But I don’t wait for news on celebrity Starbucks sightings, or even care much about the love lives of the stars. Still, I know that’s not the case with everyone.
Funnily enough, I created the character of Caleb McGregor—aka Max Savage—long before stalkarazzi shows were as popular as they now are, but I’m glad I waited until the age of You Tube and TMZ to write his romance with Miranda Kelly, aka Candy Cane. Having one of them dreading the impending bombardment of the media and making the other one an expert at doing the bombarding made the story great fun to write.
I hope you get a kick out of Caleb and Miranda as they kiss and tell, kiss and don’t tell, then don’t kiss and tell some more! You can e-mail me at [email protected] to let me know if you do. Stop by my blog at www.alisonkent.com/blog to visit with other readers and lovers of Harlequin Blaze, and to win all sorts of books and fun prizes. I’ll see you again in March 2009, when I’ll be hitting the track for Blaze’s 0—60 miniseries.
All my best,
Alison Kent
ALISON KENT
Kiss & Tell
TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON
AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG
STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID
PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alison Kent is the author of five sexy books for Harlequin Temptation, including Call Me, which she sold live on CBS 48 Hours, several steamy books for Harlequin Blaze, including The Sweetest Taboo and Kiss & Makeup, both Waldenbooks bestsellers, a number of sizzling books for Kensington Brava, including the Smithson Group series, as well as a handful of fun and sassy stories for other imprints. She is also the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. Alison lives in a Houston, Texas, suburb with her own romance hero.
Books by Alison Kent
HARLEQUIN BLAZE
24—ALL TIED UP
32—NO STRINGS ATTACHED
40—BOUND TO HAPPEN
68—THE SWEETEST TABOO
99—STRIPTEASE
107—WICKED GAMES
120—INDISCREET
197—KISS & MAKEUP
213—RED LETTER NIGHTS
“Luv U Madly”
225—GOES DOWN EASY
287—INFATUATION
To Walt, for TMZ
To Brenda, for Dumbledore
To Helen Kay, for making sure I stayed sane
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Prologue
April…
“AN APPELLATE RULING has paved the way for a retrial in the case of Baltimore businessman E. Marshall Gordon. The CEO of EMG Enterprises was the fifth member of the board of directors to face charges of conspiracy to commit fraud related to EMG’s off-the-book partnerships. More on that in our national news segment after the break.
“And coming up in our celebrity beat, we have the latest from Max Savage on Colorado congressman Teddy Eagleton’s recent divorce from his wife of twelve years, and his romantic connection to Ravyn Black, the lead singer of the chart-topping emo band Evermore—”
“Enough, already.” Corinne Sparks reached to flip off the small television set she kept in the back room at Under the Mistletoe, almost knocking over a glass vase of hyacinths and lilies as she did.
Miranda Kelly, Corinne’s employer and owner of the flower shop in the resort town of Mistletoe, Colorado, had been seconds from doing the same thing. Neither one of them enjoyed seeing pieces of their lives on the news, and to be mentioned that way, one on top of the other—first her ex-husband, then Corinne’s estranged daughter—was too much.
“Tell me about it.” Miranda had been intent on using the quiet spring day for bookkeeping, but the specter of her past impinging on her present allowed room for little else in her head. “I left Baltimore so I wouldn’t have to be bombarded by the media’s obsession with everything related to Marshall. I sure don’t want to think about him while I’m paying bills.”
Frowning, Corinne resituated two of the lilies that had slipped in the close call. “I thought you left because the SOB couldn’t keep his zipper zipped.”
Well, there was that, thought Miranda, swiveling on the bar stool she used at the short end of the long L-shaped worktable that served as a desk. “That’s why I divorced him. And seeing his face every time I turn on the news these days reminds me how stupid I was to marry him in the first place.”
“He wasn’t a cheater when you married him,” Corinne reminded her.
“Pfft. He obviously had it in him to be one.” Miranda paused and tapped her pencil on the table’s