Chapter 1
Surprise, Surprise
Arielle Nygard
“Hi honey, I’m home!” a man’s voice calls from the foyer. I hear the front door shut behind him.
My stomach flutters with nerves. I’m about to meet Samuel Foster, the man whose cat I’ve been looking after for a few weeks while his owner has been out of town. Taking care of Munchkin, an elderly grey-and-white feline, is my second job. I also work as an admin assistant at a small Vegas hospital. Despite having worked for Sam for a while, we’ve still not met. Until today. He’s been away in Eastern Europe for a week, but he’s finally home, and I’m making cheeseburgers in honor of his homecoming. The smell of frying onions and melting cheese hangs in the air.
“Almost ready, come and get it!” I say loudly from the kitchen. Munchkin chirrups as Samuel walks in.
“Just a minute,” I say and turn off the plate. I turn to face my boss and drop the spatula I am using to flip burger patties. It clatters to the floor, but I barely notice. “You!”
Standing in Samuel Foster’s kitchen is a tall man with dark hair, dark eyes, and dusky skin. He’s absolutely gorgeous, even if he’s a bit rumpled from the plane ride across the Atlantic. There’s something about the creased black shirt, which hints at a well-toned chest, that makes me want to smooth it beneath my palms.
He stands like he owns the place, and Munchkin is definitely happy to see him, but this can’t be Samuel Foster. It just can’t.
Samuel and I have been texting for several weeks, ever since I started working for him, and not once have I ever imagined him as a young man with broad shoulders and a suspicious glare. I certainly never imagined the man I’d been getting to know via text – and the occasional phone call – to be the same man who I’d drunkenly kissed a couple of weeks ago. The lust he’d incited in me had left me speechless – and a little breathless. And he’s doing it again.
As I stare at world-famous magician Atticus Colt, standing in what is clearly his kitchen, I have no words. He, however, has no such problem.
“Where’s Arielle?” he demands. “And what the fuck are you doing in my house?” He picks up Munchkin, possibly to protect the cat from me, and holds him close. Munchkin is oblivious to the crackling tension and purrs loudly in the man’s arms. “I don’t know how you got in, but I’m not in the mood to throw some crazy stalker out of my house, so if you don’t get the fuck out – and I meannow– I’m calling the police!"
I’m completely dumbfounded. This certainly doesn’t sound like Sam, who has never cursed during a conversation with me. Sam is gentle and caring, wise and patient.
“I am Arielle,” I say, trying to sound confident in the face of his anger. “And I’m making cheeseburgers.” I gesture to the hob, where the pans of ground beef and onions are sizzling. He looks confused for a minute, and then the anger evaporates.
“You’re Arielle?” he asks, putting Munchkin back on the kitchen table. He scrunches his forehead in a frown.
“I am,” I assure him. “For as long as I can remember, anyhow.” I try to lighten the moment. The tension could be cut with a knife.
“Well, this is awkward,” he says, then gets straight to the point, “That night... at the bar...”
“Yeah,” I say and bend down to retrieve the spatula. When I rise, my cheeks are flushed almost as red as my hair. I’m at a loss for words for a moment. I’m glad he’s tackled the elephant in the room head-on, but I have no idea how to respond. I turn back to the pans and start assembling the burgers.
Sam is quiet behind me, but I can feel his dark eyes on my back. It makes my shoulders itch, and I shrug uncomfortably. Even now, in this awkward moment, his attention warms me, heats my blood, and sends ripples of lust down my spine.
Get a grip,I tell myself.This is no time to be thinking with your lady parts.I take a firm hold of the plates and turn to face him. “So, shall we start over?” When he doesn’t respond, I take the plates to the table, set them down, and wait for him to join me. Munchkin comes over and gives the food a quick sniff, then lets me place him gently on the floor. “We don’t want cat paws on the plates while we’re eating,” I tell him.
Samuel still hasn’t moved, so I walk around him to the fridge, pull out two cans of Coke and take them to the table. “The food’s getting cold,” I tell him, but I don’t sit down. I’m waiting for him to insist that I leave, but I don’t want to suggest it in case he actually takes me up on the offer. I don’t want it to seem like I want to leave because, for some reason, I don’t. Nothing could be further from the truth. I may have spent the past weeks ruminating angrily about that moment with Atticus Colt, but I’ve spent even more time wondering about the man I work for. He might not be the man I pictured, but that’s not a problem…he’s better.
Oh, so much better!
Chapter 2
Mistaken Identity
Samuel Foster
I’m speechless for a second. I want to keep yelling, but the rational side of my brain hauls me in by the collar and shakes sense into me.
Arielle… my sweet, little old Arielle…
Jesus!Not only is she’s not old, but she’s also not the sweet, dowdy mother-figure I’d imagined. My mind reels back to those moments in the parking lot…to that kiss.Fuck!That kiss! It’s haunted me since then, in my idle thoughts, in my dreams. Even when there’d been other women in my bed, I’d imagined that kiss. Had thought of that rich, russet hair tangled in my fingers. I swallow hard. She’s still staring at me.
“The food’s getting cold,” she says again, and I sit down abruptly…obediently. There really doesn’t seem to be much alternative. I’ll admit, dressed as she is, in faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt, there’s little resemblance to the man-eater from that night. Although her shirt fits snugly enough to hint at lush breasts and I shift a little in my seat, reaching down to scratch the top of Munchkin’s head.
“So, how was the flight?” she asks casually as she sets a burger on a plate in front of me. On the table around us are several containers holding an array of toppings – grated cheese, fried onion, thick tomato relish that I don’t recall buying. Everything I could need to create a gourmet burger.
