Simply Sexy

Of course she would. But Rina wouldn’t be admitting anything to Emma. No way would she give the queen of the “Meet and Greet” column a cause to focus on. She could handle her own affairs, thank you very much. Because if Emma discovered that Rina was attracted to Colin—incredibly attracted, in fact—she’d pull out all the stops to get them together. And the timing was all wrong for Rina to find herself on the receiving end of Emma’s renowned matchmaking skills.

With her series coming up, she had put together a plan to decipher what the opposite sex wanted. She couldn’t have Emma meddling in her social life. Not now.

Even if Colin did light megawatts of electricity inside her every time he walked into the room. Those arresting blue eyes, that thick black hair, his distinctive masculine scent all set off heavy-duty sparks of desire. Instant sexual attraction, she thought. And female intuition, plus the fact that she’d often caught him staring, told her he felt the chemistry between them, too.

Emma narrowed her gaze. “Silence is an answer in itself.” She patted Rina’s arm, rose and headed slowly back to her own desk.

“Come on, Emma. Pick on someone your own age,” Rina said.

The older woman laughed. “You’re a challenge, Rina. I thrive on challenges and I live to matchmake. What exactly do you live for, dear?”

“Until lately, not much,” she admitted. After her husband’s death, guilt had consumed her. He’d been rushing home from a business trip in the pouring rain, coming to be with her instead of sensibly spending the night at a hotel.

For a long while after, Rina hadn’t thought life had much to offer. But after some soul-searching, she sold the New York City penthouse she and her husband had shared, and decided it was time to live again. Financially secure and free to do whatever she wanted, Rina had had no desire to return to her job as a legal secretary. It had been a decent means of earning a living, but it didn’t satisfy her.

She’d asked herself what would, looking inside herself for answers. She’d always been curious about human nature, drawn to people and relationships. Like Emma, she’d even indulged in matchmaking with her brother, Jake, and his wife, Brianne. She’d decided to use her people skills and her childhood habit of writing and documenting ideas, and put them to good use.

And now she had her column. “But my outlook is fresh and new since moving to Ashford,” she said, meaning every word.

Emma nodded. “Good thing you packed up and moved on.” She studied Rina with eyes full of wisdom.

“Amen, sister.” Rina grinned and hit Emma’s hand in a high five, laughing at the older woman’s spunk.

Rina had no doubt Emma had seen a lot in the decades she’d lived, and she’d obviously learned how to get the most out of every person she met and opportunity she saw, a philosophy Rina had adopted too from the minute she’d decided to sell the penthouse and move on. So what if she’d had to pull a few strings to get this job?

Corinne’s father lived in the same retirement community as Rina’s parents. Of course, Corinne’s father was much older than Rina’s parents, but in Florida, if a man had teeth and the ability to walk upright, golfing and bridge buddies formed. When Rina learned that Corinne had taken over her husband’s newspaper, she picked up the phone, the two women hit it off, and Rina had herself a job. One she wouldn’t hold on to if she wasn’t successful.

But she would be.

“Ah. More silence. You’re thinking. That’s okay. As long as you speak wisely to yourself, that’s what counts.” Emma broke into Rina’s thoughts. “But if you should want to share your thoughts, I’d be more than happy to listen.”

“You’re so nosy.” Rina glanced at Emma with all the warmth she felt toward her. “Not to mention perceptive.”

“Live as long as I have and you’d better have learned something,” Emma replied with a wink. “Now, I want to hear more about your upcoming series. Did I mention that I admire your gumption?”

“Not lately,” Rina said wryly.

Ignoring the writing implement tucked behind her ear, Emma picked up a pencil and tapped the eraser against the desk. “Catching a man is so much more complicated today than in my youth. Instead of pinching cheeks for color, you swipe on blush, and in place of tissues, I hear the water bra is all the rage now.” She paused for an obvious inspection of Rina’s attributes. “And though you’re a natural beauty, it would help you with the competition if you used some enhancement, too.”

Rina shook her head. The older woman was unbelievable.

“What do men want? Pfft,” Emma said. “You’ll never know because they’ll never tell.” She waved a regal hand in the air, dismissing the notion out of hand.

“I don’t want them to tell me, I plan to use my powers of observation to figure it out. Methodically.” Rina pulled out the list she’d compiled from the folder on her desk. “And it’s not just appearance. It’s also in how a woman acts, walks and talks.” She swiveled her hips for effect.

“More movement,” Emma suggested.

Rina sashayed her waist and ended with a rendition of Britney Spears that would do any twenty-year-old proud. From across the room, one of the remaining layout editors, who was just putting on his jacket, applauded.

Rina grinned and bowed. “You see? Attitude makes a difference,” she said with a nod. “The question is, what’s more important? Attitude or intellect? Wouldn’t a smart man want a woman with whom he can carry on a breakfast conversation?” she asked Emma.

“No. Men want arm candy.”

Rina cocked her head to the side. “Come on. They can’t be that shallow a species.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Get with the program, Rina. All men want a woman they’re proud to display on their arm. It’s the male ego, dear.”

“That’s true.” Much as she hated to admit it. Take her deceased husband. After their marriage, he’d ostensibly fired her as his legal secretary, giving her a life of luxury most women would die to live. In exchange, he’d wanted a stay-at-home wife, one who was comfortable entertaining guests and who dressed well so he was proud to have her by his side. “You do have a point.”

“And trust me,” Emma said. “The reason you’re still flying solo after being in this town for three months is because you’re doing nothing to enhance your appearance.”

Rina put a hand to her unflattering bun and grinned. “I know.”

“Forgive me, but I simply don’t understand.” Emma shook her head, her look of confusion obvious. “I can see your potential. I’ve offered to have my limo driver take us to Bloomingdale’s for a clothing makeover, offered to have my stylist come do your hair. You refuse. Care to tell me why?”

“Corinne hired me to bring life to the paper with my series idea. I can only do that by giving my readers personal experience. So I started by establishing myself in town as a quiet, inconspicuous woman.”

Emma pursed her lips. “Go on.”

“I’ve been researching from day one here. Recording men’s reactions to this Rina.” There hadn’t been much interest in the woman who wore baggy clothes and no makeup, one who possessed a mild-mannered personality. Although Colin’s heated gaze more than made up for the other men’s lapses. “So now I’m going to alter my appearance and actions, and see what kind of changes men react to. So I can impart firsthand wisdom to my readers.”

“You’re going to strut your stuff.” Emma grinned. “I like that.”

“You would.”

“Can I help it if I’ve got my finger on the pulse of male-female relationships? Why, just look at Logan and Cat,” she said, referring to her wealthy grandson and his beloved wife.

Rina knew Emma credited herself with that pairing.

“Then there’s Grace and Ben. If only they didn’t live in New York,” Emma said wistfully. “You’ll meet Logan and Cat at the Christmas party Saturday night, but you’ll have to look up Grace next time you return to New York for a visit.”

The older woman also took responsibility for her granddaughter Grace’s marriage to the detective Emma had hired to look out for her in New York City. Rina suspected that both of her grandchildren would have succeeded without their grandmother’s help, though Rina had to admit, they wouldn’t have met without Emma’s meddling.

“So we’re talking a random sampling of men?” Emma asked.

Rina nodded. “Anyone and everyone, including the deliveryman. And the pizza guy is particularly cute.” Not that he’d been attracted to Rina and her plain, unflirtatious side, but the time had come to change her attitude. Because not only was this series her journalistic debut, but it also marked her return to the social scene.

She was ready to begin flirting again, testing her wiles on the opposite sex. The best part was that she’d been able to use her daily life as research since she met men at the coffee shop next door and at the bar favored by her downstairs neighbor, Francesca. Frankie, for short. They both rented apartments in a Cape house Rina had heard about from Corinne. One look and Rina had fallen in love with the house and made friends with Frankie, whose favorite pastime was discussing dating in Boston. They shared information, and Rina’s ideas flourished. She’d already outlined her series and written most of the first week’s draft.

With work put aside, she could focus on her private life. And Emma had been right on when she’d called Rina horny. She hadn’t been with a man in years and she was finally open to the concept of monogamous sex. She wasn’t ready for a relationship, but a satisfying fling appealed to her new independent streak and resolve to live life on her own terms.

“Any ideas who should be your first guinea pig?” Emma asked, obviously referring to Rina’s column.

Rina, on the other hand, contemplated what kind of man she’d like in her bed. “A dark-haired, blue-eyed Mr. Perfect,” she said dreamily. An attentive man who catered to her every need and desire.

“Afternoon, ladies.” As if she’d conjured him, dark-haired, blue-eyed Colin Lyons appeared near where Rina stood. She hadn’t noticed him come in, but she was very aware of him now.

She inhaled and smelled the musky scent of his cologne and her stomach curled with delicious warmth. She told herself it had to be the thought of sex that had her hot and bothered, but she knew she lied. Just looking at Colin elicited a definite chemical reaction inside her body, obviously short-circuiting her brain.

“Hello, Colin. I take it you were at the hospital again?” Emma asked, knowing Colin had visited Joe every afternoon since his arrival the day of the publisher’s stroke.

Colin nodded.

“How is our dear Joseph?” Emma asked.

“Resting more comfortably today.”

“That’s wonderful. I know Corinne’s worried about him,” Rina added, joining the conversation and trying to act polite, not like the oversexed female he inspired her to be.

“Corinne’s got a lot to be worried about,” he muttered, then turned to Rina. “But I appreciate you asking. I’ll be sure to tell Joe you care,” he said, his voice warm.

As usual, his attention set off a tingling reaction. “Emma asked about Joe first,” she reminded him, trying to deflect attention from herself. Surely Joe would rather hear about Emma’s concern than an employee he hadn’t even met.

“She did. But so did you, and as Joe’s family, I appreciate it.” A smile tilted Colin’s lips into a lopsided grin, and Rina forgot to breathe.

A former local newscaster, he had the chiseled features television adored, dimples and a gleaming white smile made more charming by the slight overlap of his two front teeth. Razor stubble darkened his cheeks, and that hint of musky aftershave enhanced his potent allure. Her gaze traveled downward. Even his fisherman sweater and worn jeans added to his rugged appeal.

“See something you like?” he asked, arms folded across his broad chest.

“Everything,” she said, immediately biting her tongue, but it was too late. The word had escaped.

Caught, she flushed and quickly transferred her gaze to Emma. Rina tried to look innocent. She really did. But when Emma nodded Colin’s way and murmured, “I agree he’s hot, but put your tongue back in your mouth,” the slight flush in Rina’s cheeks started to burn.

“You’ll have to forgive Rina. She’s off balance,” Emma said to Colin. “And I can’t really blame her, considering.” She propped an elbow on her desk.

“Considering what?” Colin spoke to Emma, but his blue-eyed gaze never left Rina’s. He hadn’t stopped staring since her blunt admission.

Emma sighed. “Young people. You never take time to look around you and appreciate the scenery.”

Oh, if Emma only knew how wrong she was, Rina thought wryly, realizing Colin’s eyes had small laugh lines surrounding them, a sexy attribute that added character to an already amazing face.

“Look up, children. You’re both standing under mistletoe,” Emma said with glee. With a huge smile on her face, Emma pointed up.

Rina groaned, and Colin, one eyebrow raised, followed Emma’s lead to look at the ceiling. Sure enough, the green sprig hadn’t moved, changed or fallen to the floor. And neither had Rina since the time Emma had called her over to Colin’s desk.

She’d been had. A notion the older woman verified when she not so subtly picked up her purse.

“Well, Colin?” Emma asked. “Aren’t you going to follow tradition?”

Rina knew from experience life rarely doled out second chances. Standing under the mistletoe with Colin was a one-time opportunity. She’d been doing a lot of talk about living a new life and starting over.

She glanced up at the mistletoe that teased her and tempted her to follow her most erotic impulses. Emma obviously caught the sexual undercurrents that had been running between Rina and Colin since day one.

No sense trying to hide them now.

“I wonder,” she whispered softly, for Colin’s ears only. Taking advantage of the new, liberated Rina, she leaned forward, closer to Colin and those super-sexy lips. “Do you have the nerve?”

CHAPTER TWO

FROM THE CORNER of her eye, Rina saw Emma slip out the door.

“Emma’s gone,” Colin said. He sounded as stunned as she felt at this sudden turn of events, and his voice held a husky, low timbre that resembled rough whiskey.

“And she definitely left some excitement in her wake.”

“Is that what you’d call it?” He studied her shamelessly, as if taking her measure. Looking for what, Rina couldn’t be sure, but with each passing second, those blue eyes seemed to see inside her.

To read her mind. If he could, he’d know she took this tradition seriously. Now that Emma had put the idea in her mind, she wanted to know what it would feel like to be kissed under the mistletoe. Right now. By Colin.

His hands came to rest on her shoulders, his palms hot and strong. Heat burned within her and her stomach curled with silken anticipation as the need to taste him grew.

“Rina?”

“Yes?”

He removed her glasses, placing them on the desk, and stared. “Did you know you have golden flecks in those brown eyes?”

Unable to speak, she licked her dry lips and was rewarded when his hungry gaze followed the movement.

“Reminds me of sunshine.”

Warmth tingled through her veins. Born and raised in the Bronx and a New York girl at heart, Rina wasn’t shy about asking for what she wanted. And she wanted her new life to begin now. Despite barely knowing Colin, she was going to test the waters. Take whatever he was willing to give. “You should know, I’m not one to let a mistletoe moment pass.”

“And you should know, I’m not a man who takes a challenge lightly,” he said, obviously referring to her earlier question. Did he have the nerve to kiss her? “Nor am I the type to defy tradition. No matter how unexpected,” he whispered an instant before he lowered his head and his lips touched hers.

He’d called her bluff, taken the initiative, and now he toyed with her, playfully testing, learning the feel of her mouth and letting her learn him. Then his tongue slid briefly, seductively, over the seam of her lips, electrifying her with his moist touch until their tongues lightly met.

The experiment yielded high-impact results. Colin tasted of pure male desire, a flavor that stirred a hunger long denied, and awakened passions she’d never experienced before. Passions she’d never thought existed before now. She trembled, and in response he squeezed her shoulders, his fingers biting into her skin, providing a carnal awareness of the fact that she affected him, too.

But from deep inside, caution clawed its way to the surface, breaking through the surprising desire that still burned hot inside her. She’d been floored by a simple kiss.

As if anything about this kiss—or Colin—was simple.

She lifted her head, breaking the kiss but not the awareness. He met her gaze. Heat flared bright in his eyes and flushed his cheeks, and the shock that reverberated inside her was evident in his expression. Another emotion shared.

She stepped back and ran trembling fingers over her lips. “That was…”

“Fun.”

Not exactly the word she’d have chosen and Rina blinked, startled.

“Isn’t that what kissing under the mistletoe is supposed to be?” Colin shot her a boyish grin.

She wished it was as easy for her. She exhaled hard and forced a casual smile before meeting his eyes. “Of course it was fun. Emma set us up and we responded like any two adults caught under the mistletoe would.”

She took a step backward, then another. A few more and she made it to her desk so she could regroup, leaving Colin alone under the mistletoe laden with tradition.

“Fun’s meant to be repeated.” His expression still showed shocked surprise, but he couldn’t hide the warm appreciation in his gaze.

She reached for her jacket, caught off guard when he stepped forward and helped her slip on her wool coat. His hands were gentle as he adjusted her collar, and his callused fingers brushed her nape, eliciting a tingling sensation that shot straight to her toes.

She hadn’t known he was a gentleman. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”

Without turning, unwilling to look into those blue eyes once more, she barely managed to grab her series folder, call a quick goodbye and beat a hasty retreat to the door.

“Rina, wait.”

She turned, her heart pounding hard in her chest. “What?”

“You forgot something.”

She accepted her glasses and bolted into the cold night.

As the icy whip of wind hit her cheeks, it was easier to think clearly. With that kiss, her experiment had taken on even more exciting, somewhat illicit overtones.

She still planned to experiment for her column. Starting tomorrow, she’d test out men as a group in general. But when it came to Colin, she was fully aware of his impact. With a single kiss, she’d learned he wielded power. Sexual, seductive power, and she found that lure thrilling.

Before tonight she’d merely toyed with the notion of a fling, but now the idea of an affair took on real possibilities. Colin possessed enough sex appeal to light Rina’s fire. He also used jet fuel to propel his frequent departures. Colin wasn’t a stick-around sort of guy. If she were looking for a future, he’d be the last man on her list. But after losing her husband, she was wary of a long-term relationship and was no longer sure she believed in forever. Which made a fling the perfect solution.

And Colin the perfect man.

COLIN KICKED BACK, propped his feet on the desk and watched the door slam closed behind Rina Lowell, the woman he’d just kissed under the mistletoe.

He’d been given an unexpected opportunity, and being human, as well as damned attracted to Rina, he’d kissed her. He shouldn’t have. Through Rina, Colin hoped to understand how to get through to Corinne, but he’d never intended to take advantage. Especially since he held her career in his hands.

Getting involved with Rina would tear at his loyalties, though he had no doubt who would win. Colin had let Joe down once before. He refused to do it again, so Joe and his paper had to come first. Yet the paper had been the last thing on his mind when he’d had Rina in his arms.

And now he was in deep. Because he hadn’t counted on being completely seduced. And from the moment he’d opened the doors to the office and seen Rina shaking her hips and shimmying her body, he had been seduced. Enough to make him watch, like a damn voyeur, as she’d continued her conversation with Emma. She’d called out to him, luring him in, and by the time he’d walked over to the desk, he’d been entranced by her combination of natural beauty and erotic movement.

He couldn’t delude himself into thinking he’d imagined the combustion they’d created together. The heat. The texture. The intensity. The unexpected connection. She’d felt it too or else she wouldn’t have run far and fast.

He rubbed his hands against his jeans and groaned. In the aftermath, she’d stared at him warily, shock in those huge brown eyes. She didn’t know what to make of him.

Unexpectedly, that bothered him.

Guilt nudged at him again, stronger now when he contemplated his need to dethrone Corinne and her new entourage of employees. He liked Emma. And Rina, well, he’d more than enjoyed her. His gut told him not to mix business with pleasure, and everything about Rina screamed pleasure.

But Colin was a man cornered by necessity and all out of options, save one. A gorgeous brunette named Rina Lowell.

THIS WASN’T RINA’S first day of work, but excitement rushed through her veins. She was on a dual mission today, beginning her experiment at work and laying the groundwork for seducing Colin. She tried to swallow but her mouth had grown dry.

The day started like any other. Her first stop was the coffee shop downstairs from the Times’s offices. Because Ashford was a wealthy oceanside community, the café was an upscale place offering a variety of designer drinks. The owner, a good-looking man in his mid-thirties greeted everyone with the same compulsory smile. Rina had made many conversational openings in the past, but he’d never reacted or picked up on any of them. Yet she’d heard through the building grapevine that the more attractive women were offered an extra shot of caramel or mocha in their lattes, free of charge. Plain Rina had always paid for hers.

She’d only worked on some subtle physical changes today, as she was saving the big guns for the Christmas party over the weekend. She didn’t expect any special treatment just yet, but she intended to find out if makeup, even light brushes of color and hue, made a difference in how men treated women. And she planned to impart that wisdom in her next column.

“Next.” The man wiped down the counter and glanced at Rina. “What can I get for you?”

Coffee, tea or me sounded too clichéd, so she opted for a straightforward “Whatever you do best will suit me just fine.” She tipped her head, letting her ponytail hang down over her shoulder. Same head-tip she’d given him when she’d worn her plain old bun. But today, it was no coincidence that her hair dangled just over one breast.

He leaned down on one elbow, getting closer and meeting her gaze. Up close, he was too pretty for Rina’s taste. She preferred a dark-haired, masculine man whose kiss lingered and who’d starred in her late-night fantasies. At the thought of Colin, she could have purred out loud.

“Dave’s special is chocolate malted cappuccino,” he said with a ridiculous abundance of pride.

“Which means you’re Dave.” Rina forced a welcoming, wide smile for a man who did nothing for her. “Make mine with extra chocolate and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

Five minutes later, she walked back onto the snow-covered street with an extra-large chocolate malted cappuccino for the price of a regular-size latte in one hand, a black coffee in the other and a date request for Saturday night. Thank God she’d had Emma’s Christmas party as an excuse to decline.

Score one for men being visual animals, Rina thought. Dave had reacted to her looks, or maybe it was the hair. He’d hit on her today when he hadn’t given her a second glance yesterday. In this case, chemistry didn’t matter as much as superficial impressions. If she had a free hand, she’d jot notes on the pad she kept in her purse. She decided she’d handle it upstairs. Rina had no doubt she wouldn’t forget details about this particular outing.