Excerpt
'You
really don't care what people think, do you?'
It
was said as if it was a completely alien idea to her, something Blake found
telling.
Appearances mattered, judging by the number of times she straightened the
endless selection of suits that had to be hell to wear during the
heat-wave they were experiencing, but it went deeper than fashion. Her
personality was adjusted according to the demands of her profession, even if
it meant suppressing what she thought and felt—the latter explaining why
she'd been able to follow his rules for as long as she had when Blake
wouldn't have lasted five minutes.
'Does it matter?' he
asked.
'If you care?'
'What people think…?'
She frowned. 'Yes.'
'Why?'
Long lashes flickered
as she looked over his shoulder and considered her answer. 'Because the
attitude we project tends to influence the attitude we receive in return.'
A hint aimed at him,
no doubt.
Blake laid the file
against her breasts when she looked into his eyes again. 'Then maybe you
should try being nicer to me.'
Her mouth opened then
closed, her lips pressed together to stop herself from saying what she
thought.
Time for a little
prodding. 'Know what I think?'
She took the file.
'I'm sure I'm about to.'
'I think frustration
makes you testy.'
The hand holding the
file snapped down to her side. 'If I'm testy it might have more to do with
the fact you're hardly the easiest person in the world to work with.'
'Work for.'
When she turned and headed for the stairs, Blake followed at a leisurely
pace. 'You're really struggling with that part of the arrangement, aren't
you?'
'I'm not used to
winging it,' she announced in a voice that echoed down the hallway. 'Did it
occur to you if you told me what it is you're thinking of doing with all
this money, I could plan ahead?'
'Lack of organisation
isn't the reason you're frustrated, sweetheart. You don't want to think
about kissing me. Trouble is, you can't stop thinking about it.
You're angry. Probably blame me for it…'
She spun around to
face him at the top of the stairs. 'You are the most arrogant man I
have ever met.'
'You should get out of
the office more.'
'This attitude won't
help in the boardroom.'
Since he didn't plan
on ever stepping into one it was a moot point. Blake smiled a slow smile at
how close she was to losing her temper. It was about time. If he'd been her,
she'd have strangled him by now.
'Don't do that,' she
warned.
His smile grew. 'Do
what?'
'You know exactly what
you're doing.' She wrinkled her nose. 'And trust me when I tell you, you
really don't want to play this game with me.'
'Don't want to like
me, do you?'
'If I did, you
wouldn't be making it easy,' she muttered. Scowling, she turned a little too
quickly. Her eyes widened when the toe of her shoe slipped over the edge of
the top stair and her heel caught. The file dropped from her hand as she
swung her arms out to her sides for balance, grasping for a railing just out
of her reach.
Before she fell, Blake
snagged an arm around her waist and hauled her round against him.
Grabbing handfuls of
his shirt, she uttered a breathless, 'Thank you.'
'You're welcome.' He
smiled. When she tried to move he tightened his arm. 'Give it a minute.'
If her heart was
thundering as loudly as his it would do them both good. He'd never have
forgiven himself if she'd tumbled headlong down two flights of stairs. But
as her breathing slowed, his concern, tempered by relief, was replaced with
something more potent. She blinked once, twice; the fingers holding his
shirt loosened and her palms flattened as if she couldn't stop herself
touching him. Then her gaze lifted.
With her guard down,
he was shown how truly expressive her eyes could be. Curiosity threaded with
need, confusion tangled up in desire—and those were just the things he could
recognise. Everything she was feeling danced in the light of a blue flame he
was drawn to with the same compulsion he felt to draw air into his lungs.
Did she have any idea what she was willing him to do when she looked at him
like that? The effect it had on his body when she had her hands on him? He
searched her eyes for a hint of power in the knowledge, feeling marginally
better when he couldn't find it. If she knew, he'd be in trouble.
As her palms slid
across his chest and down his arms, he tensed, unable to stop the telltale
sign from happening; it was almost as if part of him wanted her to know. Her
gaze lowered as she felt it happen, hands sliding down to his elbows, her
mesmerized expression suggesting she was watching what she was doing as if
it was some kind of out-of body experience.
Blake studied the soft
sheen of hair against her forehead before lowering his chin and looking at
her hands where they rested against the rolled up sleeves of his shirt. Such
small, fine-boned hands, such a light touch, but he could feel the effect of
it scorching into his veins, transforming his blood to the same consistency
as lava: thick, heavy and fiery-hot.
Damn, they were
going to be good together.
When their gazes
lifted, she focused on his mouth.
'Do it,' he demanded
in a huskier voice than he'd have preferred.
'Do what?' she asked
in a thick voice.
'Kiss me.'
She shook her head.
'You're thinking about
it.'
'No, I'm not,' she
lied.
Moving his fingertips
in slow, soothing circles on her back, Blake silently willed her to forget
whatever was holding her back. 'If you spent less time trying to pretend
this isn't here we might get along better.'
'I don't want—'
'Yes, you do.' Raising
a hand, he used the backs of his fingers to brush her hair off her cheek.
'You've been thinking about the kiss that never happened.' Just like he had.
'Wondering what it would have felt like if it had…' Why should he be the
only one tortured by it? Turning his hand, he traced his fingertips over her
jaw to the sensitive skin below her ear.
She leaned her head
towards her shoulder in response, dutifully arching her neck to allow him
access as her eyelids grew heavy. Her body couldn't hide the truth any more
than his could.
'Don't you want to
find out, Liv?' He dipped his head and saw the lift of her chin bring her
mouth closer to his.
'You'll have to fire
me first.'
'I'm not going to fire
you,' he answered in the same husky-edged tone as before. 'You'll have to
quit.'
'I'm no quitter,' she
replied, an incredibly sensuous smile curling her lips.
'Neither am I.'
When she breathed deep
and exhaled on a hum of what sounded distinctly like pleasure, he stifled a
groan. The slow slide of her lower lip between her teeth, the hooded gaze
she had focused on his mouth—she was testing him, wasn't she? If she was, it
was a test he was failing. Sensing the balance of power shifting, he took a
short breath.
'Word of warning,
sweetheart—I never said anything about making it impossible for you not
to kiss me.'
There was a flash of
light in her eyes. 'I think…' she said in an intimate tone as one of her
hands slid back up his arm, 'you…'
Blake's body tightened
with anticipation as she angled her head and moved closer. 'Should…' A
fingernail trailed tantalisingly over his skin where the collar of his shirt
touched his neck; her palm flattened as she lowered her hand to his chest.
'Keep this apartment…'
What?
Lifting her chin, she
brought her mouth closer to his. She looked up at him and informed him, 'The
ceilings are just about high enough for your head to fit in here.' Fixing
him with a heavy gaze that said Gotcha, she leaned back against his
arm and smiled tightly. 'You might want to let me go now. I'd hate to have
to hurt you.'
Judging by her
expression, he doubted she'd hate it that much. But conceding a hand didn't
mean the game was over. Releasing her, he stepped to the side and bent down
to retrieve the file. 'What next?'
She arched a brow as
she tugged her jacket straight.
'On the list.' He
waved the file back and forth.
'Another penthouse…'
'Any chance this one
doesn't have a guy in a top hat at the door?'
'I doubt it.' She
reached for the file.
When she tried to take
it from him, Blake held on, waiting for her to look into his eyes before he
smiled meaningfully. 'We're not done.'
She lifted her chin, a
smile sparkling in her eyes and hovering on her lips. 'I know.'
Relinquishing the
file, he turned towards the stairs and held out an arm. Suddenly the next
few weeks didn't feel like such a chore to him any more. He should probably
thank her for that. As it was, he would have to up his game. The way he saw
it, by the time he was done she was either going to kiss him or kill him.
He smiled as she
stepped past him. 'Mind the step…'
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Text Copyright © 2011 by
Trish Wylie Cover Art Copyright © 2011
by Harlequin Enterprises LimitedPermission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A. Cover art used
by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited. All rights reserved. ® and ™
are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its affiliated
companies, used under license.
Behind The Scenes
The Inconvenient Laws Of Attraction
is the book I will forevermore see as my
'come-back' after a particularly tough couple of years. There was a long
while when I wondered if I would ever write a book again and as such, when I was
working on this story, it was often an uphill battle and I was tougher on myself
than ever before. (I'll let readers who have known my work for a few years
decide if it shows in the outcome.) During my absence there was also a change to
Mills & Boon's lines, so what was ori
ginally
meant to be a Modern Heat book would have to see some changes made to the plot
for it to fit into the new line. Henceforth-if you want to find
them-my books will be Riva in the UK and Romance in the USA and Canada.
Blake, my hero, remained
pretty constant, character-wise, as the story went through big changes in other areas but then
that's often the case since my hero's tend to come to me more fully formed than
the heroine's (though in fairness that might be because I spend more time
fantasizing about them). He started with a random seed of thought, as so many
stories do. In this case the question being; why would anyone turn down millions
of dollars? Since I've spent a great deal of time carefully considering what I
would do with a lottery win, this was something I found fascinating. That then
led to the debate people have about whether or not money can make you happy and
I decided Blake didn't think so. In his
experience
it leads to misery. Plus the guy is happy with the life he has and doesn't
see why he
should be forced to live one he doesn't want. I doubt he would even have gone to
look things over if it hadn't been for the presence of his new lawyer.
Olivia most definitely went
through the bigger transformation. As I type this I've been trying to remember
back to when I first thought of the story and what she was like then. She was
definitely a career driven lawyer capable of going toe-to-toe with difficult
clients and neither of those things changed in the Riva version. But she was
also unaware of the part her firm had in Blake's earlier relationship with his
father and that part did change. With the 'conspiracy' dropped, Olivia
got a whole new back-story. To my delight it came with a host of secondary
characters
begging for their own stories and suddenly I had a 'mini-series' taking shape in
my mind. (I'd just like to say a huge thank you to Olivia for deciding she came
from a family of cops!)
The only problem I had with
the latter part of this story was the flood of new ideas for the three
single Brannigan brothers, so if you enjoy Blake and Olivia's story I hope you'll look out
for the next book in the series which follows Liv's brother Danny and her best
friend Jo. For a little sneak peak you can find an excerpt on the
New York's Finest Rebel
page.
Location, Location,
Location
As
many people know, I fell head-over-heels in love with New York several years
ago (you may have noticed the addition of a
New York page here
on the website), so since the city first appeared in
The
Millionaire's Proposal, it has increasingly become the background to my
stories. Since my first visit to the Big Apple I like to think I've got
more adventurous and headed off the beaten track. Several of the settings and
background in this book are a result of that...
Thanks to how long it took to get this story
from
conception
through transformation to the finished product it meant I had time to
take some 'on location' shots to help visualize some of the scenes. One of the most
colourful places I visited was the Farmer's Market in Union Square. This thrice weekly
market sees the country come to the city with a wonderful array of fresh
products, many of which were new to me. I spent several hours on a gloriously
hot summer's day browsing the stalls, tasting samples and taking pictures to
keep everything equally as fresh in my mind.
For me this was a prime example of how it can help
for an author to leave their cave from time-to-time to find inspiration. Writing
is, after all, an adult version of 'let's pretend'. In this case not only was I
able to experience the sights and sounds Blake and Olivia would, I also got to
pick out a building from the skyline to visualize as the hotel they were there
to see and could place myself in their shoes, imagining what they were saying
and taking notes I would use later. It also influenced the season for the book,
with the heat-wave and humidity being a large part of the things I remember most
vividly from that day. We Irish are not designed for that kind of heat.
When I mentioned via Twitter that eggs could be fried
on
the subway station platforms, I wasn't kidding!
To escape the heat I spent a lot of time either
close to or on the water. As a big fan of oceans, lakes and rivers (I live right
beside a waterfall when I'm at home in Ireland), I think it's part of the appeal
of Manhattan for me. I particularly love how things like water taxi's and
ferries are part of normal everyday life. Hence the appearance of both a water
taxi and the Staten Island ferry in the book...
I also have to mention the famous Plaza Hotel
overlooking Central Park. The scene I used in the excerpt you've just read
starts in a penthouse apartment at The Plaza and the price-tag mentioned wasn't
randomly pulled out of a hat. I have to say my jaw dropped when I read an
article on it. Even more surprisingly, I think it may have gone up some since I
researched it!
Last but by no means least I have to confess the
Hampton's part of the story is much more of a foray into fantasy. Although I had
intended to visit there as part of my trip, in the end time was against me
before I headed off to California so I had to rely on a couple of wonderful
coffee table books with fantastic photographs of the area.
Next time, I swear
I'll try to make it there in person.
Background Music
For
a long time The Inconvenient Laws Of Attraction didn't have my
usual 'soundtrack' of music playing in the background. I guess that's the thing
with coming back to work after a long break; sometimes you have to mix things up
to find a new groove that will work for you. At first I had to work in silence,
then gradually, I was able to introduce a few instrumental tracks. But as I
raced for the finish post and started to feel a little more like myself again, I
eventually found a track that summed up what I was aiming for with Blake and
Liv. It came from the gorgeous
Michael Buble
and his album Crazy Love.
The track was 'Hold On' and if you've been to my site before you'll know what a fan I
am of lyrics, so I'll let you take the Youtube link to read them.
You can order a copy of the album
here
and see a Youtube video of the song
here.
*All Photographs are used to
give a visible representation of the Authors 'view' and are in no way
representative of the people or places in real life beyond the realms of the
Authors imagination.
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