Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 by Maisey Yates (inspirational books .TXT) 📗

“Just do it, please.”

“Why?” He smoothed her hair. “Do you need time to overthink it?”

“Something like that.”

* * *

Julian did not her ask again. Instead, the next morning, he inquired about something less incendiary.

“The left one is larger than the right?”

She curled up to him. “Yup!”

“I’m left-handed, so that’s perfect.” To prove his point, he cupped her left breast with his left hand. It fit perfectly.

“You’re left-handed?” she asked.

“I am. Is that a deal breaker?”

“Only for my right breast.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I got it covered.”

He bit down on her right nipple and sucked until he heard her moan. Every day should start like this, except it was already lunchtime. They’d slept in. Sunlight burst through the stained glass windows, fighting its way into their cocoon. And he was hungry.

She reached down and cupped him between the legs, startling him. “Are these a matching set?”

“Don’t, Nina,” he warned. “You’ll wake up the Knight.”

“Wait! What?” She pulled away from him and sat up on her knees. “Is that what you call it?”

“It suits him, don’t you think? He’s honorable and brave.”

“Brave?” She laughed. “He bravely goes where no man—”

He pinched her chin between his thumb and index finger and pulled her in for a kiss. “Silly woman.”

“Is he dependable?” she asked.

“Rain or shine, gets the job done.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about him as if he’s not in the room.”

Julian agreed. “His ego is pretty fragile.”

“Why? He’s such a tall, proud soldier.”

“A knight. Please don’t mess with his title.” He reached for the room service menu on the bedside table. “Breakfast?”

“Yes, please.” She tossed aside the crumpled bedsheet and knelt between his legs. “I could eat.”

He closed his eyes. His last coherent thought was that he must be the luckiest bastard in the world.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Nina was curled up in the wide bed, listening to the sounds of Julian in the shower, when her phone rang. It was on the nightstand next to Julian’s two mobile phones and his array of chargers. Seeing their devices lumped together like that bothered her. It looked to her as if they were becoming a couple. Rattled, she reached for her phone and answered without first checking the caller ID. “Hello.”

“Hey, Nina? It’s me. Checking in again.”

“Valerie?”

“Yes,” she said. “I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by your hotel.”

“Excuse me?” Nina stammered.

“You’re here, right? Staying at the Sand Castle.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m downstairs. In the courtyard. Are you free to chat?”

Nina sat up and drew the blanket over her bare legs. There was no question her cousin had seen the photos and read the blog posts. Her identity was no longer a mystery, and her social media accounts were clogged with mentions. No doubt Valerie wanted to check in on the state of her mental health. Was it out of character for Nina to hook up with a high-profile movie star? Absolutely. Was it any of her cousin’s business? Absolutely not. But Nina hadn’t grown up in a tight-knit nuclear family, and she was fuzzy on the rules. What was the best way to deal with an interfering but well-meaning cousin without coming off as rude?

Nina lowered the phone to her bare chest and took a few sharp breaths to calm down. It didn’t work. Through clenched teeth, she said, “I’ll be right down.”

* * *

Ten minutes later, Nina came down the grand stairway in the same frilly dress she’d worn out to dinner the night before. Valerie Pierre, a lawyer, looked polished in a blue pantsuit. A curvy woman with deep brown skin, she wore her hair in a cropped Afro. She stood by the fountain, scrolling on her phone. Nina hadn’t seen her since her mother’s funeral. Valerie was the only relative on her father’s side of the family who had bothered to show up. The others sent flowers, food and money. For that reason, she couldn’t kick her to the curb—as much as she wanted to.

“Hey there,” Nina said with an awkward wave.

“Nina!”

Valerie rushed over and pulled her into a hug. Her genuine warmth melted away Nina’s icy irritation. They ended up at a table on the terrace with coffee and pastries.

“Don’t worry,” Valerie said, eyeing her from behind her large glasses. “I’ll be out of your hair soon. I have to get back to work.”

“There’s no rush. It’ll be great to catch up.”

Valerie pursed her lips. “Yeah. I’m just going to jump right in.”

Nina gave her a blank smile. “What do you mean?”

“Okay. So, last night, I was clicking around the web for reviews of Thunder III. Patrick wanted to stream it, but I’d heard some negative things.”

Nina smirked at the mention of Valerie’s husband. It was like Julian had said—women rarely owned up to liking the films. It was always a boyfriend or husband. Men did the same with dance or baking competition shows. It was always the girlfriend or wife who made them tune in every week.

She handed Nina her phone. “Then I stumble on this.”

Nina pinched the screen to zoom in on the offensive content. A website had put together a slideshow of her and Julian’s courtship in chronological order under the headline, Love Him or Hate Him, JL Knight Heats Things Up in Miami.

Photo #1: JLK and Nina Taylor* on a balcony at Sand Castle gaze into each other’s eyes behind a veil of summer rain. #Meetcute?

Photo #2: JLK dives into a pool—fully dressed—to rescue his girl. #RescueMeJLK

Photo #3: JLK assists his lady friend into a waiting car, his hand dangerously close to her ass. #PDA

Photo #4: JLK kisses his woman under the stars. #TrueLoveKiss

(*Nina Taylor is an author. Her memoir, Backstage Diva, debuted at number seventeen on the NYT bestseller list.)

The last photo was of her and Julian’s first kiss. It was the one photo of the bunch that truly upset her. She would have liked to keep that moment private. The sneaky photographer had caught an intimate moment. That night she had suspected they were being watched, and now she had