About
Bedeviled
If
you build your love on lies, you’d better run faster than the
truth.
Newly
appointed Finance Director, Charlotte Roche escaped dangers lurking
in Boston by moving to Chicago. A new name, a new beginning - all
built on lies. Believing she is safe, Charlotte drops her guard and
sets her sights on her ruggedly handsome and wildly sexy running
partner, Alexander Gaines. Can she advance their relationship from
the track to the bedroom and still maintain her charade? or will
Alex's probing questions pierce her carefully rehearsed story?
Alex,
with unrevealed secrets of his own, struggles to hold the
irresistible Charlotte at arm’s length. But when Charlotte sustains
a suspicious injury, Alex seizes the opportunity to cuddle up to the
sassy beauty. Does he dare risk his reputation, his fortune, his
friends, and his heart by letting her get close?
How
can they build a bond with deceit on both sides? With exposure
imminent, their freshly forged relationship is in jeopardy and so are
their lives. Can their love survive or are they bedeviled?
Join
Alex and Charlotte, in this steamy romance, the third in the
five-star rated Beguiling Bachelor series. The suspense builds as the
characters you’ve met and loved in “Bedazzled” and “Beholden”
help tackle the maze of half-truths and cover-ups threatening the
lovers.
ASIN:
B06WLQL2FT
Genre:
Steamy Romantic Suspense
Excerpt
Keeping
his mind on the topic always took all of Alex’s effort anyway. When
Charlotte sat hip-to-hip with him as she had today, he felt the heat
of her skin, saw the long length of thigh exposed in front of him,
heard her heavy post-run breathing until he was in sensory overload.
She smelled so good, not stinky and sweaty like he must. She smelled
classy and expensive with all those clean, floral scents. She smelled
like a woman he could trust.
More
like a woman I want to trust.
Thinking
back, Alex recognized that she had been hiding something all along.
When he wasn’t lost in a sensual fog, he was able to zero in on
where the conversations lagged, when she got testy with his probing
or tried to change the subject. It had something to do with her life
in Boston before she moved to Chicago and it was something that had
been going on for a while.
She
was practiced at her excuses by the time she used them on him. She
was making too many trips back East for ‘Harvard stuff.’ She had
met Regan Howe through this same ‘Harvard stuff’ yet Regan went
back to her alma mater only once or twice a year, if that.
Oh
yeah, Charlotte is definitely up to something and I intend to find
out what. I have been patient long enough.
Sitting
waiting now for Charlotte to arrive at Starbucks, Alex promised
himself that he would get to the bottom of this or walk away.
Since
she had declined his offer of a ride, Alex currently sat at a shady
outside table enjoying the last of summer, waiting for her to walk
over and speculating on her possible secrets. He was planning his
subtle interrogation during the few minutes Charlotte would need to
make her way across the park,
Stubborn.
She should have just accepted the ride.
You
driving over or walking?” she had asked him, once they caught their
breath.
“I
have the car if you want a ride?” When she hesitated, he tried
tempting her. “I have the new car.”
Alex
was the proud owner of a brand new Mercedes AMG. The sleek, luxury
sports car suited him despite most people’s image of him as
logical, conservative and staid. The need for speed was actually deep
in his blood. “You will love it, tight on the curves, fast and
quiet. She purrs,” he had bragged.
Charlotte
hesitated on his last remark and Alex had been sure she would accept.
“The
new car, huh?” she sounded intrigued. “I am excited to see it at
last, Alex. You have certainly been talking about it long enough.”
“I
need to walk off this tight hamstring, so I’ll have to pass this
time,” she had replied reluctantly. “Meet you there in five.”
Of course, Charlotte had been Charlotte, and that included being
unpredictable.
Charlotte,
leaving Alex standing there, had taken off across the park without a
backward glance. Alex stood dumbfounded a moment, watching her slow
jog-walk toward the trail across the grassy lawns of Lincoln Park.
She was heading directly toward their usual post-run Starbucks and if
he didn’t get moving, she would be there first.
Still
he stood, willing her to look back and flash him that smile that
changed her whole face. She didn’t, of course, and Alex was left
standing there, admiring her lithe figure and the smooth bunch and
release of her muscles in those tiny running shorts as she moved into
the distance. Reminding himself to close his gaping mouth, Alex
jogged to the parking lot, trading an extra moment of admiring a
beautiful woman for a few short moments admiring his beautiful new
car.
Arriving
at the coffee shop several minutes before Charlotte, Alex was forced
to cool his heels. He spent the time piecing together anything he
could think of to uncover Charlotte’s deep, dark, secret.
Admittedly, he needed the ten-minute head start away from her to give
his overheated blood a little cooling time too. He kept envisioning
the two of them in that sweet ride, sitting close with their
sweat-slicked bodies. The image had intensified the jolts
of.electricity already coursing through his veins from running beside
her scantily clothed body.
Too
bad she turned me down. One of these days we will be in tight
quarters, all alone, and I will make my move. I have resisted too
long already.
Since
the mention of her tight hamstring, all Alex could think about was
massaging her leg, and moving up from there. Did the woman not
understand what she was doing to him? After all, he was a healthy
red-blooded man. How long was he supposed to watch her round little
ass wiggle in front of him, or the glide of muscles in those
incredible legs – or OMG – her breasts bob up and down in those
little running tops. The woman was killing him. He wanted her so
badly he could taste it.
He
chided himself to stop thinking of her that way, as he always did
when he lusted after her. He would catch himself wanting her and
repress the overwhelming sexual response that had plagued him since
the beginning. She was so much more than just beautiful and sexy. She
was a brilliant woman, funny, witty, complex and delightful. She
considered him a running partner, and a friend…
…but
that body, oh, that body. Stop it!
Alex
determined to stay focused on what she might be trying to cover up
and got his desire under control. He reviewed the signs – when she
changed topics or failed to make eye contact. He carefully dissected
her words while he waited for her to arrive. He knew she was being
intentionally elusive. Alex resolved again that today would be the
day he found out what she was concealing, beginning as soon as she
arrived.
Speaking
of arriving, Charlotte should have shown up long before now. She
would have, unless something had happened. How long had he been
sitting, pondering? How much time had passed?
Heart
racing like a freight train, Alex ran into the park. Unsure why, he
was terrified of what he might find.
About
the Author
Madison
Michael is an indie publisher, blogger and the author of the
Beguiling Bachelor Series as well as the novella Desire &
Dessert, from her sizzling B&B Billionaire Bachelor series.
A
Chicago native and hopeless romantic, Maddy was raised on Chicago
culture, fairy tales, great literature and swashbuckling movies.
Maddy employs that history, writing steamy contemporary romance
novels set against the sumptuous backdrop of Chicago’s elite
society.
After
receiving a BA in Journalism from the University of Illinois and an
MBA from Loyola University of Chicago, Madison abandoned her writing
to find her way in the corporate business world. Daughter of a
librarian, it was inevitable that she would return to the world of
books.
Maddy
writes from high above Chicago where she can stare at its gorgeous
skyline or the shores of Lake Michigan surrounded by feline
assistants. When she is not writing,, Maddy can be found lost in a
book, fighting for the rights of the mentally iil or dining on
Chicago’s famous cuisine. Hot dogs and pizza, anyone?
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