Sunday Smooch with Rachel Bailey

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from His 24-Hour Wife by Rachel Bailey, but first, 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Laney4! Laney, drop Jennifer St George an email at jstgeorge.author (at) gmail (dot) com and she'll send your copy of The Billionaire's Passionate Revenge to you! 





And now for today's Sunday Smooch from His 24-Hour Wife.

What happened in Vegas didn’t stay there for CEO Adam Hawke and go-getter Callie Mitchell. And their drunken lark of a wedding is coming back to haunt them. Because Adam and Callie are now working together, and she’s being blackmailed over their very personal connection by a coworker. To deflect the threat, Callie and Adam make their sham marriage look real. But the passion that ensues is no sham. Could their wedding lark have real wings after all?

Scene set-up: Adam and Callie have arranged a magazine photo-shoot to announce their marriage to the world, but they're still struggling to find the line between pretend and oh, so real...


Two days later, Callie found herself with a journalist, walking through the Hawke Brothers’ flower markets. She was wearing a pale gold dress and kitten heels, her hair and makeup photo-ready.

Adam was striding a few steps ahead with the photographer, who wore ripped jeans and a faded T-shirt. Adam, in contrast, was in a tuxedo, parting the crowd like Moses at the Red Sea. No one walked the way Adam Hawke did—powerfully, and always with a purpose. The jacket fit his shoulders perfectly, highlighting their breadth and strength. It was mesmerizing.

“You sure lucked out in husbands,” Anna Wilson said as she walked in step beside Callie. Anna was the first journalist she’d called when looking for a place to launch the story. She was already a friend, and she had a reputation for writing good, solid stories on famous people that neither simpered over the subject nor made snarky digs.

“Yep, Lady Luck was kind to me that night.” Memories of twisted white sheets and Adam’s naked physique rolled through her mind, causing her mouth to suddenly go dry.

“Maybe I should try Vegas,” Anna said. “If I’m going to try my luck anywhere, then surely luck’s hometown will work as well for me as it did for you.”

A stab of unease hit Callie squarely in the belly. Luck hadn’t smiled on her in Vegas. It had given her a night in heaven, sure, but the price had been high. Spending this time with Adam now might just drive her insane.

“You’re not wearing rings,” Anna said suddenly.

“Rings?” Callie repeated.

“You know,” Anna teased, “those little bands we traditionally exchange when we get engaged and married.”

Callie frowned, surprised at herself for missing this detail. When they’d originally exchanged vows, they’d paid for cheap rings that had come from a tray kept under the counter at the chapel. She and Adam had both taken them off the next morning. Hers was in her makeup case where she’d tucked it after sobering up, and she assumed Adam had thrown his away.

“We’re getting new rings for the new ceremony,” she said, thinking on her feet. “It’s symbolic of us starting fresh.”

Anna smiled dreamily. “I love that idea.”

Adam stopped in front of a large flower stall with shelves covered in buckets of bright blooms in every color. He said a few words to the photographer, and then turned to Callie. “How about we take some of the photos here?”

She surveyed the scene. The backdrop would provide color and evoke happiness, and the light was good. “This would be great,” she said, moving to take Adam’s hand.

He leaned in and placed a lingering kiss on her lips, and her pulse went into overdrive. It wasn’t difficult to find the blissed-out expression that she was supposed to be faking—in fact, she knew it was on her face, whether she wanted it there or not.

Anna glanced around and conferred with Ralph, the photographer, and then said, “This is good. How about we start with you replaying that kiss for us?”

Callie glanced up at Adam and he looked for all the world as if he could think of nothing better than kissing her again. He clearly had the acting thing down pat. Of course, he probably did still desire her—chemistry as strong as what they’d shared wouldn’t likely disappear overnight, but she was well aware he didn’t want to give in to it again. And one thing she’d learned about Adam Hawke in the short time she’d known him was that he had iron willpower.

“It would be my pleasure,” he said, and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him as he lowered his head. This time it was no peck on the lips, it was more. So much more. Tempting, sensual and knowing. It was everything. She slid her hands along his wrists, past his elbows to grip his biceps through his shirt, partly to keep him in place and partly to hold herself up.

He trailed his lips to the corner of her mouth and then across to her ear. Whispering her name, he sent a shiver across her skin and bit gently on her earlobe. She turned her face, searching for and finding his kiss, feeling as if she’d found her home as well.

They eased apart and Callie held onto his arms for an extra beat, her knees too wobbly to hold herself upright, her mind too dazed to think clearly.

“Adam,” she whispered, and in response a lazy smile spread across his face.

“That’s great,” Ralph said. “Just hang on a sec while I adjust some settings.”

Adam and Callie have difficulties at times drawing the line between real and pretend. Have you had to pretend something in the past? Maybe told a boss that you could do something you couldn't? Or bragged to your friends about a skill then had to follow through? Or perhaps pretended to be unaffected by your secret crush when they were around? Or are you such a bad actor that you have to avoid pretending? I'll give a copy of His 24-Hour Wife to one person who leaves a comment.

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Amy Andrews will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver