May 5, 2013

Sunday Smooch with Michelle Douglas


Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  First Comes Baby..., but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- BN100!

Congratulations, BN100. Can you please contact Alison Stuart at: alison (at) alisonstuart (dot) com to receive your copy of By The Sword.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Michelle Douglas's First Comes Baby...




Meg has always dreamed of having the perfect family, and when she learns her baby window is closing there's only one person who can help...

Ben has been Meg's best friend since childhood. Their relationship is strictly platonic--except for that one unforgettable kiss. Helping her to become a mother is the easiest decision Ben has ever made. Only, soon he wants to be more than just their baby's "uncle." Can he convince Meg that he's ready to do the unthinkable and settle down to be a real father?


Scene set-up: Meg and Ben have just had a heart to heart about their childhood and are now paddling on the beach...on a warm summer evening.


He pulled her in close for a hug. She clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as she forced her arms around him to squeeze him back for a moment. She started to release him, but he didn’t release her. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and bit her lip until she tasted blood. It took all her concentration to keep her hands where they ought to be.

And then his hand slid down her back and it wasn’t a between-friends gesture. It was…

She drew back to glance into his face. The hunger and the need reflected in his eyes made her sway towards him. She planted her hands against his chest to keep her balance, to keep from falling against him. As soon as she regained her footing she meant to push him away. 
Only, her hands, it seemed, had a different idea altogether. They slid across his shirt, completely ignoring the pleasant sensation of soft cotton to revel in the honed male flesh beneath. Ben’s chest had so much definition. And he was hot! His heat branded her through his shirt and his heart beat against her palm like a dark throbbing promise. The pulse in her throat quivered.
She swallowed and tried to catch her breath. She should move away.
But the longer she remained in the circle of Ben’s arms, the more the strength and the will drained from her body and the harder it became to think clearly and logically.
And beneath her hands his body continued to beat at her like a wild thing—a tempting and tempestuous primal force, urging her to connect with something wild and elemental within herself.
She lifted her gaze to his. A light blazed from his eyes, revealing his need, an unchecked recklessness and his exaltation. 
‘I’ve been fighting this all night,’ he rasped, ‘but I’m not going to fight it any more.’
He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled it back until her lips had lifted, angled just so to give him maximum access, and then his mouth came down on hers—hot, hungry, unchecked.
His lips laid waste to all her preconceptions. She’d thought he’d taste wickedly illicit and forbidden, but he didn’t taste like whisky or leather or midnight. He tasted like summer and ripe strawberries and the tang of the ocean breeze. He tasted like freedom.
It was more intoxicating than anything she’d ever experienced. 
Kissing Ben was like flying.
A swooping, swirling, tumbling-in-the-surf kind of flying.



 I really do think the beach is a romantic place for a kiss. Where's the most romantic place you've ever snuck a kiss? 





Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from Fish Out of Water by Ros Baxter will be posted!

24 comments:

  1. The beach is a romantic place for a kiss. I love friends to lovers stories. Can't wait to see who won last week. XX won again - ha ha

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  2. I love the friends to lovers story! There is so much history and chemistry there!

    Congratulations on the release Michelle!

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  3. Hi Michelle, what a lovely read. I've got this on my bedside table and am so looking forward to dipping into it. Sigh - a treat when I get this current project under control.

    Yes, definitely a kiss on the beach sounds perfect. As for the most romantic place for a kiss? Almost anywhere with the right guy!

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  4. Hi Tammy,

    Friends to lovers are one of my favourite themes, so it was a real treat to write this particular story. :-) Glad you like them too.

    And LOL on xx --oops. :-)

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  5. Oh, Nas, yes! You've hit the proverbial nail on the head. I think it's the tension between the chemistry and the characters' shared history that can make friends to lovers stories so 'edge of your seat.' It's such a big thing to risk an important friendship for something more. If it doesn't work out... *cue shudder*

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  6. Aww, Annie, you're such a romantic! But I agree with you completely -- the right guy could make a kiss at a building site romantic. :-)

    Hope you enjoy the story when you get a chance to dip into it!

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  7. What a gorgeous smooch! Go, Ben. :)

    I'm with Annie - any setting can be gloriously romantic with the right man.

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  8. Aw, another romantic I see. You know, a smooch under the Eiffel Tower with the right man is pretty special, Rach. :-)

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  9. Well, if you're going to throw around words like Eiffel Tower, then I'm going to have to agree. Or should I say, I assume it would be pretty special - I've never been to France. Maybe it's something I should add to my bucket list...

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  10. Definitely add Paris to your bucket list, Rach. You'll love it!

    Hmm, am now thinking of creating a bucket "Kiss" list.
    Beneath the Eiffel Tower
    In Edinburgh Castle
    A chateau the Alps

    Oh, I could just go on and on... :-)

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  11. If I'm actually standing in front of the Eiffel Tower EVER, than I would probably too busy to savour the memory and the atmosphere of the place. And being me-too busy feeling self conscious to actually think about kissing!

    So a kiss with my guy at home without anyone else around is the most perfect kiss for me!

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  12. LOL, Nas. You're right -- there's something to be said for privacy. :-)

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  13. That's such a **WOW** smooch thank you!! I don't think I'd be pushing Ben away.

    I'm an anywhere kind of kissing gal. That's more than I should have shared I think.

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  14. I don't think I'd be pushing Ben away either, Mary!

    LOL, absolutely nothing wrong with being an anywhere kissing kinda gal. ;-)

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  15. Gorgeous Smooch, Michelle! I love a friends-to-lovers story and Ben and Meg's story sounds wonderful!

    I'm liking the answers here about locations for a romantic kiss - anywhere can be perfect as long as it's with the right man.

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  16. Hi Michelle - fabulous smooch! Friends to lovers is a favourite storyline of mine and I love the cover of First Comes Baby....As for kisses....anywhere....anytime :)

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  17. Nice scene. The park

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

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  18. Thanks, Sharon! And I see we have another vote for "the right man." I'm thinking desert nights and starry skies are probably a pretty special place for a smooch with the right man. ;-)

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  19. Oh, Helen, yes! I have serious cover love for First Comes Baby... I keep getting it out to sigh over. My sister really loves the Australian cover instead. Different strokes.

    As for kisses anywhere, any time? Sounds good to me. :-)

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  20. Great smooch, Michelle. Have kissed at both Edinburgh Castle and a chateau the Alps but not yet the Eiffel Tower - must work on that! I love the kiss at the airport when you've been away for a long time.

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  21. Ooh, you have lots ticked off on your "Kiss" bucket list, Jen!

    Ooh, the airport kiss. Am swooning now at the very thought. :-)

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  22. "Where's the most romantic place you've ever snuck a kiss?"
    Ah shucks.... In the shower, I suppose.
    So many places, so little time. LOL.
    (I know, I know. I didn't answer the real question. I don't have a real answer for it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I am lucky to have a husband - of 32 years - who loves me - anywhere and everywhere.)

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  23. Well, now Laney, I'd absolutely say the shower is a VERY romantic place to sneak a kiss. ;-)

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