Oct 25, 2015

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

30 comments:

  1. I am happily - very happily - married for almost 35 years now, yet I have boyfriends out my ying yang, LOL. They range in age from 18 to 83, with most happily married also - and their wives know that their husbands are my boyfriends! Thankfully, they are boys and my friends, so the moniker works. When I bake, I often have too much, so I share with my boyfriends (and a couple of girlfriends - but women tend not to want to eat non-diet items in public). They quite often take the treats home to share with their wives, and occasionally I get baked goods back - baked by the men! One boyfriend brings me jam and marmalade he makes every year. If you couldn't tell by this list, they aren't boyfriends in a sexual way; they are simply good friends.
    The "crushes" I have had throughout the years may know I like them, simply because I still blush. (My mom blushed and had pimples until she died at 76, so I imagine I'm "blessed/cursed" with them the rest of my life too.) My most recent crush is a good-looking young man who has joined my badminton club. My older boyfriends know I like the younger man, and they tease me relentlessly. I said one night that he was young enough to be my son, so a boyfriend found out he's 31 (and my son is 30). Well? He's still good looking, he still has a nice smile, and I'm still looking. LOL.

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    1. Laney, I love your life! I love that you have all those boyfriends for your yin and yang. :)

      Btw, I added the winner from last week late, so you might not have seen it yet - but it was you! :)

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    2. I did NOT see that added, so thank you very much for mentioning it (and also many thanks for my big win!). I will email JStG right now!

      As for my life, I play competitive badminton five nights a week (in 3 cities/towns), so the majority of my "boyfriends" are my badminton partners, LOL! I find that if I share my baking, then none of us are eating very much but we still have our treats in life (plus they might be more apt to keep me as their partner, LOL, as there's method to my madness!).

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    3. Competitive badminton 5 nights a week? You're like superwoman!

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  2. Hi Rachel

    Oh I did love this story and that is such a great smooch :)

    I am not very good at pretending LOL but over the years there have been many times that I have said I could do something then stressed to the max trying to get it done these days I try very hard not to do things like that :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. Helen, I've done that too! And, yep, I'm trying to mend my ways too. :)

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  3. I have been waiting for this book to be released -I always try very hard to do whet I have said I would do ----LynW

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    1. Lyn, that's the danger of jumping in, isn't it? When you're a person who tries very hard to do what you said you'd do. Glad to hear you're another person who does their best!

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  4. I fail at acting/pretending so I don't bother, This smooch has made me want to re-read the Hawke Brothers again... and it was only a couple of months ago that I read them in the first place.

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    1. Lyn, I have such a soft spot for these brothers. I wondered how readers (and my editor) would take three alpha men who work with flowers all day, but that seemed to work just fine. :)

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  5. Fab smooch, Rach! I can't wait to settle down with this one. :-)

    As for pretense, every time I sit down to work on my PhD I pretend I'm an academically-inclined, perspicacious genius. And every time I speak in public I pretend I'm an engrossing orator. And every time I sit down to write a romance I pretend I'm a compelling mixture of Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte/Jenny Cruise + whoever my current writing crush may be. ;-)

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    1. Ha! I know exactly what you're talking about, Michelle! I feel the same way. :)

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  6. I've had to pretend that I liked my job and I didn't hate my boss. Does that count? This book sounds great :)

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    1. Debbie, that absolutely counts! And I think you're probably not the only one who's done it. :)

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  7. Oooh I love the set up for this story. Fake marriage but not, Vegas weddings gone wrong. Sounds fabulous xx

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    1. Stefanie, I loved writing this premise. Especially because I'd just written two books that featured scenes with Adam, and knowing he was hiding this secret in them. :)

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  8. Lovely smooch! This book sounds awesome Rachel. I love fake marriage stories and this one sounds like it has a very sensual edge to it!

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    1. Kandy, I love a fake marriage story too! And, yes, it's definitely sensual. :)

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  9. Wonderful smooch Rachel. Cannot wait to read your book.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, Tammy! Thanks for visiting. :)

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  10. The exert is hot ! I love it. As for boyfriends. As an adult I married the two I had one for 23 years this year. Lol. As for brothers and stuff I am one of 13. 7 of which are brothers. Ugh. Sisters are so much better. lol

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    1. Congrats on 23 years, Diana! You have 12 siblings? Wow, that's a good sized family! I'm rather fond of my sisters too. :)

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  11. I'd be hopeless at pretending. I'd never manage to pull off any kind of pretend skill. Best not to try.

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    1. Lol, Mary, I think you're not alone there! Easier to just keep it all simple. :)

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  12. Loved the excerpt, Rachel. So looking forward to reading another Hawke brother story.

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    1. Thanks, Jen! I've loved my time with the Hawke brothers. :)

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  13. Rachel, this was a great hook into your book. I want to read it now instead of working. Sigh. As for pretending - sometimes I feel that I'm trying very hard to be an adult and a writer and a responsible person when all I want is to leave all that to someone else and do what I'm really good at - reading!

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    1. Oh, yes! I pretend I'm an adult all the time. Somehow I thought I'd feel more like an adult by now... :)

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  14. I had a huge crush on one of my teachers in my last year at high school and had to pretend I was all normal around him... I was awkward enough without having to pretend. *lol*
    Awesome Sunday smooch, I'd love to read this book! :-)

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  15. Rachel, I have this book waiting for me to spoil myself with some lovely reading time!

    As for pretending, not much good I'm afraid. I blush easily and there's nothing like that feeling of my face about to combust to burn away any confidence in my ability to carry off a pretence.

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