Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!
Today we have a smooch from KANDY SHEPHERD but first
... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is - KATRINA WHITTAKER!
Can you please contact
louisageorgeauthor(at)@gmail(dot)com to receive your copy of Christmas In The Boss's Castle by Scarlet Wilson
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Conveniently Wed to the Greek
CONVENIENTLY WED TO THE GREEK
A marriage for the
sake of her baby...
When luxury
hotelier Alex Mikhalis encounters the blogger who once nearly destroyed his
reputation, he wants to get even. Only Adele Hudson isn’t exactly as he
remembers. She’s pregnant and alone, and he can’t stop his protective instincts
kicking in!
After a difficult
breakup, Adele is very wary of all relationships. She has no choice but to
accept the Greek tycoon’s offer of a job, despite their complicated past. But
his next suggestion is much more intimate: becoming
his convenient wife!
Setup:
Food critic and
blogger, Dell Hudson, is working for her former adversary, hotelier tycoon Alex
Mikahalis, on his private Greek island in the Ionian sea where he is developing
a luxury resort. The attraction between them is very strong but there are
compelling reasons for them not to act on it. Then Alex drops a bombshell—he wants
Dell to agree to a marriage of convenience. Alex has convincing, genuine family
reasons for this arrangement—and it would help Dell out of a difficult
situation. But a marriage of convenience between two smart, independent people
in the 21st century? Reluctantly Dell agrees. When this smooch takes
place, they are on the beach outside a family run taverna where his big, warm, matchmaking Greek family have gathered
for a family occasion.
The smooch:
Now she had signed
up for a year of pretending that she didn’t care about the man who was going to
be her fake husband in a marriage of convenience.
‘I guess I’d be working for you, still. A different job. A new
contract.’ Dell tried to sound pragmatic, to justify the unjustifiable.
Alex frowned. ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that.’
‘It might make it easier if we did.’
‘Perhaps,’ he said, sounding unconvinced. He took a step closer.
‘But right now I need you to kiss me.’
‘What?’
His gaze flickered over her shoulder and back to face her. ‘You can’t
see from where you’re standing but there are interested eyes on us. In theory I
just proposed to you and you said “yes”. A kiss is appropriate.’
Appropriate? When was a kiss appropriate?
Obviously in this alternate universe she had agreed to enter the rules were
very different. That didn’t mean she had to abide by them.
She looked up at his dark eyes, his sensual mouth she ached to kiss in
an entirely inappropriate way. ‘I’ve got a better idea. You can kiss me. And you’d
better make it look believable.’
Dell was challenging him. Alex had been exultant that she had
acquiesced to his admittedly unconventional plan. But it seemed Dell and
acquiescence didn’t go hand in hand. Somehow, in a contrary kind of way, that pleased
him. Dell wouldn’t be Dell if she rolled over and did just as he commanded.
It made him want to kiss her for real.
Her eyes glittered in the soft half-light, tiny flecks of gold among the
green. Her lips were slightly parted, a hint of a smile lifting the
corners—halfway between teasing and seductive. ‘What are you waiting for?’ she
murmured.
He was very aware of their audience. The family members who must have
watched her seek him out on the beach. They stood inside the doorway some
twenty metres away, obviously thinking they couldn’t be seen, but the lights
from the taverna highlighted their
shapes. It appeared the group had gathered hoping, perhaps, for proof that he
and Dell were a couple. He would give them that proof.
He pulled her to him and pressed his mouth to hers with a firm, gentle
pressure. In reply, Dell wound her arms around his neck to pull his head
closer, her curves moulded against him. Her scent sent an intoxicating rush to
his head—the sharpness of lemon and thyme soap mingled with her own sweet
womanliness. It was a scent so familiar to his senses he was instantly aware of
when she entered or left a room. She kissed him back, then flicked the tip of
her tongue between his lips with a little murmur deep in her throat. Surprise
quickly turned to enthusiastic response as he met her tongue with his,
deepening the kiss, falling into a vortex of sensation.
Alex forgot he was on the beach, forgot they had an audience, forgot
everything but that Dell was in his arms and he was kissing her. This was no
meandering journey between gentle kiss of affirmation and one of full-blown
passion. It raced there like a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite. Lips, tongues,
teeth met and danced together in an escalating rhythm.
Desire burned through him, and her too, judging by her response as that
little murmur of appreciation intensified into a moan. He groaned his own want
in reply, pulled her close, as close as they could be with their clothes
between them. He could feel the hammering of her heart against his chest. His
hands slid down her waist to cup the cheeks of her bottom; she pushed closer as
she fiercely kissed him.
‘Get a room, you two.’ Cristos’s voice, in Greek, pierced his
consciousness.
Dell pulled away. ‘What was that?’ Her cheeks were flushed, her breath
coming in gasps, her mouth pink and swollen from his kisses.
Alex had trouble finding his own voice, had to drag in air to control
his breathing.
‘My cousin trying to be funny,’ he said.
She looked up at him, her breasts rising and falling as she struggled to
get her breath. ‘Alex...that was—’
‘I know,’ he said, not certain of how it happened, knowing what it meant
for their bargain, realising he had lost control and that he had to take back
the lead.
Her eyes met his as a shadow behind them dimmed their brightness. ‘We
can’t do that. A kiss like that wasn’t what you’d call appropriate. It wasn’t fair. Not when I—’
When she what? Alex wanted,
needed, to know what she meant. Because at that moment when she had moaned her
desire something had shifted for him. Something deep and fundamental and
perplexing. He had to know if she had felt it too.
Kandy is giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commentator! So her question to you is:
Alex, the hero of
Conveniently Wed to the Greek has a great aunt Penelope who is convinced Alex
and Dell should be together. She is an inveterate matchmaker.
Have you ever been
a matchmaker? Had someone tried to matchmake you? Known any successful or disastrous
attempts at matchmaking?
Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch by Amy Andrews from Hot Mess will be posted!
Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver
Ever fancied an escape to an island hideaway? How about a trip
to exotic Greece? I confess I’ve been dreaming of both lately.
