Barely Behaving

Barely Behaving
JENNIFER LABRECQUE

The moment veterinarian Niall Fortson spies Tammy Cooper sunbathing in the nude, he knows his new neighbor is naughty– and a knockout! With a bad reputation and a bad attitude, Tammy has trouble written all over her. And though Niall isn't looking for a scandal, he can't resist her.Luckily Tammy has a solution to cure them of their mutual case of lust– a two-week secret affair.Tammy soon realizes the boy next door is almost more man than she can handle. And she's enjoying handling him–a little too much. After all, someone with her track record is all wrong for a guy dreaming of white picket fences. Still, Niall's determined to be more to Tammy than just a boy toy. And with the way he makes her feel, Tammy's inclined to let him convince her.…

Niall suspected that little Gigi had a bit of a foot fetish…

“Come, Gigi,” Niall called the dog.

Gigi ignored him, squeezing beneath the fencing and launching herself across the neighboring yard like a seven-pound rocket. Just as Niall reached the fence line, Gigi attacked the pair of bare toes hanging over a chaise lounge. The woman screamed and leaped to her feet.

In an instant, Niall’s world tilted on its axis. His neighbor was heart-stopping, blood-pumping naked. He struggled to focus on the woman’s face. It was damn hard.

“Let me guess—you’re my new neighbor and this belongs to you.” She nodded toward Gigi. Her distinctly Southern drawl held more than a note of amusement.

“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry we…uh…interrupted you.”

“No problem—I didn’t want to burn anyway.” Her friendly smile was faintly provocative.

Although totally nude, the woman was calm, cool and collected. He, on the other hand, couldn’t put together a cohesive sentence.

But he did know that he liked the neighborhood already….

Dear Reader,

I first met Tammy Cooper when I wrote my first Temptation novel, Barely Mistaken. Tammy, the heroine’s sister, was a bad girl—bad attitude, bad track record, bad reputation. But the more I got to know Tammy, the more I realized she wasn’t all that bad, just misunderstood. It’s trite, but true. Beneath the rebellious facade beat the heart of a vulnerable woman who deserved to be happy—even if she didn’t think so.

That’s the beauty of writing for Temptation—I got to give Tammy her own happy ending. But not just any man would do. Tammy had already tried that, and it didn’t work. No, Tammy needed a man who would delve deep enough to discover the true woman who hid behind the reputation. And lucky for her, that man moved in just next door….

Things heat up pretty quickly between them, and they learn two valuable lessons. One, that Tammy’s not as bad as she pretends, and two—that Niall is even better than he looks…. I hope you enjoy Barely Behaving. I’d love to hear from you. You can write to me at P.O. Box 801068, Acworth, GA 30101.

Happy reading,

Jennifer LaBrecque

Books by Jennifer LaBrecque

HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

886—BARELY MISTAKEN

904—BARELY DECENT

HARLEQUIN DUETS

28—ANDREW IN EXCESS

52—KIDS+COPS=CHAOS

64—JINGLE BELL BRIDE

Barely Behaving

Jennifer LaBrecque

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Jake, forever in our hearts, Advantage and Cleopatra (formerly known as Fair Game). Also to Catherine McGovern and Southeastern Greyhound Adoption (SEGA) for their tireless dedication to saving these magnificent animals.

Contents

Prologue (#ua21385f8-0b7d-5dd4-863c-0be56b74d76f)

Chapter 1 (#u063fca5a-9191-51ae-8f4d-ce830b26dbac)

Chapter 2 (#u07eeff79-1aa2-5ae4-8daf-d9463c6080e1)

Chapter 3 (#u1f33dbc2-d778-56d5-80be-fdc27cfc247a)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Prologue

“SEX, MARRIAGE AND MEN don’t mix. I like sex and I like men. But I’m skipping marriage from here on out. And this time I mean it.”

Tammy Lorelei Cooper Williams Schill Brantley tossed her latest divorce decree onto her kitchen’s tiled island. The papers skidded past the miniature tabletop Christmas tree toward her younger sister, Olivia. “And I’m taking back my maiden name. I’m going back to Cooper. I’ve finally figured out who I am.” And by God, she liked the woman she’d come to know.

“I wish you’d let me kick your ex-husbands’ no-good cheating butts.” Olivia’s gray eyes held a blood-thirsty glint.

Tammy laughed and shook her head as she scooped ice into the blender. Her quiet, conservative little sister had a whole other side. Especially now that Olivia was nine weeks pregnant. With her wildly fluctuating hormones, Olivia could shift from butt-kicking mad to uncontrollably weepy in sixty seconds.

“I appreciate the sentiment and I’ve thought about doing it myself a few times, but they’re not worth it. Men are all pretty much the same when you come right down to it. They’re made that way. Which means they’ll take good sex any way they can get it. Even mediocre sex. Hey, just make that readily available sex.”