Open Invitation?

Open Invitation?
Karen Kendall

When cowboy Dan Granger hires etiquette diva Lilia London for a crash course in manners, she has no idea what she's getting into. His twang and his rough manners are foreign to the well-bred Lilia. Still, she's determined to polish him.Her task would be much easier if Dan wasn't so mouthwatering–the six-pack riding above his belt alone is enough to make her mix up her forks. And when he offers to teach her his own theory of sexual etiquette–Uncivilization 101–how can she resist?But is a sensual trip into hedonism enough to counteract a lifetime of proper behavior? As Lilia's professionalism reasserts itself, she realizes she has to let her sexy Texan go…unless she can convince herself to do an advanced degree in Uncivilization.

She wanted to lick him

And Lilia had never licked anyone in her life. She was quite sure that licking people was not good manners in any country. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to crawl all over Dan.

“I have to get my keys,” she said, turning away from him. You don’t like cowboys. You like your men supersonically civilized. Why do you have the hots for a man who rides horses? she told herself.

She didn’t know. She couldn’t explain it.

Lilia walked to her front door with the full knowledge that Dan’s eyes were fixed on her backside. Heat bloomed over her skin. Giving in to wicked temptation, she dropped her keys, then bent to pick them up, knowing that her skirt would pull tight as she did so.

She inserted the key into the lock and watched him, reflected in the glass of the door. He actually made a fist and stuck it in his mouth. She was pretty sure that was the man-sign for “hubba hubba” or something like that.

Lilia smiled and wondered what was the most proper, mannerly way to seduce someone.

Dear Reader,

If you love opposites-attract stories, then Open Invitation? is the novel for you! The third book in my THE MAN-HANDLERS trilogy for Harlequin Blaze, it features Lil, a Connecticut etiquette consultant who learns a few steamy lessons from Dan, her west Texas cowboy client. Lil’s got a lesson to learn: that an apparently “rude” cowboy is really the supreme gentleman.

Dan reminds me a little of my own husband, who could burp the alphabet when I first met him, and actually proposed to me in the bathroom while I was washing my face.

ME: (chip clip on head to hold hair back, soap lather on face) You cannot propose to me in the bathroom!

HIM: What, like there’s a rule about this?

ME: Well, if there isn’t a rule, there should be one!

HIM: Look, will you marry me or not?

But hubby is really Prince Charming—just undercover. I hope you enjoy Dan and Lil’s story as much as I did writing it. Come see me at www.KarenKendall.com, or you can write to me care of Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

Happy reading,

Karen Kendall

Open Invitation?

Karen Kendall

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

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

1

LILIA LONDON, Connecticut etiquette consultant, grimaced as her bra strap fell off her shoulder and down her arm. She shoved it back up—for the third time—and ignored the throbbing of her left big toe, which ached to escape the sling-back she wore.

An etiquette consultant couldn’t run around in just her panty hose, and she shouldn’t be flashing her lingerie in public, either. Too bad, because the bra was really pretty. Someone besides her should see it….

Lil banished the thought, straightened her posture and edged closer to the eighteenth-century mahogany card table she used as a desk. She peered at her computer.

“In Chinese tradition,” she wrote, “the last half of the seventh lunar month is viewed as unlucky for weddings. During this time, the Hungry Ghost Festival is held. It is thought that the gates of Hell are opened, freeing lost spirits to wander the earth. No couple wishes them invited to their nuptials!”

She finished typing the last line of a report on Chinese wedding customs for a client and hit the save button on her computer just as the phone rang.