Flirtation

Flirtation
Samantha Hunter

EJ Beaumont is one big flirt. Not exactly the best trait for a cop, but it's an asset on his current undercover investigation for the HotWires team. He's flirting big-time with sexy online psychic Charlotte Gerard, who's reportedly running a lonely hearts scam. He is going to nail her cute butt but good!Charlotte can sense there's something special about her newest client, Ethan Jared. All the cards point to the fact they will be passionate lovers–soon. But it's the hints of danger troubling her most. And when she's forced to run to him for protection, can she really trust him with her heart and her life?

Charlotte woke with a start

She wasn’t sure where she was, but it smelled nice. And it was warm. And solid. Sexy, almost. She snuggled in closer, feeling safe and—Wait.

She sat up sharply in the bed, looking around the strange room. Glancing down, she saw the source of the warm comfort she’d awakened to. EJ.

Her hand flew to her chest—only to find it stalled halfway. He’d cuffed her, the other link attached to his wrist. She knew without feeling that she was naked beneath the covers—her silky dress was long gone.

“Are you okay?” EJ murmured.

“I’m naked.” The bald statement escaped before she could think. “And I’m in handcuffs.”

“I didn’t want to take any chances you’d run off again.”

She looked at him, his eyes sleepy but filled with concern for her. He held out his hand and she took it, the metal of the cuffs clinking together.

“C’mere, darling. Let me hold you for a while.”

Her heart beat faster, and she kept the blanket hitched up as she scooted closer to him. Images of making love flashed in front of her eyes. It felt like a dream, but her body was dampening in response to the memory and his nearness….

Dear Reader,

It’s both exciting and a little sad to have finished writing Flirtation, the third and final book in my HOTWIRES miniseries. But writing EJ and Charlotte’s story was such a pleasure and so much fun that I didn’t have much time to be sad, really.

I was intrigued with EJ from the moment he appeared on the page for the first time in book one, Fascination. I hope I did him justice now, having finally found him the perfect—although the most unlikely—woman, who’ll make him retire his wild ways!

I hope you enjoy this final book of the miniseries. This book, like Fascination and Friction, is also set on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay; as such, a percentage of the sales from this series will be donated to conservation projects in that area. Please stop by my Web site at www.samanthahunter.com to share your comments and see what’s new.

Enjoy,

Samantha Hunter

Flirtation

Samantha Hunter

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

To Lori Borill, who helped me get many of the details right, and who will be a Harlequin Blaze babe one of these days herself. Soon, I hope.

To my sister Harlequin writers at ThePlotThickens—you guys keep me sane. Well, you try. To all the readers who send kind and enthusiastic comments, thank you! And to my friends at eHarlequin.com and ADWOFF.com (hi Ani! Euri! Nonnie! Teresa!

And…everyone I don’t have room to list!) This one’s for you!

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

Epilogue

1

EJ SLOWLY LIFTED from his sex-induced slumber, feeling a soft hand curl around his morning erection, stroking him into further wakefulness. He groaned and stretched, not opening his eyes, but moving into the hand that held him, fueling the caress. Finally, he spoke, his voice hoarse and good-humored.

“I’m dead, Jo. You did me in last night.”

“You don’t feel dead to me.”

There was an unmistakable smile in her voice, and a clear promise of more sensual adventures. But he really was exhausted.

He’d met Jo a little less than twenty-four hours ago; she’d been the instructor for his sky-jumping lesson the day before. He’d never parachuted before, but he’d decided to do something special for his thirty-fifth birthday. So first he’d jumped out of the plane. Then, exhilarated by the adrenaline rush and ready to go out and celebrate, he’d ended up jumping Jo, as well. Or maybe she’d jumped him. The end result was the same.

He’d had to put the family celebration off until the weekend, which hadn’t pleased his mother one bit. But all in all, it had been a good birthday, he thought with a grin, feeling the pleasure of Jo’s practiced touch course through him.

“That feels wonderful, darlin’, but I have to get to work.”

“Won’t take long, darlin’,” Jo laughed. She loved making fun of his Southern accent, and he didn’t mind one bit. He was the product of four generations of Virginian tradition and she was pure Connecticut Yankee. But when a woman was as warm and passionate in bed as Jo was, he could care less about geographical differences.

EJ loved all kinds of women. As evidence of the fact, he’d dated as many as time and opportunity allowed in the past few years, since he’d ended his romance with his childhood friend, Millie Stewart. EJ had broken their engagement, left his job with the family shipbuilding business, and basically thrown the seriousness and responsibility of his old life to the wind. He loved his freedom, he loved his job and he loved women. Life was good.

EJ sometimes wondered what had driven him to want to get married and have kids in the first place. Well, he knew the answer to that: family pressure. Being Ethan Jared Beaumont the Fourth came with a set of expectations, especially after his father had died unexpectedly of a heart attack five years ago.