Burning Up

Burning Up
Sarah Mayberry

Somebody get some ice. . . it's steamy in here!Spending a month as personal chef for an overindulged–and mouthwatering–man? Sophie Gallagher is so up for the challenge. She's immune to charm. . . or so she thinks. Because when big-screen star Lucas Grant turns up the temptation, she discovers–up close and personal–he's earned the name hottest man alive.Sophie is fun, vivacious and couldn't be further from Lucas's bimbo bombshell type. Much to his surprise, she's captivated him. But as sizzling as they are between the sheets, once his hiatus is over, the credits will roll on this fling. Saying goodbye, however, isn't as easy as he'd thought.Will this production be The End of the Affair. . . or Love Actually?

BURNING UP

Sarah Mayberry

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON

AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG

STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID

PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

First up, a big thanks to Melbourne chef

George Calombaris, the creator of the crazy,

inspired meal that Sophie cooks in this book.

I will never forget the first time I ate his food.

Also thanks to Chris, for holding my hand through

rewrite hell, and to Sammas for first-chapter

therapy via the Net. And, as always, thanks to

Wanda, for letting me have the freedom to fix

things. What would I do without 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

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

1

“COME ON IN, Lucas, the water’s fine.”

Lucas Grant took another slug of whiskey and squinted at the blonde bobbing in the hot tub at the end of his balcony. Until she’d spoken up, he hadn’t realized anyone had stayed behind when the last guests had stumbled out the door of his Sydney harborside mansion a few minutes earlier.

He’d forgotten this one’s name. Candy? Cindy? Something with a C, he was pretty sure. She was lying back in the water, arms spread wide on the rim behind her, her hair tousled, her eyes heavy-lidded.

A slow grin tugged at the corners of his mouth as he registered the trail of clothing she’d left on the way to the tub—a slinky little dress and the few scraps of Lycra and lace she’d obviously been wearing underneath.

Lucas moved toward her, tumbler held loosely in one hand.

“This is a surprise,” he said, even though it wasn’t.

Ever since he’d scored a role in a break-out movie back in his early twenties, his life had been full of moments like these. Blondes in hot tubs, brunettes waiting in his hotel room, redheads lingering outside the sound stage. Fame was the most powerful aphrodisiac known to mankind.

Or should that be womankind?

Whatever. The important thing was that despite the impressive quantity of alcohol he’d managed to guzzle this evening, his body was more than willing to take advantage of what was being so freely and generously offered.

As he stepped up onto the wood deck surrounding the tub, Candy-Cindy rose up out of the water, revealing her toned, tanned, cosmetically enhanced body to him in all its glory. He squelched the minor disappointment he felt at the realization that her generous twin endowments were man-made—did it really matter, at the end of the day?—and admired the way the water slicked down her slim, long-legged body.

“I hope you don’t mind…?” she asked, eyes wide. Tough to pull off the whole innocent Bambi routine when she was standing there naked and perky, but she gave it a shot anyway and he awarded her full points for trying.

His grin widened. “Baby, you are just what the doctor ordered,” he said.

Setting his glass on the tub surround, he pulled her close, one hand sliding down to cup a perfectly sculpted ass cheek, the other honing in on one of her twin assets. She closed her eyes as he moved in for a kiss, her lips opening beneath his with practiced ease. She tasted of wine, and her body was hot and firm against his. Moaning a little in the back of her throat, she slid a hand between their bodies and grabbed his hard-on through the denim of his jeans.