No Peeking...

805—SEEKING SINGLE MALE

964—COVER ME

For Chris, who still gets my heart pumping.

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

Epilogue

1

Six days until Christmas

“WHAT YOU NEED IS something warm and cuddly for Christmas.”

Violet Summerlin frowned into the cell phone she juggled on her shoulder, even though her friend Nan couldn’t see her. “I told you, I’m way too busy for a pet.” Then she looked down at the fluffy butterscotch-colored Pekingese she was walking in the park. “My own, anyway.”

Nan’s sigh sounded over the line. “I was talking about a man.”

“No time for one of those, either,” Violet quipped.

“You work way too hard. When are you going to start delegating things to your new assistant? Wasn’t that the idea of hiring her?”

Violet chewed on her lower lip. “I’m still feeling out Lillian. She’s nice, but her working style is different than mine.”

“You mean she isn’t anal retentive? Maybe this Lillian will help you to loosen up.”

“Christmas is one of my busiest times of the year. I can’t afford to loosen up right now.”

“Violet,” Nan said softly, “it might not be such a bad idea to slow down. Since you lost your grandparents…I don’t know. You seem wound even tighter than usual.”

“I miss them terribly,” Violet confessed. “Even with Mom and Dad back in town, sometimes I just feel so…lost.”

“I know, sweetie, but the hours that you work—it’s not healthy. You’re going to wake up one day and wish you’d indulged in a misspent youth.”

Violet stopped abruptly as the pooch came up short on the leash, wrinkling his little pug face. Winslow, the Pekingese, looked up at her and barked, a sharp noise that sounded like fabric ripping.

“Thanks for the advice, Nan, but I have to run. The dog won’t go if I’m on the phone.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No. He’s a spoiled little thing and has to have my undivided attention to…you know.”

“I would laugh except I know old lady Kingsbury is probably paying you a fortune to do her bidding.”

“I’m a personal concierge, Nan. I do whatever my clients need me to do.”

“Especially that yummy Dominick Burns.”

Nan’s favorite subject was Violet’s best customer, who also happened to be the most notorious playboy in Atlanta. She ignored the little spike in her own pulse—she’d harbored a secret crush on the man for almost a year. “Until I’m successful enough to pick and choose my clients, I guess I have to put up with all kinds of animals,” she said lightly.

“Yeah, but no one’s going to get that man on a leash.” Nan was panting harder than Winslow.

“Is that the best you can come up with today?” Violet asked, her voice deadpan.

“No wonder his last name is Burns. The man is positively flammable, a four-alarm fire, burn me up and hose me down—”

“Good grief, woman, go take a cold shower.” Violet disconnected the call, cutting off Nan’s laughter, then squatted down to face Winslow, nose to snout.

“Okay, I’m all yours. Now, will you please do your business?”

The dog emitted a chastising little bark and angled his head.