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  He brushed his hands down over her arms left bare by her white tank top. She shivered, her nipples instantly growing hard, the apex of her thighs growing hot and wet. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded.

  Alex gripped her chin in his strong fingers. “Was that a yes?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, laughter bubbling up from her chest. “That was definitely a yes.”

  Epilogue

  Three months later…

  THERE WAS SOMETHING about these hoity-toity parties that made Alex itch. He liked to think it was because of the tremendous waste of resources spent on one night’s event. Or even because of the stiffness of the rented tuxedo he wore. But he knew it was more likely because it reminded him of the first time he’d surprised Holly in a guest room just like the one he now stood in.

  Or it could be because he’d followed his wife here.

  His wife.

  Would he ever get used to calling Holly that? It had taken him long enough to stop calling her Nicole.

  Oh, she was definitely not a wife in all the traditional ways one thought of as a wife. There were no children on the horizon. Holly refused to even discuss the topic, she said, until they’d been together for at least five years. Dinner more often than not was a couple of fried eggs and bacon, while breakfast consisted of coffee and maybe a Danish or bagel if either of them felt like running out to get one.

  Ah, but the sex…

  He heard his buddies make cracks about sex disappearing almost as soon as the “I do’s” were exchanged. Not in his case. Definitely not in his case. The drugstore down the street was having a hard time keeping up with their demand for rubbers. And he was already considering investing in a stronger bed.

  He cracked open the door a little farther and looked out on the Polansky’s upstairs hallway. The door to the master bedroom was still closed. A good sign. He glanced at his watch. Then again, maybe not. He didn’t feel like waiting around all night to see if his wife planned to make off with Mrs. Polansky’s Tiffany jewelry.

  He silently cursed. Holly probably wouldn’t be very happy to see him here. Hell, he wasn’t sure being there was a good idea, either. But for the past three months she’d seemed content to hang around decorating his loft following their simple wedding in his parents’ backyard on his parents’ thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. He’d been half afraid she’d change all the black to white like her cottage. Instead she’d shocked the hell out of him by inviting his mother and Athena to help her and the place looked…well, it looked more like a home than it ever had before.

  Then, tonight, Holly had gotten up after a dinner of boxed macaroni and cheese, kissed him on the cheek and told him she’d see him later. After sitting for five full minutes in shock, he’d secretly followed her. First to a bus station where she’d taken a bag out of a locker. Then to the ladies’ room where she’d gone in looking like Holly and come out looking like the blonde he’d surprised in Baltimore. In fact, he thought it was the exact same getup. Then he’d followed her on a train all the way out to Westchester to the house he was in now.

  Movement in the hall. He leaned closer to the door and watched as a woman decked out in purple velvet looked around then picked the lock on the master bedroom and ducked inside.

  “Roddy, why don’t you tell our contestant here what he’s won?”

  Alex grinned at the sound of Holly’s voice behind him.

  She slid her arms around him and her hands immediately dove south. He caught her marauding fingers in his.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  She caught his earlobe between her teeth then released it. “I think that should be my question.” She stroked him through his trousers despite his restraining grip. “What’s the matter, dear husband of mine? Don’t trust me?”

  The words caused a moment of panic to shoot up his spine. Her belief that he could never trust her had been what had chased her away once. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her wrists. He never, ever wanted that to happen again.

  “I missed you,” he whispered.

  She laughed again. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m not here to steal anyone’s jewels,” she said, grabbing his. “I’m here to stop them from being stolen.”

  Alex swallowed thickly, his erection throbbing almost painfully. “Come again?”

  “You heard me right. My brother Jeremy’s working part-time for an old friend of ours, Bruno Demasi. He operates a security firm.” She shrugged, jiggling her breasts against his back. “The baby’s sick so I’m filling in for Jeremy for the night to keep an eye out at tonight’s little soirée.” She made a soft sound. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d follow me. Hmm…who knows? Maybe this job will lead into something full-time.”

  Alex groaned then switched positions so that he had her pinned face-first against the wall. She made a soft sound of approval and ground her bottom against his arousal even as he hiked her dress up to find, once again, she wasn’t wearing any panties.

  He hungrily kissed the back of her neck. “Tell me, how is it that I want you more and more each time I see you?”

  She caught his fingers where they rested against her soft, freshly shaven mound then guided them through her slick flesh. “Mmm…maybe because you love this?”

  He caught her chin in his free hand and turned her head so he could kiss her. “No. I think it’s because I love you.”

  Unlike the first time they’d done this in Baltimore, Alex had no plans to pull back. They were married. Husband and wife. Certainly they were entitled to…certain privileges.

  He unzipped his fly and sheathed himself with a condom she provided.

  “I’m afraid you’re not doing your job very well,” he whispered into her ear then absorbed her shiver. “Someone is stealing the host’s jewels even as we, um, speak.”

  “No, she’s not.” She smiled, dipped her fingers into her cleavage, then pulled out a diamond necklace. “Because I already have them.”

  Alex thrust into her to the hilt, wondering how a bad girl could be so very, very good. And thanked the powers that be that she had ever agreed to do anything as conventional as become his wife….

  Thanks, guys, for letting us in on

  how good it is to be so very, very bad!

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6138-3

  RED-HOT & RECKLESS

  Copyright © 2003 by Lori & Tony Karayianni.

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