CCB Publishing British Columbia, Canada

      Working Romance

      Copyright ©2010 by Susan Kohler

      ISBN-13 978-1-926585-96-3

      First Edition

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Kohler, Susan, 1950-

      Working romance [electronic resource] / written by Susan Kohler – 1st ed.

      ISBN 978-1-926585-96-3

       Also available in print format.

      I. Title.

      PS3611.O47W67 2010a 813'.6 C2010-904655-2

      Original cover art design by Jinger Heaston: www.jingraphix.org

      The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

      Extreme care has been taken to ensure that all information presented in this book is accurate and up to date at the time of publishing. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Additionally, neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

       Dedication

      To my friend, Laurie Jo, who’s always been there for me.

      We’ve had some crazy times, haven’t we?

      Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

Chapter One

      Kate shifted uncomfortably on her beach blanket, very conscious of the tiny grains of sand clinging to her hot skin. To say that she was enjoying her first visit to a local nude beach would be debatable. Her feelings were decidedly mixed. She was a mature, sensuous woman with one exception: she was very shy about her body. Who said a modern woman couldn’t be modest?

      She did manage to shed all her clothes and lie down on a blanket, but she had not really shed all her inhibitions and relaxed. In spite of the embarrassment, maybe even because of it, Kate was acutely aware of several things that felt different to her about this particular day at the beach.

      For one thing, the sun seemed hotter, more intense on her bare skin than it ever had before, and for another, she was more keenly aware of the gritty grains of sand that were scattered on her large, faded blue beach blanket than she had ever been before. Her breasts and buttocks that normally would have been covered with a fairly modest one-piece swimsuit seemed to have developed extremely sensitive nerve endings. Her skin tingled. She was aware of feeling both embarrassed and sensual at the same time, and totally, vibrantly alive. It was a feeling that she had not felt in a very long time.

      She was there because her best friend, Laura Kelsey, had talked her into coming. Laura had an outlook on life that was loving, joyous and more than a little reckless. She embraced life fully, with a hint of abandon, whereas Kate held herself back, just a little bit more reserved and quite a bit more wary. That is, Kate was usually fairly cautious except when she was around Laura. Maybe, Kate thought with a silent laugh, this time Laura was right.

      Laura would have the nerve to walk into a lion’s den naked. She would also probably try to talk Kate into going in with her and usually she was persuasive enough to succeed.

      “You’ll love it! It feels wonderful, so free and natural. It’s hard to explain but I always feel less self-conscious at the nude beach than I do at the regular beach!” Laura had said. Her brown eyes were gleaming as she wiggled her eyebrows, grinned, and added, “Besides the scenery’s much better. Come on! It’s your last day of freedom before starting the new job and you really need an adventure. Trust me.”

      “Sure. Yeah. Really.” Kate deadpanned, teasing her friend, “Trust me. Now, let me think, where have I heard that before? Hmm, oh I remember, you’ve conned me with that line ever since we met. ‘Trust me’ should be your own personal motto. It should be tattooed on your behind.”

      “Who says it isn’t? And you’ve always loved being conned.” Laura reminded her, with a grin, “Especially into some of our more outrageous adventures. It makes it easier to blame me when we both get in trouble.”

      “Which we always seem to do.” Kate smiled at her reckless friend and thought about their friendship.

      Laura had been leading Kate into adventures since they met in high school. Their friendship, adventures and pranks both continued unabated right through college and up until they were both married. Their pranks were funny rather than destructive, never causing any damage. When they were caught in a prank, they usually managed to charm their way out of any consequences since the victim was usually laughing.

      Now, Laura was the assistant controller at a large electronics corporation in the area. She’d had the job for about six months. In the short time she’d worked there, she had become the right hand and good friend to her new boss. In fact, the more she got to know him, the more she thought he would be perfect for Kate.

      Kate had become subdued and withdrawn since she’d been widowed. It was only natural, Laura knew, but she couldn’t help thinking that her new