Sex, Lies and Mistletoe. Tawny Weber
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“You’re not the kind of guy who’d sleep with a girl like me.”
Caleb couldn’t deny the truth. He didn’t fool around with good girls, regardless of how well they cooked. “What’s your point?”
Pandora’s delicate fingers skipped down the row of pearly buttons, unfastening her dress as they went. Caleb had faced strung-out drug dealers shoving guns in his gut and kept his cool. But the minute that dress cleared her belly button, he swore the room did a slow spin.
Damn, she was incredible.
She walked toward him, the black dress hanging loose from her shoulders. When she reached him, Caleb’s hand automatically gripped her hips. She smiled, then leaned even closer so her body pressed tight against his. She reached between them and slid her palm over the hard length of his sex, making his erection jump desperately against the constraining fabric of his slacks.
He groaned in delight.
“And that’s the proof that the aphrodisiacs work,” Pandora told him just before she pressed her mouth to his.
Dear Reader,
Do you believe in aphrodisiacs? I love the idea that something delicious can have a little extra punch (especially during the holidays, when there are so many yummy things around!) And when I had two reluctant characters, who needed a nudge in the right direction, what else could I do but offer them something irresistible to push them over the sensual edge? In this case, that something included chocolate.
Sex, Lies and Mistletoe features two very special guests, too—Paulie and Bonnie, cats who live at the Furry Friends Animal Shelter. Find out about them and all the other Blaze® Authors Pet Project pets, on the Blaze® Authors blog—http://blazeauthors.com. Please, come by and say hi!
And if you’re on the web, be sure to drop by my website at www.TawnyWeber.com. While you’re there, check out my members-only section with its special contests, excerpts and other fun.
Happy reading!
Tawny Weber
About the Auther
TAWNY WEBER is usually found dreaming up stories in her California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids. When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories for Blaze®, she’s shopping for the perfect pair of shoes or drooling over Johnny Depp pictures (when her husband isn’t looking, of course). Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TawnyWeber. RomanceAuthor
Sex, Lies And Mistletoe
Tawny Weber
To all the wonderful people who read my books.
You bring untold joy to my life. Thank you!
Prologue
“I’VE MADE THE ARRANGEMENTS. Everything is in place.”
As the assurance echoed through his speakerphone, Tobias Black leaned back in his Barcalounger, shifted an unlit cigar between his teeth and grinned.
“That was fast. I didn’t think you’d pull it off.”
A lie, of course.
He’d known once the challenge was issued, it’d be impossible to resist. Just as he’d known that the person he’d challenged had the power to make it happen. Tobias Black only worked with the best. Even when the best’s main goal in life had once been to arrest him.
Tobias looked at the pictures framed and fading on his study wall. A gap-toothed trio of schoolkids with wicked looks in their golden eyes and hair as black as night.
Damn, he missed them. All three had turned their backs on him eight years ago. Caleb because he rejected what his father stood for. Maya out of disappointment. And Gabriel? Tobias gave the photo of his middle child, his youngest son, a worried frown. Gabriel in fury, determined to prove that he was twice as good and twice as clever as his old man.
They’d all felt justified in leaving.
And Tobias felt justified in bringing them back. A man spent his life building a legacy, he needed his children to hand it down to.
“You’re sure you can handle your part?”
Tobias laughed so hard the cigar fell from his lips. Him? Handle a part? That was like asking if the sun was gonna rise in the morning.
“I’ll play my part like Stevie Ray Vaughan played guitar.”
Silence. Tobias rolled his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t so farfetched to ask if he could handle the part if he could so easily forget who he was talking to. “Let me rephrase that. I’ll play my part like Babe Ruth hit the ball.”
“If you’re not careful, cockiness could be your downfall.”
Tobias almost brushed that away like an irritating bug. Then he sighed. Only a stupid man ignored a fair warning.
“There’s a fine line between confidence and cockiness. I’ll watch my step.” He glanced at his eldest son’s photo. “Caleb will take the bait. He won’t want to come home, but he will. Loyalty is practically his middle name.”
“You think he’s loyal to you after all these years?”
“To me? Absolutely not.” And that hurt like hell, but it was the price Tobias paid for ignoring his kids to feed his own ego. “But he’s loyal to Black Oak.”
Tobias was gambling everything on Caleb caring about Black Oak. A small town in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Black Oak was in many ways the same as when it’d been founded a hundred years ago. A quaint and friendly community.
And now it had a drug problem. Tobias might have no problem skirting the law—or hell, laughing in its face—but he was a man who had zero tolerance for drugs. Especially when those drugs were being dealt in a way that conveniently pointed the finger his way.
It would be smarter to let the locals deal with the drug problem. If the evidence kept pointing at Tobias, they could be more easily … influenced. Because the sad truth was, there were still a few outstanding crimes that Tobias could be arrested for, with the right evidence. And there were hints that whoever was pulling off this drug ring had access to the right evidence. So bringing the feds in was a huge risk.
Someone was framing him. And they had enough dirt to do the job well. And it looked as if they were planning it all here in Black Oak.
That little bit of info he wouldn’t share with the feebies.
Because he knew he had to offer up a big enough lure to get the FBI’s attention, but not so big that they’d insist on coming in and playing it their way.
He wanted control of this venture.
“This is a huge undertaking, Black. All indications are that the drugs moving into Black Oak are yours. And now you’re planning to play your family, who know you well enough to see the game. You’re talking about playing a townful of people, many of whom depend on you. And more important, you’re going to have to play the FBI, who, as a general rule, want nothing more than to arrest you.”
He wanted to point out that he’d played them all, quite successfully, many times before. But bragging was rude. More important, ego was the first nail in the coffin of a good con.
“And your point is?” he asked instead.
“My point is, you’re not as young as you once were. And you’ve been out of the game for a while.” There was a pause, then a