Hot Contact. Susan Crosby

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      “If We’re Going To Work Together, We Need To Forget Tonight Ever Happened.”

      “Why’s that?” Joe asked.

      “Isn’t it obvious?”

      “Apparently only to you, Arianna. The way I see it, we reached out to each other. We kissed. We made love. It felt good. It felt great. Didn’t it feel great?”

      “Yes, but—”

      “No buts. We needed each other. We met those needs. We’re adults.” Joe was silent for several seconds, then finally said, “You can try to ignore it all you want. I choose not to.”

      “Meaning what?”

      “I’m not going to ignore it. Or forget it. It meant something to me. Didn’t it mean anything to you?”

      How was she supposed to answer that? Damn him.

      Dear Reader,

      Welcome to another passion-filled month at Silhouette Desire—where we guarantee powerful and provocative love stories you are sure to enjoy. We continue our fabulous DYNASTIES: THE DANFORTHS series with Kristi Gold’s Challenged by the Sheikh—her intensely ardent hero will put your senses on overload. More hot heroes are on the horizon when USA TODAY bestselling author Ann Major returns to Silhouette Desire with the dramatic story of The Bride Tamer.

      Ever wonder what it would be like to be a man’s mistress—even just for pretend? Well, the heroine of Katherine Garbera’s Mistress Minded finds herself just in that predicament when she agrees to help out her sexy-as-sin boss in the next KING OF HEARTS title. Jennifer Greene brings us the second story in THE SCENT OF LAVENDER, her compelling series about the Campbell sisters, with Wild In the Moonlight—and this is one hero to go wild for! If it’s a heartbreaker you’re looking for, look no farther than Hold Me Tight by Cait London as she continues her HEARTBREAKERS miniseries with this tale of one sexy male specimen on the loose. And looking for a little Hot Contact himself is the hero of Susan Crosby’s latest book in her BEHIND CLOSED DOORS series; this sinfully seductive police investigator always gets his woman! Thank goodness.

      And thank you for coming back to Silhouette Desire every month. Be sure to join us next month for New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson’s Best-Kept Lies, the highly anticipated conclusion to her wildly popular series THE MCCAFFERTYS.

      Keep on reading!

      Melissa Jeglinski

       Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

      Hot Contact

      Susan Crosby

      SUSAN CROSBY

      believes in the value of setting goals, but also in the magic of making wishes. A longtime reader of romance novels, Susan earned a B.A. in English while raising her sons. She lives in the central valley of California, the land of wine grapes, asparagus and almonds. Her checkered past includes jobs as a synchronized swimming instructor, personnel interviewer at a toy factory and trucking company manager, but her current occupation as a writer is her all-time favorite.

      Susan enjoys writing about people who take a chance on love, sometimes against all odds. She loves warm, strong heroes; good-hearted, self-reliant heroines…and happy endings.

      Readers are welcome to write to her at P.O. Box 1836, Lodi, CA 95241.

      For Jerry, who patiently answers my questions and

       makes me look smart!

      And for Jack—because.

      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 Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      One

      Joe Vicente strode into his office and stumbled over a body pierced with half a dozen daggers. He studied the giant of a man sprawled on the floor, then he did what any veteran homicide detective would do—he laughed. Small Corn Flakes boxes were stuck to the man’s chest, knife handles protruding from each box. Unnatural red blood dripped from the points of entry.

      “You get it?” the body asked.

      Joe got it. “Cereal killer. Good one, Reggie.” He walked backward toward his desk. “You going trick-or-treating on your way home?”

      “Nah. I’m meeting the wife at the Blue Zoo for a Halloween party. Wanna come?”

      “No, thanks. If I’m not there to pass out candy to the little monsters, they egg the house.”

      Reggie straightened his costume as he stood. “I didn’t think kids did that anymore.”

      “They do in my neighborhood.” Joe turned around and bumped into a descendent of Al Capone, wearing a pin-striped suit, black shirt, white tie and Fedora. Tony Mendes, the newest detective assigned to the elite Robbery-Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department—and Joe’s partner.

      Joe grinned. He couldn’t remember a Halloween in his seven years in RHD when anyone had dressed up. But then the Blue Zoo, the local cop watering hole, had just changed ownership, expanded and was making an effort to draw a bigger crowd.

      Joe dropped his notebook onto his desk and spied Lieutenant Morgan heading his way.

      “Interview room two, Vicente,” he said to Joe. “Now.”

      The lieutenant’s tone of voice said Joe wasn’t being invited to a party.

      He avoided eye contact with the other detectives as he followed Morgan. In the interview room he sat in the chair across the table from the lieutenant, slouched a little and crossed his ankles. His stomach caught fire, but he didn’t reach for the antacid tablets he chewed like candy, not in front of the boss.

      Morgan leaned back, stone-faced. At six foot two, he was as tall as Joe but had ten years and thirty pounds on him. Morgan was a good supervisor. Fair. “Catch me up on the Leventhal case.”

      “Dead ends. One after another.”

      The lieutenant was quiet long enough to almost make Joe squirm. He knew the tactic, used the tactic. Shut up and the let other person bear the burden of the silence, forcing them to speak first.

      “I’ve cleared you for four weeks’ vacation,” Morgan said, his gaze steady.

      Shock rolled through Joe in tidal waves. He fought to maintain his equilibrium. Vacation, hell. He’d lost his cool too many times lately, but the last thing he needed was a vacation. Time on his hands? No way. “I know you’re not happy with my work—”

      Morgan frowned. “It’s got nothing to do with your work, Joe. You’re a damn good cop. But you are this close to being reassigned. This close.” A piece of paper might have fit between his thumb and index finger. “That’s about a day from now.”

      “I can’t go on vacation.”

      “You