Sweet Deception. Rochelle Alers

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      “What about you, Brina? What do you want for yourself?” Myles asked.

      Zabrina said the first thing that came to mind. “Sex.”

      Myles lowered his head, unable to believe what he’d just heard. “You’re kidding, aren’t you?”

      “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

      Surprised by her admission, Myles stared at her in disbelief.

      “Why are you looking at me like that? Would it be less shocking if the roles were reversed, and you were the one saying that you wanted to have sex with me?”

      “Is that what you want from me?” he asked, recovering his composure.

      “Sure, but only if you’re up for it,” she countered with a smile. “It would just be for the summer.”

      ROCHELLE ALERS

      has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today’s most popular African-American authors of women’s fiction. With nearly two million copies of her novels in print, Ms. Alers is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gold Pen Award, the Emma Award, the Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. A native New Yorker, Ms. Alers currently lives on Long Island. Visit her Web site at: www.rochellealers.com.

      Sweet Deception

      Rochelle Alers

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

      —Matthew 5:5

      Dear Reader,

      How many times have you wished for a second chance with someone you loved then lost?

      Zabrina Cooper’s wish is granted when she reunites with Myles Eaton at his sister’s wedding. But will the secrets she has coveted for more than a decade bring them closer—or destroy a future that promises forever?

      In the second installment of the Eaton family miniseries, I continue the theme of second-chance love. However, unlike Belinda and Griffin Rice, Myles only has the summer to uncover why—just two weeks before the wedding!—Zabrina ended their engagement to marry an influential Philadelphia politician. As you read Sweet Deception, please keep in mind what Zabrina has had to sacrifice in order to protect her family.

      Look for Chandra Eaton’s Sweet Dreams early 2010 when the former peace corps teacher misplaces journals filled with her erotic dreams.

      Visit my Web site at www.rochellealers.com.

      Rochelle

      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 1

      The buzz of the intercom echoed throughout the spacious co-op. “I’ll get it,” Myles Eaton announced loudly from the bedroom. Pressing the button on the intercom, he spoke into the speaker. “Yes?”

      “Mr. Eaton, there’s a take-out delivery in the lobby for you.”

      “Please send it up.”

      Zabrina Mixon stepped inside the apartment from the terrace, closing the sliding-glass door behind her. She liked seeing her fiancé dressed casually in T-shirts, shorts and sandals rather than a business suit. Suits always made him appear staid, standoffish. Her gaze lingered on his muscular calves before moving up to his broad chest and finally his ruggedly handsome face. His face was symmetrical with a dark brown complexion, deep-set eyes and a lean, angular jaw that became more pronounced whenever he smiled. His gorgeous smile drew attention to his perfectly aligned white teeth.

      She couldn’t remember when she hadn’t been in love with Myles Eaton. He’d taught her to ride a bike, and whenever she fell he’d brushed off the dirt from her scraped knees and elbows, then helped her to get back on. Her infatuation began in childhood when Myles became her prince.

      “I’ve finished setting the table,” said Zabrina.

      Myles smiled at his fiancée. He hadn’t believed his luck when he’d finally opened his eyes to his sister’s best friend. He’d thought of her as a younger sister until her eighteenth birthday. It was the first time that he had kissed her. A few years before that she had kissed him before he left Philadelphia to attend Penn State. Her excuse was that she hadn’t wanted him to miss her.

      Zabrina kissing Myles had left him feeling unsettled, because at eighteen he was an adult—a sexually active adult, and he had not wanted to take advantage of a teenage girl. However, several years later, they both had changed. Zabrina left home to attend Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Tennessee while he was headed to Pittsburgh to enroll in Duquesne University School of Law.

      By the time she was in college, there was nothing prepubescent about Zabrina Mixon. She was no longer tall and gangly, her body had filled out with womanly curves and her voice had deepened to a low, sexy tone that never failed to send shivers up and down his body. The sound of her voice was only matched by the luminous hazel eyes that pulled him in and refused to let him go.

      Zabrina had a way of seducing him without saying a word. All she had to do was look at him and he forgot any woman he’d ever known. They reconnected whenever they returned home during semester breaks, but it wasn’t until she’d graduated from college that he’d proposed marriage and she’d accepted. They’d talked about having a June wedding, but the establishment where they wanted to have the reception was booked solid until October. They’d reserved the last Saturday in October, because neither wanted a winter wedding given the unpredictable weather.

      Myles winked at Zabrina. “Go back outside and relax, baby. The food is on its way up and I’ll bring everything out to the terrace.”

      She returned the wink, then retraced her steps. Settling into an oversize pillow on the terrace of Myles’s fourteenth-floor co-op, Zabrina waited for him to join her.

      After her twelve-hour shift at a busy Philadelphia municipal hospital, she’d checked her cell phone for messages earlier that day. There were two: one from her father to let her know he was having dinner with an up-and-coming local politician who wanted Isaac Mixon to run his campaign for reelection to the state assembly, and the second from Myles.

      After listening to Myles’s message asking her to meet him for dinner at his apartment, she’d gone home to shower and change her clothes, then walked the short distance from the condominium where she lived with her father to Myles’s high-rise. The doorman at the luxury building had greeted her by name. Within days of Myles slipping the diamond engagement ring onto her finger, he’d given her a key to his co-op and had officially notified the building management to grant her complete access.

      The sun slipped lower, taking with it the intense summer heat as a cool breeze swept over her face and body. Lighted votives that she’d positioned around the terrace flickered like fireflies with the encroaching darkness. Philadelphia had experienced the most brutal