Lift Me Higher. Kim Shaw

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      Monte picked up one of the strawberries and held it out in front of him

      Torie looked up at him and opened her mouth to receive the fruit. Monte rubbed it along the outline of her lips before placing it in her awaiting mouth. Torie closed her lips around the berry, but did not bite down. Instead, she sucked it firmly and then released it. Monte’s mouth fell open as he stared at her.

      Torie stuck out her tongue and licked the fruit in a circular motion. She let her tongue dance around its tip and then its entire circumference, before closing her mouth over it again. This time she bit down and removed a large chunk of the ripe berry. She moved closer to Monte with juice dripping down from her bottom lip. He leaned in, catching her mouth in his. They kissed until the strawberry was gone. They disengaged from their fiery kiss and Torie placed both hands on Monte’s shoulders and pushed him backward until he was lying on his back. She swung her left leg over his body and straddled him. She sat down on his upper thighs and, though he tried to pull her up higher to make contact with his throbbing manhood, she wouldn’t budge.

      “Patience,” she said.

      KIM SHAW

      is a high school English teacher in New Jersey, where she resides with her husband and two children. In addition to writing and teaching, she is working on a literacy project aimed at improving reading and cultural awareness in her community.

      Lift Me Higher

      Kim Shaw

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

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      Lift Me Higher is dedicated to people who are more interested in what they can do to uplift others than in how they themselves can benefit.

       You know who you are.

      Dear Reader,

      I wrote Lift Me Higher because I wanted to look at a relationship from the male perspective. Too often attention is paid to the single mother and how difficult it is for her to balance family, career and passion. Lift Me Higher asks, “what about the single father?” Men are burdened with the expectation that they be strong and unsusceptible to heartache. Monte Lewis shows that a real man is one who can put it down on the job and at home, while still being human and vulnerable. He’s a man who knows that with a real woman by his side, there is nothing he can’t do. I hope you enjoy his story.

      Currently, I am working on several different things. There are so many interesting characters taking up space in my brain—like the sexy firefighter who likes his women as hot as his fires, until he gets burned, or the grocery clerk turned lottery winner who finds that true love doesn’t need a bunch of zeroes on the end! I continue to write to entertain, enlighten and inform, and I thank you for your continued readership.

      Sincerely,

      Kim Shaw

      Contents

      Chapter 1: Simply Stunning

      Chapter 2: You Can’t Have It All

      Chapter 3: Trapped

      Chapter 4: The Scent of Roses

      Chapter 5: Cards on the Table

      Chapter 6: Undress My Heart

      Chapter 7: A Father’s Love

      Chapter 8: In Too Deep

      Chapter 9: Hesitant Heart

      Chapter 10: Dear Mama

      Chapter 11: Lean on Me

      Chapter 12: Lights, Cameras…Action

      Chapter 13: Shadow of Doubt

      Chapter 14: Trouble in Paradise

      Chapter 15: Too Good to Be True

      Chapter 16: Confessions

      Chapter 17: Secrets

      Chapter 18: Pride Is a Poor Substitute

      Chapter 19: Home at the Holidays

      Chapter 20: Hello Hollywood

      Chapter 21: Missing You

      Chapter 22: On My Mind

      Chapter 23: Opposing Forces

      Chapter 24: A Friend Indeed

      Chapter 25: Moving On

      Chapter 26: At a Standstill

      Chapter 27: Ghosts of the Past

      Chapter 28: No Surrender

      Chapter 29: The Hard Choices

      Chapter 30: New Beginnings

      Chapter 31: Permission Granted

      Chapter 1

      Simply Stunning

      Monte scanned the day’s calendar on his PDA as he moved toward the elevator bank for floors twenty through thirty-one of midtown Manhattan’s Time Warner building. He adjusted his red tie and smoothed the lapels of his midnight-blue Brooks Brothers suit absently, thinking about all he had to do in the day ahead of him. The lobby area was just beginning to buzz with activity at seven forty-five on a Tuesday morning. Monte had an eight-thirty meeting and a string of conference calls to follow. It would be a busy day as usual, through which he would plow tirelessly, making deals come together seamlessly. No matter, he thought, because by five o’clock Monte would call it quits for the day. His boys had a Little League game that evening and, with him being their coach as well, it definitely wouldn’t do for him to be late.

      Monte opened the Daily News paper he’d tucked beneath his arm, turning to the sports section. The ding of the elevator as it landed on the lobby floor and its doors opening drew Monte’s attention. He stepped into the elevator, pressed the button marked twenty-seven and became engrossed in the paper again. Absorbed in the highlights of the Nets’ latest Cinderella victory, Monte didn’t look up as another passenger entered the elevator just before the doors closed. The car began its smooth ascent and Monte’s senses were suddenly assailed by the faint yet sweet scent of lilies. His eyes followed his nose and they led him to slender feet clad in six-inch stilettos, up stockingless, shapely brown calves to a stunning black skirt that stopped midthigh and hugged sinfully curvaceous hips.

      Monte swallowed as his eyes continued their journey, taking their sweet time. The torso of this magnificent vision was held securely by a black suit jacket and its top button stopped at a bustline that begged for attention. Above a pearl-necklace-adorned graceful neck was the face of an angel. Hazel eyes met Monte’s, and he was at once embarrassed at his voyeurism and enthralled by her beauty.

      Monte opened his mouth to speak, but before he could command control over his vocabulary, the elevator came to a halt and, with a chime, the doors opened. The alluring woman exited, without as much as another glance