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  Sizzle by Jennifer Crusie

  Business takes a backseat when successful ad executive Emily Tate meets Richard Parker. He’s an accountant who’s been sent to keep her in line and under budget in her ad campaign for a sensual new perfume called Sizzle. And if Emily’s not careful, she could well melt in Richard’s hands.

  Too Fast to Fall by Victoria Dahl

  For Jenny Stone, driving is her escape—from her past, her problems, her quiet life in Jackson Hole. But after Deputy Nate Hendricks stops her—again—for speeding, she could lose more than just her license. She could lose her heart. Nate seems to think that Jenny should replace her love for fast driving with something even more…heart pumping. And despite her need for speed, Jenny’s never been one for defying the law.

  Alone With You by Shannon Stacey

  When waitress Darcy Vaughan’s friend asks her to help out with the launch of a fledgling restaurant, she’s happy to oblige. Little does she know the owner is Jake Holland, the perfect guy who slipped through her fingers after their one night of passion. But for Darcy and Jake, one touch was just not enough.

  Praise for the authors of

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Jennifer Crusie

  “Crusie has a gift for concocting nutty scenarios and witty one-liners… Genuine laughs.”

  —People

  “Few popular writers handle light romantic comedy as deftly as Jennifer Crusie.”

  —Boston Globe on Bet Me

  “Crusie seems incapable of writing a boring page, or one that’s not aglow.”

  —Kirkus Reviews on What the Lady Wants

  USA TODAY Bestselling Author

  Victoria Dahl

  “This is one hot romance.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Good Girls Don’t

  “Sassy and smokingly sexy, Talk Me Down is one delicious joyride of a book.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Connie Brockway

  “[A] hands-down winner, a sensual story filled with memorable characters.”

  —Booklist on Start Me Up

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Shannon Stacey

  “Books like this are why I read romance.”

  —Smart Bitches, Trashy Books on Exclusively Yours

  “Shannon Stacey’s books deliver exactly what we need in contemporary romances…. I feel safe that every time I pick up a Stacey book I’m going to read something funny, sexy and loving.”

  —Jane Litte of Dear Author on All He Ever Needed

  “I’m madly in love with the Kowalskis!”

  —New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh

  JENNIFER CRUSIE

  Victoria Dahl & Shannon Stacey

  Table of Contents

  SIZZLE

  TOO FAST TO FALL

  ALONE WITH YOU

  SIZZLE

  For Mary Beth Pringle,

  who once told me that if I tried,

  I could write anything.

  So I did.

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER ONE

  “BUT, I DON’T WANT A partner,” Emily Tate said through her teeth. “I like working alone.” She clenched her fists to pound them on the desk in front of her and then unclenched them and smoothed down the jacket of her business suit, instead. “I don’t need a partner, George.”

  Her boss looked exasperated, and she automatically put her hand to her hair to make sure every strand was in place, that no dark curls had escaped from her tight French twist. Be cool, calm and detached, she told herself. I want to kill him for this.

  “Look, Em.” George tossed a folder across the table to her. “Those are the cost estimates from your Paradise project and the final costs after you brought the project in.”

  Emily winced and clasped her hands in front of her. “I know. I went way over. But we still showed a mammoth profit. In fact, Paradise was the biggest money-maker Evadne Inc. has ever had. The bottom line, George, is that we made money for the company.” I made money for the company, she thought, but I can’t say that. Be modest and cooperative, Emily.

  “Yeah, we did.” George Bartlett leaned back in his chair, looking up at her.

  I hate it when he does that, Emily thought. He’s short, fat and balding, and he doesn’t have a quarter of my brains, but he’s the one leaning back in the chair while I stand at attention. I want to be the one leaning back in the chair. Except I wouldn’t. It would be rude. She sighed.

  “Listen to me, Emily,” George said. “You almost lost your job over this last project.”

  “You got a promotion because of this last project,” Emily said.

  “Yeah, because of the profit. If it hadn’t made a profit, we’d have both been canned. Henry wasn’t happy.”

  Henry Evadne was never happy, Emily thought. It didn’t have anything to do with her.

  George leaned forward. “I don’t want to lose you, Emily. You’re smart, and you have a sixth sense about marketing that I’d kill to have. But you screw up the financial side on this next deal, and no profit is going to save you, no matter how big.”

  Emily swallowed. “I’ll bring it in under budget.”

  “You’re damn right you will, because you’ll be working with Richard Parker.”

  “Who is Richard Parker?”

  “He’s a whiz kid from the Coast,” George said. “He did an analysis of the Paradise project. It’s in the folder, too. You ought to read it. He wasn’t too complimentary.”

  “George, how much have we made on Paradise?” Emily demanded.

  George looked smug. “Close to four million as of last month.”

  “Then why am I getting whiz kids from the Coast and nasty reviews in my project folders? Where’s the champagne?”

  George shook his head. “You could have flopped.”

  “I never flop.”

  “Well, someday you will,” George said philosophically. “And when you do, you better flop under budget. Which is exactly what Richard Parker is here to guarantee. You’re meeting him at eleven in his office.”

  “His office?”

  “Next floor up,” George said with a grin. “Two doors from the president. Nice view from up there, I’m told.”

  “Why not my office?”

  “Emily, please.”

  “Is he in charge of this project? Because if so, I quit.”

  “No, no.” George waved his hands at her. “Just the financial end. And you’re not the only one he’s working with. He’s financial adviser for all our projects. It’s still your baby, Em. He just watches the spending.” He looked at her closely. She’d made her face a blank, but she knew the anger was still in her eyes. “Emily, please cooperate.”

  “His office at eleven,” she said, clamping down on her rage.

  “That’s it,” George said, relieved.

  * * *

  EMILY SLAMMED HER OFFICE door and slumped into her rolling desk chair. Jane, her secretary, followed her in more sedately and sat in the chair across from her. She broke a frozen almond Hershey bar in half and tossed the larger piece to her boss.

  “I keep this in the coffee-room freezer for emergencies,” she said. “And I’ve given you the biggest half. Greater love hath no friend.”

  “How do you keep people from stealing it?” Emily asked, pulling off the foil.

  “They know I work for you,” Jane said. “They know I could send you after them.”

  “No, really, how do you do it?”

  “I keep it in a freezer container marked ‘Asparagus,’” Jane said, sucking on the chocolate.