Seduce Me Read online

  “Sam, what are you doing to me?”

  Hopefully driving him half as wild as he was driving her. With Jack standing so close, cupping her face with his big hands, avoiding a dance had become the last thing on her mind. “I should mention—” Sam sank her teeth into his earlobe, thrilling to the sound that dragged from him “—it’s been a little too long for me. I’m liking this way too much.”

  “Don’t tell me that.” His hand skimmed up her back, while the other rested on her hip. His thumb glided over her belly, then moved upward, stroking each rib as it climbed. He traced her last rib, then just barely touched the bottom curve of her breast.

  All the while his gaze held her, conveying hunger, passion, desire…more heady than the champagne she’d sipped. She let out a shuddery breath.

  Then his thumb made another sweep, not quite touching her nipple, and she had to concentrate on breathing.

  Sinking her fingers into his hair, she brought his mouth back to hers, and their moans mingled, becoming part of the crazy, wild kiss.

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve always wanted to be a surfer girl. I grew up in L.A. in the fun and sun, but alas, I was never coordinated enough to make it on a surfboard. So I created a heroine who was. Samantha O’Ryan—Sam to her friends—is one tough cookie. She’s had to be. Surfing in the mornings, running her little café in the afternoons, she thinks she has it all.

  Enter one Jack Knight, ex-basketball star and current rich bum. After a life in the limelight, all he wants is peace and quiet. But then these two are thrown together by one well-meaning nosy older sister, a fancy charity event complete with obnoxious paparazzi, and a dunking booth.

  Oh, and throw in a red-hot, undeniable attraction like nothing either Sam or Jack have ever experienced. Watch them both fall hard. Hope you do, too.

  Best wishes and happy reading,

  Jill Shalvis

  Books by Jill Shalvis

  HARLEQUIN TEMPTATION

  742—WHO’S THE BOSS?

  771—THE BACHELOR’S BED

  804—OUT OF THE BLUE

  822—CHANCE ENCOUNTER

  845—AFTERSHOCK

  861—A PRINCE OF A GUY

  878—HER PERFECT STRANGER

  885—FOR THE LOVE OF NICK

  910—ROUGHING IT WITH RYAN*

  914—TANGLING WITH TY*

  918—MESSING WITH MAC*

  938—LUKE

  962—BACK IN THE BEDROOM

  HARLEQUIN DUETS

  28—NEW AND…IMPROVED?

  42—KISS ME, KATIE!

  HUG ME, HOLLY!

  57—BLIND DATE DISASTERS

  EAT YOUR HEART OUT

  85—A ROYAL MESS

  HER KNIGHT TO REMEMBER

  HARLEQUIN BLAZE

  63—NAUGHTY BUT NICE

  132—BARED

  HARLEQUIN FLIPSIDE

  5—NATURAL BLOND INSTINCTS

  HARLEQUIN SINGLE TITLE

  THE STREET WHERE SHE LIVES

  Seduce Me

  JILL SHALVIS

  To my very own future basketball stars

  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

  Epilogue

  1

  SAMANTHA O’RYAN had been eyeing half-naked, wet, glistening men for hours under the guise of teaching them to surf. They’d offered to pay her but, truthfully, she’d gotten the most out of the deal. She just loved being in the water, on her board. After she finished giving the group of college kids pointers, she walked down the beach and up the stairs to let herself into her outdoor café, where she went to work on her second love—creating fun, exotic sandwiches.

  As she served her customers, she realized she had no plans after work, her favorite kind of evening. She could bodysurf by moonlight if she chose, or drive up Pacific Coast Highway as far as a tank of gas would take her…anything.

  That was the beauty of being unencumbered.

  Although she wouldn’t mind being temporarily encumbered—for a night, that is. It had been a long dry spell without a guy around.

  Her own fault.

  “You sold everything.” Lorissa Barrett, her best friend and part-time server at the Wild Cherries café, looked surprised as she surveyed the empty display cases at the cash register. “Well, except the brownies. You make terrible brownies.”

  “Hey, thanks.”

  But Lorissa was right. Everything but the brownies were gone, including the new turkey-with-mango-spread special. Sam could drum up inventive stuff like that with ease, bake the most mouthwatering cookies on the planet, but she failed at brownies every single time. She knew why; she just didn’t like to think about it.

  “Sorry.” Looking anything but, Lorissa leaned against the counter, her amusement slowly fading.

  “Uh-oh,” Sam said. “What is it?”

  “Nothing.”

  They had a long history and knew each other better than anyone else did. “If it’s nothing, then stop staring at me like you’re trying to get your nerve up for something.”

  “I’m not.”

  Sam shrugged and turned back to cleaning the countertop.

  Lorissa sighed. “Okay, I have this favor.”

  “Pass.” It was a hot one today, and Sam swiped at her forehead, then dusted off the display cases.

  “You can’t turn down a favor when you don’t even know what it is.” Lorissa tossed back her long, red, wildly curly hair and pushed out her full, highly glossed lower lip in a pout that was extremely effective on men, but not on Sam.

  “Sure I can. In fact, I just did.” Sam moved outside to the bright red plastic tables, wiping them down, lowering their red-and-white-striped umbrellas, all the while watching the sun slowly sink into the glorious Pacific Ocean. “When you ask for a favor in the same tone you might mention a funeral, I know better than to even hesitate.” Sam stretched out the muscles in her neck and back, and thought a midnight swim later tonight might be just the thing she needed, especially in lieu of a man.

  “You could at least let me tell you what the favor is.”

  “I do not want a blind date,” Sam said emphatically.

  Lorissa rolled her eyes. “The way you read my mind really creeps me out.”

  “It doesn’t take a psychic. You’ve got a hot new fling going with that rich Cole guy, and he keeps asking you to set up his friends with your friends.”

  “I’m sorry. This is what happens when you’re my bestest friend.”

  “Flattery will get you nowhere.” Sam shifted to the covered patio area and checked the tables there. All clean. “You know I’ve been quite patient through all the hideous blind dates you’ve set me up with over the years. I’m not interested in trying another.”

  “They haven’t all been hideous.”

  “I have two words for you—Toe Guy.”

  “Okay, that one can be explained. I forgot your weird foot fetish, and how was I supposed to know about his accident with the lawn mower?”

  “I don’t want a date tonight.”

  “Good. Because it’s for tomorrow night.”

  Sam walked back inside to the kitchen and looked around, cleaning up as she went. All she needed to do now was shut off the lights and she was done. She could head out…or simply go upstairs, where she had a nice little apartment. Little being the key word, of course, but she liked little, and the place was her own. She’d made it so. “I’m busy tomorrow night.”

  “Please, Sam. One date, that’s