Blind Date Disasters & Eat Your Heart Out Read online

  Two brand-new stories in every volume…twice a month!

  Duets Vol. #57

  Popular Jill Shalvis serves up a delightful duo—the disaster-prone Anderson twins and the sexy men they meet!—in a humorous special Double Duets! Rendezvous says this author is “fast, fanciful and funny. Get ready for laughs, passion and toe-curling romance.”

  Duets Vol. #58

  Two talented new writers make their Duets debut this month. Look for Candy Halliday’s playful romp about a bad boy who has a soft spot for his pooch—and the gorgeous dog owner next door! Then nurse-turned-writer Dianne Drake will tickle your funny bone and send temperatures rising with a fun story about a small-town medical practice.

  Be sure to pick up both Duets volumes today!

  Blind Date Disasters & Eat Your Heart Out

  Jill Shalvis

  “Cancel,” Tanner whispered in her ear.

  “Back off,” Cami said. “You’re making my knees weak.”

  “Really?” In an odd sort of male way, hearing that pleased Tanner greatly. “Just say you’ve come down with blind date-itis,” he persisted. “Tell him you break out in hives in restaurants, that you drool when you eat.”

  Her shoulders went back. “I never drool.”

  “Then say you made a mistake and you already have a date tonight—first come, first served.”

  She looked at him, her eyes dark. “But I don’t have another date.”

  He could drown in those eyes, if she wasn’t such a pain in the rear. “I could take you out,” he heard himself say.

  “But you don’t even like me that much.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Really? What do you like about me?”

  “I…” Tanner liked the way she looked wet out of the shower without a towel, but he sincerely doubted that was the correct answer.

  Table of Contents

  Blind Date Disasters: Jill Shalvis

  Eat Your Heart Out: Jill Shalvis

  Blind Date Disasters

  Jill Shalvis

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve never had quite so much fun torturing my characters as they navigate the tricky waters of love. Cami and Dimi, twins who are equally cursed in love, had decided to not even attempt it, but I managed to convince them otherwise. Cami, the more easygoing, whimsical twin, has a little problem with the word no. Which means she wears the proverbial doormat on her head that says “Oh please take advantage of me.” This is how she ends up going on one blind date disaster after another, only to discover love has been right beneath her nose all along.

  Love is a four-letter word in serious twin Dimi’s mind. After all, it has never given her anything but grief. As host and chef of a cooking show, she decides food can be her life. That is, until her new producer walks onto her set and turns everything upside down, including her heart.

  I hope you enjoy my special Double Duets.

  Happy Reading!

  Jill Shalvis

  P.S. You can write to me at P.O, Box 3945, Truckee, CA 96160. And keep an eye out for my upcoming Temptation Heat, Aftershock, in September 2001!

  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

  1

  THERE WAS NOTHING good to say about a Monday, especially a Monday morning, except maybe that the weekend was only five days away.

  Cami Anderson hated Mondays with the same passion she loved Saturdays, so when the obnoxiously loud alarm clock on her nightstand went off for the third time, she nudged it gently.

  Well, not so gently, since it flew right over the edge and crashed to the floor. But at least it went silent.

  Sighing, she pressed farther into her soft, warm, comfy bed and tried to ignore the zealous morning sun spearing her in the face. She managed it, too, for one lovely moment, during which time she floated pleasantly in dreamland, which was filled with fattening food and gorgeous men. All the harsh realities of life, such as balancing her un-balanceable checkbook and pleasing her unpleasable mother, vanished.

  But then something plopped on her head and she was suffocating, blinded, held down and…choking on fur.

  “Annabel!” Shoving free, Cami sat up, spitting out cat hair. “Yuck!”

  Finding herself unceremoniously dumped to the floor, the tabby sniffed. Her tail whipped the air, and after a moment’s reflection she leaped onto the bed.

  “Meow.” She butted her head against Cami’s cheek.

  “No, it’s not time for food yet.” Thinking she could catch a few more precious moments, Cami flipped over and buried her head beneath her pillow.

  Mornings should be illegal. They needed a new law—the day should begin at a more godly hour. Say noon.

  Never going to catch a man lying in bed all day, her mother always told her. Well, Cami was fairly certain one could catch a man doing exactly that—if a woman was any good at it, which apparently, given her marital status and lack of a single prospective date in the near future, Cami was not.

  Annabel settled on her tush this time, fortunately a padded area, as she used her paws, claws extended, to knead the spot before settling.

  “Ouch!”

  “Mew.”

  “Later,” Cami muttered, deliciously close to catching a few more Zs. She was past the checkbook, past her mother tsking, past everything and picturing herself on a beach.

  A tropical beach.

  A faraway tropical beach with really cute guys on it. Yeah, there was a picture. Bronzed and gloriously built. Naked, too, their hands filled with suntan oil, which they rubbed over her body and—

  The doorbell rang, ruining that fantasy.

  Cami groaned and tried to pretend she hadn’t heard it. Doorbells should be illegal, too, she decided. Maybe she’d change her plans and become a politician, just so she could make some new laws.

  “Naked guys,” she murmured, hoping to coax her terrific dream back. “With lots of suntan oil—”

  The doorbell rang again.

  “Mew.”

  Darn it! “Yeah, yeah. I heard it.” She couldn’t be faulted for not being a morning person. It was a personality flaw and therefore beyond her control.

  “Coming,” she called weakly, staggering naked out of the bed, naked because, no big surprise, she’d once again neglected her laundry.

  Who would be calling on her this early— Oh, boy. It was almost…she had to blink at the clock for a moment to be sure. Eleven? She shot a guilty look at Annabel, whose green, unblinking eyes stared right back, clearly vindicated.

  “Okay, maybe it’s time for food,” she said, relenting.

  “Mew.” Duh.

  Cami’s head pounded. Her stomach quivered nervously. Strange, since she was usually healthy as an ox. “Thanks, Dimi,” she muttered, cursing her evil twin sister, who thankfully no longer lived with her. It had been Dimi who encouraged Cami to drink the two little itsy bitsy glasses of champagne in celebration, when Cami was a known lightweight who rarely drank at all. “Come on, Cami, it won’t hurt you,” Cami said, perfectly mimicking her sister.

  The doorbell shrieked again, and she grated her teeth as the sound reverberated through her head, jangling her brain and hurting her teeth. “Coming!” Tugging her blanket around her, nearly tripping over Annabel in the process, she reached for the door, prepared to blast the visitor to bits.

  Assuming it was Dimi. But then again, it was always Dimi, because other than her twenty-