“A gentleman would get to know you patiently, intimately, before demanding anything of your body. Tonight, I’m not going to be a gentleman.”
For wealthy British surgeon Isaac Kimball, being the good guy comes naturally. Caring for Chicago’s poorest fills his days and keeps his other side—the dark one that craves sensuality and control—at bay. When Isaac is prevented from saving a charity he loves, an acquaintance offers him a proposition: transform a woman from the streets into a sophisticated mistress who can pass in London high society, in exchange for the charity’s salvation. A ridiculous suggestion until he realizes he knows the perfect woman—one with an understated sexuality and sharp wit that continually tempt his control.
Mila DePardo counts the days until she can get off the streets and put her criminal past behind her. When Dr. Kimball offers her a ticket out of hell and into the glitter of London society, lying about her identity is easy. Until the chemistry between them starts to crack her no-sex rule, and the pleasure of Isaac’s touch changes everything she thought she wanted.
When the truth starts to unravel and Isaac’s own secrets come to play, Mila’s will and belief in herself is put to the test. She might win the mistress experiment, but can she survive him?
For wealthy British surgeon Isaac Kimball, being the good guy comes naturally. Caring for Chicago’s poorest fills his days and keeps his other side—the dark one that craves sensuality and control—at bay. When Isaac is prevented from saving a charity he loves, an acquaintance offers him a proposition: transform a woman from the streets into a sophisticated mistress who can pass in London high society, in exchange for the charity’s salvation. A ridiculous suggestion until he realizes he knows the perfect woman—one with an understated sexuality and sharp wit that continually tempt his control.
Mila DePardo counts the days until she can get off the streets and put her criminal past behind her. When Dr. Kimball offers her a ticket out of hell and into the glitter of London society, lying about her identity is easy. Until the chemistry between them starts to crack her no-sex rule, and the pleasure of Isaac’s touch changes everything she thought she wanted.
When the truth starts to unravel and Isaac’s own secrets come to play, Mila’s will and belief in herself is put to the test. She might win the mistress experiment, but can she survive him?
Excerpt
"In my office. It's right
there." He nodded to the door down the hall, already moving that way, but
she didn’t move.
"There's nothing to
say."
Oh, there was plenty.
Isaac slid her glasses off her face with one finger
as adrenaline and heat pumped through him. Her chin tipped up, and he knew he
was being an ass. But he had questions, things to say, and she had answers and
she was going to listen no matter if she wanted to or not. If he didn't get
things off his chest, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else for
the rest of the day.
"In. My. Office."
Mila glared at him for several
seconds before doing as he asked. He followed, slipping out of his lab coat as
he shut the door behind them.
"Let me guess. You want to
backpedal over the crap you said to me at DeJava, right? Cover your ass? Well,
don't worry about it. I'm forgetting it ever happened." She held a hand
out for her glasses.
He gave them over. That's what he
wanted, too, right? To put the bet behind him, laugh it off and move on? He had
other things to talk about, like Luis and the mark on her arm. Anything but the
bet right now.
But impulse was a blasted thing
and his brain had other ideas. "I'm not forgetting anything.” Once he'd said it, he knew where he was
headed. Where he had to be headed,
because beyond her hunger the other day, someone had hurt her.
"It's a legitimate
experiment, one we'd both benefit from winning. Not us, actually, but the
children. Considering how much Luis means to you, I'm sure you agree that it's
worth a shot."
She huffed a breath.
He was playing dirty but Isaac
couldn't bring himself to be sorry. "It's true what I said. I'm offering
you the chance to be someone else for a while, Mila, whatever that might mean
to you. It's yours."
She shuddered hard, her palm
going to her forehead. "You're asking me to be your… I won't be your hooker."
"I told you that intimacy
isn't involved in this, and I meant it. There's no attraction between us
anyway." That sounded wrong even as he said it because there was something that caused a thrum in his
blood each time she was near. Probably just a case of reining himself in too
long.
She pressed her knuckles to her
lips. Surprised by her lack of ninja-tendencies, considering he'd all but
forced her in here, Isaac had to smile. She was contemplating, just as he was,
letting it roll around in her head like it was rolling around in his.
"Right. You're right. There
isn't anything sexual between us." Her shrug was less than convincing.
"No." Not completely
true.
"But…" She was waffling,
and the more the yes-no flickered across her face, the more a dark agitation
grew in him.
Isaac grabbed her sleeve and
yanked her gently forward, causing her to press into him with a soft grunt.
"Do you need proof?" he
asked.
Her chest stalled, her hands
balling in fists against his chest. "Do you?"
Mila's shuddering breath was the
last sound he registered as he brought his lips to hers, demanding, harder than
he'd intended. Her taste engulfed him, unfamiliar sweetness flaming his blood.
Her soft lips parted but not nearly enough; her body stiffened before she
leaned into him, giving but not giving completely.
"Open your mouth for me,
Mila."
Her arms came up around his neck,
pulling him down. Elation flew through him as her mouth opened completely and urged
him in for a deep, slanted kiss. His tongue slid along hers as sensation
blossomed everywhere—racing along his scalp, his chest. Mila's fingernails
pricked against his skin, leaving tingling, burning rows.
Isaac inhaled deeply and bit down
softly on her lower lip. She was taking as much as he was demanding—a tug of
war. Unexpected but goddamn delicious. And she had no idea what he'd demand of
her if they took this further. If the fire in her kiss was an indication, she
might demand just as much from him, a twist to the way sex usually went for
him… but he'd test it. He'd allow it, and he'd probably lose his mind in the
process.
This was more than basic
chemistry.
This was hands-down sexual
attraction.
Elizabeth Otto Bio:
Elizabeth Otto grew up in a Wisconsin town the size of a postage stamp, where riding your horse to the grocery store, and skinny dipping after school were perfectly acceptable. No surprise that she writes about small communities and country boys. She's the author of paranormal and hot, emotional, contemporary romance, and has no guilt over frequently making her readers cry. When not writing, she works full-time as an Emergency Medical Technician for a rural ambulance service. Elizabeth lives with her very own country boy and their three children in, shockingly, a small Midwestern town.
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