A Dangerously Sexy Secret Read online

  Siren...or Sinner?

  With her long blond hair and flowy skirts, Rhys Glover’s new neighbor is the sexiest woman he’s ever seen. He quickly learns she’s also free-spirited and impulsive—the total opposite of his own personality. They should be like oil and water. Instead, the chemistry between them is like oxygen and flame.

  But when Rhys’s next assignment for Cobalt & Dane security leads him right back to Wren, Rhys begins to walk a very fine line between ethics and desire. He believes he can trust Wren, but can he trust himself when he’s with her? And if she is keeping her own dangerous secrets, will he be able to walk away?

  Holy hell, he couldn’t seem to control himself around her...

  “Lose the T-shirt.” Wren flicked her hand in Rhys’s direction. “It needs to come off.”

  He hesitated for a moment, but the lust in her eyes urged him on. He peeled the soaked cotton up and over his head.

  “The jeans, too,” Wren said, keeping her face straight. “They’re soaked.”

  Rhys glanced down and saw a small dark patch where the denim had absorbed the water. They were hardly soaked. “You sure about that?”

  “Let me help you.” She stepped forward and reached for the buckle on his belt.

  Her fingertips grazed the bare skin of his stomach and he had to stifle a moan.

  He might have started the fire, but she was fanning the flames...

  Dear Reader,

  I’m thrilled to be continuing The Dangerous Bachelors Club series with Harlequin Blaze. This means there will be plenty more steamy stories with a dash of suspense coming your way.

  If you’ve been following this series, you may remember Rhys from A Dangerously Sexy Affair. In that book he plays a slightly antagonistic role and I wasn’t initially planning to give him a book. But that’s how it is with some characters—they get under your skin and beg to have their story told.

  Who am I to say no to a character in need of a happy ending?

  Rhys has a strong sense of what he believes in. Everything he does fits in with his personal motto, “tough but fair.” He lives via this rigid code, and everything he does is to the highest standard possible. Then the heroine comes along and makes his life messy in the best ways possible.

  The relationship between Rhys and Wren is very much about finding balance and common ground. I love the idea of two people who seem so completely opposite coming together to see that they’re actually perfectly suited to one another. They’re like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

  I really hope you enjoy Wren and Rhys’s story. You can find out what’s coming next by checking out my website, stefanie-london.com, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/StefanieLondonAuthor. I love chatting with readers, so feel free to drop me a line anytime.

  With love,

  Stefanie

  Stefanie London

  A Dangerously Sexy Secret

  USA TODAY bestselling author Stefanie London is a voracious reader who has dreamed of being an author her whole life. After sneaking several English-lit subjects into her “very practical” business degree, she got a job in corporate communications. But it wasn’t long before she turned to romance fiction. She recently left her hometown of Melbourne to start a new adventure in Toronto and now spends her days writing contemporary romances with humor, heat and heart.

  For more information on Stefanie and her books, check out her website at stefanie-london.com or her Facebook page at Facebook.com/stefanielondonauthor.

  Books by Stefanie London

  Harlequin Blaze

  The Dangerous Bachelors Club

  A Dangerously Sexy Christmas

  A Dangerously Sexy Affair

  Harlequin Kiss

  Breaking the Bro Code

  Only the Brave Try Ballet

  Harlequin Presents

  The Tycoon’s Stowaway

  To get the inside scoop on Harlequin Blaze and its talented writers, visit Facebook.com/BlazeAuthors.

  All backlist available in ebook format.

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  To Dad,

  for all the important lessons you taught me. For pushing me to be a good student. For fostering my creativity. And for sitting through all my ballet concerts. I know they were really long.

  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

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from His to Protect by Karen Rock

  1

  WREN LIVINGSTON COULD MULTITASK, there was no doubt about it. But carrying four bags of groceries while walking up a flight of stairs in a maxi skirt and trying to deflect sisterly guilt was pushing it. Even for her.

  Add to the mix the fact that her new and insanely hot next-door neighbor was coming down the hallway toward her, and Wren was at her limit. How was one supposed to carry on a normal conversation with all those muscles staring back at you? Impossible.

  “Sis?” Debbie whined on the other end of the phone. “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Uh-huh.” Wren watched as the guy stopped in front of her, his pearly smile gleaming bright against warm brown skin. The black tail of his headphones curved up from an armband sitting snugly over his biceps.

  Oh yeah, muscles... Had she mentioned them? He had a lot.

  “Can I give you a hand with those bags?” he asked, pulling one bud from his ear.

  He must have been about to go for a run, if the gray shorts and navy cotton tank were anything to go on. The fabric hugged a solid chest and caught her eye, drawing her attention up until she set her sights on a sharp jaw, broad nose and sparkling warm brown eyes.

  Sweet mother of...

  “Oh.” She shook her head, cheeks fiery hot as she realized she must have been gaping at him. “No, I’m fine. Very fine. I mean...uhh...thank you.”

  “You sure?”

  “Absolutely sure. One hundred percent.” A nervous giggle bubbled up in her throat that she tried to tamp down—and failed. The fizzy sound burst out and she cringed.

  Total brain cell destruction in three, two, one...

  “Okay, then.” His voice was rich and deep, smooth like satin sheets.

  He stuck the bud back into his ear and gave her space to shuffle awkwardly past him in the tight hallway. Her shopping bags knocked against the wall and she almost tripped on the sweeping hem of her skirt.

  Can you at least stay upright for the next three minutes so you don’t embarrass yourself? You’re walking like a drunk llama.

  She told herself not to turn around and look back at him. But she couldn’t resist. Her mouth dried up when her gaze landed on the wide expanse of his shoulders as he jogged down the stairs.

/>   “What was that all about?” Debbie asked, and Wren realized her sister was still on the phone. “Since when do you giggle like a little girl?”

  “It’s nothing.” She wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder as she reached the front door of her new apartment. “Nothing at all.”

  Let’s keep it at nothing—you’re not here to ogle men.

  Her arm ached from carrying all the shopping bags in one hand, the burn in her muscles getting hotter as she fumbled for her keys. Sweat beaded at her hairline. What in the world had possessed her to move into a building with no elevator?

  “Didn’t sound like nothing.”

  “Debbie...” Wren sighed as she pushed the door open with a grunt. “It was just my neighbor.”

  “What’s he like?”

  Delicious. The word sprang to her mind immediately. The guy from apartment 401 was definitely all that and a bag of chips, as her old boss used to say. So far she hadn’t done more than return his friendly hellos and now turn down his offer of help in a most embarrassing way. But she’d be lying if she said he hadn’t made an appearance in one—okay, two...at least—dirty dreams.

  “He seems nice. Friendly.” She let out a silent gasp of relief as she set the bags on the kitchen counter. “Same as everyone else here.”

  “And where is here, exactly?” Debbie’s tone was sharp. “You still haven’t told me where you’re staying.”

  “I’m in New York.”

  “New York is a big place. How about you narrow it down to a borough for me?”

  Her sister was exactly the kind of person who would show up on her doorstep, wanting to “help” and be part of the action. But Debbie, while she was a great person and the shining star of the Livingston family, was not exactly street smart. Or subtle.

  “I don’t want anyone else getting involved.” She turned and sagged back against the counter, pushing her hair from her eyes.

  “You shouldn’t be involved,” her sister huffed.

  Maybe. But her best friend, Kylie, had been attacked and she refused to talk about it.

  Wren had a strong suspicion the incident had something to do with the gallery where Kylie had been working because anytime Wren mentioned it, Kylie went white as a ghost.

  Originally they had both applied for the gallery internship, but only Kylie had been successful in gaining one of the coveted spots. Then, after she returned home, the gallery’s owner had called Wren to offer her Kylie’s old spot. Seems she’d been next in line.

  And just like that, Wren had packed her bags and moved to New York.

  “I still can’t believe you’ve gone on this vigilante mission,” Debbie continued. “Now I have to miss out on seeing my sister because you’ve once again taken on other people’s problems. I can’t even send you a goddamn Christmas card.”

  “It’s not even June yet. Christmas is ages away and things will be back to normal by then... I promise.” She spoke the words with way more confidence than she felt. “As for Kylie—”

  “I’ll look after her, I promise.” Debbie sighed. “Although I have no idea how I’m supposed to keep dodging her questions about where you’ve run off to. She knows something’s up.”

  “We stick to the story—I’m away at an art retreat and they have a no-cell-phone policy, so she can’t call. But I’ll email her when I can. No one else needs to know what I’m doing, got it?”

  Debbie grumbled her agreement. They lived in a small town where information had a way of traveling at the speed of light. The only reason she’d revealed more of her plan to Debbie was because her sister had caught her booking a flight to New York after she’d said the retreat was in California.

  “If I get in trouble here I don’t want to drag anyone else into my problems.”

  “Don’t you mean Kylie’s problems?”

  “Come on, Deb.” She sighed. “Kylie is like our sister. I have to find out what happened to her. Anyway, my reputation is already ruined at home... What do I have to lose by trying to do something good for a friend?”

  “Your reputation is not ruined. A few uptight old biddies think you’re a bit wild, so what?”

  “They called me a sexual deviant.” Her humiliation still burned as brightly as a newly lit flame. “And a blight on their community.”

  “It’s not true. You’ve helped out so many families at the community center, you’ve painted faces at the summer fair,” Debbie said, and Wren could practically see her sister ticking the items off her perfectly manicured fingers the way she always did when she was mad. “You’ve made cupcakes for almost every bake sale and your stuff is always the first to sell out, you’ve—”

  “Enough.” She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Never in her life would she admit how much it hurt that Charity Springs had ostracized her, and hearing her sister point out all she’d done was only making it worse.

  She may not be the biggest fan of the small town—or its residents—but it was still her home.

  “Debs, please. Can we not rehash this again? I know you’re upset with me for leaving and I’m sorry. But I need to do this.”

  “You ‘need’ to run around fixing other people’s problems, do you? All right, I guess you do.” It was as close to acceptance as Wren was going to get, so she’d take it. “What are you supposed to do, spend your days playing spy?”

  “I’m working at a gallery and I’m painting. It’s not exactly a hard life.” She didn’t bother to mention the recon activities she was planning, like trying to break into her new boss’s email account.

  Details. You’re doing the right thing by your friend—that’s all that matters.

  Debbie made a scoffing sound on the other end of the line. “You’re so full of shit.”

  “And you swear way too much for a girl who’s going to be an upstanding pillar of society.” Wren began to unpack her groceries. Flour for her pizza base, some fresh kale, tomatoes, basil and a delicious-looking knob of buffalo mozzarella.

  “Upstanding pillar of society?” Debbie snorted. “Spare me. And I’ve noticed that your little list of activities doesn’t involve screwing your hot neighbor.”

  Heat crawled up Wren’s cheeks. Thank God she’d decided not to video chat with her sister, because she was sure her face would be flaming tomato red right about now. “I never mentioned he was hot.”

  “That heavy breathing did all the talking for you.” Her sister cackled. “Not to mention the fact that you seemed to forget how to string a sentence together as soon as he came near you.”

  Usually, she didn’t engage in her sister’s teasing, but right now she was grateful that the conversation had turned away from her secret mission. “Okay, he’s good-looking. So what? That’s not reason enough for me to sleep with him.”

  “Isn’t it? When was the last time you got laid? And if you tell me that you haven’t had sex since you broke up with Christian, so help me...”

  For someone who was supposedly a “sexual deviant,” she’d actually been quite conservative when it came to sex. There’d been no one in the six months since she’d broken up with her ex—because now all the men in town either thought she was easy or bad news. Neither of which was true.

  Sucking on her lower lip, she concentrated on continuing to unpack the groceries. Milk, eggs, butter, vanilla extract.

  “Wren?”

  A spring-form pan, parchment paper, confectioners’ sugar. “Yeah?”

  “Really?”

  “You said not to tell you if I hadn’t...”

  “Are you serious?”

  “The only guys interested in me now are the ones I don’t want.” She slammed the box of granola down on the counter harder than necessary. “And I’m not ready to try opening up to anyone else, not after the way Christian humiliated me.”

  �
�You’re never going to be ready until you take a risk. You have to put yourself out there. Listen to me, I’m a doctor.”

  Wren gritted her teeth. “First, you don’t get to say you’re a doctor until you finish med school. Second, why do you care so much about my sex life?”

  “Because you’re my sister and you deserve to have a sex life. You’re twenty-six, for crying out loud, not a hundred and six. But if you don’t get some action your vagina will dry up like an old prune.”

  Despite herself, Wren let out a burst of laughter.

  “It’s a fact. A medical fact. Trust me, I’m a doctor.” This time Debbie said the words through her own giggles. “Do you want a pruney va—”

  “Shut up.” Wren shook her head and bundled up the empty plastic bags. “I’m not having sex with the first guy I see just for the sake of it.”

  “Seriously, you need to stop hiding away because a few people said bad, untrue things. You deserve to live a full life. Orgasms included.”

  “How do you know my neighbor will be good enough to give me orgasms?” Flashes of her dream from last night came back to her—Mr. 401’s large hands roaming her body, his full, wide mouth covering her breasts.

  Dammit. It wasn’t right to fantasize about a guy without knowing his name.

  “Judging by the crazy way you were giggling, I think he will.” Debbie sounded smug as hell, the evil little thing. “Trust me, you won’t regret it. Sex is a very natural and healthy part of life. It’s good for your brain and your heart. You’re really doing your health a disservice by not having sex.”

  “Is that another medical fact?” She grinned in spite of herself and shook her head. Her sister knew exactly how to push her buttons and get under her skin, but they always looked out for each other. No matter what.

  “Yep, I’m sure it’s in one of my textbooks. I have to go. I’ve got a study session planned and the last person there has to buy coffee.” She paused. “I miss you, Birdie.”

  At the sound of her childhood nickname, Wren smiled. “I miss you, too. I’ll be home soon. I promise.”