THE BELLS TRILOGY

Intrigued

Synopsis:

Intrigue; something or someone who arouses curiosity or interest or fascination. For Grace Summers, Daniel Romano is the personification of that verb. A perfect stranger to have a perfectly wild one-night stand with, but he's definitely not the kind she wants in her life on a day-to-day basis. She has enough trouble as is, she doesn't need a rich playboy who can't take no for an answer.

Intrigue; making secret plans to do something illicit. Oh, he has plans alright, and some of them can get him behind bars. Once Daniel has had a taste of the sensual beauty, he knows that once wasn't enough. And the plans he has for her....But God forbid, the stubborn woman is Hell bent on keeping him from getting under her skin and her tight fitting corporate skirts. But, Daniel isn't a quitter. And the prim and proper Miss. Summers needs a few lessons in the bedroom on how to loosen up.

Chapter 1:

Grace

The pounding music blasting from the inbuilt speakers gave me a headache. It pulsed through my veins, vibrated in my blood stream and slammed straight to my heart until it beat with the same intensity, a merciless tattoo against my ribs.

But who was I to complain? It is, after all, the reason why I'm inside Hell Hole, not the literal one, but my favorite bar to hang out on Friday night's with my girlfriends....one of whom.... is nowhere to be found. Ah! There's Ken, slender blonde with killer legs and an extremely short black dress, on the dance floor, devouring the face of a guy in an orange jacket. A very Orange jacket. Trust Kendra Millar to have other-worldly tastes.

My other girlfriend, Ty, short for Tatiana, sat next me on a barstool, sipping from a glass of Bloody Mary-trust her to add veggies into a cocktail-bobbing her head to the music while singing out the lyrics and texting her boyfriend of two years, Connor, all at the same time. Multitasking at its finest.

I was doing the same too, minus the texting the boyfriend part, since I don't have one. But somehow, the 'it's-freaking-Friday' excitement had gone out like a light bulb in my head. As always, Ty notices.

"What's with the sulky face?" She demands. Tatiana may be a bit shy around strangers, but she's popular for her bossiness among her friends. And we try our best to obey her because…Hell hath no fury as a Tatiana scorned. But we all love her, so it's okay.

My first instinctive thought was to lie, but Ty's my best friend and she deserves the truth. "I think I'm getting fired." I told her what has had me in a nervous bundle this entire time.

The Bosses of our company had trusted me with a rather complicated case, which I had delivered before the deadline, with maximum accuracy. But in doing so, I'd ignored the projects I'd already had on hand and now, I'm on a deadline with a ton of work to do and no time to ponder. And to top it all off, Vincent, my senior, would love to see me kicked out onto the streets and take credit for all my work, so he's done the good deed of 'reminding' our bosses that my initial job came first. "My head's so full right now," I told Ty. "I know what I have to write but I cannot fathom where to start!"

"You know what," Ty leaned in schematically, her auburn hair sliding over nude shoulders, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "I have the perfect solution for your little problem."

"Really? What?" I leaned my head towards her to have a better hearing of her magical remedy.

"Sex."

"Sex?"

"Why, yes! What else?" She leaned back, grin stretching from ear to ear, leaving me dumbfounded.

"How on Earth is sex going to help me with my problems?" I toned down my volume when the bartender passed me another bottle of ice-cold beer.

"Honey, there's nothing like a mind-blowing orgasm to clear your head of all thoughts...instantly!" She snapped her fingers with a flourish, like that explained everything.

"Really?" I raised a dark eyebrow at her. "Even if I do believe in that ridiculous notion of yours, where am I going to find a partner for this 'mind-blowing orgasm' to clear my head? Last I checked it takes two to tango…unless, of course, we’re taking a trip to the sex shop."

"Oh no, silly! With the hottie over there, of course!" She shamelessly pointed a finger in the direction behind my head, like whoever she was pointing to was the most obvious of choices. I didn't follow her lead.

"And why is he the rightful candidate?" I took a wild guess in thinking that the hottie she'd so boldly pointed at in her drunkenness was a guy. The last thing I need is an invitation from the same sex.

But Ty's voice was coherent when she said, "Because he's been giving you an once-over since you got here."

"And how do you know that?" I raised an eyebrow, taking a sip from my beer.

"Because I've been giving him an once-over."

I nearly spat out my drink. Coughing, I dabbed a napkin on my chin and tried to make rational sense of what Ty was telling me. "So, you mean, you were giving this guy an once-over, who's giving me an once-over. Remind me, why exactly are you setting me up with him again?"

Ty blinked. "You're drunk. And I have a boyfriend."