Operation: Tempt Me Read online

  I really do like surprises…

  A man sat on the wicker chair on her porch and was fast asleep. She knew exactly who he was.

  Lt. Miller Daly.

  Oh. Holy. Hell.

  As if he sensed her, his head shot up and his eyes opened, blinked once, and glared. The heat from that stare was unmistakable. The dark brown eyes shimmered with amusement. A smile formed by lips made for kissing.

  When he stood, the old floorboards creaked under his weight. She was totally unprepared for his physical appearance. The picture he had sent hadn’t done him justice at all. Simply said, he was gorgeous beyond any man she had ever met.

  “Hello, Cambrie,” he said, the casual tone showcasing a deep voice, strong like she had dreamed.

  What was she supposed to say? She struggled to find her voice. “Hello, Miller. This is a big surprise.”

  “I was hoping it would be.”

  She swallowed hard when he scanned her body head to toe and focused on her face again, his smile growing. “I’m sorry. Did I miss an email or something? I didn’t expect you.” She stepped onto the porch and felt so much smaller. He towered over her even with her in heels.

  “That’s because I didn’t tell you I was coming. After the last email you sent, I didn’t want to take any chances of you shooting down my visit. And I really do like surprises.”

  That smile was intoxicating, making her at ease when she should be shaking. A man she barely knew had traveled halfway around the world to see her. She cleared her throat. “I’m…not really prepared for company. I just got off of work and, oh God. Miller, look at me. This isn’t how I wanted you to see me.”

  PRAISE FOR AUTHOR

  Christina James

  AND HER BOOKS

  Operation: Spank Me

  “In Operation: Spank Me, the interplay between Emma and Finn is not only scorching hot but touching as well (pun intended). Operation: Spank Me is not just a kinky sexual exploration…but the journey of two lonely people finding that they need someone else in their life, and that special person is a friend they already have. Operation: Spank Me surpassed my expectations with both its emotional story and wicked scenes between Emma and Finn. This one is a keeper!”

  ~Vicky, Sizzling Hot Books 5 Hearts

  “Operation: Spank Me is my kind of military mission. Both sweet and full of heat, Operation: Spank Me is one successful mission. For those who enjoy the fire hot and for it to dominate the story, this is one you must check out.”

  ~Michelle R., Romance Reviews 4 Stars

  Make a Wish and Blow

  “Make a Wish and Blow is a spicy erotica novel that will have you breathing heavy, because of the heat between Daren and Cassandra…”

  ~Marissa D., Sizzling Hot Books 4 Hearts

  Operation:

  Tempt Me

  by

  Christina James

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Operation: Tempt Me

  COPYRIGHT Ó 2011 by Valerie Harris

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  Cover Art by Angela Anderson

  The Wild Rose Press

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com

  Publishing History

  First Scarlet Rose Edition, December 2011

  Print ISBN 978-1-61217-028-2

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To Courtney and Scott, my wonderful children

  who amaze me more each day.

  To Angelo, who helped me find true love.

  And to the men and women who serve

  in the military…thank you for all you do.

  Prologue

  If he didn’t touch her, Miller would die.

  The vision of the woman that haunted his dreams nightly wouldn’t fade away tonight. Instead, she hovered above him, only visible from the waist up. Long, dark hair flowed around her in a wild, sensual halo. Lush, pink lips beckoned for his kisses. The sexy smile she tossed him aroused him more. Her breasts filled the tight blouse, her cleavage spilling over the satin material.

  His cock hardened, constrained inside his pants, begging to plunge into that pretty mouth of hers.

  Miller fought the urge to burst through the dream and capture the temptress. Did she know she played with fire? Driving him wild with desire was a sure way to get bent over and fucked until she exploded with his name on her tongue. His hands reached for her, but like always, she faded away, disappearing into blackness.

  Fuck!

  Pain tore through Miller’s chest as he woke and shook the grogginess from his head. Losing her beauty was akin to having his heart ripped from his chest and stomped on. Each time she visited him on this mission, she stayed a little longer than the last. Tonight there was something different about her, her features taking a more definite form, but still he couldn’t see her face clear enough to determine if he could recognize her.

  Sitting up on his cot, he rubbed sleep from his eyes and slowly opened them. Darkness surrounded him in the tent he shared with four fellow Navy SEALs. Their mission in the middle of a fucking Middle Eastern desert had deprived him of comfort for too long. A decent night’s sleep in a real bed instead of on the rickety cot would do wonders for him.

  He stood, attempting to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn’t have to take any shit from the others for waking them. With a big gulp of the bottled water he kept on the side of his sleeping area, Miller quenched his dry throat, but his head still spun. Images of the sexy woman floated in and out of his vision until he shook his head to lose them. He couldn’t risk seeing anything but the real thing, not when his enemies surrounded the area, probably watching him even now in the dark of night.

  Miller cupped his hand, poured water in it to splash onto his face before setting the bottle back down. Who was this woman who shared his nights but never his bed? Oh, he knew for a fact that he had never bedded the beauty. Hell, he’d remember that mouth, those lips, her touch. Never had a woman kept his attention long enough to dream of her. So where the hell did she come from? Talk about aggravating the shit out of a man, edging him closer to insanity.

  Miller needed to take a piss. Grabbing his rifle, he stalked to the entrance of the tent without a sound. A brief perimeter scan showed no obvious enemies, but they lurked somewhere in the shadows and the surrounding volatile land. He stepped out from the place he’d called home for the past five weeks and whistled.

  Cade Granville stepped from the darkness into the slit of moonlight, suited in full body armor and helmet, his rifle held firmly, and greeted him with a smirk. “Daly, you looking to relieve me?”

  “Fuck no. Dream on,” Miller said, walking toward the giant cactus that had been elected as their outhouse.

  “Asshole. I hate doing surveillance rounds. Bored stiff.”

  “Better than getting a bullet in your ass, Granville,” he said, stopping behind the prickly desert bush, his dream induced hard-on making completion almost impossible, his thoughts still consumed with the mystery woman from his dreams. What he wouldn’t give right now for the privacy to stroke his cock to thoughts of her and relieve the pressure within his balls.

  Goddamn fucking mission! Man can’t even jerk off in pe
ace. Irritated with himself for being so obsessed with his mystery dream woman, Miller zipped his pants.

  Maybe it was the extreme boredom of this mission that his mind kept wandering to the gorgeous woman. Normally, his team was entrenched in fighting and pursuit of the enemy but not this time. All they could do for this stint was sit back and observe…and wait. Wait to be attacked or wait to find their man. Too much quiet time meant too much thinking for Miller. Damn, if he could get some decent sleep then he wouldn’t mind so much.

  Striding back toward Cade, he grumbled, “Gonna take in some air. Be over there a few minutes. Don’t shoot me, fool.”

  “What air?” Cade said with a laugh. “Haven’t felt a breeze at night since we’ve been here. Only blessing is less heat than the hundred thirty degrees in the day.”

  Miller didn’t reply, just walked to the tent and stood on the side, staring up at the black sky dotted with bright stars and a half moon. Cade was a great guy. All his team members were. They were more like brothers than fellow soldiers. Hell, they had to be if Miller trusted them with his life every day of their active tour.

  He rubbed the mermaid tattoo on his arm, replicated from his nightly dreams over the past year. “I know you’re out there somewhere, darlin’. I’m damn sure gonna find you some day,” he whispered into the night.

  Imagining all of the hot sex he would have when he found the woman who lived in his imagination, Miller smiled, his cock aching with need. “Gonna spank your ass for haunting my sleep.”

  Oh, hell yeah. He owed her big time for torturing his dick.

  Chapter One

  Cambrie Brasher sat across from her boss. The scrawny older man, dressed in plaid pants and yellow dress shirt, waved a fistful of papers. Who the hell wore plaid pants any more? Cambrie cringed, the ugly outfit gave her a headache.

  “You’re not good for this library’s needs, Miss Brasher.” Mr. Hackler’s harsh tone made her jump in her seat.

  “Excuse me?” Her cheeks warmed with her embarrassment. What was his problem now?

  “We need someone who can win us that hundred thousand dollar federal grant offered by the Veterans Affairs Department. If we don’t get that then they’ll be nothing or no one to keep these doors open. Maddyville will lose the only library left around these parts for fifty miles,” Mr. Hackler complained, his voice quivering with nervousness.

  The old man had always been eccentric, but this was over the top even for him.

  Cambrie cleared her throat and kept her gaze on his. “Mr. Hackler, I’m sure if you explain what you need, then I will do what is required. I have a masters in English and know this library inside and out. I can write a very decent proposal on why Maddyville should receive the grant.”

  He sighed. “It’s not about writing proposals. I can do that, Miss Brasher.”

  Now he confused her. “Then I’m not sure I understand what you need me to do.”

  “Get this library the recognition it needs with the Veterans Affairs Department. We have to show the town’s support for our soldiers and not just by hanging yellow ribbons and singing patriotic songs. A member of our staff must lead by example and it cannot be me as the director. It has to be a librarian who can prove this foundation supports our troops in other ways than what I just mentioned. That’s the requirements for the grant. And you happen to be our only librarian.”

  How this man ever became Director of Library Services was beyond her. He didn’t make a lick of sense and she’d already wasted twenty minutes in here when she wanted to get back to her cataloging project. Computerizing the library’s antiquated files had taken her six months already. With autumn approaching and the busy holiday season around the corner, Cambrie wanted to complete the improvements and add it to her list of accomplishments before she started planning the holiday events the library hosted.

  Cambrie leaned forward in her chair. “Well, sir, I can certainly lead by example. Is there a website where I can review their information?” She absolutely couldn’t lose her job. Not when Aunt Annabelle depended on her.

  The cranky old man pushed a paper toward her and wiggled it until she took it. “That’s their online information. You have until 5pm tomorrow, Miss Brasher, to share with me your plan to win the grant, or I’m afraid I will need to post your position and hire someone who can do the job.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You’re planning to fire me?”

  “Don’t be dramatic. I need to do what’s in the best interest of this library. I won’t fire you if you can do the job.”

  She counted mentally to ten. “But I have done my job and done it very well. I’ve collected all back revenues of books not returned, began the Teen Readers Group, and I’m almost done cataloging the books online.”

  “Wonderful accomplishments, Miss Brasher, but none that will keep Highland Library’s doors open. This hundred thousand dollar grant is our only hope. I wouldn’t place our chances in your hands if I thought you weren’t capable.” He raised his palm when she went to speak. “Now, I know you have been an exemplary employee so that’s why I’m not firing you now. And I know you are the sole caregiver to your sweet aunt, one of the last true Southern Belles if I may add. That’s why you have today and tomorrow to come up with a plan. Now you can continue to sit here and debate this matter or get cracking on the project. Huh, Miss Brasher?”

  His menacing stare made her want to poke his eyes out. “I won’t be fired. I’ll get this done, Mr. Hackler,” Cambrie said, standing and waltzing to the door. She resisted slamming it on her way out. The old geezer would just add to his list of why she should be terminated.

  Back at the front desk, she smiled at the volunteer. “Mrs. Ginnity, thank you for watching the desk for me. I hope it wasn’t too busy.”

  The elderly woman, dressed in an impeccable pink business suit, stood straight and spoke with a clear voice. “Not at all, Miss Brasher. I did tidy up the mess you left behind though.”

  Cambrie’s heart sank. She what? Twisting her head to view the entire desk, all her carefully divided piles had been placed into one. “Um, Mrs. Ginnity, I was working with those piles. Reorganizing our filing system.”

  “You mean, that was the project for that computer thing?”

  Did the woman purposely sabotage her work? After all, she had been very vocal in her opposition to computers. Cambrie wanted to scream. “Yes, for the new computer cataloging which, even though some people may not like computers, the current generation lives for technology. I’ve worked very hard to make the improvements. Please check with me next time before you move my work around.”

  The other woman squared her shoulders, her chin angling up in that aristocratic way she had inherited. “I assure you, I am very sorry for trying to make the desk look presentable for the customers. Just remember this library has run well for over seventy-five years without the aid of computers and such. I only volunteer here because, as you know, my kinfolk have sat on the Board of Directors for generations. I have an interest in seeing that Highland Library is properly operated.”

  Of course she did. Just like she thought she had a right to meddle in Cambrie’s work, or the way she dressed, or who she associated with. “I do appreciate all that you and your family have done, and continue to do, for the library. Mrs. Ginnity, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m afraid I have to get right to work on an urgent project for Mr. Hackler.”

  “Oh,” Mrs. Ginnity said, perking up. “Anything I may assist with? You know I have been part of many projects concerning this place, and I do have a lot of time on my hands now that my dear Charles, God rest his soul, has left me alone.”

  Oh, no. Cambrie just didn’t have time for one of her crying jags. Wrapping an arm around the petite woman’s shoulders, Cambrie walked her from behind the front desk toward the backroom that served as an office for the volunteers. “Actually, there is something that you can do for me if it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition.”

  She pulled from Cambrie’s grasp and faced her
with eyes filled with curiosity. “Just spit it out, child.”

  Cambrie wrung her hands and plastered her sweetest smile on her face. “Well, I had planned to visit Aunt Annabelle this evening, but I’m afraid this project won’t allow me to do so. I had wanted to bake a batch of blueberry muffins with cream cheese frosting and bring them to her and sit with her a bit to give her some company.”

  Mrs. Ginnity jumped into Cambrie’s words. “Say no more. It’d be my pleasure to visit dear Annabelle. Why I should be ashamed of myself,” she stated, walked into the back room and returned in seconds holding her purse. She put on a pair of dainty white gloves as she spoke. “I haven’t been to see my dear friend in weeks. I’ll bake her my special muffins and spend the evening with her. Why we’ll have so much to catch up on. I bet she has yet to hear about Mrs. Lolly’s dog, Chipper, attacking the poor woman’s ankles the other day.”

  Cambrie wasted no time. If she didn’t move along Mrs. Ginnity then she’d end up hearing about a story that would put her to sleep. “Oh, Aunt Annabelle will so enjoy seeing you. I can’t thank you enough for your graciousness, Mrs. Ginnity. I’ll let you get going now. Please give Auntie a hug for me and tell her I’ll make it up to her.”

  Mrs. Ginnity patted her arm. “You take such good care of her, Cambrie. You’re young. You should be raising a family of your own instead of being burdened with the care of an elderly loved one.”

  The familiar tears tickled Cambrie’s eyes. “I owe my aunt my life. It’s no trouble for me at all.”

  “Yes, well, the Good Lord remembers our sacrifices and when He deems fit He rewards us. Good night, my dear. And I am terribly sorry about your papers.” Mrs. Ginnity disappeared down the stairs.