About WHEN STACI TAKES CHARGE
Powerful CEO Staci Kay has been working like crazy for so long that she's forgotten what it means to play. After her company's launch of an important new shoe line, a sizzling encounter with an irresistibly hot guy is just the stress reliever she needs. But when he's gone the next morning, she realizes she can't forget him - or the way he made her feel.
Dr. Evan Hart isn't a one-night-stand kind of guy. But the gorgeous redhead with the seductive curves is a temptation he doesn't regret - until she calls his office to schedule an appointment. Even as he wonders how she found him, Evan can't deny he wants a lot more than just another night in her bed. Now with his heart on the line, Evan has to put his best foot forward and convince Staci that he's the perfect fit . . .
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EXCERPT:
Evan Hart stood across the hall from what could only be described as a fantasy come to life.
Mile-long legs. Narrow waist. Plump breasts. Soft-looking, damp red curls that fell just past her slender, bare shoulders. A fresh, clean face.
Despite being separated by an expanse of carpet, he could smell her. Vanilla with perhaps a hint of lavender, which was extremely alluring.
She stared at him with fiery eyes that were tawny, mostly golden with flecks of orange. She was beautiful. Breathtaking, actually, with high cheekbones, honey skin, and rosy lips.
He had to run a few medical terms through his head in order to divert his attention from how stunning and scantily clad she was. The tactic was also necessary to help ascertain whether the vision before him was real or not, for Evan had a tendency to sleepwalk. He never went far and typically woke up after a few minutes. But hotels could be a bit hazardous for someone with the affliction. It’d been a while since he’d done it, so he’d thought he’d broken the habit.
But there really couldn’t be such a striking, half-naked woman standing eight feet away from him. Could there?
He mentally shook his head. Whether he was imagining this or not, he was willing to fall down the rabbit hole when the fantasy spoke.
“Sooo, this is awkward,” she said, her tone low and breathy. Sultry. Sexy as hell.
His groin instantly tightened. His pulse hitched a notch.
She kept talking as his body started to burn. “See, I was on my way to get some ice—”
“You know the valet could have gotten that for you.”
“Yes,” she ground out. “I realize that. Not my first rodeo at a swank hotel.”
He bit back a grin. The fantasy had some spunk to her.
“Anyhoo,” she said. “I didn’t think there’d be anyone in the hallway in the middle of the night. I even checked.”
“And you would have been in the clear. Except that you got a little loud.”
“I did not get loud. And what the heck are you doing up at three a.m.?”
He sighed. “I was working late. Then I drifted off at the desk. I woke up and did more work, then drifted off again…”
“Aha,” she softly said. Her entire demeanor softened, in fact. Making him instantly wonder how malleable she’d be in his hands, how she might writhe against his body if he held her in his arms.
Whoa. Where were those thoughts coming from?
They were not normal ones for Dr. Evan Hart. By any stretch of the imagination.
But the fantasy was incredibly titillating. Enthralling. Tempting, even.
In her arousing voice, she mused, “So you could actually still be asleep at this very moment. And you never, ever saw me.”
She flashed a pearly white smile.
He smirked. “That’s not exactly how you convince someone they’re sleepwalking and dreaming.”
“And you’re an expert?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“Well, then.” She shifted from one bare foot to the other. “Why don’t you sleepwalk your way back into your suite, I’ll follow and use your phone to call down to the front desk to let them know I’m locked out of my suite, and we’ll pretend this never happened. Whether you’re truly awake or not.”
“You shouldn’t leave your key in your room when you go for ice.”
“Gee. You think?”
Evan shook his head. “I see you like to be antagonistic.”
“No, I like to be fully clothed when caught in situations such as this.”
His gaze swept over her. He couldn’t help it. Hoped he could blame it on the supposed sleepwalking and justify it that way to both himself and to her.
But Evan had to concede that, even in his wildest dreams, he would not have conjured this insanely beautiful, perfectly sculpted creature. And she sure as hell wouldn’t have such a smart mouth. Evan preferred women who were a bit more demure. Studious. More bookish than…sexy. Sassy. Soft and silky looking.
Ha. There it was.
Proof that he had to be dreaming, because he never in a million years would consciously allow his very structured thoughts to run in these crazy directions.
The fantasy said, “So…how ‘bout it?”
Every muscle in his body went rigid.
Yeah. Even that one.
Well, he had the beginnings of an erection at any rate. One that would easily qualify as a mammoth hard-on if he didn’t keep his cool. Thank God he wore loose black pants to help hide the evidence of her effect on him. He also had on a deep-blue tank top and was barefoot. His dark hair had to be a tousled mess from raking his hands through it half the night in frustration. And he knew he sported a five o’clock shadow on his jaw. Or, rather, a three a.m. shadow.
He’d been no more prepared for this unexpected encounter than she.
He flipped the security latch outward to keep his door from closing and locking behind him and took a few strides across the hall to scoop up the ice bucket. His gaze locked on candy-apple-red toenails.
Christ, even her feet were sexy.
With absolutely no restraint whatsoever—again not like him at all—his gaze traveled up her ankles, her calves, her thighs…
His mouth watered as he continued over her flat stomach and her full breasts. All that registered in his brain was silky skin, satiny material…and lace. Oh, the lace.
Get a grip, man.
You’re not an animal.
Or a caveman.
Though he suddenly had cavemen desires. To throw this gorgeous woman over his shoulder and carry her into his cave.
Heat rushed through his veins. A couple beads of perspiration popped along his hairline.
It was entirely possible he’d spent too much time in the office lately, and too little time socializing with the female persuasion.
Or perhaps it was just that he’d never come across a woman that set his body on fire the way this one did.
He found himself saying, “If I really am dreaming, I have a much better imagination than I ever knew.”
About Calista Fox
Calista is a former PR professional, now writing fast-paced, steamy books to set your pulse racing! She is an Amazon bestseller and has won many Reviewer's and Reader's Choice Awards, as well as Best Book Awards and other competitions with publication as first prize. Calista is a college graduate and teaches online writing classes. She is also Past President/Advisor of the Phoenix Chapter of Romance Writers of America.
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