Just For One Night

Praise for books by

ELIZABETH SMITH

Slow Dancing

‘The random collision of two hearts and the intricate plot which forces them to remain entangled, makes for an evocative and highly modern romance.”

RT Book Reviews (4 Stars)

Nobody's Baby

"Elizabeth Smith never allows the intensity of her love story to falter."

RT Book Reviews (4 Stars)

"...a six dimensional story that pleases on every level."

Rendezvous Magazine

A Bittersweet Bed

“Ms. Smith manages to elicit many emotions in the reader during the course of the book.”

“...this story can warm the soul and have readers nibbling at their lip until they reach their happy ending.” 

InD'tale Magazine

Just For One Night

ELIZABETH SMITH

Just For One Night

Copyright © Elizabeth Smith, 2002, 2017

Just For One Night by Elizabeth Smith was first published in the

UK by Heartline Books Limited in 2002

All rights reserved

____________________

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or via any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or via any information storage and retrieval system without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

All characters and events in this book are fictional.

Any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

ISBN-13: 978-1542425186 

ISBN-10: 1542425182

Cover Design by Carrie Spencer

cheekycovers.com

Interior Book Design by Bob Houston eBook Formatting

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CHAPTER 1

Scurrying from the bathroom into the hall, Amanda leaned over the rail at the top of the stairs and called out. When she failed to get a response, she hurried down the elegant stairway, her bare feet slapping against the worn treads.

“Sam, didn’t you hear me calling to you to come in?  I don’t have any clothes on as you can...” Amanda opened the front door wide, looked up and froze in mid-sentence, her words and thoughts vanquished by a pair of startling blue eyes that glittered expectantly as they locked with hers.

He stood on the porch, his hips thrust slightly forward, his hands hooked into the back pockets of his jeans. Slowly he released the gaze that held hers, but only to let his eyes roam in leisurely inspection down the length of her and back.

“Do you always leave your door unlocked?” he asked. The voice was deep and amused.

His words jarred her into action. She clutched the fabric at her throat with one hand, while she reached for the overlapping folds of her pink cotton robe with the other. Then she checked the sash, making sure it was tightly knotted.

“I’m expecting someone,” she said. “A man.”  As his eyebrows lifted in silent questioning she hastened to explain. “It’s business.” 

He smiled at this, and the fine lines that appeared at the corner of each eye testified to the amount of time he spent outdoors, adding a dimension of ruggedness to his already handsome face. “I’m sure it is,” he said.

Amanda crossed her arms. “I don’t have to explain anything to you. I don’t even know you.” But she did—the moment he smiled she recognized him. Right now, the best she could do was hope he didn’t remember her. 

“I’m Price McCord.”

“Well, how nice for you,” she said then shut the door in his face. She waited for the sound of retreating footsteps, but didn’t hear any. So she waited a few minutes longer, listening intently for the sound of a departing car. She didn’t hear that either. Finally, she opened the door again. As she suspected, he was still standing there.

“Tell me again who you were expecting,” he said.

“Anyone but you,” she replied with sarcasm.

“Did you really think I would give up and go home that easily?” he asked.

“I was hoping you would surprise me.” Adjusting the damp towel she had wrapped turban-style around her freshly washed hair, she said, “What do you want?”

“Well for one thing, you could try being nicer.”

“Not a chance. I’ve had a lousy day.” All afternoon Amanda had struggled to control her frayed emotions. Confronted with the inability to change her circumstances, and bitterly disappointed at the turn things had taken, she could no longer ignore the reality of her situation. She had failed miserably.

The appearance of Price McCord just made things worse. She should have just bolted the door and left him on the porch until he went away, but old dreams die hard. Instead, she was intrigued by his boldness and found it impossible to ignore the trickle of excitement that started somewhere in the region under her breasts where her ribs met and was now working its way downward, gathering momentum as it went.  

Adding to this excitement was the possibility that he didn’t recognize her. After all, it had been a long time since they had seen one another, and the boy she remembered had now been replaced by a man—a man who radiated an undeniable sexuality.

“I saw your sign by the road, so I came to see the house.” Then without waiting for a response he stepped around Amanda and came inside, peering into the large rooms on either side of the center hallway as he went toward the back of the house. Feeling her eyes on him, he turned back to her, catching her as she openly perused the length of him.

Amanda blushed with a heat that went from her toes to the roots of her hair. What had gotten into her? She had never reacted to any man this way before. And she wished he would wipe that knowing grin off his face.