Chapter One
"Please make it out to Sarah--with an 'h' on the end, okay?"
Julie Wilson grabbed her run-away bestseller, The Fine Art of Kissing, from the young woman's outstretched hands. Julie never expected her book to take off the way it did. Now a "relationship guru," people asked her advice on love constantly.
"Your book's wonderful, Ms. Wilson."
"Thank you." She replied warmly and smiled as she scribbled her name on the inside of the book.
A large group of people gathered where Julie sat in the crowded bookstore that Saturday, all of them eager for an autographed copy of Julie's book and a chance to meet her.
Another young woman leaned over Julie's table, blushing. "Your book has changed our lives--our love lives, if you know what I mean," she said conspiratorially.
"I'll just bet it did." The sound of a deep, male voice came from behind the two young women.
Julie's head snapped up. She'd know that voice anywhere! It belonged to Brad O'Malley, the host of America's leading primetime cable talk show. She had received countless calls from his producers ever since her book hit the NY Times bestseller list.
Julie knew why they wanted her on the show. Brad O'Malley's ratings had slipped. She knew if she went on his show he'd subject her to the badgering that his viewing audience loved. Julie thought if Brad O'Malley could make the 'relationship guru' squirm, his ratings would skyrocket. Her manager said appearing on O'Malley's Corner would be great publicity for the book, that she could handle Brad. She just didn't want that kind of publicity. Julie took The Fine Art of Kissing seriously.
"Now, what is it you say in your book, Ms. Wilson? 'A kiss should be blissfully unhurried. You don't want to squander a single moment thinking of anything but the kiss'." He quoted verbatim from her book. Brad leaned against the table, one muscled thigh propped lazily against the edge, arms folded casually across his chest, but his lips thinned and his face grew taut. When she refused to go on his show for the third time in a row, he had called her himself. She gave him the same answer she gave his producers: a flat out 'no'.
Brad slipped the Ray Bans from his eyes and glanced over at the young women. Their eyes nearly bugged out when they recognized him. Another look at his stormy face made Julie's pulse skitter.
"So Julie..."
"That's 'Ms. Wilson' to you," she snapped.
He grinned at her, a sexy, lopsided smile that made her heart flutter. Brad O'Malley was talented, arrogant, demanding ... and exceedingly handsome, much to her chagrin. She didn't like the way her heart skipped when she gazed at his chiseled, golden face and cursed her traitorous hormones.
"Do you practice what you preach?" he asked.
Julie's chin jutted out defiantly. "Of course."
"Then let's see if you're up to snuff."
Quick as lightning, Brad pulled her to her feet and kissed her in the middle of the bookstore.
"This is what a kiss should be. You're not an Olympic starter, it's not a rush to the finish line," he quoted as he placed small, butterfly kisses on the corner of her mouth. "Sensual tulips," he continued, "they comfort your soul through kissing." He placed feathery-light kisses along her jaw, ending by her ear then his lips trailed down her chin. He made a small "O" with his mouth and sucked softly against the underside of her jaw. Julie grabbed his shirtfront to keep from collapsing as he retraced his fiery path along her chin, causing ripples of pleasure to cascade across her back every time his lips touched her skin.
"No one is a good kisser by themselves," Brad whispered, "it requires cooperation and teamwork from both people." He moved slowly, tracing the fullness of her lips with the tip of his index finger, then treated them like priceless treasures as he explored her upper lip first, then the bottom, with gentle pressure, teasing and licking slowly until her mouth opened like a blossoming flower. Heat seared every inch of her body as Brad's lips worked their magic on hers.
Julie's hands crept up Brad's neck to pull his golden head down further. She longed to deepen the kiss, to fuse her lips with his until her bones melted. Liquid fire coursed through her veins, it rose to the surface of her skin, making entire body blush. Brad's hands skimmed across her shoulders, her heated skin becoming super-sensitive to his slightest touch.
"If the eyes are the portals of the soul, then the lips are the portals to the mind," Julie quoted as she began her own exploration of Brad's magic mouth. Her tongue slid over the soft, inside part of his lower lip then she slowly nibbled on it until she felt his body stiffen with desire. He tightened his hold and pulled her closer, as though yearning for more. Julie felt the hard, hot length of him slide across her thigh and seriously wondered if she had lost her mind when she shifted closer, pressing against him.
She didn't know in that minute who had outsmarted whom when she finally felt his mouth close over hers. Julie gave herself up to the sweetest, softest kiss she had ever experienced. Its very gentleness stole the breath from her body and made her quiver. The sound of clapping and cheering finally brought her around.
"That's absolutely, positively, the most romantic kiss I've ever seen!"
Julie turned to see one of the young women smiling at her. She quickly broke away from Brad.
"It's very obvious, Ms. Wilson," he drawled, "that you know you're stuff." Brad leaned down and whispered in her ear, "We start taping at two p.m. tomorrow. Be at the studio by noon, so we can go over the notes for your segment."
Julie could only nod as she watched him turn and exit the bookstore.
"This has got to be the best damn publicity stunt ever!" Russ Halloran, Julie's manager, boomed over the phone. "First, you gave O'Malley the brush off, and then you zinged him. You kissed him right in the middle of that bookstore for the entire world to see."
"I'm not doing this, Russ. I'm calling O'Malley and--"
"What do you mean, you're 'not doing it?'? You've got to do it. Julie, honey, listen to me, they're flocking to the bookstores to buy your book. That kiss you shared with O'Malley is all over the six o'clock news."
She groaned. The situation had spiraled from bad to worse. And the worst of it was yet to come. She couldn't deny the feelings Brad O'Malley churned up inside her. Julie had been kissed before, but never like that.
"He set me up, Russ. He planned that little stunt."
"Then that's all the more reason to go on his show. Turn the tables on him."
She blinked once as she registered Russ' words. Why not, she thought? Why not give Brad O'Malley a taste of his own medicine?
"Great!" Russ crowed. "I'll meet you at the studio tomorrow."
Julie prayed her knees would stop knocking by then.
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