Excerpt of The Heir's Scandalous Affair by Jennifer Lewis

I don’t know his name.

How odd. To be dancing with someone and have no idea who he
was. She knew he owned the bar, so he had an identity, but
without a name he wasn’t quite… real.

Should she ask?

She blinked, strangely reluctant. A name seemed so formal,
like a passport or drivers license that gave you official
status. She didn’t want to tell him that she was Samantha
Hardcastle. Her name and picture might not ring any bells
down here in New Orleans, but in New York they’d been
plastered over the papers for months.

He slid his arm around her waist. Her breasts crushed
gently against his chest and a warm surge of pleasure that
rippled through her.

“I love this song,” he murmured. His low timbre vibrated in
her ear, sending a shiver along her spine. “It makes me
think of a lazy day out on the bayou. Sun shining on the
water, cranes watching from the trees, the putt putt of a
shrimp boat in the distance.”

The image formed in her mind, a peaceful scene, at odds
with their rather urbane surroundings. “Do you go there
much?”

“As often as I can.”

She couldn’t see his face because he’d pulled her too
close. His arms wrapped around her waist and she found that
hers had slipped around his neck. A quick glance confirmed
that other couples danced the same way, wrapped up in each
other, to the gentle strumming of the guitar and the low
caress of the saxophone.

He lowered his cheek to hers and she felt the slight
stubble on his chin. A delicious masculine sensation she’d
almost forgotten.

Almost, but not quite. The familiar strains of desire
echoed through her like the notes of the music. It stirred
in the palms of her hands where they pressed against his
broad shoulder blades, in her nipples as they bumped his
hard chest, in her tongue, which wondered what his mouth
would taste like.

The answer came as their lips touched, opened, and her
tongue flicked over his. His sensual mouth was both soft
and firm, his tongue at first tentative, then insistent,
hungry.

Her fingers dug into the crisp cotton of his shirt. Her
belly pressed against his firm hips, as she tilted into the
powerful kiss.

Light and color crackled behind her eyelids, dazzling her,
while their tongues danced together. Then slowly their
tongues drew back, and his lips closed. She felt his warm
skin part from hers, to be replaced by cool, air-
conditioned air.

Still clutching his back, she opened her eyes and blinked
in the dim light. Her breath came in unsteady gasps, her
legs wobbled and her skin stung with arousal.

“Come with me.” He didn’t look at her and it wasn’t a
question. With one arm firmly about her waist, he led her
off the floor and across the room.