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.