Just Before Dawn (Hideaway (Kimani), Band 2) - Softcover

Alers, Rochelle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373534566 ISBN 13: 9780373534562

Verlag: Harlequin Kimani Arabesque, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

Sudden Passion

After prosecuting the biggest case of her career, New York district attorney Sara Sterling was looking forward to relaxing amid starry desert nights in her childhood home in New Mexico. Then she met enigmatic neighbor Salem Lassiter, who inspired an inescapable hunger…and made her reassess everything she thought she valued.

Forever Love

Salem had once risked his heart in marriage—only to see his whole world shattered by betrayal. He was sure he could never bring himself to care about anyone again. But when several mysterious "accidents" threaten Sara's life, he realizes that he must come to terms with his deepest hurts…if he is to claim a love that promises always.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today's most popular African-American authors of women's fiction, Ms. Alers is a regular on bestsellers list, and has been a recipient of numerous awards, including the Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing and a Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award.  Visit her Web site www.rochellealers.com  

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Sara Sterling glanced at the delicate stainless-steel-and-gold watch on her wrist, frowning slightly. The nine-thirty meeting that should have ended half an hour ago continued without any indication of adjourning at noon.

She knew John Bohannon was waiting—she doubted patiently—outside the U.S. District Court building in Brooklyn to drive her to the airport. He had taken a day off from his coveted position as a securities broker to spend time with her before she began her planned three-month leave of absence. He'd offered his services to chauffeur her despite her objection that she could call a car service. They had argued, but in the end she'd relented.

As an assistant district attorney for New York's eastern district she had spent the past two years working diligently to alleviate the court's overloaded docket, and the result had been a string of victories coupled with the threat of impending career burnout.

She was now returning to her home state for the first time in twenty-six months. She had prepaid her rent for three months, disconnected her telephone and made arrangements to forward her mail to her parents' home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She needed to reconnect with her mother, father, brother and the horses she had learned to ride a year after she had learned to walk.

Her gaze met the intense stare of the Brooklyn district attorney, and she nodded. He returned her nod as she stood up and pushed back her chair. All eyes were focused on the tall, slender woman who offered them a smile before she walked out of the conference room.

Her heels made distinctive clicking sounds as she made her way across the marble flooring to the small, cramped office she shared with another assistant district attorney. Barring a horrific traffic jam on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, John could make it to La Guardia Airport in time for her to check her luggage before she boarded her flight.

She retrieved her handbag, making certain it contained her ticket, and rushed out of the building, down the steps and around the corner, where John had promised to wait for her. She spied him leaning against the bumper of his late-model Lexus and waved. He straightened, returning her wave.

Sara had dated John half a dozen times over the past four months and, although she found herself the envy of many young black professional women who saw her and John as the perfect couple, she could not rouse any emotion deeper than friendship for the highly successful, very "together" brother.

Most times John looked as if he had just stepped off the cover of GQ. His professional curriculum vitae listed the best schools and professional affiliations, and his net worth was purported to approach seven figures.

He was perfect for any woman—except her. She did not know what it was, but there was something about John that would not permit her to completely relax in his presence.

John Bohannon watched Sara Sterling's approach, his dark eyes widening appreciatively behind the lenses of his sunglasses. She was ideal—his female counterpart.

She was a brilliant attorney who had come to the Brooklyn federal court at twenty-six, and had distinguished herself within less than three years as a tenacious, aggressive prosecutor. She figuratively devoured defense attorneys, relishing their decisions to go to trial rather than accept plea bargains. Sara had never discussed her work with him, and had warned him on their first date that she would no longer see him if he broached the subject.

He wanted to see her—every day, if possible. When he was first introduced to her through a mutual friend, he could not believe some man had not married her. It was only two days ago that he had realized he wanted to marry her. Not seeing her for three months had elicited an emotion he had not experienced in years—insecurity. He did not want her to leave New York and never return. He wanted her.

After an early-morning telephone call, he realized he had also needed her. Now he needed her to protect him from an impending legal entanglement that could destroy him and all that he had worked so hard to achieve over the past decade.

An admiring smile lifted the corners of his mobile mouth. Her stunning natural beauty was mesmerizing—especially her eyes. They were an odd shade of green with gold, which made him think of her as a lithe, graceful feline. Her naturally wavy black hair was cut in a becoming, sophisticated style that fell into layered precision when brushed off her high, intelligent forehead. Her delicate nose and lush mouth complemented a rich deep-brown coloring that made him wonder what bloodlines she claimed other than her obvious African ones. He had asked her once, and she had refused to discuss it.

If John found her face perfect, her body was even more so. She was tall for a woman, five-eight, slender without being thought of as too thin, and as physically fit as any professional female athlete. He knew she worked out five days a week at a local sports and health club. Her regimen included aerobics, thirty minutes on a treadmill and a vigorous game of racquetball. He had beaten her only twice on the racquetball court, feats which did little to assuage his bruised male ego.

His admiring gaze lingered on her long, shapely legs below the hem of a slim black linen skirt. Her conservative suit, ivory silk blouse, sheer black hose and two-inch black patent leather pumps did little to subdue the obvious sensuality she refused to openly acknowledge.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she said in apology, offering her cheek for a chaste kiss. "I thought it would have ended more than thirty minutes ago."

John flashed a warm smile he did not quite feel at that moment. He opened the passenger-side door of his car. "It's all right. We still have time to pick up your luggage from your apartment. I wanted to leave early because I thought perhaps we would have time to share lunch before you boarded."

Sara ducked her head and slipped onto the leather seat. Impeccable manners, she mused. Aside from his classic good looks and fastidious style of dressing, she silently admired John's manners. There was never a time when she was in his presence that she had not felt protected. John was the only man, other than her father, who had accomplished that.

Sara waited until he took his seat behind the wheel, then rewarded him with a warm smile. Her brilliant, jewel-like, slanting eyes tilted upward and caused him to catch his breath for several seconds before he let it out. Sara had no way of knowing how much of a turn-on it was for him whenever she smiled at him like that.

Reaching into her handbag, she withdrew a pair of sunglasses and perched them on the end of her short, straight nose. "Anything we'll eat in a restaurant in the terminal would have to be better than what I'll be served during the flight."

John returned her smile, then turned the key in the ignition. It caught immediately, and seconds later he maneuvered the luxury sedan through the narrow streets in the direction of her one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn Heights.

He took a quick glance at Sara when she settled back on her seat and closed her eyes. "Tired?" "Exhausted."

He wanted to talk, but decided against it. One thing he'd learned about Sara Sterling was that he could not persuade her to do anything she did not want to do. He had heard a rumor that she had been engaged to a fellow prelaw student when they were undergraduates, that it was she who had ended the relationship, and that they had decided to attend different law schools.

She attended a local New York City law school, making law review, and had come highly recommended to the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harlequin Kimani Arabesque
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0373534566
• ISBN 13: 9780373534562
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: HarperCollins Publishers Ireland; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; Mayor Street Upper 39/40; Dublin; D01 C9W8; Irland