Praise for Cara Summers
“The sex scenes were incredibly hot! Ms Summers
knows how to entertain her readers while writing something a bit risqué.” —Night Owl Reviews on Led into Temptation
“Sensationally sensual … this tale of a forbidden,
guilt-ridden love is a delight. Brimming with diverse, compelling characters, scorching-hot love scenes, romance, and even a ghost, this story is unforgettable.” —Romancejunkies.com on Led into Temptation
“Great characters with explosive chemistry, a fun
intrigue-flavoured plot and a high degree of sensuality add up to an excellent read!” —RT Book Reviews on Taken Beyond Temptation
“So steamy you can practically see the steam rising
from the pages … Filled with intrigue, mystery, humour, sizzling-hot love scenes, an absorbing plot, non-stop action, suspense, a well-matched couple, plot twists, and a surprise ending, this story is unforgettable and definitely a winner.” —Romancejunkies.com on Taken Beyond Temptation
“A writer of incredible talent with a gift for emotional
stories laced with humour and passion.” —Rendezvous
Dear Reader,
St Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays, and I thought it would be the perfect backdrop for my fifth WRONG BED book. I love writing stories in which two people, who think they are so wrong for each other, discover (much to their initial horror) that they make a perfect match!
Special FBI agent Nicola Guthrie and Security expert Gabe Wilder share a common goal. They are each determined to catch a thief—namely the media celebrity who’s been robbing Denver’s socially elite and who only strikes on holidays. With St Valentine’s Day a mere forty-eight hours away, the clock is ticking, and Nicola’s prime suspect is Gabe. Of course, that doesn’t stop her from falling into bed with him the first chance she gets …
For news about upcoming books, please visit my website, www.carasummers.com.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Cara Summers
About the Author
Was CARA SUMMERS born with the dream of becoming a published romance novelist? No. But now that she is, she still feels her dream has come true. She loves writing for the Blaze® line because it allows her to create strong, determined women and seriously sexy men who will risk everything to achieve their dreams. Cara has written more than thirty-five books, and when she isn’t working on new stories, she teaches in the Writing Program at Syracuse University and at a community college near her home.
Take My
Breath Away …
Cara Summers
To all of my readers everywhere!
Thanks so much for your support. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Prologue
The day after Thanksgiving …
“I’M THINKING WHAT WE’VU got here is a copycat thief.” FBI Agent Nick Guthrie kept his eyes steady on Gabe Wilder as he gestured to the Monet propped on the credenza to the left of his desk. In front of the cleverly forged painting lay a copy of that morning’s Denver Post. The headline read: Priceless Monet Stolen on Thanksgiving Day.
“Don’t you agree? He replaces the original with a very good copy. That’s what your father always did. He’s even signing your father’s initials.”
Gabe said nothing, letting the silence stretch between them. He’d been coming to grips with the fact that someone was imitating his father ever since Guthrie had called him to the crime scene the night before. At 6:30 a.m., the FBI offices were still empty, and Guthrie hadn’t bothered to draw the shades on the glass walls that divided his office from the others in the White-Collar Crime Division.
“Well?” Guthrie prompted Gabe. “What are you thinking?”
“We’re not dealing with a copycat.” He shifted his gaze to the Monet.
“No?” Guthrie frowned. “The thief broke through one of the best security alarm systems available, one of yours. He has a detailed knowledge of the M.O. your father used. And it’s a French Impressionist painting. Raphael Wilder was particularly talented at forging those. I say someone is deliberately imitating your father’s style right down to signing the forgery with the initials, R.W.”
“But my father never sent announcements bragging about his thefts,” Gabe pointed out.
“Agreed,” Guthrie said. “But everything else is the same.”
Gabe couldn’t argue with that. But why would someone choose to imitate the style of a legendary art thief and then deviate in a major way from his method? And why was this thief choosing to copy his father in the first place? Those were the questions that he intended to find the answers to.
“I had a chance to study the original painting when my company set up the security at the Langfords’ house.” Gabe nodded his head toward the Monet. “The forgery is a good one. It might have been years before the fake was detected.”
Guthrie leaned back in his chair. “So why announce the theft?”
“Exactly. Raphael Wilder never would have.” Then Gabe met Nick Guthrie’s eyes. “That’s why I’m not willing to agree that this thief is simply a copycat. There’s more going on here. Why don’t you come right out and ask me if I had something to do with stealing the Monet? The possibility must have crossed your mind. No one would know my father’s methods better than I. His initials are on the painting. The Langfords were using my security system.”
Guthrie said nothing.
“Perhaps I substituted the forgery when I installed the alarm system. That would eliminate the need to go back and break in later. I could sell the original and no one would be the wiser, perhaps ever.”
“That’s what your father would have done.” Guthrie shot him a frown. “And maybe your involvement in the theft did cross my mind, but I dismissed the possibility. Raphael Wilder was a thief, a very good one, and if you’d followed in his footsteps, I imagine you’d have made a very good one also. But you haven’t. We go back a long way, Gabe.”
That much was true. The first day he’d met FBI Agent Nick Guthrie was the day the man had come into his home and arrested his father for grand larceny. That had been over fifteen years ago. And within a month of Raphael Wilder’s conviction, he’d died in prison of pneumonia. Ever since then, Nick Guthrie had kept close tabs on Gabe. What might have begun as feelings of guilt or responsibility on Guthrie’s part had evolved gradually into a friendship, one that ran both ways.
And Nick Guthrie had been one of the people who’d helped him stay on the straight and narrow at a time in his life when he might have chosen a different path. He owed other people, too, of course. Father Mike Flynn and the St. Francis Center for Boys had played a key role.
Nick Guthrie leaned forward. “I know about the promise you made your mother when she was dying. I was with you and Father Mike the day that you renewed that promise to your father in the prison infirmary. There’s no way that you would break those vows by starting to steal paintings. You’ve built a business to protect people from theft and from harm. And you’re doing a damn good job of it.”
Gabe