The desire to be good
The temptation to be bad...
Lingerie model Piper is a tabloid’s dream come true. She’s broken hearts, rules—even a few laws. After her last little “adventure,” however, Piper realizes her trashed rep won’t just destroy her career—it’ll destroy the one thing she really cares about. Now she’s a Reformed Bad Girl. And nothing will stop her from being good.
Navy SEAL Neil Barrow is pretty much done being The Good Guy. He’s hoping that the deliciously naughty Piper will set both his body and his reputation on fire. When they steal away for a few days, however, it becomes clear that this incendiary attraction is about more than just being bad. And Neil will have to choose between the woman he wants...and the man he really is.
“And here is the winner...”
A rugged man bounded confidently up the stairs. Dog tags hung around his neck. His sandy-brown hair was slightly longer than she thought a military man’s would be, and a few curls clung to his neck and temples. He flashed a smile to the crowd and then placed his hands low on his hips and glanced at Piper.
He did a classic double take as his gaze swept down her body and back up again to meet her eyes. She caught the gleam of appreciation and...surprise.
What? He didn’t think world-famous lingerie model Piper would spend her day at a charity event? Well, that was why she was here. To clean up her image, right?
Piper stepped forward, offering the trophy to the man. As he took it from her, she leaned in to kiss his cheek, but he turned to face her and her lips touched his. After a split second of surprise he pressed closer, turning the peck into a real kiss.
His lips were gentle, inviting. Her breathing hitched and a heat that had nothing to do with the weather consumed her as his mouth moved over hers.
The audience erupted into applause. Someone whistled shrilly.
Snapped from her daze, Piper pulled away. Her heart was pounding. She touched the back of her hand to her flaming cheek.
Was she getting a fever?
When I wrote Night Maneuvers, I needed the “perfect guy” for female Navy pilot Alex to date to make Mitch jealous. At that time, I’d just read about the Navy SEAL sniper who had taken out the Somali pirates that had hijacked a US cargo ship. I thought how perfect a decorated hero would be to give Mitch an inferiority complex, and wrote Neil the SEAL as a secondary character. I didn’t really think of him as a Blaze hero because he was so perfect. Flawed men are way more fun to write. But then, after Night Maneuvers was released, I started receiving emails from readers asking for Neil to have his own happy ending, and, of course, readers know best! Neil did need his own happy-ever-after.
So, this is Neil’s story. Piper is a complicated person and very young. And Neil is so...nice. I was afraid he’d be boring. But Piper is just what Neil needed to shake up his perfect world. I loved researching the South Beach, Miami, setting and learned way more about sailing than I ever thought I would care to, but it was fascinating!
Watch for the last book in this trilogy coming soon, and please check my website, jillianburns.com, for more info and excerpts. Happy reading!
Jillian
Fevered Nights
Jillian Burns
JILLIAN BURNS fell in love while reading such classics as Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice in her teens and has been reading romance novels ever since. She lives in Texas with her husband of twenty-five years and their three half-grown kids. She likes to think her emotional nature—sometimes referred to as moodiness by those closest to her—has found the perfect outlet in writing stories filled with passion and romance. She believes romance novels have the power to change lives with their message of eternal love and hope.
To Natalie. You’ll always be my “Baby Girl” even if you are all grown up now.
Special thanks to sailing expert Joni Dahlstrom of Lynn Creek Marina for all the information about sailing. I appreciated you taking time out of your busy day to answer my questions. I can’t wait to go sailing with you!
And, as usual, thank you to my dearest critique partners and plotting helpers, Pam, Linda, Von and Barb. And a huge debt of gratitude to my editor Kathryn Lye.
Contents