Heidi Rice - 10 Rules to Sex Up a Blind Date

About the Author

USA TODAY bestselling author Heidi Rice lives in London, England. She is married with two teenage sons (which gives her rather too much of an insight into the male psyche) and also works as a film journalist. She adores her job, which involves getting swept up in a world of high emotions, sensual excitement, funny, feisty women, sexy, tortured men and glamorous locations where laundry doesnt exist. Once she turns off her computer, she often does chores (usually involving laundry!).

Books by Heidi Rice

Cosmopolitan Red-Hot Reads from Harlequin
10 Ways to Handle the Best Man

Harlequin POP!
Movie Bliss: A Hopeless Romantic Seeks Films to Love (On sale now!)

Harlequin KISS
Too Close for Comfort (June 2013)

Maid of Dishonor (September 2013)

Beach Bar Baby (June 2014)

Harlequin Presents Extra
Heidi has a further 12 titles available as ebook that were published in Harlequin Presents and Harlequin Presents Extra. Check out Harlequin.com.

#WorstDatesEver

After a nasty breakup, Tally Gladstone has no interest in anything serious. But shes dipped her wary toe back into dating with a few blind datesall bador worse. The only good thing to come out of it is a sizable following on social media. Her latest date is doomed from the get-gohe isnt even straight. But at least he knows someone who meets her every very exacting wish!

#EpicHotLover?

American-in-London Brent ONeill is everything she wantson paper. Hes hot, sexy and emotionally off-limits. Tally can play all she likes without getting burned. Hes so good in bed hes addictive. But her millions of social media followers want disaster, not boring-ever-after. They might get their way yethow is she going to walk away before her heart is in tatters?

Sexy, contemporary romance stories for todays fun, fearless female.

Chapter Eight

#NewRule: Be warned: hot tempers and confined spaces dont mix... Unless youre in the mood for superhot make-up sex. #Justsaying

Tally frowned at her computer screen as yet another speculative tweet appeared in the #EpicHotLoverHunt stream and her original tweet continued to clock up retweets at a rate that hadnt slowed for over three hours. Her stomach contracted. Shed deleted the stupid post half an hour after sending it, once shed arrived at the office and realised the furore it had caused. How was she supposed to know that approximately 80 per cent of her followers were so desperate to find a decent Hot Lover they didnt care if he was an alpha hole?

But as the retweets mounted and the search for Brents true identity escalated, her anxiety increased. Maybe the guy had proved himself to be a class-A bastard. But publishing his picture online might not have been her smoothest move. Not only could she be open to a liable suit if he was identified, she wasnt entirely sure even he deserved to be the object of an oestrogen explosion of these proportions.

She tried to override the memory of his hand skimming over her stomach as he pressed inside her that last time.

Hey, Tal, snap out of it. MyPads features editor, Jill Clinton, clicked her fingers in front of Tallys face. Whats so interesting, anyway?

Tally slapped the lid down on her laptop. Nothing.

Spoil-sport. Jill grinned. She was a good boss. Smart, hip, not too much of a slave-driver and usually game for a laugh. But Tally wasnt sure shed be grinning if she found out Tallys hidden identity. Especially now @BlindDateBitch seemed to have morphed, in the space of a single knee-jerk tweet, from being the single womans smart-mouth friend into the prime hot lovers pimp.

Marketing rang to say weve lost the half-page ad on fifteen. Jill got down to business. Kels rejigging the page, but could you write up a sidebar to fill the gap on... Jill rotated her hand as if trying to conjure up an idea from thin air. Design dos and donts for kitchen makeovers, or something like that...basically anything amazing that you can illustrate from our stock photos.

Sure. Tallys brain knotted. Terrific. Just what she needed when the shit was hitting Twitter, her emotions were in turmoil and shed got about an hours sleep last night...real work.

Have it on my desk by six. Eight hundred words should do it.

Excuse me, sir, you cant come in here without an appointment. The pained cry from the magazines receptionist, Gloria, had them both turning towards the front of the warehouse space that housed MyPads offices.

Tally Gladstones expecting me, came the gruff response from the man bearing down on poor Gloria.

Whos he? Please tell me hes here for a photo shoot? Hes gorgeous. Jills teasing voice seeped into Tallys consciousness past the blast of shock as Brent ONeill headed across the industrial linoleum.

Hes the Epic Hot Lover.And hes here to bite me.

Tallys heart smacked into her ribs. Bright blue eyes locked on her burning face and her mind scrambled to come up with a way to avert the disaster.

What are you doing here? Her question came out on a lame huff as he arrived at her desk, the temper radiating off him in waves.

I think you know. He snagged her wrist and hauled her out of the chair. We need to talk. Without another word, he marched out of the office, Tally trailing along behind, while her friends and colleagues all did their best guppy impressions.

Excuse me, would you like to feature in our Hunks in Toolbelts column? Jill called out from behind them. They both ignored her.

Are you insane? She slapped at the hand manacled to her wrist. His strides lengthened. Where the hell do you think youre taking me?

Somewhere private, he hissed over his shoulder, dragging her past Gloria, whose eyes had rounded to the size of dinner plates. Dont worry, you can tell your million followers all about it once Ive finished giving you the spanking you deserve.

Whaaaat?

She struggled in earnest then, shock warring with outrage, not only from the threat, but from the spark of sensation that shot down her spine and exploded in her arse. Hed spanked her several times last night. And shed loved it. His dominance had been arousing, inflaming her senses and making her want to surrender control. But the thought of him laying his hand on her arse now, as if he had a right to, as if hed bought and paid for the privilege, made her temper explode like a firecrackerunfortunately, it also made her hum like a high-end vibrator.

You son of a bitch. How dare you act as though Im in the wrong here. She hurled the words at his back. His shoulders tensed, but it was the only response she got as he headed past the lifts and slapped open the swinging door to the empty offices on the other side of the recently rehabbed building.

Yanking her into the cavernous space, he swung her round to face him, his brows lowering over eyes that had gone a cold flinty blue.

She rubbed her wrist, her breath heaving. You lay a hand on my arse and Ill sue your arse from here to next Sunday.

Youre gonna sue me? He stabbed a thumb into his chest. Thats fucking rich! After you posted a picture of me and intimate details about my sex life to a million people.

Bugger off, Ive got a few hundred thousand followers at most, she shot back, trying not to panic at the thought that he had discovered her identityand so must know all about the ongoing Twitter huntwhich offered him as the prize. Plus, I didnt identify you, so its not libellous. And no judge is going to consider Epic Hot Lover defamation of characterbecause most guys would be flattered.

Uh-huh? Well, Im not most guys. He slapped a hand against the wall above her head, surrounding her in that subtle laundry-soap scent. A picture counts as identification. And Epic Hot Lover wasnt the only hashtag. His temper sparked off hers, making the adrenaline pump through her veins like wildfire. Im also the ultimate alpha hole, remember?