Clare Connelly - Cross My Hart

Three days for business. And three nights for pleasure...

Has she made a deal with a sexy devil...or a wicked god?

What I need is distraction. A temporary break from thinking about my ex-boyfriend (and business partner) getting married tomorrow. Then I see him. Jagger. A beautiful blond god whos a 100 percent pure hot, hard-bodied distraction. Tonight, Im forgetting my heartbreak and business woes with this gorgeous Zeus of a man, who fills me with heat, fire and delicious aching need...

That is, until I meet my new real estate client the next morningthe one who holds my future in his handsand oh, God. Its him.

Now I have three days to sell a luxury golf resort to billionaire Jagger Hart. And all I want is to get him out of his clothes and between my sheets! A feeling which Jagger shares. By day, were all business. But at night, its a tornado of ripped clothes and insatiable lust.

We just have to keep our two worlds separate.

Only, now Im in danger of falling for the one man I definitely cannot have.

Because Jagger doesnt believe in loveeverand hes a man of his word. Cross his heart.

Harlequin DARE publishes sexy romances featuring powerful alpha heroes and bold, fearless heroines exploring their deepest fantasies.

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Clare Connelly was raised in small-town Australia among a family of avid readers. She spent much of her childhood up a tree, Harlequin book in hand. Clare is married to her own real-life hero, and they live in a bungalow near the sea with their two children. She is frequently found staring into spacea surefire sign that shes in the world of her characters. She has a penchant for French food and ice-cold champagne, and Harlequin novels continue to be her favorite-ever books. Writing for Harlequin is a long-held dream. Clare can be contacted via clareconnelly.com or her Facebook page.

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If you liked Cross My Hart , why not try

The Debt by Jackie Ashenden
Faking It by Stefanie London
Forbidden Sins by J. Margot Critch

Cross My Hart is the first installment in
Clare Connellys The Notorious Harts quartet.
Look out for

Burn My Hart
Harden My Hart
Unbreak My Hart

coming soon from Harlequin DARE!

Discover more at Harlequin.com

CROSS MY HART

Clare Connelly

For Jaggerwho completely stole my heart at first sight and whose smile lights up the world.

Contents

Y OU KNOW WHAT you need to put the wedding out of your mind? That. That guy right there.

Penny points across the restaurant and my eyes follow the direction of her finger. I presume shes not talking about the high-powered businessmen sitting one table over. After Gareth, Im giving suits a wide berth. Suits make me sick. I look beyond them, none the wiser. A family, an older couple with greying hair and three well-dressed younger people; two of them look to be a couple, one a sibling. My gaze lingers on them for a moment and a familiar pang of sadness sparks inside of me.

I miss my family.

Swallowing to clear my suddenly thick throat, I shift my gaze onwards, skating over the figure of a man standing at the bar, his back to me. Every fibre of my being goes on high alert.

Nothing about this man says suit.

Hes wearing low-cut denims, dark, scuffed at the arse in an Ive worn them to death rather than an I paid hundreds of bucks for them kind of way, and a fitted white shirt that shows off the contours of a back that is muscular and sinewy. His arms are tanned, his neck thick, and beneath the white stretch cotton of the shirt I can make out the ghost of writing running across his centrea tattoo?

My pulse leaps, pounding faster, and theres a twisting low down in my abdomen. His hair is thick and pale, blond, close-cropped.

I want to stare at him. I want to stare at him all night, ideally as he strips his clothes from his body.

All the more reason not to. I jerk my gaze back to Penny, a sardonic smile touching my lips. I dont think a one-night stand is going to make me forget that my ex is getting married tomorrow.

I dont know, she coos, unashamedly watching the man in a way that makes envy spurt, unwelcome, in my gut. I think that guy could drive Gareth out of your head for a while.

I look down at my drink, stirring the paper strawhalf-disintegratedin clockwise circles, watching as the ice chips against the edge. I think this is the only way Im going to forget.

To this, then, Penny agrees, chinking her glass to mine, lifting it to her lips and throwing it back in one fell swoop. Another?

I laugh, despite myself. Weve been best friends since primary school, when Marcia Adams called me fat and pushed me into the tennis nets, and Penny came running over and shoved Marciathree years older than usso hard she fell backwards and landed in a delightfully placed puddle. I cant have a big night, Pen. Ive got that gazillionaire flying in tomorrow to inspect the golf course. And you know how much I need to sell it. That commission is... I need it.

You dont have to tell me how much you need it, she says, crossing her arms over her chest. Her anger and hatred for Gareth know no bounds.

Im giving you until midnight, I say, and then I want to be back in my own bed.

Its only six oclock! She laughs.

Yeah, but I also need to not be hungover!

Babe she leans closer, pressing her forehead to mine do you trust me?

Of course I do.

Then let me help you put that fuckwit where he belongsthat is to say nowhere. He doesnt deserve even one minute of your attention. Got it?

I know that. Im not... I dont still think about him.

Sure you dont. Penny rolls her eyes. Youre doing a great job of moving on, but, unfortunately for you, you still co-own the same bloody real estate agency.

More to the pointwhy I need this sale tomorrow!

Yeah, I get it. She sighs. Its early. Whatever happens tonight, I promise Ill get you home by midnight. Okay?

I bite down on my lip, nodding slowly.

The same again? She slips her slender body out of our booth, her eyes falling to my still half-full glass with disapproval.

I lift the glass and throw it back, slamming it on the tabletop before meeting her eyes. You betcha.

She winks her approval and then sashays away, oblivious to the way the table of businessmen watch her as she goes. But then, thats Penny. Stunning, sexy, unselfconscious, smart, and totally uninterested in flattery and praise. Shes just happy going about her own business.

Im not still hung up on Gareth. I couldnt care less that hes getting married.

Okay, thats a lie. I care, but thats normal. We were together two yearsnot that long in the scheme of a whole life, I suppose, but two years. We started a business together and were talking about moving in together, and yet he always said to me, from the first date, Im not the marrying kind. And I accepted that, I got used to it, because I wasnt even sure if I was the marrying kindso why would I die on that hill?

And then we got more serious and our friends started getting married and I had this vision of our future, and suddenly it seemed strange to say wed never get married.

Stranger still when he broke up with me. Ugh. I try to push that memory way, way back in my mind. The words he used Ill never forget.