Free Wicked Heat by Nicola Marsh

“We’re talking
     about my sunscreen application services, right?” His palm slid off her butt and onto
     her thigh, skimming her leg all the way down to her toes. “Because I’m also available
     to service you in other ways, plunge or otherwise…”
    She gasped as he leaned down to place a hot, openmouthed kiss in the small of her
     back.
    “Don’t you have work to do?”
    “Don’t remind me.” He sat on the lounger and rested his hand on her hip like it was
     the most natural thing in the world, oblivious to her haywire hormones from his simple
     touch. “Apparently I have a few days to come up with a whiz-bang campaign to score
     the biggest client I’ve ever had, or my career is down the crapper.”
    An uneasy feeling insinuated its way into her hormone haze. “Tell me more about your
     work.”
    “You want to be bored?”
    “It interests me.” She wriggled into a sitting position and hugged her knees to her
     chest, hoping her intuition was way off. Because the moment he’d said campaign and biggest client ever , Allegra had an awful sinking feeling she knew who Jett was referring to. And that
     would make him the enemy. “Considering we skipped the getting-to-know-each-other thing
     and jumped straight into bed, I’d like to hear a bit more about you.”
    “You sure?” He dropped a kiss onto her knee and damn if the skin there wasn’t as responsive
     to his touch as the rest of her body. “Because I’m going to have limited downtime
     the next few days and I’d rather spend it doing more of that jumping into bed than
     talking business.”
    She would, too, but if his big client happened to be Kai Kaluna…damn, they were one
     major conflict of interest waiting to happen.
    “Trade you.” She held up her hand, fingers spread. “Five minutes of talk for thirty
     minutes in bed.”
    “Who needs a bed?” He nuzzled the tender skin beneath her ear and her head fell back
     as she reveled in his constant urge to touch her.
    She wanted his hands and mouth all over her, but that wouldn’t foster the information
     she needed before they took this thing between them further.
    She gently swatted him away. “Start talking, mister.”
    He slipped an arm around her waist and held her close. “At the risk of boring you
     to tears, here’s the abbreviated version. I’m in advertising. Had a great business
     in Sydney co-run by my oldest buddy from high school. He scammed cash, made some foolish
     investments, lost the lot, and absconded to some Caribbean hideaway to avoid criminal
     prosecution and me busting his ass. So in order to regain respect of clients, not
     have my career ruined completely, and start a new company from scratch, I need to
     win the ad campaign for this island’s resort. It’s the only thing that will save me.”
    Allegra’s earlier unease blossomed into full-blown dread.
    Jett was pitching to Kai Kaluna, the same client she had to land to save AW Advertising.
     The same client he needed to save his career.
    Shit.
    “That’s awful, what your best friend did.”
    “Tell me about it.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe he screwed me over.
     Reeve was the math brain at school so it seemed natural for him to deal with our financials.
     I checked the spreadsheets at regular intervals, kept abreast of our business.”
    His audible devastation made her want to hug him tight.
    “Want to know the pathetic part? I constantly wonder if I was too pumped up on success,
     that I missed any inconsistencies.”
    Allegra rubbed his back in small circles, comforting. “He sounds like a conniving
     con man who thought nothing of robbing his best friend blind. Nothing you could’ve
     done would stop scum like that.”
    His rueful smile warmed her heart. “The cops said the same. Reeve had spent years
     siphoning off funds, doctoring the books, and ensuring he covered his tracks so not
     even our accountant had a clue.” He swore. “What pisses me off the most is how we