Kiss Me Crazy by Ednah Walters, E. B. Walters

the same man. It wasn’t easy. None of them had a thing on Baron. Their shoulders weren’t broad enough, their wolfish smiles a bit forced, and the gleam in their eyes more calculating than beguiling.
    “Want to get out of here and go somewhere quiet,” one man whispered in her ear after he managed to ask her to dance twice.
    Kara was done playing games. “No, thanks.”
     
     

CHAPTER 5
    By the time Kara left the galery on Saturday, she’d convinced herself she could sit across from Baron, enjoy a meal, and discuss business like a calm, mature woman. She wouldn’t do or say anything to indicate her ambiguous feelings toward him.
    Yeah, right. There was nothing ambiguous about the raw attraction she felt toward the gorgeous man. Her hormones were out of control. She needed an intervention, a libido crusher or something.
    She settled for listing everything she disliked about Baron as she showered and changed into a pair of jeans and simple burgundy T-shirt. He was a womanizer, ruthless, distant, and cold. Okay, she could scratch that last one. If the past few days were an indicator, the man was thawing faster than ice in scalding water. Why? What was he up to?
    Kara gave up her hopeless attempt to figure Baron out and removed her hair from the bun, brushed the fine mass until it was tangle-free then left it loose. A quick look in the mirror and she left the bathroom.
    Her cat jumped off the bed and rubbed against her leg, meowing up a storm. “Tessie, what’s wrong now?” She picked up the tabby and scratched behind her ears as she headed toward the kitchen. Her living room was neat, everything where it should be. The kitchen was…
    She gave herself a mental shake. Baron was coming for a business meeting slash dinner, not to inspect her home for cleanliness. I need to keep busy or the next twenty minutes will seem like forever.
    She picked up the phone, speed-dialed her parents’
    number, and settled on a couch in the family room, putting her feet on the armrest . Tessie curled on her lap and purred happily.
    The phone went unanswered. She sighed and was about to hang up when her mother picked up the phone.
    “Mom, finaly. I’ve been caling the last hour. Where have you guys been?”
    Her mother laughed. “Since when do we have to check with you before go anywhere, missy?”
    “I cal every Saturday evening.” It was her time to catch up with them because their crazy work schedule didn’t leave room for social cals during the week. Sundays they visited with her sister Briana. “Where did you guys go? Out to dinner?”
    “We were at Briana’s. She’s going to have a baby, Kara…
    my first grandchild.” Her mother’s voice became wobbly as she finished talking.
    “Mom, don’t cry. That’s wonderful news, a cal for celebration not tears.” Her high-maintenance, boyfriend-stealing younger sister was pregnant? It was hard to imagine. Briana often said pregnancy would destroy her figure. Or could this be another one of her ruses to get attention? It wouldn’t be the first time her baby sister faked something to upstage Kara. She was sure their parents had shared the news about her plans to start a company.
    “How far along is she?” Kara asked.

    “Twelve weeks.”
    “Twelve?” Now she felt bad about doubting Briana’s news.
    “She’s just teling you now?”
    “She said she’d miscarried twice, Kara, and didn’t want anyone to know until she was sure the baby was okay. Did you know about the miscarriages?”
    I’m the last person Briana would share anything about her marriage to Jim Wilkins, San Padres’ wonder boy, whom she stole from me. Not that Jim was her first boyfriend to switch camps, with Briana’s ful cooperation. It happened twice while Kara was in colege. Since the wedding, her sister avoided her like the plague. Cal her a fool, but she stil hoped Briana would one day feel a tinge of remorse for her deplorable behavior and apologize.
    “No, Mom. I didn’t know about her