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One Perfect Moment
A.C. Arthur
He thought he’d escaped his notorious history—Now she could thrust him back in the spotlight…TV producer Ava Cannon is stunned to discover that the secret lover who briefly shared her bed is one of America’s most famous sextuplets. But Dr. Gage Taylor now shuns the spotlight. As they rekindle their sizzling affair, will Ava have to choose between a game-changing career move and the man she loves?
He thought he’d escaped his notorious history—
Now she could thrust him back in the spotlight...
TV producer Ava Cannon is stunned to discover that the secret lover who briefly shared her bed is one of America’s most famous sextuplets. But Dr. Gage Taylor now shuns the spotlight. As they rekindle their sizzling affair, will Ava have to choose between a game-changing career move and the man she loves?
A.C. ARTHUR is an award-winning author who lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband and three children. An active imagination and a love for reading encouraged her to begin writing in high school and she hasn’t stopped since.
Also by A.C. Arthur (#ulink_df25b4aa-0a6d-5fad-8cbf-05ff7025b319)
Harlequin Kimani Romance
Winter Kisses
Desire a Donovan
Surrender to a Donovan
Decadent Dreams
Eve of Passion
One Mistletoe Wish
To Marry a Prince
Loving the Princess
Prince Ever After
One Unforgettable Kiss
One Perfect Moment
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
One Perfect Moment
A.C. Arthur
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08489-5
ONE PERFECT MOMENT
© 2018 Artist Arthur
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
“I don’t do relationships,” he told her, but moved from where he stood, until he stopped only inches away from her.
“We’ve already had this conversation,” she said and took the last step to close the distance between them. “You don’t do relationships. You like your privacy. I’m focused on my career and will let nothing interfere with achieving my goals. You’re attracted to me, and I’m attracted to you.”
“For this one time,” he said and used a finger to trace the line of her bottom lip.
Heat spread quickly throughout her body, her fingers clenching and releasing at her side as she tried to remain still for just a moment longer.
“Again,” she whispered and gave in.
Coming up on the tip of her toes, Ava wrapped her arms around Gage’s neck and pulled his head down so that her lips could touch his. That simple connection set off an explosion of heat that soared through her body. The memory of their night in the trailer had never dimmed in her mind; still, this touch sent her reeling with pleasure.
Dear Reader (#ulink_7b2031d9-787a-5858-bc4d-ad0b915c3c96),
I’ve been eager to get to Gage Taylor’s story because I knew he had some things to work through before finding his happy-ever-after. Ava Cannon is just what he needs, even if he doesn’t know it yet!
The fun part about writing these two characters was they were so similar as far as their careers that you would have thought they’d immediately realize they were the perfect couple. But, as it is in life, things get in the way. So we’re back in Temptation with more meddling folk and scandalous revelations.
Get ready for another visit to Temptation and the journey to another Taylor falling in love.
Happy reading,
ac
Contents
Cover (#u28326419-e52f-5c20-9b74-d9b152346ee9)
Back Cover Text (#u73595658-030b-5d32-aaa1-d085a4b58637)
About the Author (#u5021630a-e6fc-5813-92ed-94d40eecc967)
Booklist (#ulink_c6e9d144-07f5-5eee-9acf-e30d4c4db7c8)
Title Page (#ube8fbf7e-6bbc-5e15-8134-7e9a05644bcc)
Copyright (#uce05deae-08d4-5d59-848b-8119110efa21)
Introduction (#udc0e758c-8167-5165-ba3d-587f1ceaba83)
Dear Reader (#ulink_d8be059e-c1da-5ec1-842d-d6eaf59c07e2)
Prologue (#ud4b770fc-87ca-567b-9b6d-4724852c25bb)
Chapter 1 (#ube2a6b45-d3e7-5c77-86d7-f293242d248c)
Chapter 2 (#uf6527478-3db1-56ee-a48e-659a5c382e19)
Chapter 3 (#u3cafc49c-c51a-5288-920f-ca4129673302)
Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Prologue (#ulink_3708a6e3-c3e1-5c09-a8a1-794add2a685c)
Staten Island, New York
“Just this one time,” Ava Cannon whispered as his hands cupped her butt.
“Once is enough,” Gage Taylor murmured while moving them farther into her trailer.
He kicked the door closed with his foot, pausing a second to reach back and lock it. Then his hands were on her once more, his mouth crashing down over hers. The kiss took her breath away, every stroke of his tongue sending searing bolts of desire through her system until her fingers were gripping his shirt. The feel of his strong biceps through the cotton material, coupled with the hardness of his body, now pressed closely against hers, caused Ava’s knees to tremble.
This was what she’d been fighting for over the last couple of months. Each day she’d stepped onto the set of Doctor’s Orders, knowing that he would be there. The strong hands that she’d seen holding her script as he’d checked the words she’d written, monitoring them for medical accuracy, now touched her body.
“It will be enough,” Ava whispered when he tore his mouth away from hers and she could take a breath.
He tugged the hem of her shirt from her pants. She lifted her arms up over her head, and he pulled the shirt off. His hands immediately went around her to the clasp of her bra, which he quickly unhooked before removing and tossing it somewhere on the trailer floor.
“Enough,” he mumbled as he dipped his head. “More than enough.”
His lips were on her breast then, teeth holding a turgid nipple before he sucked her in deep. Ava arched her back, her hands going to his shoulders as she tried to hold on to him. When he moved to the other breast she let her head lull back, her eyes closing to the delicious sensations rippling throughout her body.
Dr. Gage Taylor was a brilliant obstetrician and researcher. He’d come highly recommended when she’d asked who in the New York area would be a good consultant for her show. And when he arrived in her office that first day, she’d been rewarded with how jaw-dropping handsome the guy was. Ava should have known then that she was in trouble.
Now, she was pulling at his shirt until the buttons popped off. He grunted and hurried to unsnap his pants while she did the same, toed off her flats and pushed her pants and panties down her legs. His shirt was on the floor, his pants undone, his hands moving quickly to pull a condom packet from his wallet. She pushed his pants and his boxers down as he ripped the condom packet open and then smoothed the latex over his length. He wore leather loafers that he kicked off his feet before stepping out of his pants.
Ava sat on the couch. She scooted back on the wide pillows and looked up at all of the heavenly goodness that was Gage Taylor. Six feet one inch of golden honey-hued skin, ripped abs, muscled limbs and a thick, long erection. She swallowed as her gaze rested there.
“Just this once,” he said, his voice deep and husky in the confined space of the trailer.
Ava licked her lips and nodded. “Yes, just this once.”
He was over her by then, his lips on hers, his knee spreading her legs apart. She opened her mouth to his persistence, clasped her hands to the back of his head to hold him there. He pushed them both back to a lying position on the couch, arranging himself between her legs. He said something, but Ava couldn’t hear him over the pounding of her heart and the rush of desire.
Her legs were already trembling by the time the crest of his erection touched her entrance. He pressed harder.
She moaned deeper, and their “one time” began.
Chapter 1 (#ulink_1864a7d6-7428-5b3d-ab85-9231ac1cb280)
New York City Three weeks later
Gage stepped out onto the sidewalk on a warm September morning, three weeks after they’d wrapped up shooting on Doctor’s Orders. Despite the strange hours he’d been keeping during the seven weeks he served as an on-site consultant for the network medical drama, this morning he was expected at the hospital by nine. That meant he was taking his usual four-block walk to the Nancy Links Medical Center, where he’d worked as an obstetrician for the last four years.
He held his briefcase in one hand, cell phone in the other as he walked away from the thirty-story condo building, his Italian leather dress shoes clicking on the sidewalk. This afternoon he was seeing patients, but this morning was relatively free, he noted as he looked at his mobile calendar.
Gage had discovered early in life that being organized was a necessity. Growing up in a household with five siblings meant he had to know what was his and where his personal belongings were at all times. He’d learned a lot growing up as one of the infamous Taylor sextuplets, enough to make not repeating past mistakes one of his main priorities in life.
He looked up in time to see the light changing and then crossed the street just before his phone rang.
“Dr. Taylor,” he answered because he could see from the caller ID that it was the hospital calling.
“Good morning,” his assistant, Carrie, replied.
Carrie had been with him for the last six months. For his first two years at the medical center he’d been in residency, and then his inaugural research paper on infertility and the strides that had been made in the field had been published. That had propelled his career forward, and Gage became a staff obstetrician as well as a grant recipient in the following weeks to continue his research. With those dual titles, he’d been given a corner office on the hospital’s fourth floor, an administrative assistant and, just recently, a lab assistant. His first admin had gone on maternity leave just weeks before his father’s death last September. Since then, he’d gone through three more assistants, who had been sent to him via an employment agency.
Who would have thought that after all this time out of the spotlight, there would still be someone—actually three someones, all female—who not only knew who he was, but were also ready to claim their place in the spotlight by either working for him, or possibly sleeping with him.
Gage blamed his father’s death a year ago for the renewed interest in the first African American sextuplets to be born in Temptation, Virginia, thirty years ago. After leaving his wife and seven-year-old children, Theodor Taylor had gone on to become the CEO of Taylor Manufacturing, building an empire that designed engines for a Japanese automotive company. Stock in the company had soared at the time of Theodor’s death, and when it was announced that the estate would be handled by the children, Gage recalled fielding calls from newspaper reporters to investors asking about their plans for the international company. That was until Gray, the oldest Taylor sextuplet, brokered a deal to sell Taylor Manufacturing and divided the proceeds evenly among the siblings.
