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Bare It All
Lori Foster
A cop’s craving to know more about the woman next door could prove fatal in the steamy new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster.As the person responsible for taking down a brutal human trafficker, Alice Appleton fears retaliation at every turn. No one knows about her past, which is exactly how she prefers it…until the sexy cop next door comes knocking. Detective Reese Bareden thinks he knows what makes women tick, but his ever-elusive neighbor keeps him guessing like no other. Is his goal to unmask Alice’s secrets? Or protect her from a dangerous new threat?One thing is certain: their chemistry is a time bomb waiting to explode. And with no one to trust but each other, Reese and Alice are soon drawn into a deadly maze of corruption, intrigue, and desire—and into the line of fire…“Foster has an amazing ability to capture a man’s emotions and lust.” –Publishers Weekly on A Perfect Storm
A cop’s craving to know more about the woman next door could prove fatal in the steamy new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster
As the person responsible for taking down a brutal human trafficker, Alice Appleton fears retaliation at every turn. No one knows about her past, which is exactly how she prefers it…until the sexy cop next door comes knocking.
Detective Reese Bareden thinks he knows what makes women tick, but his ever-elusive neighbor keeps him guessing like no other. Is his goal to unmask Alice’s secrets? Or protect her from a dangerous new threat? One thing is certain: their chemistry is a time bomb waiting to explode. And with no one to trust but each other, Reese and Alice are soon drawn into a deadly maze of corruption, intrigue and desire—and into the line of fire….
Praise for New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster
“A sexy, believable roller coaster of action and romance.”
—Kirkus Reviews on Run the Risk
“Bestseller Foster…has an amazing ability to capture a man’s emotions and lust with sizzling sex scenes and meld it with a strong woman’s point of view.”
—Publishers Weekly on A Perfect Storm
“Foster rounds out her searing trilogy with a story that tilts toward the sizzling and sexy side of the genre.”
—RT Book Reviews on Savor the Danger
“The fast-paced thriller keeps these well-developed characters moving.… Foster’s series will continue to garner fans with this exciting installment.”
—Publishers Weekly on Trace of Fever
“Steamy, edgy and taut.”
—Library Journal on When You Dare
“Intense, edgy and hot. Lori Foster delivers everything you’re looking for in a romance.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz on Hard to Handle
“Lori Foster delivers the goods.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Tension, temptation, hot action and hotter romance—Lori Foster has it all! Hard to Handle is a knockout!”
—New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell
Dear Reader,
I often get asked if I have a favorite book or favorite character that I’ve written. The truth is, I wouldn’t write a character I didn’t enjoy, or a plot that didn’t excite me. So all my stories are favorites in one way or another.
BUT... Bare It All, the second in my new Love Undercover series, does include a very special heroine. Alice was originally meant to be strictly a secondary character in Trace of Fever, a book from my previous Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series. Alice had a pivotal role in wrapping up the plot of that story, but she was so quiet, so withdrawn that some readers might have overlooked her. I could not.
Because of her strength and courage, because of what she’d endured, Alice stayed in my mind. When Reese Bareden showed up in the first Love Undercover book, Run the Risk, I knew he was exactly what Alice needed. The characters agreed, and a plot was born.
I hope you enjoy Alice’s “happy ever after” as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Bare It All
Lori Foster
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Contents
Chapter One (#uebd65c95-ea0b-567b-a77f-d1114d7b9a25)
Chapter Two (#uf996c3be-f424-5e06-a523-13a44c879539)
Chapter Three (#ue8d62547-827c-5073-9683-f7209d7be0cf)
Chapter Four (#u13fec0a7-783d-518f-b61a-3ee542c06921)
Chapter Five (#u41383e1d-04f8-50d3-bb19-6ee30d3dd403)
Chapter Six (#u2ceff0d3-024c-588e-a2ee-01adb09dcc50)
Chapter Seven (#u0c79ce99-0a51-5164-a62f-68093e5266db)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
AS SHE CAME TOWARD HIM, Alice’s baby-soft hair hung loose, silky tendrils drifting over her shoulders. Her big brown eyes, so innocent and yet so aware, watched him intently, the way she always watched him. She smiled, and that smile did remarkable things to him. Made him ravenous, when he’d never quite experienced anything like that before. Lust, sure. But such a powerful need? No, never.
Only with Alice.
Very close now, so close the warmth of her touched all over him, she brushed her nose against his jaw, his neck, his ear.
He groaned. Out loud. He heard it but could barely credit that the sound came from him.
From a gentle nuzzle.
Against his ear.
It was insane, but it took very little from her to get him painfully aroused.
“Reese?”
He wanted her mouth on him. He turned his face toward her, and he felt her breath. Hot. Then her tongue. Wet.
“Oh...um, Reese?”
She sounded so tentative that he smiled as he reached for her and opened his eyes. His hand encountered dense fur, and the expressive brown eyes staring back at him weren’t Alice’s.
They weren’t even human.
His dog, Cash, panted at the sign of life. Delighted to have him awake, he barked, turned a quick circle and...licked Reese’s face.
Again.
“Shit.” Reese dodged the dog’s sloppy fondness while trying to get his bearings. The dream had felt so incredibly real. And so welcome. He shifted—and found himself cramped from head to toes...on a sofa.
Alice’s sofa.
Lifting his head, he looked down at himself. He wore only boxers, and as was usually the case when he first awakened, they were tented. Hmm...
Where had the sheet gone? Ah, over the side of the couch to the floor.
Levering up to one arm, Reese attempted to orient himself—and there stood Alice at the foot of the couch, fully dressed in summer slacks and a sleeveless blouse, her hands locked together in front of her and, yes, her soft brown hair hanging loose.
But now, with him wide awake, her hair looked tidy, like Alice, not sexily rumpled as it had been in his dream.
She watched him, but those soul-sucking brown eyes weren’t on his face.
They stared with absorbing attention at his morning wood.
Great. Playing kissy-face with his dog was bad enough. Scrambling for the sheet now would only make him look more foolish. He wasn’t used to finding himself in tricky, uncomfortable situations. At least, not with women.
As a police detective, sure, he’d often found himself discomfited by perps, though not in boxers while sporting mahogany.
Alice was many things—a neighbor, an enigma, an irritant and a subtle bombshell.
And obviously, based on that ramped-up dream, she was also the current focus of his fantasies.
He cleared his throat. “Up here, Alice.” Her curious gaze rose to his face. “Thank you. Now if you don’t mind, you could turn around a moment. My modesty is beyond compromised, so it doesn’t really matter to me, but with your face already going pink, I’m not sure—”
“Of course.” Turning, she gave him her back. Posture stiff. Air uncertain.
That lovely fawn-colored hair fell just beyond her shoulders.
“Sorry about that.” She strode, fast and unsteady, to the patio doors that led to her small deck. She’d left the door open, allowing in a muggy, late-August breeze that teased her beautiful hair.
Given the heat of his interest, air-conditioning would have been nice, but since this was Alice’s apartment, and she’d been generous enough to let him crash on her couch, he wouldn’t complain. Much.
“What time is it, anyway?” Sitting up, Reese reached for the sheet, but Cash sat on it. The dog watched Reese, his furry ears perked up, his expression hopeful. Reese grinned. After tugging out the sheet and covering himself, he patted the couch beside his thigh. “C’mere, boy.”
The dog bounded up with over-the-moon enthusiasm. Because of the undercover sting they’d just wrapped up, he’d spent as much time away from Cash as with him—and still he and the dog had bonded.
“It’s a little after one o’clock.”
And she hadn’t awakened him? How long had she been sneaking around the apartment?
How long had he lain there without even a sheet?
He was generally a light sleeper, so either he’d been really out of it, or she was...stealthy.
That thought bothered him and meshed with other concerns he had about Alice. Her keen observance of everything around her, combined with her cautious air, planted awful background possibilities into his head.
