HOW TO SEDUCE A BAD BOY
Point Beacon #1
Melody Bryant has heard it all before. Sure, she's the epitome of the stereotype for a librarian. Loves order. Loves rules and deadlines. Loves books. But what she doesn't love is still being a virgin at twenty-four. Unfortunately, the only guy she's ever been interested in turned her down flat. And then left town. Eight. Years. Ago. Ugh.
Now her birthday is fast approaching and she just can't take it any longer. She's finding a guy before her birthday in five weeks or she's adopting two more cats and fully embracing becoming "the crazy cat lady."
But when her latest date ends in epic failure--everyone thinks of her as the "proper librarian," she realizes what she needs is to ruin her reputation. And she knows the perfect guy to help her: the baddest bad boy in town. This Army vet won't know what hit him...
“Thanks for—” Nothing.
Melody Bryant barely had time to avoid getting her toes run over as her latest first date pulled away from the curb in a flurry of exhaust and squealing tires.
With a sigh, she trudged up the walkway to her quaint little bungalow on a quiet side street in Point Beacon, Indiana. She’d really thought this evening had been going well, too. Her date du jour had been Michael Bennett, owner of their tiny town’s only buy-here, pay-here used car emporium and last year’s winner of the chamber of commerce’s top entrepreneur award. And yes, maybe he had been a bit… smarmy—in that aggressive salesman sort of way—with no regard for personal space or breath mints, but still.
Shoulders slumped, Mel unlocked her front door and pushed inside, her fluffy Birman cat darting over to twine around her ankles. She tossed her stuff on the side table in the foyer, then bent to scratch the purring feline behind the ears. “Another one bites the dust, eh, Waldo?”
Waldo meowed, as if in sympathy.
After toeing off her cute red-and-white Mary Jane pumps, she grabbed her cell phone from her purse, then padded down the short hall to the kitchen to grab the “canister of M&M’s she kept on her counter at all times. Mel balanced the large glass container on one hip as she proceeded into her open-style living room and plopped into the corner of the overstuffed beige sofa. She pried open the lid of the canister with one hand while hitting speed dial for her best friend with the other, then began sorting the candy into the colors she liked—blue, red, and, most especially,
green.
Lilly Martin answered on the second ring. “How’d it go?”
“Not good.” Between popping candies into her mouth, Mel explained the events of her newest dating fail. “I mean, it started out fine. Dinner at Stubby’s Steakhouse, talking about our jobs, our goals, our dreams for the future. Then, of course, he went into all his hot librarian fantasies.”
“Ewww,” Lilly said, her shudder evident through the phone line. “That’s nasty.”
“Hey, it’s not like I haven’t heard it before.” She devoured another handful of M&M’s, then parroted Mike’s “worst come-on. “You must have overdue books, honey, because you’ve got fine written all over you.”
Lilly snorted. “Nice. How about, ‘It’s not the size of the collection, it’s how you use it.’”
Mel giggled. “No, no. My all-time favorite was, ‘Good thing I’ve got my library card, ’cause I’m totally checking you out.’”
They laughed so hard and long, Mel’s stomach hurt by the time she stopped. In the silence that followed, however, harsh reality returned. Given her lack of boyfriend and no prospects on the horizon at the ripe old age of twenty-four, she felt terminally boring and doomed to be stuck in the “friend zone” for eternity. “Seriously, though, what the heck am I missing here?”
Lilly sighed. “Besides a hot man in your bed?”
“Exactly.” Mel straightened slightly to run the fingers of her free hand through Waldo’s thick grayish-white fur. “Tell me where to find one of those super studs and I’ll be all over him.”
“Cool your jets there, Maverick.” Lilly chuckled. “Have you stopped to consider maybe you’re coming across too eager? Most guys like a challenge. Then there’s the whole nightmare of your wardrobe.”
“What’s wrong with “my wardrobe?” Mel scowled down at her calf-length red pencil skirt and cream-colored twinset. The pearls might be a bit much, but they’d belonged to her grandmother.
“Nothing. If you’re ninety and your name’s June Cleaver.”
Mel slammed the lid back on the canister and set it on the coffee table. “I don’t look like June Cleaver. I dress for comfort. Plus, it gets cold in the library, so I wear layers to keep warm.”
“Good, because those cardigans are the only things that’ll be keeping you toasty on the long winter nights ahead.” Lilly’s tone held a hint of pity, which set Mel’s hackles rising. Her best friend had no room to talk. She went through men like tissues, never seeming to stay with one guy too long. Like Goldilocks, no one was just right—too short, too tall, too fat, too thin, talks too much, doesn’t talk enough. Mel had begun to wonder if there was a man alive “perfect enough for her best friend. Though there had been that one night, right before Mel’s older brother, James, had left for basic training. She’d thought there might have been something between them, but Lilly had always denied it and Mel wasn’t about to ask James about his love life because… ewww. Anyway, this conversation was about Mel’s romantic adventures, or lack thereof.
“Look,” Lilly said, jarring Mel out of her thoughts. “All I’m saying is it wouldn’t kill you to show a bit of skin, maybe play down the prim.”
Arms crossed, Mel cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear. “I’m not prim, I’m classic. Besides, I don’t want to be with a guy who only wants me if I pretend to be something I’m not.”
“I’m not asking you to change who you are,” Lilly said. “Just highlight your assets.”
My assets? Mel glanced down at her ample bust and wide hips, then at the M&M’s container beckoning her to finish it off. Lilly was right, darn it, and it was all so unfair. Her twenty-fifth birthday was coming up in a month—August 14, to be exact—and she was still a virgin.
Sure, maybe being a virgin in your mid-twenties wasn’t exactly a predicament equivalent to say, a raging case of Ebola, but it felt pretty darned close to Mel. Especially tonight. Most likely, her lingering maidenhead was the reason for her recent bout of dating desperation—and the only sane excuse Mel could come up with for considering born-to-be-wild Lilly’s advice.
After all, keeping it classy sure hadn’t worked well in the love department thus far.
Honestly, Mel’s problems with the men of Point Beacon had started clear back in high school. From the day she’d turned sixteen and her parents had finally allowed date, all the local guys thought she was too type A, too high-maintenance, too “good girl.”
Maybe that was true. She exhaled slowly and collapsed back against the couch cushions, feeling defeated. She ran the best dang library in central Indiana yet couldn’t seem to make it past a first date. Let alone find a man to make all her wicked desires and fantasies come true.
It was frustrating. It was pitiful. It was ridiculous.
And it was all Adam Foster’s fault.
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USA Today Bestselling Author TRACI DOUGLASS writes fiction bursting with romance, usually mixed with a healthy portion of snark. Her stories feature sizzling heroes with humor, quick wits and troubled pasts and smart, independent heroines who always give as good as they get.
She's an active member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Indiana Romance Writers of America (IRWA), and the International Thriller Writers (ITW), and holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.
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THE HOLIDAY INTERVIEW
ANGI: What’s your favorite gift Santa ever left under the tree?
TRACI: A Pomeranian puppy named Taffy when I was seven years old.
ANGI: What’s your favorite Holiday food?
TRACI: sugar cookies and cocoa
ANGI: What’s your favorite Holiday cartoon special?
TRACI: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
ANGI: Which Holiday film can you watch over and over without falling asleep?
TRACI: Oh, tough to pick just one. Classic Movie: The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant and Loretta Young. Modern Movie: Elf with Will Ferrell.
ANGI: What’s your favorite Holiday desert you’d share with friends?
 |
| A 2-yr-old Traci opening presents |
TRACI: My mom’s Thumbprint cookie recipe. I don’t care for them, but everyone else seems to LOVE them.
ANGI: What is your favorite Holiday tradition?
TRACI: Putting up the tree and decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving
DEAR SANTA! All I want for Christmas is…
Back then, I probably wanted coloring books, puzzles, or Barbies. Now,
I'd say a grateful heart and continued success. Or, if that's too cheesy, a new
IPad Pro. LOL!
OUT NOW for TRACI:
A WEEKEND WITH HER FAKE FIANCÉ
Harlequin/Mills & Boon Medical Romance
Could her temporary fiancé…
…become her husband for life?
To secure the job of her dreams, midwife Carmen Sanchez needs a fiancé, and fast! Paramedic Zac Taylor should be the last man she asks—there’s nothing fake about the attraction between them! Yet while lone wolf Zac might not be interested in forever, he pulls out all the stops to play fiancé of the year—and their make-believe engagement starts to feel all too real…
Certified Nurse Midwife Carmen Sanchez swiped the back of her wrist across her forehead, careful to avoid the blood staining her glove. “One more strong push and the baby will be out.” She gave Teena, her twenty-eight-year-old patient, an encouraging smile. “You can do it.”
“I can’t!” Teena panted, her head lolling to one side on the pillows. “I’m too tired.”
Fifteen hours of labor would do that to a person, but there was only one way out of this and it was through. Having Teena’s husband there for moral support would have been ideal, but the poor man was working on a fishing boat somewhere in the Bering Sea right now and couldn’t be reached.
“I know you’re exhausted, Teena,” she said, her Caribbean accent drawing out the name. “But you’ve done such a wonderful job so far. All you need is the strength to push one more time on your next contraction and you’ll have your son in your arms. Don’t you finally want to hold him? After all these long months? Think of your husband’s face when he sees his son.”
Teena bit back a sob and nodded.
“Right.” Carmen used her most authoritative voice. “Then push as hard as you can when I tell you, okay?”
The patient nodded and took a deep breath.
It was Teena’s first pregnancy, and she’d been a difficult case from the outset, with sickle cell anemia complicating matters. Carmen had worked in conjunction with an obstetrician and a hematologist to monitor the patient and provide a safe delivery.
Another contraction hit and time seemed to slow as Teena groaned.
“Go!” Carmen got into position. “That’s it. Good. Good. Push!”
Teena leaned up on her elbows and bore down hard, toes curled and muscles straining. Finally the baby’s head crowned, followed in short order by one shoulder, then two. At last the tiny infant slipped into Carmen’s waiting hands and her patient flopped back onto the bed, exhausted.
Carmen cut the umbilical cord, then handed the baby to a waiting nurse, who wrapped the new arrival in a blanket and suctioned its tiny mouth and nose. Soon the boy’s wailing filled the room and Teena cried again, this time with relief and joy.
Once the afterbirth was dealt with Carmen took a moment to enjoy the wonder. Even after years in practice the addition of a new life into the world still amazed her.
She slipped out into the hall, walking over to the desk at the nurses’ station so she could decompress and document the backlog of charts awaiting her.
Before she’d finished with the first one, she was interrupted.
“Just the woman I was looking for.”
Carmen’s heart tripped at the deep male voice, and she glanced up to see Zac Taylor. The zing of attraction she felt was decidedly inconvenient, given he was a paramedic and they saw each other a lot, both in the course of their work and hanging out with mutual friends. Also, they’d spent a steamy night together a few months back, after copious amounts of alcohol at the Anchorage Mercy Hospital holiday staff party, and since then things had been a bit awkward.
Flings weren’t her usual MO. Actually, love—the romantic kind—wasn’t even on her itinerary, so the way her heart continued to flutter whenever he was around, despite her wishes, was beyond annoying.
It wasn’t that she was against hearts and fluff. It was just that she didn’t have time for such nonsense. Not with her mother to care for, in the early stages of dementia. Some days her mother was fine, other days she didn't recognize her own family. It was heartbreaking, the slow loss of the person who'd been the one constant in her life. Plus, Carmen was saving to put her younger sister through nursing school at the University of Alaska this fall, after she graduated high school. Between her own busy work schedule and her responsibilities at home Carmen was lucky to have time enough to eat and sleep, let alone date.
In fact, given her past, it was probably better for her to stay alone anyway. Growing up with virtually nothing in the poorest part of Port of Spain, Trinidad, had taught her self-reliance and self-sacrifice. There had only been so much to go around, and you’d had to look after what you got.
Carmen considered herself a tough, responsible, independent woman. Prudent. She didn’t need a man to make her life happy. And if she was lonely sometimes—well, that was the price she paid for safety and security. Lord knew she couldn’t rely on anyone else to give her anything.
Only problem was, she needed a favor. From Zac.
She bit her lip and watched him through her lashes as she finished her documentation.
The guy was temptation on legs. Gorgeous and charming. And the very things that drove her nuts about him were the very reasons he was the perfect choice for her needs. He had a reputation as a player. Which meant he was not a man for long-term, serious relationships. But he sure fit the bill for Mr. Fix-It-Right-Now.
PREVIOUSLY RELEASED by TRACI:
ONE NIGHT WITH THE ARMY DOC
Harlequin/Mills & Boon Medical Romance
Is one night enough…
To convince her to stay?
Traveling to Alaska to film the latest episode of her TV show is just what brilliant diagnostician Dr. Molly Flynn needs. It’s the perfect escape from her family’s expectations. Until she clashes with privacy-loving former army doc Jacob Ryder over her patient’s care! Only, as friction turns into flirtation, can Molly trust that Jake sees the real her and loves her—just the way she is?
FINDING HER FOREVER FAMILY
Harlequin/Mills & Boon Medical Romance
A nurse to heal his heart...
...and complete his family.
After losing her mother to a hereditary illness, trauma nurse Wendy Smith vowed never to risk having a family of her own. So acting on her instant attraction to sexy single dad Dr. Tom Farber is a definite no! But through her unexpected connection with his daughter, Wendy grows closer to Tom and their chemistry intensifies...along with her longing for her own family--with him!
TRACI is giving away TWO digital copies of A Weekend with Her Fake Fiancé.
AND DON’T FORGET: How to Seduce a Bad Boy is on sale for $0.99 through January 3rd.
TRACI WANTS TO KNOW: What’s your favorite holiday tradition?
ANGI: What is your favorite Valentine’s Day candy? 
