Title: Falling for Mr.Wrong
Series: A Bencher Family Book
Author: Inara Scott
Publisher: Entangled Indulgence
Publication Date: November 11, 2013
Looking for Mrs. Right...
Single father of three, Ross Bencher, knows the kind of woman he wants: someone predictable, reliable, and safe, who can give his kids the security they deserve. Someone entirely different from high-altitude mountaineer Kelsey. Kelsey bewitches him with her long legs and wild passion and is about as far from his ideal as a woman can get, but try telling that to his body. Or his heart...
Falling for Mr. Wrong...
When Kelsey agreed to fill in as a temporary nanny for her best friend’s agency before a big climbing expedition, she had no idea she’d be working for drop-dead sexy Ross Bencher, a man she can’t seem to keep her hands off. She knows if she wants to bring herself—and her father—back alive from the Himalayan Mountains, she can’t afford second-guessing, attachments, or distractions. But Ross’s blue eyes and strong hands leave her gasping...and questioning everything she’s ever known about love...
She considered walking out, but then the corner of his mouth quirked, just a little, and he reached out to tuck a long strand of her hair behind one ear. When he touched the edge of her jaw, a trail of goose bumps splintered down her spine.
She couldn’t turn away. Not from a man with a smile that reached right down inside her, or eyes that were sexy, yet warm, the kind that belonged to a man who spent a lot of his time laughing. A man who would spend the night and buy you breakfast in the morning.
"Well, to answer your question, I'm leaving tomorrow for Nepal." The flutter between her legs grew to a throb.
"Dear God." Ross pulled back, frowning. "Are you climbing Mount Everest?"
Kelsey smiled. "No. Annapurna, actually. Annapurna One."
"There's more than one of them?"
"It's a section of peaks in the Himalayas. Annapurna One is the tallest. Not as big as Everest, but size isn't everything."
Ross waggled his eyebrows. "Anyone who says that is lying, you know."
***
“Ross,” she said, swallowing hard to clear the lump from her throat. “I realize I’m not the traditional nanny, and I know I was your last choice for a babysitter. But I can’t do this anymore.”
His gaze flickered from her mouth to her throat.
Her bones began to melt. All at once, her skin seemed to tighten, and her stomach began to fall as her brain fogged over.
He shook his head. “You’re absolutely right. I can’t keep doing this, either.”
“What?” She narrowed her gaze suspiciously.
“Looking at you.” His voice dropped. “Staring at your lips. And wondering if they can possibly taste as good I remember.”
***
Kelsey swayed. His words sent heat racing through her body, flushing her face and sending a rush of warm honey between her legs. “We decided to forgot about that night, remember? It never happened.”
He finally let go of her of her hand, but instead of stepping away he moved even closer, raising his hand to brush her hair back behind her shoulder and caressing the soft skin along her collarbone. “That’s what I keep telling myself. This is all wrong. You’re all wrong.”
Alarm bells sounded in her head, but they were strangely incapable of forcing motion into her legs. “That’s right,” she heard herself say, as if from some great distance. “Exactly right.”
“I have three kids,” he continued, his eyes pinned on the hollow at base of her throat. “If I’m going to be with someone she needs to be boring. Reliable. Predictable.”
“You have three kids,” she agreed, angling her head back slightly and closing her eyes. He cupped the back of her neck in his palm, and she felt his lips brush lightly, like the wings of a butterfly, against her neck. “You live a life I can barely imagine. I couldn’t invent someone who would be less compatible with me.”
The touch was too sweet, too familiar. Her nipples hardened in an instant. How was it possible to want someone so much, so quickly?
“Damn it, Kelsey,” he continued, breathing against her skin as he kissed her again, this time just below her ear. “Why do you do this to me? Why can’t I walk away from you?”
***
“So you’re telling me after your divorce you made some kind of inner pledge to only date Donna Reed?”
“Basically, yes.”
“And then you slept with me.”
He grinned, and the mood unexpectedly lightened. “Those were my requirements for dating. Lucky for me, we never went on a date.”
Unwittingly, Kelsey felt some of the tension ease from her body. It was really unfair that Ross’s smile was so warm it acted on her nerves like a damn tranquilizer. “I think I understand. You think if you sleep with me again, we’re dating. And that would mess up the whole personal vow thing.”
He paused for a moment, and then shrugged, somewhat sheepishly. “Something like that.”
“But wait,” she said, holding up one palm. “You’re jumping to a lot of conclusions, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re assuming that I want to date you.” She tapped one finger in the middle of his chest. “Look at this from my perspective. You’ve got three kids and you live out here in the land of suburbia, with three-car garages and trips to the grocery store every other day to buy more juice boxes. Do you really think this is what I want?”
He had the humility to look slightly ashamed. “I hadn’t really thought about it that way.”
Throwing aside all caution and reason, Kelsey wrapped her arms around his neck. She could hardly believe she was touching him, but the simmering attraction between them had taken over, and she could no longer fight it. “Listen, tough guy. I don’t want to date you any more than you want to date me. And I’d appreciate it very much if you’d keep your judgment about my life and my choices to yourself.”
“But?” He lowered his face an inch, bringing their lips just heartbeats apart.
“But I would like to sleep with you again.”
***
In the car, on the way over, he had thought about all the various ways he could say it. Some were poetic. Some were straightforward. Some used fancy words. But in the end, all he could do was blurt out the truth.
“I’m in love with you, Kelsey. I don’t want you to go because I love you and I need you. I want to tell the kids that I’m crazy about you. I want to go camping with you and sleep in the same tent. I want to kiss you in front of the world.”
She blinked.
Took a step back.
“No, you don’t.”
He frowned. “I really do, actually. I’m not the sort of guy to mix up his emotions. If I’m telling you that I’m in love, I’m in love.”
Inara grew up in winter wonderland of Buffalo, NY. Consequently, she spent much of her childhood complaining about being cold. To spare the world her whining, she fled the cold climate and eventually wound up in the Pacific NW, where she practiced law for ten years before getting up the courage to quit her day job and write full time. A proud author of fantasy and romance for adults and young adults, Inara firmly believes that great literature doesn't have to be depressing, true love does exist, and everyone deserves a happily ever after. You can find her online at Twitter (@inarascott), on Facebook, and at her website: www.inarascott.com.
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I just got A sleep So Dark and im hoping to start it this week!
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