Roman Holiday 1: Chained: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance by Ruthie Knox Read Free Book Online

fishhooks. She wanted to do a little dance.
    Maybe later, when her legs recovered.
    “You said you’d take me
with
my belongings. You promised.”
    “I thought you meant a duffel bag. Possibly a suitcase.”
    “I meant an Airstream trailer.”
    “That’s devious.”
    She smiled. “I know.”
    And because she wanted to rattle him some more, she made a monumental effort and flung her arms around his neck. It hurt her shoulders so badly, she thought she might die, but she rose up on her toes anyway, ignoring the inevitable leg cramp, and kissed him smack on the lips, hard.
    Nice juicy lips. But even nicer, the intensification of everything horrible in his expression. His eyes had gone to slits, and his nostrils were all Minotaur-like. And he was spotty all of a sudden, his lovely brown skin covered in dark, fuzzy-edged blotches that …
    Actually, no. That was her vision.
    “Buddy,” she said sweetly, as the clapping hands returned, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
    And then she fainted, and he caught her.

B Y R UTHIE K NOX
    Ride with Me
    About Last Night
    Along Came Trouble
    Flirting with Disaster
    Truly (Coming Spring 2014)
    Novellas
    Room at the Inn
    How to Misbehave
    Making It Last
    Roman Holiday (Serialization)

P HOTO : M ARK A NDERSON , STUN P HOTOGRAPHY
    USA Today
bestselling author R UTHIE K NOX writes contemporary romance that’s sexy, witty, and angsty—sometimes all three at once. After studying British history, she became an academic editor instead. Then she got really deep into knitting, as one does, followed by motherhood and romance novel writing.
    Her debut novel,
Ride with Me
, is probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story. She followed it up with
About Last Night
, a London-based romance whose hero has the unlikely name of Neville, and then
Room at the Inn
, a Christmas novella—both of which were finalists for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award. Her four-book series about the Clark family of Camelot, Ohio, has won accolades for its fresh, funny portrayal of small-town Midwestern life.
    Ruthie moonlights as a mother, tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia. She’d love to hear from you, so visit her website and drop her a line.
    http://www.ruthieknox.com

Be sure to continue your Roman Holiday with Episode 2:
Hitched
    * * *
    “You really shouldn’t get sexually involved with your boss,” Ashley said. “It’s such a bad idea. This one time, I was working at a swim-with-dolphins place, and—”
    “She’s not my boss,” Roman shot back.
    “But you
are
sleeping with her.”
    No response from him.
    “Or maybe you just want to be? If so, I’d lay off the
kitten
thing. you’ll never get her to give it up that way.”
    “Don’t be crude.”
    “What, you’re not trying to get her to give it up? You are straight, aren’t you?”
    “None of this is open for discussion. It’s private. My private business.”
    It was. And her heart was pounding, her head full of imaginary versions of Roman’s Carmen. Long, thick black hair. Lush curves packed into a designer suit.
    Killer high heels.
    She didn’t like these visions—this physical reaction—but if Roman’s locked-down mouth was any indication, he didn’t like it even more.
    “Maybe it’s not open for discussion, strictly speaking, but here we are, stuck together for however many hours, and you’ve already kissed me. We should probably—”
    “I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me. If I’d had any warning, I would have stopped you.”
    “Okay, well, all I was trying to say is that we should get this stuff all out in the open. Like, I should probably tell you that I’m not currently involved with anybody. There was a guy with the nonprofit in Bolivia, Chad, but he came back to the States a few weeks before I did, and anyway he wasn’t all that in the sack. Not bad on oral, but—”
    “Ashley,” he interrupted. “I’m not
interested
in your sexual exploits.”
    The extra emphasis he