Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kayla Perrin is a USA Today and Essence® bestselling author who resides in Southwestern Ontario with her daughter. She has a bachelor of arts in English and Sociology and a bachelor of Education, having entertained the idea of becoming a teacher—but she always knew she wanted to be a writer. Kayla's novels have received plenty of accolades and awards. She has twice had books voted onto Romance Writers of America's Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year list, and has also been the recipient of a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine. Her books have been profiled in Entertainment Weekly, Ebony, Essence, and Cosmo.

Writing since she was thirteen years old, Deborah Fletcher Mello can't imagine herself doing anything else. Her first romance novel earned her a 2004 Romance Slam Jam nomination for Best New Author. In 2005, she received Book of the Year and Favorite Heroine nominations, and won a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award in 2009. In 2014, Craving Temptation was selected as one of the Best Romance Books by Publishers Weekly. Born and raised in Connecticut, Deborah now maintains base camp in North Carolina, but considers home to be wherever the moment moves her. Feel free to reach Deborah on deborahmello.blogspot.com, or on Twitter @DebbMelloWrites.

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All I Want Is You

By Kayla Perrin Deborah Fletcher Mello

DAFINA BOOKS

Copyright © 2011 Kensington Publishing Corp.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-6867-9

Contents

Holiday Seduction Kayla Perrin...............................1Her Holiday Gifts Deborah Fletcher Mello.....................159

Chapter One

"Boring in bed?" Isabel asked, her eyes as wide as saucers as she spoke in an exaggerated tone. "Those were his exact words?"

Mikki Harper lifted her mug of beer as she looked at her two best friends in New York City, Isabel Rodriguez and Debbie Mott, who were standing next to her at a crowded midtown bar. "An exact quote," she told Isabel with as much passion as if she had just pointed someone in the direction of the restroom. She had to keep her emotions in check, or she was going to fall apart. "Right after we finished eating our appetizers." Plastering a smile on her face that didn't match her mood, Mikki raised her glass high and said, "Cheers."

Mikki clinked her mug against Isabel's and Debbie's, then proceeded to down the entire contents in five seconds flat. That was a record for her. She didn't guzzle beer, and she didn't typically drink to excess. But tonight she was going to make an exception.

She was getting drunk.

It had been a long time since she'd gone to a bar with her girlfriends, drinking beer and shooting the breeze. One year, eleven months, and four days to be exact. Ever since she had started dating Alexander.

She'd been to restaurants with her friends, of course, and coffee shops. She'd gone with them on shopping trips. But Alex hadn't wanted her to go clubbing, warning her that men—including the bartenders—couldn't be trusted not to slip something into her drink and take advantage of her.

Mikki had figured him overprotective, or even a little insecure, but she had heeded his warning and had gone to bars and clubs only with him.

Tonight, however, she was saying screw it to Alex's advice. He was no longer in the picture. She didn't have to listen to him anymore.

Mikki audibly put the mug down onto the counter and pushed it toward the bartender, who looked friendly and harmless, not at all like a potential serial rapist. "Another," she told him.

"I can't believe he said that to you." Isabel's face had an expression of almost gleeful horror, the kind of look you get when you're sharing dirty gossip. "I mean, really."

Mikki couldn't believe it either. "It's ridiculous, right? We didn't have problems in the bedroom. In fact, I'd say we had a very active sex life. You know how I told you Alexander liked to have sex all the time. Sheesh, you'd think he was training to compete in the newest Olympic sport!"

Debbie snorted. Isabel, who had just taken a sip of her beer, began to laugh, then covered her mouth as beer spilled out. "Girl, you gotta warn a person when you're gonna start talking about Alexander and sex. Dang, I'm going to miss those stories about Alexander the Great."

"Though I guess he's more like Alexander-the-not-so-Great now," Debbie said.

Mikki was silent, remembering the amount of times she'd made love withAlexander. He'd had an insatiable sexual appetite—in the beginning. But in the last few months, his interest in sex had completely waned. He'd gone from one extreme to the other, something she had been embarrassed to share with her friends.

The bartender put another draft beer in front of her, and Mikki quickly lifted the mug to her lips for a sip. This one she would drink like a respectable woman—not like a woman trying to drown her sorrows in booze. She hadn't been out drinking in a while, but she knew that it was important to pace yourself.

"Here's the thing," Mikki began. "He pretty much stopped beingAlexander the Great a few months ago."

Debbie narrowed her hazel eyes. She was biracial, with a thick mane of curly brown hair that she always wore in a ponytail. "What does that mean?"

"What it means is ..." Mikki stopped, sighing. "Well, he sort of stopped wanting to have sex."

"Get out!" Isabel's eyes bulged at the news. She was Latino, from Nicaragua, and reacted in grand style to everything. "No wonder you haven't had any more stories about sex in public places. You know, one of the reasons I quit the law firm was because I couldn't handle going into the conference room without thinking about—"

"Enough!" Mikki said, raising a hand to silence her friend. She didn't want to remember how Alex had convinced her to get down and dirty on the law firm's conference room table after-hours. She had given in, and while the experience had been exciting, Mikki's back had hurt for days.

"You didn't really quit because of that," Mikki went on, more of a question.

"Naw, I'm just messing with you," Isabel said. "You know I had to leave because of Calvin. He thought my job description included sleeping with him."

Isabel had been the firm's receptionist, which was how she and Mikki had met. Isabel had already been friends with Debbie, whom she'd gone to college with, and once Isabel quit her job, she went to work at the high-end lingerie boutique where Debbie was a manager. As far as Mikki was concerned, that job was a much better fit for Isabel. At the boutique, she didn't have to tone down her sexuality and could dress like a vixen to her heart's content.

"You're not serious about Alexander," Debbie said. "He didn't suddenly lose his interest in sex...."

"I figured he was busy with work," Mikki explained. "Or that he'd finally tired himself out. But in the last three to four months, I'm definitely the one who's wanted it more than him."

"I think icicles are forming in hell," Debbie said, shuddering. "I never thought the day would come."

"Shit, I just got a chill," Isabel added.

"You want to know what really sucks?" Mikki asked. "I did everything to turn him on over the past four months, and most of the time he came up with excuses as to why he was too tired. Now he's breaking up with me because I'm boring in bed?"

"That kind of relationship always burns out," Isabel said, the sour expression on her face a sure sign she was speaking from experience.

"After nearly two years?" Mikki asked. "I thought ... I thought we had something real."

What she'd really thought when Alexander had suggested they go to their favorite restaurant for dinner was that he was going to propose. Considering that Christmas was right around the corner, as was her sister's wedding. She was certain he'd had love and commitment on his mind.

What an idiot she had been.

"All I can say," Isabel began, "is, good thing you didn't move in with him. It's no fun being kicked out on the street. Trust me, I know."

Stupidly, Mikki had believed that that would be the next step. Perhaps a formal engagement first, then she would move into his Manhattan condo.

"I can't believe he broke up with me now." Mikki frowned, the emotion of the breakup getting to her. "When he knew how much I was looking forward to going to my sister's wedding with him. Now I have to head to Miami like a loser ... with no date."

"Men." Debbie shook her head sadly. "You know he was sleeping with someone else, right?"

Mikki's heart slammed against her chest. "Pardon me?"

"You don't go from sex all the time to doing it once in a while ... not for a guy like Alex. How do you think he got that nickname Alexander the Great? If he stopped sleeping with you, he must be sleeping...