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| Laura Breck |
Today we're having
coffee with Sixto Doria at his home in Miami, Florida. Besides strong, black
coffee, he's set out a plate of pastelitos,
traditional Cuban pastries dripping with guava jelly. Thank you for having us
in your home today, Mr. Doria.
It's Sixto, please,
and the pleasure is all mine.
Q: Will you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?
I'd be happy to. I'm
a second generation Cuban-American. I'm finishing my masters degree in psychology,
and am looking forward to working with marginalized youth as a social worker.
Q: Impressive. Are you a full-time student?
No, part time. I work
a few side jobs for income and…side benefits. *grins*
Q: Would you like to explain the 'side benefits'?
I work as a model.
It's easy work and lucrative. And I work a few weekends a month as a bartender
at a bar on South Beach. The side benefits are the interesting women I meet.
Q: Ah, yes. I can just imagine. What's one thing about you that would surprise us?
I'm also on the
payroll of a very profitable, but controversial, enterprise.
Q: Controversial? Would you care to explain that?
No. *laughs* The
business model has been in the news lately. It's being called 'immoral', but as
of right now, it's still legal. *shrugs* I'm not proud of it, but I have my
reasons for needing the extra revenue.
Q: I won't pry any further into that. So, what happened the day you met Bree?
*smiles* I walked in
on her as she'd just come out of the shower. I thought she was my roommate, her
sister, Cloe. We both received a shock that day.
Q: Really? That sounds like a good story.
It is. Bree had
inherited half of the house her sister owned, and I lived in the other half. I
didn't know Cloe was dead, and Bree didn't know that I was a man. It's a crazy,
amazing love story that really began…with a dance.
Q: What a lovely story, Sixto. What was your first impression of Bree?
Bree lived her while
life in a small town outside Seattle, Washington. You can imagine the culture
shock of moving to Miami. *wiggles eyebrows* Especially moving in with a very
culturally-rich guy like me.
Q: You are definitely rich in something. What was Bree's first impression of you?
Well, she was wearing
a towel, I walked in wearing the clothes I'd worn at a photo shoot for a
motorcycle company, and I'm sure she was close to fainting. *chuckles*
Q: Tense moments, I bet. What happened that changed your
mind about her, and hers about you?
We talked. Long, deep
talks about why she was estranged from her sister, about why she was waiting
for the right guy to come along, and about why I though she should take
advantage of her sexy roommate - me - while she waited for that perfect man.
Q: Did everything go smoothly after that?
Oh, hell, no. Pardon
my language. *winks* She dated, with appalling consequences, I dated with some
bizarre results, my family got involved and made a mess of things. It wasn't
smooth by any definition of the word.
Q: So then it was happily-ever-after?
Not for a long time.
It took a major fight, a bad separation, and my finally coming to my senses to
get there.
Q: But the story ends well?
I am the happiest man
in the world. *smiles*
Q: Thanks for being with us today, Sixto, and we all hope
you and Bree have lots of dances and a few mild hurricanes in which to enjoy
them!
Thank you, and enjoy
the hot Miami nights while you're here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
EXCERPT: Sixto's photo shoot ended
early. The lighting wasn't right on South Beach, but he got to keep the swim
trunks. He pulled into the garage at 1:30 and saw the Miata. Bree had the
contents of Cloe's desk and if she'd found what he thought she might find,
she'd be waiting inside for him. With a shotgun.
The management company listed his
name as an employee. He hadn't mentioned anything about it to her. Maybe he
should tell her about his role in the business. It might save his ass later, if
she dug deeper into the company structure. He could still play ignorant about
the moneymaker in the east warehouse.
He tossed the mail onto the table
and picked up a used plate and fork. Okay, so she was that kind of roommate.
Walking toward the kitchen, he glanced out at the pool and stopped so suddenly,
the fork slid off the plate onto the carpet.
He blinked to clear his vision,
but it was as perfect as he first saw. Bree, in a skimpy bikini, floating on a
flat raft, her long, blonde hair swirling in the water like waves of silk. Her
big, red sunglasses covered half her face. With her arms out to her sides, he
could see every inch of her perfect breasts. He swallowed, felt himself move in
his trunks. Her little pooch of a stomach was his undoing and a full woody
grew.
The bikini bottom barely covered
between her thighs and her legs went on forever, so long, they overshot the
raft and her feet trailed in the water. He had a difficult time catching a
complete breath. Her face was the only thing on her that resembled her sister.
Where Cloe was hard, Bree was firm. Where Cloe was concave, Bree was round and
soft. And personality. Bree had one, Cloe didn't.
He picked up the fork and set the
dish in the sink. The smart thing to do would be to take a cold shower and do
some studying.
He wasn't in a smart mood.
Sixto went into his bedroom and
opened the patio door. He heard the noise. The Beatles played on the outdoor
stereo and Bree sang along. Not well.
"Hey, Ringo! Mind if I join
you?"
She lifted her head and visored
her hand over her eyes. "Oh. Hi." She slid off the raft into the
water, got out and grabbed her towel, and wrapped it around her.
For a long moment, all he could do
was stare at her fine booty and incredible legs. Then her actions registered.
"You're leaving?"
"I'll be right back."
She walked into her bedroom.
He dove into the deep end and
stayed down, enjoying the cool quiet under the water. He surfaced and tread
water, looking into her room to see what she was doing.
She walked out wearing a long,
white t-shirt over her suit.
"You don't have to cover up
for me."
She shook her head and descended
the steps into the pool. "Oh, yes I do." She struggled to climb back
onto her raft.
He would have helped, but he still
had a high hard one and she didn't need to see that.
She made it aboard, lying on her
stomach. Pulling her hair off to one side, she crossed her arms on the raft and
rested her head on them. "What happened to your modeling?"
"Cancelled. They want to do a
morning shoot instead." He swam to the stairs and sat. He needed his
sunglasses, but it would be a few more minutes before the cool water helped get
his body under control. "They let me keep the trunks."
"Purple. Interesting."
"GQ Magazine."
"Ah." She was quiet for
a few minutes. Was she checking out his muscles from behind her sunglasses?
He smiled, tightened his chest and
fisted his hands, effectively bulking up his arms.
She jerked and after a moment,
laughed. "Ick. Stop it. You're all steroided out."
"Hey, I've never taken a
'roid in my life."
"Mmm hmm. Just your strenuous
work as a bartender and model that keeps you pumped up like a hot air
balloon." She laughed. "Or is it lifting all those heavy
textbooks?"
"Chica, you're a ball buster." He nodded toward his bedroom.
"You've seen my weight equipment. I work out every day." He posed,
looking at his pecs. "My body is my instrument," he teased.
"Oh, please spare me."
She splashed him.
He chuckled and jumped out of the
pool, walking toward his bedroom to get his sunglasses. Turning, he asked,
"Would you like a drink."
"Okay."
"What sounds good?"
"Mmm. Something fruity, refreshing,
with an umbrella."
"So, I'm your personal
bartender now?"
"I tip very well."
He laughed. "I've gotten
fifty dollar tips before. Think you can match that?"
"Fifty bucks? That must have
been an incredible drink."
He shrugged. "She was trying
to buy my affection."
"Really. What kind of a bar
do you work at?"
"Perfectly respectable."
He wagged his brows at her. "With a few exceptions. It's on South Beach.
Come with me some night. My friends are usually there and if you don't want to
stay all night, I'd trust them to give you a ride home."
"I'll think about it."
"Right." He went into
the house. He'd learned long ago that, coming from a woman, "I'll think
about it" meant "no." In the kitchen, he stirred up a concoction
of tequila, cassis, lemon and ginger ale, found a paper umbrella and stuck a
slice of lemon on it. He'd also learned that liquor made women easier and he
reached for the tequila bottle to fortify her drink. At the last second, he
pulled back. What the hell was he thinking? He didn't get women drunk.
He brought her drink and all the
ingredients out to the pool bar, grabbed a beer from the fridge, poured it into
a plastic glass, and slid on his sunglasses.
She still floated on her stomach
and the way the t-shirt clung to her ass should have been illegal. So round and
irresistible, it made his mouth water. Keeping his eyes off the temptation, he
waded in and handed her the drink.
"Thank you. I'll get the next
round."
The image of her standing up and
walking around in a wet t-shirt gave him a heart palpitation. "To our
friendship."
"Friendship." She
touched her plastic glass to his and sipped. "Oh, Sixto, this is really
good. If I had a fifty on me, I'd definitely tip you."
"Chicks like that
drink."
"Mmm. What do you call
it?"
"Sixto on the Beach."
She laughed, that crazy, snorting,
loud laugh that made him warm inside.
BLURB: A Seduction as Overpowering as a Hurricane
When her twin sister dies, Bree Prentis moves from Seattle to Miami to
inherit a shadowy business, an upscale house, and her sister’s sexy Cuban
business partner and housemate, Sixto Doria. She adjusts to the vivid culture
of Miami, but constantly bumping into Sixto is straining her hands-off vow.
Bree is looking for a man to give her a happily ever after, and Sixto has sworn
off relationships. He knows it’s wrong to want her, but she makes him forget
why he's not right for her, makes him crave her natural honesty and wholesome
beauty.
When he teaches her to dance the Salsa Cubana, then suggests she spend
the night in his bed, Bree is shocked—and tempted. In the midst of a hurricane,
Bree surrenders to her reckless desire and makes love with Sixto. Could Bree be
the one Sixto's been waiting for? If she finds out he’s hiding a nasty truth
from her—their company is a façade for a semi-legal business—she will shut it
down, and Sixto will lose the income his family depends on. And more
frightening for Sixto, he would lose Bree.
When she researches their company’s outrageous revenue, she sees a
pattern of untruths leading back to Sixto. The word ‘love’ enters their
relationship, and she prays his duplicity is all a misunderstanding, and his
seduction is not merely a distraction to keep her from discovering the truth.
I have a whole lovely box of paperbacks, and
I’m sure there’s someone out there who would like one! Leave a comment for your
chance to win a signed paperback.
Thanks,
and have a wonderful day!
Laura
~Smart Women ~Sexy Men ~Seductive Romance
