By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Carmen Falcone

Alyssa Conner never had the white picket fence life. When she gets the opportunity to housesit a super fancy house, she takes it—what better way to spend the summer? What she didn’t count on was being next door neighbor to her best friend’s dad. The hot, intriguing man who awakened her libido.

Knox Barret wants to enjoy summer on his own. He needs to find the inspiration before writing his next box office hit. But, when his daughter’s friend comes asking for help because of a lost dog, he realizes this summer, writer’s block isn’t his biggest problem. He has to thwart the advances of a sexy, enticing young woman who’s ready to hand him her V-card and show him what she’s made of. But will he be ready to let her go when the time comes?

Hired to house sit and take care of a pampered pet Mr. Fluffers, Alyssa Conner has already lost said pet. He must have slipped out while she took out the trash. Now she’s wandering the neighborhood looking for him. Realizing she’s getting nowhere fast she decides to knock on doors. The first one she approaches is the closest neighbor, her best friend’s father Knox Bennet.

This is a favorite scene.

She sighed, and finger combed her curly hair, then smoothed her hand over the white, spaghetti-string cotton dress she had on. In the rush to find Mr. Fluffers, she’d forgotten to put on a bra. The dress she wore, a cheap piece of fabric from TJ Maxx, could pass for a flimsy beach cover-up.

Right now, all she needed was to find Mr. Fluffers. Modesty be damned.

She rang the bell, and after the third ping, Mr. Barret opened the door.

Air evaporated from her brain, and she did a double take. Damn.

The man was an accomplished screenwriter, but he could just as well be a body builder. Tall and broad, his muscles stretched the cotton black shirt he had on. Even with the casual gym shorts, she couldn’t help noticing his long muscular legs. “Alyssa,” he said, his deep baritone causing her gaze to travel up. “Everything okay?”

His deep blue eyes greeted her, and she thought she’d pass out.

Why was this man so fucking hot? She’d always been a bit too aware of his hotness, in the five years she’d been friends with Madison. But she played it off, after all, he was much older than her, and married. She’d never cause any hurt to anyone, and it wasn’t like he ever gave her the slightest hint that he was interested in her.

Still… didn’t change how bothered she felt when he was around. In the last couple of years especially, his presence unsettled her, but she tried her best not to show it.

“No… Mr. Fluffers ran out, and I’ve been looking for him for the past hour,” she blurted. “I’m worried he’ll be run over by a car or will have an anxiety attack.” Like the one I’m having, she added internally. Mr. Fluffers was on anxiety medication because he was so quickly triggered. Cars triggered him, which was why she usually walked him in the evening after most neighbors were home. Flashing lights triggered him. He was the equivalent of an insecure character from The Big Bang Theory in dog form. “Have you seen him?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll help you look.”

“Thanks, Mr. Barret, but you don’t have to—”

“I insist,” he said, with that take-charge attitude that only enhanced her libido and put all her naughty bits on high alert.

“Where have you looked?”

“Up and down this street and the next one down.”

“I’ll grab my car and we can drive around. This way it’ll go faster.”

“S-sure.”

Moments later, she sat in his tricked-out Range Rover, while he drove around. She scanned the area, searching for Mr. Fluffers, but every so often her gaze strayed to the incredible man behind the wheel, and she found herself cataloging his features, his strong nose, clefted chin. The thick cords on his neck.

Her internal temperature rose, her nipples making a stand under the insubstantial fabric of her dress. She’d never been this responsive to the guys she dated… most of them not half as attractive, or half as… she swallowed. Mr. Barret was Madison’s dad. Her sweet friend who she met in high school when her then foster family pulled some strings and found a scholarship for her at an exclusive private school.

Madison had been the only classmate who had treated her like an equal.

“Is that him?” Knox asked, pointing at a tall, beige colored fur ball with four legs.

She squinted her eyes, turning her head to look.

Mr. Fluffers wandered the street with his tail between his rear legs, probably second guessing his decision to go on a solo walk.

Her pulse skittered a bit, relief pouring over her. “Yes,” she said, happy. “That’s Mr. Fluffers.”

He stopped the car by the curb, and she slipped out of the seat and left, knowing she should be the one to coax him to return home. Though the moment she stepped on the sidewalk and called his name, making that kissing sound she did to get his attention, he quickly wagged his tail and ran to her, nearly knocking her over with excitement.

Yes, turned out Mr. Fluffers knew a good thing when he had it, and was done for the night.

Knox drove them back and they small talked about the dog, and he told her why he enjoyed the Smiths. They had been the ones who told him about the house next door to theirs to buy even before it hit the market, soon after his divorce.

“There you go,” he said, when he parked the car in front of the house she was staying. He could have simply parked it in his garage, but ever the gentleman, he made sure she was dropped off first.

She grabbed Mr. Fluffers by the collar on the back seat. “Thank you so much. I was nervous, and it was nice having company.”

“My pleasure,” he said, his gaze traveling down from her face to her neck.

She followed it, then she looked down her dress, realizing she was leaning over the middle console, and he was having a good view of her braless tits. A thread of sexual awareness worked its way beneath her skin, desire shooting down between her legs. When she eyed him again, he shuffled in his seat, uncomfortable, and cleared his throat.

“I guess we’re done for the night. Be safe,” he said, looking away.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said, and slid out of his car with the dog whose nighttime adventure just made her realize one thing—Knox was attracted to her. That had to be it, right? He was looking at her breasts, then felt guilty and avoided further eye contact.

A thrill swept over her, the discovery empowering her. No, there was no way in hell that she was done for the night…and their ride was just starting.
Carmen Falcone. Forbidden Girl Next Door (Kindle Locations 64-111). Kindle Edition.

Knox can no more deny his attraction to Alyssa than she can help pursuing him. These two sizzle off the pages as the relationship becomes something more than just a fling.

I can’t wait to see what Carmen comes up with for the next Forbidden adventure.

5 Contented Purrs for Carmen!

Carmen Falcone

Carmen Falcone learned at an early age that fantasizing about fictional characters beat doing math homework any day. Brazilian by birth and traveler by nature, she moved to Central Texas after college and met her broody Swiss husband–living proof that opposites attract.

She found in writing her deepest passion and the best excuse to avoid the healthy lifestyle everyone keeps talking about. When she’s not lost in the world of romance, she enjoys spending time with her two kids, being walked by her three crazy pugs, reading, catching up with friends, and chatting with random people in the checkout line.

She loves to procrastinate, so please indulge her and drop her a line. For more info, visit her website.