Maid of Dishonor

When she's very, very bad…

Gina Carrington knows exactly how to have fun! But when she sleeps with her friend's brother, the off-limits Carter, she quickly discovers she's overstepped the mark.

…life is so much more fun!

Years later, Gina sees Carter again to prepare for her friend's wedding, and she can't help but wonder what the harm would be in one more night…. He's available, gorgeous and behind that laid-back Southern charm there's a wild side even she can't tame! But Gina has secrets which she can't hide forever—will their chemistry be strong enough to keep Carter by her side when her secrets come to light?

SNEAK PEEK EXCERPT FROM

Maid of Dishonor

“Didn't you ever wonder what it would be like between us…without all the emotional garbage tripping us up?”

Emotional garbage.

She heard the words, and saw the harsh cynicism behind the hunger.

“Yes, I have,” she answered honestly, because there wasn't much point being coy when her desire had outstripped her caution a good half an hour ago.

Was she seriously considering this? And why couldn't she seem to consider anything else, such as running off screaming into the night, which had to be the smarter, safer, more sensible option?

He placed both his hands on her waist and drew her off the stool, until she stood in his embrace, that spicy musky scent intoxicating her. “I have a whole hotel suite upstairs, if you want to find out the answer.”

Dear Reader,

Harlequin KISS is such an exciting line to write for—fresh, flirty, funny, sexy and just a little bit wicked—but even I was unprepared for how much fun I was going to have when I was invited to join forces with Aimee Carson, Kimberly Lang and Amy Andrews to create our first Harlequin KISS continuity.

The process of pinging emails back and forth between Alaska, Alabama, Brisbane and London—and even spending one sunny afternoon in Anaheim brainstorming (with Ms. Andrews there in spirit) at a writers' conference—was almost as much of a hoot as the stories we created, following four former college roomies and their rocky roads to romance (with some seriously scorching guys) during one long, hot, sensational summer!

Now, I'm not gonna lie to you, the brainstorming sessions turned out to be somewhat more carefree than actually writing my story—especially when Carter, my tortured Southern hottie, and Gina, my reckless British bad girl, insisted on playing hard to get. But hey, what else is new! After all the hard work, I hope the end result is as fresh, flirty, free-spirited and generally fabulous as you, dear reader, have come to expect from the Harlequin KISS experience.

I certainly think so—and that includes the other three brilliant books in this Wedding Season.

Be fabulous and enjoy!

Heidi Rice

P.S. Heidi loves to hear from readers—you can contact her at
[email protected]
. For all the news about her books, check out her website at
www.heidi-rice.com
.

Maid of Dishonor

Heidi Rice

ABOUT HEIDI RICE

Heidi Rice was born and bred and still lives in London, England. She has two boys who love to bicker, a wonderful husband who, luckily for everyone, has loads of patience, and a supportive and ever-growing British/French/Irish/American family. As much as Heidi adores “the Big Smoke,” she also loves America, and every two years or so she and her best friend leave hubby and kids behind and
Thelma and Louise
it across the States for a couple of weeks (although they always leave out the driving off a cliff bit). She's been a film buff since her early teens, and a romance junkie for almost as long. She indulged her first love by being a film reviewer for ten years. Then a few years ago she decided to spice up her life by writing romance. Discovering the fantastic sisterhood of romance writers (both published and unpublished) in Britain and America made it a wild and wonderful journey to her first Harlequin novel.

Heidi loves to hear from readers—you can email her at
[email protected]
, or visit her website,
www.heidi-rice.com
.

Other Harlequin® KISS™ titles by Heidi Rice:

Too Close for Comfort

This and other titles by Heidi Rice are available in ebook format—check out
Harlequin.com
.

To my partners in crime—
Aimee Carson, Kimberly Lang and Amy Andrews—
for being such fabulous authors, such an inspiration to work with
and such cool women to boot. We rock, ladies!

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

Hillbrook College Campus, Upstate New York, ten
years ago.

‘It
sounds awesome,
Marnie, but Carter and Missy shouldn't get
overwhelmed by all the glamour of their wedding and forget the important
part—that they love each other.'

Reese's words of whimsy drifted into Gina Carrington's
consciousness—through the cloying perfume of hyacinth blossoms that infused the
back porch, and the haze of one too many glasses of vintage champagne—and didn't
improve her melancholy mood one iota.

Can we get off this topic now,
please?

Her cheeks heated as a heartening flash of temper pierced
through the hollow feeling of loss that had dogged her for days. Ever since
she'd made the biggest mistake of her life. And in a life filled to bursting
with mistakes of one sort or another that was quite an achievement.

‘That won't be a problem. They're devoted to each other and
they have been for years. When Carter proposed, Missy and I stayed up all night
talking about how wonderful it was that we'd be sisters for ever.' Marnie
laughed at her own observation, the high musical lilt clearing the fog from
Gina's head like a knife slicing through flesh.

Funny to think she'd once enjoyed the sound of Marnie's laugh.
Marnie had been so anxious and serious and unassertive when she'd first arrived
at Hillbrook. It had taken them all a while to realise her perfect Southern
manners had actually been a disguise for extreme terror. Gina had loved hearing
that smoky laugh in the months that followed because it had come to symbolise
Marnie's emancipation from the people she herself had described as ‘the family
that feminism forgot'.

But Gina wasn't loving it much now.

‘So what's Missy's dress like?' Reese asked, still humouring
her.

‘Just so perfect,' Marnie purred, her Southern accent thicker
than molasses. ‘It's ivory silk. She's going to be a traditional bride.' Marnie
flashed a smile Gina's way. ‘I know not everyone here approves, but I think it's
so romantic that her and Carter have decided to stay pure until their wedding
night.'

Wasn't it just.

Gina's stomach heaved up towards her breastbone as she plopped
her champagne flute on the porch table. ‘Is anyone getting another bottle? I'm
not sure I can stand to hear any more about love's young dream without alcoholic
fortification.'

Cassie jumped up from her seat on the rail. ‘It's gotta be my
turn,' she said in her broad Aussie accent. ‘I'll go.' She sent Gina a bland
look that only made Gina feel more miserable.

Cassie knew what had happened a week ago when Marnie's big
brother Carter Price had come to visit. And in typical Cassie fashion had been
completely pragmatic about it.
‘I don't see why you should
feel guilty—he's the one that's engaged to be married.'

But as Cassie headed off to the kitchen, obviously keen to
escape from the tension that had been building all night and only Marnie seemed
oblivious to, Gina knew Cassie the super nerd felt uncomfortable. And while
Cassie would never judge her, Gina knew it took a lot to make Cassie
uncomfortable in a social situation, because normally, unless a discussion
involved gamma-ray bursts or cosmic radiation or some other esoteric astronomy
principle, Cassie tended to disengage from social situations.

Gina turned to find Marnie watching her from her deck chair,
the light blush on her cheeks a symptom of her confusion. She was probably
wondering why Gina was being such a cow about the wedding of the century. Her
brother Carter's marriage to her best friend, Missy, had been Marnie's hot topic
of discussion for months—and Gina had enjoyed teasing her about the impending
nuptials, but always in a good-humoured way.

But that was before last Saturday night, before she'd met the
Sainted Carter, and set out to flirt him into a puddle of unrequited lust. Only
to discover that Marnie's big brother wasn't the overbearing, self-righteous and
boringly judgmental Southern gentleman he'd pretended to be, but a sweet,
sensitive, and seriously intense Southern hottie who was as screwed up about his
place in the world as she was.

The evening had started out as a joke, played at Carter's
expense, but in the end the joke had been on Gina. How could she have known the
Sainted Carter would be the first man to show her that sex wasn't always about
physical gratification? That sometimes your feelings could actually become
involved? And how could she have known that, when he looked at her the next day,
with the disgust at what they had done together plain in his face, he'd also be
the first man to make her feel ashamed of taking what she wanted? And force her
to admit that trust and judgment and honour and duty weren't just buzzwords for
boring people?

Those had been harsh lessons to learn in the last week, ever
since Carter had walked away, but as Marnie's face flushed pink and she
murmured: ‘Gina, admit it, even you think it's romantic—that Carter and Missy
are going to be each other's first?' it wasn't a harsh lesson she had it in her
to appreciate, especially after two glasses of Dom—and the knowledge that her
period was now four days late.

‘It's not romantic, Marnie, it's certifiable. What exactly
would your best friend do, if she got Carter into bed on their wedding night and
discovered he was rubbish in the sack?'

‘I'd have to agree that good sex is important in a
relationship, if it's going to last.' Reese flushed as she took a sip of her
champagne—that enigmatic look of excitement and trepidation she'd been beaming
out all night lighting her eyes.

Marnie let out a soft laugh, but the colour in her fair cheeks
went from pink to a light rosé. ‘You think too much about sex—Missy and me both
believe it's not the most important thing.'

‘And how would you two little virgins know anything about that?
Seeing as you've never actually had any?' Gina felt her temperature rising, the
twin tides of panic and anger going some way to stem the crushing feeling of
rejection and inadequacy.

‘You don't have to have sex with someone to know you love
them,' Marnie said, but her teeth had begun to chew on her bottom lip. ‘Missy's
not worried about how Carter will...' she hesitated, obviously having difficulty
talking about her brother and sex in the same sentence as the blush went from
rosé to stoplight red ‘...perform at the marital act. They've talked about
it.'

The marital act!

Gina's temper ignited. From the little Carter had said to
her—and the vast swathe of things he hadn't said—Gina happened to know that
Marnie's best friend, Missy Wainwright, was a simpering, self-righteous little
prude who'd rather sew up her vagina than let Carter so much as mention sex, let
alone actually touch her.

The man had been literally starved of any kind of physical
contact with his fiancée—so desperate to be touched it had almost made Gina cry
the way he'd responded with such enthusiasm to a simple kiss and actually
thanked her in that slow Southern drawl when she'd pulled down his zipper and
placed her palm against the firm, resilient flesh of his erection. She hadn't
realised then that he'd been a virgin, but when he'd admitted the truth
afterwards, as they'd been lying in the heady rush of afterglow, his voice
embarrassed and reticent, it had made her heart squeeze tight in her chest.

To realise that a man so virile, so handsome and so sexually
curious had denied himself the most basic of human connections because the woman
who was supposed to be his soul mate had demanded it of him... What kind of
woman could be that clueless about the man she was marrying? And how cold and
judgmental and frigid did you have to be to even want to?

The harsh laugh that came out of her mouth didn't sound like
her, but somehow it fitted with who she was now: the Evil Sex Queen sent to
split up the happy couple and then slink back into the dark forest of regrets
and recriminations.

‘Actually your good friend Missy hasn't talked to Carter about
the
marital act
, but tell her not to worry.' The
two-hundred-dollar champagne soured in her belly. ‘As it happens her groom has a
natural aptitude for bringing a woman to orgasm. Not only is he hung like a
stallion, but he's also exceptionally dexterous, remarkably flexible and really
goal-orientated. I should know—I road-tested him myself.'

‘What?'
Marnie's choked sob of
distress was accompanied by Reese's spurt of shocked laughter.

‘Gina, will you quit teasing her? It's not funny.'

‘If that's supposed to be a joke, it's in really poor taste,'
Marnie said, sounding like a child having a temper tantrum—naïve and judgmental
and impossibly young, the way Gina had never been. ‘Missy would be heartbroken
if Carter broke his vow,' Marnie finished and Gina could have sworn she heard
the rest of the sentence reverberating in her head.

Especially with a tramp like
you.

Gina suddenly felt painfully sober, the buzz of alcohol
clearing to make her feel reckless and vindictive. Carter had walked away from
her determined to throw himself on the mercy of the Virgin Queen—but she wasn't
going to keep his secret. Because she wasn't ashamed of what they'd done. She
wasn't ashamed of the pleasure they'd shared, and she refused to regret the
connection they'd made. It had been real and valid, even if it was only ever
meant to be for one night.

‘Don't upset yourself, Marnie.' Reese patted Marnie's back, as
her mother hen tendencies came charging to the fore. ‘It's just Gina's British
sense of humour.' Reese sent her a quelling look, that held a trace of censure,
but a much bigger trace of confusion. ‘Stop being so cynical, Gina, and tell her
the truth. I don't know what's gotten into you tonight.'

Gina heard the exasperation in Reese's voice and knew exactly
what had gotten into her friend, the Park Avenue Princess, because it was
written all over Reese's face, and had been ever since she'd returned from her
trip to New York for their final night together. Reese had fallen head over
designer heels for that marine she'd met in some diner. She'd seen Reese
caressing the dog-tags under her shirt, when she thought no one was looking. And
she'd announced earlier in the evening that Mason was ‘The One'... As if she
were quoting a line from one of those fluffy chick flicks she often forced them
to endure on movie nights.

Bitterness and something that felt uncomfortably like envy
scoured Gina's throat, making her want to hurt Reese too.

Reese the hopeless romantic, who actually believed in love at
first sight. Thank goodness she'd never be daft enough to believe such an
idiotic concept. Any more than she'd be dumb enough to fall for Marnie's
dictates on the ‘proper way to conduct a committed relationship'.

‘Actually, Reese, the only thing to have gotten into me is
Carter Price's stallion-like—'

‘Stop, don't say any more,' Marnie shouted, covering her ears
like a child that didn't want to hear the truth. ‘It's not true. It can't be.'
But Gina could tell the truth had sunk in as tears leaked out of Marnie's eyes.
‘You're lying. Carter wouldn't do something like that. He has integrity. And he
loves Missy.'

‘He may love Missy, but he made love to me.'

‘Gina, you didn't,' Reese whispered, hugging Marnie now, her
confusion replaced with sadness and concern. ‘How could you do something like
that? You knew he was engaged.'

Because I talked and he listened. And he
talked and I listened. And we touched and kissed and held hands and it meant
something. Because he was smart and funny and tender and when he looked at
me I felt sexy and special, instead of sexy and shallow.

But she didn't say any of those things, because they weren't
really true. It had just been an illusion conjured up by the sultry summer night
and the heady pheromones that had intoxicated them both—and it had all
disappeared by morning. So she said the thing that had been true all
along—before she'd gotten tripped up by feelings that she now knew she should
never have trusted.

‘I did it because he was hot and he was begging for it. Why do
you think?'

Reese swore softly. While Marnie jumped to her feet, her face
contorted with anger and disgust. ‘But he's engaged to be married. Don't you
have any honour at all? How could you be such a...such a tramp?'

Gina forced herself not to flinch. She'd been called a tramp
before; in fact, she'd been called a great deal worse than that by her own
father. But it was the first time it had been said by someone who meant
something to her.

‘She's not the tramp,' Cassie announced as they all turned to
see her with the newly opened bottle of champagne frothing over her fingers.
‘She's not the one who was engaged to be married. He is. Blaming Gina for his
infidelity is just another example of the double standard that—'

‘You
knew
?' Marnie interrupted
Cassie before she could get into full feminist lecture mode.

‘Yes. She told me the morning after it happened.'

‘Why didn't you tell me?' Marnie cried, the emotional outburst
in sharp contrast to Cassie's calm, unblinking stare.

‘Why would I tell you? It was between Carter and Gina.'

‘Because Carter's my brother and his fiancée is my best friend?
Because I'm going to be her maid of honour. Because this is a disaster.' Marnie
collapsed back into her seat. ‘I can't tell Missy. She'll be devastated. The
wedding's in a week's time. And Missy's devoted herself to planning it for over
a year.'