A Taste Of Sin

By Jami Alden

When Dr. Kelly Sullivan comes back to her small home town to run her ailing father's bar, she couldn't be more thrilled to run into her high school crush, Nick Donovan. Back then she was too young and too bookish to catch his eye. But now she's all grown up... and Nick has noticed.
When Nick Donovan sees Kelly Sullivan serving drinks at his favorite bar, he can't help but notice how much she's changed since high school. Soon he falls in lust - and love. Kelly is beautiful, super-smart, utterly sensual, and most definitely his kind of woman...in and out of bed. But will long nights of passion be enough to convince a big city doctor like Kelly that a hometown crush is the man for her?

Praise For Jami Alden:
“Jami Alden always takes you on a wild ride!
- New York Times best seller Catherine Coulter

“The perfect balance of emotion and romance.”
-New York Times best seller Maya Banks

“Hot and emotionally charged, Jami Alden always delivers.”
-New York Times best seller Shannon McKenna

“A fantastic story that will keep you hot and bothered.”
-Romantic Times Book Reviews for Private Party

“Alden can wring every emotion from her characters.”
-Romantic Times Book Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jami Alden
• Release date: Apr 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9780986304620

Jami Alden

Like so many romance readers, my first romance novel was by Kathleen Woodiwiss - The Flame and the Flower, to be exact. I was thirteen. I spent the next month ignoring my friends while I worked my way through her back list. Shortly thereafter I discovered Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Karen Robards, Catherine Coulter, Shirlee Busbee among others, and devoured their lavish historical epics full of overbearing alpha males and the women who brought them to their knees. I was hooked. My high school teachers marveled at my ability to read romance novels under the desk and still score straight A's. I started to imagine myself, living in a cabin in the mountains somewhere, writing romance novels.It took me quite awhile to pursue my dream. After graduating from Stanford with a degree in English Literature, I worked in a variety of not so interesting admin jobs before I began my career in marketing. It wasn't exactly my dream job, but at least my writing appeared on several web sites and in many software marketing brochures. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fit the phrase "and her loins melted like hot wax" into any of them.During my stint as the world's surliest receptionist, I took my first stab at writing. The result was a very melodramatic western historical which reads like a bad Elizabeth Lowell rip off. It's currently languishing on my hard drive, forever stuck on page 330.Then in fall 2001 I had an incredible stroke of luck and got laid off from my marketing job. I decided it was time to stop saying I wanted to be a writer and to actually give it a serious go.Four years later, I sold my first book and now I'm pretty much living the dream of getting paid to write romance. I don't live in a cabin in the mountains, but I do live in a rural-ish town near San Francisco (hey, we have deer and bunnies, along with the occasional coyote) with 2 sons, and a dog who patiently listens to my dialogue and helps me work out plot points. When I'm not writing, I enjoy running, reading, cooking, and watching a brain numbing quantity of food network programming.

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A Taste of Sin

JAMI ALDEN

Smashwords Edition

A Taste of Sin

First published by Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2007

© Copyright Jami Alden 2006

Ebook copyright Jami Alden 2015

Ebook published by Jami Alden 2015

Cover Design by Seductive Musings

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products or the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter One

The aroma of fried fish and chips tinged by the subtle tang of spilled beer greeted Nick Donovan as he walked into Sullivan's pub.

He spotted his brothers, Mike and Tony, seated at their usual table in the corner, already working on a pitcher of Harp's Lager. A huge platter of fish and chips nearly covered the surface of the table, and his brothers were steadily shoving handfuls of food in their mouths in a manner that belied their lean builds. After a long hands-on day in their building and renovation business, they needed a few thousand calories just to keep upright. Nick was an hour late after staying to review a set of plans for yet another vacation home in their mountain town of Donner Lake, California, and his stomach rumbled in anticipation.

Hey Mikey, Tony, he said, scraping another dinged wooden chair to the table. His brothers barely nodded, so focused were they on their feeding. Nick reached for a chip and nearly got his hand bitten off by Tony.

He scanned the room for their regular waitress, his irritation growing when he couldn't find her. Dammit, he needed a fresh platter of fish and a tall Harp's Lager, stat.

I still can't believe he's engaged, Mike said between mouthfuls of fried fish.

No shit! And to Kit Loughlin, of all people.

Mike, Tony, and Nick were still reeling over their older brother Jake's phone call just the other night, announcing his engagement to Kit Loughlin. Kit had been in Tony's class in high school and Jake had been close with her older brother, but as far as they knew, Kit and Jake hadn't had much to do with each other back then. But a few months ago they'd coincidentally both been invited on a group trip to Mexico. Next thing Nick knew, Jake was moving Kit across the country to Boston.

Wasn't Kit really close with Karen" Tony broke off mid-sentence at Mike's steely glare. Nick's stomach clenched momentarily, then relaxed as Mike seemed willing to let Tony's comment slide.

Jake's engagement didn't come as a huge surprise, given he'd been living with Kit for several months now. But for a guy who'd been so seemingly content with his single status, Jake seemed in quite a hurry to make things legal.

Mrs. Makwowsky flashed us her tits today, Tony said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. Nick knew Tony could barely tolerate the idea of his brother getting married. Not because Tony didn’t like Kit, just that, like how watching a close friend die forced one to confront his own mortality, watching his brother settle down made Tony acknowledge that one day he'd have to give up his steady habit of ski bunnies and settle down.

Did she actually whip them out? Nick asked, going along with Tony's new thread of conversation.

Nah, Tony said, wiping beer foam from his upper lip. But she decided she needed to take a swim when we were out by the pool.

Swim? It barely hit seventy today, Nick interrupted. Still warm for the middle of October, but not exactly pool weather.

And she just happened to be in a white bathing suit, Tony continued.

Mike chimed in, The minute it got damp, you could see everything. And then she came up and talked to us about her plans for her gazebo, like nothing was wrong. Mike paused, ate another fry, and chewed thoughtfully. You know, for a woman her age, her tits are actually not that bad. Kinda smallish, but not sagging, with nice, big, nip —

Why doesn't it surprise me to find you guys talking about breasts? Three pairs of eyes shot guiltily up at the laughing feminine voice, only to pause on the speaker's own very admirable rack. You guys haven't changed since high school, she scolded, and plunked a platter of fish and a mug of beer in front of Nick.

Nick surreptitiously adjusted his fly as his dick acknowledged the owner of said breasts. Kelly Jailbait Sullivan. Back when he was in high school, she'd been the smartest girl in town — with the most spectacular set of hooters that God had seen fit to bestow on a woman.

Unfortunately, he'd seen fit to bestow them on her when she was only fourteen, the youngest high school junior in the class after she’d skipped middle school entirely. They'd all known each other since childhood, and their fathers were still close friends. Even though her prematurely ripe figure had tempted Nick beyond reason, he and his brothers had always maintained a protective, big-brother attitude toward her.

Mike and Tony jumped up and grabbed Kelly in bear hugs, swinging her around and rubbing her head like she was their favorite puppy. Her naturally fair peaches-and-cream complexion was slightly flushed when

they let her go. She turned to Nick with a smile that made her thickly lashed blue eyes sparkle.

Hey, Nick, she said, holding open her arms.

Hey, Kelly, he said, pulling her against him for a brief hug.

But it was long enough for him to catch the herbal scent that emanated from her dark curls and inhale the warm, sweet fragrance of her skin. He studiously kept his lower half away from hers. That's all he needed, for Kelly to feel his unexpected boner on her hip. Jesus, he hadn't had a pop-up like this since eighth grade.

Have a beer with us, and tell us what it's like to be a big-time doctor, Mike said.

Can't, Kelly replied, replacing their empty pitcher with a full one. I'm working. I'm helping Dad out until he can come back full time.

Nick forced himself to concentrate on what she was saying. Now as he scanned her, taking yet another moment to admire those spectacular breasts housed snugly in a periwinkle blue sweater, he noticed that she had an apron emblazoned with Sullivan's tied around her waist.

He knew about Ryan Sullivan's recent knee surgery — he and his brothers had visited him in the hospital. But he'd had no idea Kelly, who had graduated from Harvard medical school five years ago at the ripe old age of twenty-one, would be home during her father's recovery.

That's great, Kell, Tony said. How long are you in town?

Kelly pulled a rag from her apron and wiped a blob of ketchup from their table. Nick was momentarily mesmerized by the gentle sway of her breasts as she moved her arm in a rhythmic circular motion. Suddenly his brain was filled with a vision of her, naked and creamy on top of him, tits swaying as she rode his cock with abandon.

He shook his head slightly to clear his brain, frowning when he noticed that his brothers, too, were admiring the way she filled out her sweater.

I don't know, Kelly was saying. At least a couple of weeks, maybe as long as a month. It all depends on how Dad's recovery goes.

Great, Nick thought. I'm condemned to a two-to four-week sentence of perpetual bonerhood.

We'll be seeing you around, then, Mike said.

Kelly grinned. I certainly hope so. She turned and sashayed away, with three sets of eyes glued to her firm ass encased in sexy lowrise jeans.

When the hell did Kelly Sullivan get hot? Tony asked no one in particular.

Yeah, Mike said. Last time I saw her she was just a nerdy little college girl.

Nick frowned, not sure why he was so irritated at the idea of his brothers checking her out. She was always cute.

Not the last time I saw her, Tony said. In fact, as I remember, she really didn't look so good.

It was her mother's funeral, dumbass, Nick said, remembering the occasion a little over two years ago. Anyone who's been crying for a week straight is going to look like hell. Kelly had been blotchy faced and puffy eyed, as had her sister, Karen.

At the time of her mother's death from brain cancer, Kelly had been in the second year of her residency. She'd left town immediately after the funeral and hadn't been home since. Which made her presence tonight, all lush curves and sweet smiles, even more surprising.

Kelly? Cute? Tony said. Yeah, okay, maybe cute like a puppy is cute, or a kid sister.

You just weren't looking hard enough, Nick said with more intensity than he'd intended.

Mike and Tony stared at him for several seconds, heads cocked, eyes narrowed. Don't you dare tell me you messed around with Kelly Sullivan, Mike said.

Even eleven years after the fact, Nick had no doubt that Mike and Tony would do their best to pummel him if they thought he'd taken