Falling For Him: Karimi Siblings, #1

By Alisha Rai

This title was previously published as "Veiled Desire." 

Look, but don’t touch… 

Leyla Karimi can’t keep her eyes off the hunky guy living in the house behind her. How couldany woman resist ogling Dr. Mason Barrett, especially when he makes it so easy by parading around in his skin and skivvies? 

If it was only their age difference, she would have made a move a long time ago. Except Mason is more than a neighbor. He’s her baby brother’s oldest friend. It’s not like they can have a casual fling and walk away in the morning. 

Mason’s been doing a little lusting—okay a lot—for quite some time. When he catches Leyla peeking, it’s a sure sign she could finally be ready to heat up his nights with loving. One taste of her lips, though, and he doesn’t want a “little” of anything. He wants it all. 

Unwilling to jeopardize a lifetime of friendship for a one-night stand, Leyla is reluctant to throw caution to the wind. When he’s kissing her senseless, though, it’s hard to remember all the reasons why she should hold back… 

Warning: Contains a hot hero who doesn’t mind baring it all in the name of love, a heroine who doesn’t settle for less, a sweet romance, steamy sex in a car and more good lovin’ in bed. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: alisha rai
• Release date: Apr 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507048535

Alisha Rai

Alisha Rai pens award-winning contemporary romances, and her novels have been named Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post, NPR, Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, Kirkus, and Cosmopolitan magazine. When she’s not writing, Alisha is traveling or tweeting. To find out more about her books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit alisharai.com.  

Book preview

FALLING FOR HIM

(Previously Published as Veiled Desire)

Alisha Rai

Look, but don’t touch…

Leyla Karimi can’t keep her eyes off the hunky guy living in the house behind her. How could any woman resist ogling Dr. Mason Barrett, especially when he makes it so easy by parading around in his skin and skivvies?

If it was only their age difference, she would have made a move a long time ago. Except Mason is more than a neighbor. He’s her baby brother’s oldest friend. It’s not like they can have a casual fling and walk away in the morning.

Mason’s been doing a little lusting—okay a lot—for quite some time. When he catches Leyla peeking, it’s a sure sign she could finally be ready to heat up his nights with loving. One taste of her lips, though, and he doesn’t want a little of anything. He wants it all.

Unwilling to jeopardize a lifetime of friendship for a one-night stand, Leyla is reluctant to throw caution to the wind. When he’s kissing her senseless, though, it’s hard to remember all the reasons why she should hold back…

Product Warnings

Contains a hot hero who doesn’t mind baring it all in the name of love, a heroine who doesn’t settle for less, a sweet romance, steamy sex in a car and more good lovin’ in bed.

Dear Readers:

Falling For Him was first published in 2010 as Veiled Desire. The title Falling For Him describes the story better, I think: a sweet, sexy tale of a woman who looks up one day and sees her brother’s best friend in a whole new light.

This book has not been substantively changed since it was first released. I hope you enjoy Falling For Him.

If you would like news on new and upcoming releases, please sign up for my newsletter or visit me at www.alisharai.com.

Best, Alisha

Chapter One

Leyla Karimi didn’t believe in Cupid, but she figured there had to be some mischievous mystic force at work in the universe. After all, something had forced her to purchase a home that practically butted patio to patio with the home behind hers. Something had induced her baby brother’s best friend to rent the other house a few months ago. Something very pressing must have kept him from buying blinds.

Yes, some mischievous force had to be tinkering away somewhere in the universe. Because nothing else could explain why she had decided to come sit on her porch swing to unwind after the hectic day. And nothing could explain why she was currently staring at Mason Barrett’s almost naked body with more than a little bit of lust.

Okay, a lot of lust.

She cocked her head to the side, trying to think past the pounding refrain of ohmyGodhelookssofine running through her brain. Objectively, she’d realized for years that Mason was no longer the chubby ten-year-old who had once tagged along behind her very mature fourteen-year-old self all those years ago. In a couple of private moments, she’d even admitted that he’d turned into a very attractive man. Who was she kidding? Tall, blond, chiseled and muscular, he was a very hot man. And a couple of private moments may not be precisely accurate. More like every time they hung out. Which, since he’d moved in, had been like every other day.

He stood with his back to her, one hand raised to hold his cell phone at his ear. She had no idea who he was talking to, and frankly she didn’t care. His white boxer-briefs highlighted the tan of his skin. His back was lovely, wide and strong, tapering down from broad shoulders. She appreciated a sexy back as much as the next woman.

Her contacts were dry. With every blink, a smidgeon of sanity returned to her brain.

Oh my God, what are you doing?

She glanced around in a panic, but there was no one around to point their finger at her. The high fences running the sides of her and Mason’s property kept everyone else’s eyes away.

Horrified shame stung her cheeks, more so than the usual I-can’t-believe-I-just-imagined-Mason-licking-my-fill-in-the-blank sheepishness. It didn’t matter that only a few minutes had passed since Mason had come into her field of vision. It didn’t matter that she’d seen him in swim trunks at the pool or the beach. This was different. Hell, sometimes she stripped down as soon as she came home, especially on unseasonably warm Florida evenings like tonight. How would she feel if she knew Mason had looked at her in just her panties?

Her stomach flip-flopped, and she pressed a hand against it. Clearly, a bad question.

It was the holiday, she told herself with real desperation. Valentine’s Day was just around the corner. When one worked in a lingerie shop, hearts and flowers were crammed down one’s throat since January. She hadn’t been with a man in years. The time was ripe to be thinking about all sorts of crazy things. Even about a man who had been a part of her life forever. A man who thought of her as a sister. A man she could never, ever attempt a relationship with, because if it combusted, it would not only affect her, but her brother as well.

Never, ever. Right? Come on, conscience, don’t let me down now.

In her imagination, her haloed conscience shrugged. Don’t look at me, sweetie. Have you seen his ass?

He was gesturing with his hands and pacing now, like Leyla knew he was wont to do when he was in the middle of a discussion. Each time he moved, the muscles in his thighs tightened and released, his buttocks following in tandem. He raked his hand through his short blond hair, and his biceps and chest did a pretty dance. It was like watching poetry in flesh. The thick bulge at the crotch of his shorts made her breathless, and she willed that waistband to slip just a little lower, over that bulge and down to the floor…

She was so caught up in the fantasy that it took her a second to realize he wasn’t moving anymore, his body half turned toward the sliding glass door.

Oh God. Had he seen her?

She shrank back against the chair and slammed her eyes shut in a childish bid to render herself invisible. She couldn’t bear it if he had seen her ogling him. He and Sasha would tease her for life. She would totally deserve it. After all, this was Mason. He was just a baby.

Her conscience whipped a nail file out and began working on her manicure. Twenty-seven is not a baby.

Well, maybe not, and if he were anyone else, a four-year age gap probably wouldn’t bother her. But he’d grown up in her home. She should consider him a brother.

Um, there isn’t a single drop of blood between you.

Stop helping me justify this.

She held her breath and waited for his deep, laughing voice to break the silence of the quiet suburban street.

When she became a little lightheaded from lack of oxygen, she peeked out, confused. The evening was quiet, his living room empty. Where had he gone? Leyla let out a soft groan. Had he gone to tell Sasha that his cougar of a big sister had become a Peeping Tom?

As if the fates wanted to disprove her theory, Mason sauntered back into view from the kitchen, no longer on the phone. He had a beer clutched in his hand, and he took a swig of it. Like a puppet on a string,