Canadian Cravings

By Samantha Gentry

Addie Burton has a successful career as a photojournalist for an international travel magazine. When her new assignment in Canada brings her in contact with a friend from college she hasn't seen in twelve years, the attraction is instantaneous. She's ready to mix business with pleasure.

Knox Mallory is shocked to discover the photojournalist doing the magazine article on his company is a woman who had sparked his lust during his college days. Family circumstances had prevented him from acting on his desire, but he's hoping to resurrect what might have been.

Can two weeks satisfy their Canadian cravings or will it lead to more?

• Language: Unknown
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Apr 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781509249169

Samantha Gentry

I've lived most of my life in Los Angeles and earned my living for twenty years by working in television production. I was always interested in writing and dabbled at it, but not seriously. I combined my interest in writing with my avocation of photography and began doing magazine articles featuring my photographs. After selling several articles, I discovered I enjoyed the writing process as much as the photography. My friends told me I should make use of my television contacts and write scripts. I enrolled in a screen writing class at UCLA. By the close of class I knew screen writing was not for me. The other thing I knew was that I wanted to write novels rather than magazine articles.

Book preview

He held up his glass toward her. Here’s to renewing our friendship. Here’s to the future… He tilted his head to one side and extended a questioning look as he raised an eyebrow. …and to exploring what might have been?

They clinked glasses, and each took a drink. The candlelight flickered across her face, reflecting in the sparkle of her green eyes. Her auburn hair had been long when they were in college, but now her short hair feathered softly around her face like a frame for an exquisite work of art. The years had truly enhanced her natural beauty. The college freshman he had been attracted to twelve years ago had become a stunningly beautiful and desirable woman. Very desirable.

I can’t believe we never dated in college. His voice conveyed pure sex as he drew his finger across the back of her hand where it rested on the table. The sensation of her smooth skin confirmed how much he wanted to explore every fantasy he ever had about her, and the number of times he had fantasized were many.

Well, there’s an easy explanation for that. A spontaneous laugh escaped her throat. You never asked me out.

His laugh joined hers. Well, that was certainly my bad—and very foolish of me.

Praise for Samantha Gentry

Samantha Gentry is an awesome writer who spins a tale of so much interest you have to fall in love with the characters and the book itself!

~ Steamy Encounter 5/5 Hearts from The Romance Studio

Ms. Gentry has believable characters that are well written. She tells a visual tale with words.

~ Unexpected Encounter 5/5 Angels from Fallen Angel Reviews

This is another story that will be placed prominently in my short story library.

~ Masked Encounter from Joyfully Reviewed

Ms. Gentry is an extraordinary voice in today’s romance market.

~ Summer Sizzle 5/5 Hearts from The Romance Studio

This was such a romantic, adventurous, thrilling read; a skillful suspense story with a fantastic ending.

~ Déjà Vu 4/5 Hearts from The Romance Studio

Canadian Cravings

by

Samantha Gentry

Passport to Pleasure Series

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

Canadian Cravings

COPYRIGHT © 2022 by Samantha Gentry

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Diana Carlile

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Edition, 2023

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-4916-9

Passport to Pleasure Series

Published in the United States of America

Chapter One

As a photojournalist employed by a major international travel magazine, Addie Burton had been to many exotic, fascinating, and exciting locations on assignment. From the moment Tom Fullerton, the magazine’s managing editor, presented her with this new assignment, she had been enthusiastically planning out her time. And why would an assignment in Vancouver, Canada, only about one hundred and fifty miles from her home in Seattle, Washington, be that exciting? For one and only one very special reason. It provided the opportunity to once again come face-to-face with Knox Mallory—a man she hadn’t seen in twelve years yet a man she had not been able to get out of her mind.

When her boss told her the magazine would be doing a major layout on Canadian train excursion vacations with a focus on the Mallory family’s business, a picture of the handsome and sexy Knox Mallory instantly popped into her mind. They had both attended the University of Washington in Seattle. She had been a freshman, and he had been a senior. He had embodied everything dreams were made of—intelligent, marvelous sense of humor, got along with everyone, handsome, and incredibly sexy—definitely the Big Man On Campus. All the guys wanted to be his buddy and all the girls wanted to be his girlfriend.

They had become friends that year, but that was as far as it had gone—just friends, nothing more. The first thing they found that they had in common was their unusual names. She had been named Adelaide after her great grandmother, and Knox was also a family name. She had a major crush on him, but so did every woman who crossed his path. He graduated after that year with a degree in business administration and returned to his home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

That had been twelve years ago. Even though they’d spent a lot of their free time together, often had lunch together on campus, caught a movie now and then, they had never really dated—much to her disappointment. Eager to renew their friendship barely described her excitement over the prospect, but would he even remember her?

She had thought of him many times over the ensuing years, even through the turmoil of two broken engagements, and always with the question of what if lingering in her mind along with the burning curiosity about what might have been.

She dismissed the errant thoughts from the past as she reached for her phone and hit the speed dial button for her editor. Hi, Tom. Just wanted to touch base with you before I hit the road to Vancouver.

You still want to drive rather than fly?

A spontaneous laugh escaped her throat. The drive is less than three hours. I won’t have the hassle of dealing with the airport crowds and time delays in Seattle and Vancouver, and I won't need to pack my equipment to have it shipped internationally. With all of today’s travel restrictions, it’s much easier to drive.

Tom’s laugh mixed with hers. Okay, you’ve convinced me. Give me a call when you’ve checked in at your hotel.

Addie quickly terminated the conversation. As soon as she finished packing her suitcases and photography equipment, she did a last-minute check of her to do list for her Canadian magazine assignment.

U.S. passport

COVID vaccination card

Copy of ArriveCAN system information

Her Washington driver's license was acceptable in Canada for thirty days without needing to procure an international driver’s license.

International availability on cell phone.

She had five hundred dollars in Canadian currency plus another two thousand in traveler’s checks. The magazine would be billed directly for her hotel room. She’d checked all her photographic equipment, batteries fully charged, including back-ups, and bought some extra SD cards. She had the proper paperwork for U.S. Customs for her return from Canada showing she purchased the equipment in the U.S. and was not importing it. She took another look at everything, satisfied with what she saw.

That should do it.

Addie loaded her car and headed north out of Seattle on Interstate 5 toward the Canadian border. Thoughts of Knox Mallory flooded her mind. She had speculated about the possibility of reconnecting with him while on the assignment, but it was only wishful thinking. With the death of his father, he had taken over as head of Mallory Train Excursions, a very successful corporation. He would probably be too busy for anything more than a quick hello, if even that, leaving no opportunity for the exciting prospect of actually exploring what might have been. A tingle of excitement invaded her body, tinged with a hint of regret over what probably could never be.

She passed through customs and passport control at the Peace Bridge Border Crossing without incident, then proceeded to Vancouver and her hotel. After a quick call to Tom Fullerton, she contacted Greg Sinclair, the promotion director for Mallory Train Excursions. Tom had been coordinating with Greg after his initial conversation with Knox to establish an agreement for the article.

Greg, it’s Addie Burton. I just arrived at my hotel. When can we get together and discuss the itinerary for the article and nail down the last-minute details?

"I’ve set aside some time this afternoon at three o’clock. We can meet in my office. Does