Who the hell are you?” “Cormac O’Connor,” he said tersely. “Who the hell am I? I’m the owner of this duplex. Chaos! Laura pushed her sodden hair off her face, straightened her spine and glared at him. She closed her eyes, letting her hands slide against his warm, golden skin… Hang on. “Ooff…sorry! I’m not normally this disorganised, but it’s been a bad day and the key didn’t work and…” Her brain fried as strong, hard arms surrounded her while the scent of his expensive, citrusy cologne made her want to curl against him and forget about the sudden chaos of her life. The blue-eyed stranger grabbed her as she slammed into his naked chest. Just as she managed to disentangle herself, get upright and settle a look of outrage on her face, she slipped on the wet front step. She would’ve made it without further damage to her dignity if the rain pouring down her face hadn’t blinded her, resulting in a crazy muddle between her foot, the strap and her innate clumsiness. “I… I’m…” The strap of her shoulder bag wound around her arm as she struggled to stand. If you want to read more of Rhian’s half-naked, mostly naked, and completely naked heroes, check out her holiday trilogy Christmas Wishes, New Year’s Kisses, and Valentine’s Dates. With Rhian Cahill kicking us off, it’s no wonder the hero is already half-naked. But it was the angry blue gaze that stole her breath. Tilting her head back, she saw a set of abs a nun would shiver over, a chest sprinkled with golden curls and shoulders wide enough to support the world. Laura’s gaze travelled up hairy shins, thick thighs and hips covered by a deep blue towel. Too startled and confused to right herself, Laura landed with a distressed cry in front of a pair of bare feet. With a screech, she tipped forward as she met no resistance. “ Argh!” Could life get any worse? She threw her hands up and, fisting them, brought them down on the door that refused to open. Staring at the offending key, she jammed the metal in the lock one more time and jiggled it around. And before she found herself standing on the front step of her new duplex in the pouring rain with a key that wouldn’t work. Before she discovered her fiancé in bed with another woman. That was before she learned her stepfather had gambled away the family fortune. Once upon a time, Laura Ashford thought she led a charmed life. So come on an Escapade with us by visiting the blog daily over the next month and prepare to be delighted…. See what happens when 30 Escape authors decided to collaborate to write one short story! Every day from Valentine’s Day an Escape Artist will post up to 200 words here! There’s no master plan, no one knows where this is going until it’s written.

Mistaken Engagement by Jenny Schwartz