First Kiss by Kylie Adams

gorgeous specimen of man. And she suddenly realized who he was. Fabrizio Tomba. Of course. The owner and mastermind behind Affair. The boutique hotel was intended to be Manhattan's sexy little secret. But the media coverage had been intense. Word on the new place for a rendezvous had spread fast, and Fabrizio had become the face of the establishment, basically the personification of good, safe, illicit sex. Pictures didn't do him justice. The ones that turned up in New York, Gotham , and other magazines with factory-like regularity paled in comparison to the real thing.
    Kiki reminded herself that he was never alone in those photos. There was always a different woman holding his arm, sitting on his lap, or sticking her tongue down his throatmodels, actresses, heiresses, the latest reality show starlets. He was quite the player. But Kiki could see why so women were so eager to say, "Game on."
    Slyly, she drank him in. Usually, she had nothing to say for pretty boys. They took longer to get ready for an evening out, routinely swiped her best beauty products, and could never pass a mirror without introducing themselves and chatting too long. But Fa-brizio was pretty with a purpose. In fact, he bent the word to the breaking point. His phenomenal good looks reminded her of the late JFK Jr. Zero effort. Just good genes, better manners, and the kind of drop-dead physicality that serves as a simple, breathtaking reminder to mere mortals of the world. There was such a thing as tourist-class attractiveness. And then there were the beautiful people.
    Fabrizio stood patiently, his tiger brown eyesbig and inquisitivelocked onto hers.
    Kiki tried to hide the fact that she needed to swallow. Instead, she took a quiet breath. The live-and-in-person download of Fabrizio Tomba had hit her on all sorts of levelsnone of them comfortable. It was instant, heavy-duty crush. And she secretly hated herself for succumbing so fast. Her next move was reflex: Act like a bitch. When in doubt, it was a girl's best default mechanism. "So you own the place. Congratulations." She gestured to the late-night Cin-emax movie being acted out on the adjacent sofa. "Why don't you see about getting them a room? Otherwise, there's a fairly good chance that I might throw up in your lobby."
    "That's surprising." His tone was deliberately casual. "Judging from today's headlines, I wouldn't take you for a girl with public-displays-of-affection issues."
    Kiki knew that her eyes were open wide, that the look on her face was equal parts humiliation and barely disguised lust. If ever she needed to prove her acting prowess, then it was right now. He was casting her off as the media scandal girl of the moment. Somehow she had to rise above his insult, to metamorphose into a cafe society fashionista simply enduring a bad day in the columns. And pull it off with chameleonlike poise.
    "Are you there?" Suzi-Suzi screamed.
    Kiki let out a tinkling little laugh. That dismissed Fabrizio's tabloid dig. Then she raised her hand for his immediate silence. That dismissed the rest of him. "Suzi-Suzi, darling," she began in her best kiss-kiss, not-a-care-in-the-world voice, "forgive my rudeness.
    J
    I was interrupted by the owner of the hotel. He's been impressing me with his taste in reading material. Anyway, be a doll and do those little favors for me. Ring me back if you have any problems."
    "Why are you talking like that?" Suzi-Suzi demanded.
    "Lovely," Kiki sang. "Bye-bye." Then she snapped her phone shut, returned it to her purse, and peered up to see Fabrizio drilling his eyes into her. She felt the muscles of her stomach tighten. Oh, God, he was hot. And oh, God, did he know it.
    "This hotel thrives on discretion for obvious reasons," Fabrizio said. "But waiting in the lobby for Tom Brock in that outfit after today's front page is pushing it. Don't you think?"
    Kiki double-checked her immediate anger. First of all, she wouldn't wait around in a lobby for anyone other than Dr. Sherwin