Virgin taken on her maiden voyage

CHAPTER ONE

'Are you always in the habit of speaking to yourself?' the strange man questioned Kimberly.

'Excuse me?' she said, glancing across then staring at him, unable to draw her eyes away from his alluring gaze. He was dashingly attractive too. Not your clean cut drop dead gorgeous pin up guy. But this one had the rugged arrogance of one that spent a lot of time outdoors. He had the broadest shoulders she had ever seen. And the lips looked so seductive, it tempted one to run one's fingers over it and__.

Oh heck, what the hell are you thinking?

Kimberly suddenly realized the tape was still running on her recorder, reaching into her pocket she switched it of.

'I'm sorry what did you ask me?' she repeated for the second time. Feeling embarrassed at her unusually less than composed persona. His amused eyes did not help her much.

'I asked, 'are you always in the habit of talking to yourself?'

'Oh right! Well actually, I'm not talking to myself, but speaking into a recorder,' she tapped the gadget clipped to her waistband.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

'I'm a writer,' she supplied.

'Do I know your work?' he asked.

'You're not my target market. I write children's adventure stories.'

A part of her brain cautioned Kimberly about suspect strange men, but her instinct told her he was not your ordinary run of the mill type. Infact he fitted no profile at all. He was unique, one of a kind, and very attractive to look at. Dressed in a designer suit, silk evening shirt, the tie draped around the collar, but undone, he smacked of affluence and magnetism. His designer watch alone was worth probably more than her late model mini cooper.

'Kimberly Sloane,' she extended her hand.

'Hi. Riccardo,' he introduced himself with a smile.

'Does Riccardo come with a surname?' she quizzed.

He offered her a dazzling, rather disconcerting smile.

Okay! surname not necessary.

'What's in a name? He quipped.

'Perhaps you're a stowaway or on the FBI's ten most wanted list,' she probed, although Kimberly knew instinctively he was no stowaway and somehow, he could not be one of the ten most wanted. He just could not.

'So you know the FBI's ten most wanted then?' He questioned.

'I know the five most wanted,' she replied, having just researched it for her latest book.

'Well I can tell you, I'm certainly no stowaway,' the dazzling smile reappeared.

Kimberly held her breath, 'so should I do a process of elimination on the top five list?' she asked curiously.

He laughed, 'perhaps I should read your material,' I'm certain, it will prove rather riveting!' he countered.

'I'll let you be the judge,' she murmured.

'Miss Sloane, may I say you have the sexiest legs, I've seen on an author?' he admired.

Kimberly sighed silently, she was so used to that one liner. It was undoubtedly seen to be her most attractive asset, although she would rather differ. Kimberly was often stopped in malls or sometimes at the beach when in a bikini, with lucrative offers to do modeling assignments. Thankfully, her writing had brought her some financial independence. She did not reach 'World's Best Selling' author status yet, but it made her enough money. She had her own home cum studio, a car all fully paid off with no debt to her name. She loved writing, was not interested in pursuing any other stream of income, and continuously declined all other offers to model that came her way, preferring to focus solely on her writing.