The winners of my contest posted Wednesday are:

Cami and Kathye. I’ll be emailing you soon for your addresses to send you your book.

In honor of the release of my latest book, Mara’s Move, I’m giving away two copies of my last book, Candy Kisses — one here and one on the Avalon Authors blog, www.avalonauthors.blogspot.com. Candy Kisses is the companion book to Mara’s Move.

To enter, go to the Avalon Authors blog and find which author posted on June 23. Email me the name at JeanCGordon@yahoo.com. Put Mara’s Move on the subject line. Next Sunday, I’ll draw a winner from the correct entries on each blog and notify the two winners by email. By entering, you agree to be added to my email readers’ list.

For anyone in the Albany, NY area, I’ll be signing Mara’s Move and my other Avalon books at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center (Albany-Shaker Road) as part of the Capital Region Romance Writers annual conference.

When: Saturday, June 13, from 4 to 6 p.m.

With:

Annette Blair
Angela Knight
Angelique Armae /M.A duBarry
Ursula Bauer
Linda Bleser/L.B. Milano
Jean C. Gordon
Jackie Kessler
K.A. Mitchell
Lydia Storm
Jaclyn Tracey
Christine Wenger

“Keep in touch.”
 
Mara watched Tiffani hug Christie and Drew goodbye in the airport lobby, surprised at how close they’d all become in such a short time. Even Drew seemed less slimy this morning. She waved to the couple as they turned to head toward their terminal.

Tiffani faced Mara and Alex. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Now, you have my e-mail address and cell number,” she said, back to her usual organizing self.

“Yes,” Mara and Alex answered in unison.
 
“And you guys will seriously think about a cruise reunion, won’t you?” Tiffani turned her big blue eyes to Surfer Boy first.

Mara had written the guy’s name down in her notebook this morning, but it had already slipped her mind.

Tiffani looked at Mara and Alex. “Maybe a honeymoon cruise.”
 
Mara could have strangled her.
 
Alex just laughed. “Tiffani, you are one of a kind. Count me in on a reunion cruise.”
 
“Me, too,” Mara said. Why not? They’d had a lot of fun over the past few days.
 
“I wish Jack had come with us, too,” Tiffani said.
 
Mara couldn’t say she agreed with that. “I guess he’d already paid for the limo or car or whatever and didn’t want to lose his money.”

“I guess,” Tiffani said. She looked up at the airport clock. “We’re going to have to get going.”
 
She gave Alex and Mara each a big bear hug that brought tears to Mara’s eyes. Tiffani wasn’t someone she’d normally seek out as a friend, but the cruise wouldn’t have been half the fun without her.

When Tiffani released Mara, Alex caught and held her gaze. Her heart thudded so loudly surely everyone in the lobby heard it.
 
“Go ahead. We won’t watch,” Tiffani said.
 
Mara laughed. “Thanks, Tiff.”
 
Alex stepped close. “Call me as soon as you get home.”
 
She nodded, giving up the fight to stop her tears from escaping. Alex kissed the tears from her cheek before moving to her lips. He tasted sweet and salty. Alex increased the pressure of the kiss and crushed her to him. She matched his almost-desperate urgency.

“O-kay!”
 
Tiffani’s voice jarred Mara from her bliss. Maybe she should re-think that strangle idea.

“We’ve got to get going,” Tiffani said when she had both their attentions.
 
Mara breathed deeply and slowly released the breath.
 
“She’s right,” Alex said, rubbing the small of her back.
 
Alex, Tiffani, and Surfer Boy all had connecting flights in Atlanta and needed to get to their airline’s terminal. Mara was connecting a little later in Charlotte.
 
“Come on.” Tiffani grabbed Alex’s elbow. “You’ll see her again. Bye, for now,” she said to Mara.
 
As Tiffani hustled him away, Alex turned, his pinky and index fingers pointed to his ear in mimic of a phone receiver.

Her heart soared with anticipation. In today’s electronic age, they could build a relationship long-distance, couldn’t they? Mara grabbed the pull handle of her carryon bag and started off in the opposite direction toward her airline terminal.

My writers’ group, Capital Region Romance Writers, is having its seventh annual conference June 12 and 13 at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY. If you’re in the area, we’d love to have you attend. I’ll be signing at the open-to-the-public book signing Saturday 4 to 6 p.m.

One final swipe of mascara and she was done. Mara blinked twice and checked her touch up in the ladies room mirror. The party organizers had just announced that they were going to do a version of speed dating to break the ice and get people mixing. Considering the number of potentially available attractive men she’d scouted out in the few minutes since she’d arrived, it couldn’t hurt to be at her best. She stepped back and smoothed the skirt of her ubiquitous little black dress. With her dark hair and fair skin, she looked good in black.

 
“Hey,” Tiffani called when she returned to the lounge. “I wondered where you’d gotten to.”

 
“Pit stop.”
 

“Isn’t this fun?”
 

Mara watched a couple of buff guys in cruise uniforms move the tables placed along the walls to the middle of the room. “Yeah.” Watching virile young men in physical activity never failed to entertain her.
 

“I’ve never done speed dating before.”
 

“Me either.”
 

The two guys made sure the candle on each of the tables was lit.
 

“Okay, everyone,” the party MC shouted into a microphone. “Let’s line up, chicks on my right.” He motioned to one side of the room. “And dudes on my left.”
 

Mara watched several people leave the lounge. Where had they found this guy? If she didn’t have to write a review of the party, she’d be joining the exodus.
 

“Come on.” Tiffani grabbed her elbow and pulled her over into line.
 

The lights dimmed and the hunky crew men began escorting the women to the tables. Tiffani fairly bounced with excitement. “This is so fun. Do you think Alex may come after all?” she asked.
Mara scanned the line ahead and behind her. The old Alex would have been in his glory with all these women. That Alex never missed a party or an opportunity to flirt with women, plain or beautiful–except her. The Alex who had dinner with them tonight. Who knew?
 

“Probably not. He said he wasn’t interested.”
 

Tiffani drew her mouth into a pouty moue. “I thought he might change his mind. You being here and being an old friend and all.” Her voice trailed off.
 

Mara flexed her toes. Why hadn’t she ditched the shoes when she changed her clothes? She really should tell the poor girl that there was nothing between her and Alex. There never had been, except for the old childish crush she’d left behind in Harmony Hills, along with her Backstreet Boys poster and the rest of her other teen baggage.
 

Mara leaned to the left and peered down the lines at the lounge doorway. Nope, no sign of Alex. Not that she thought there would be. A small pang of disappointment belied her conviction. She turned back to catch Tiffani’s little wave as she took the arm of one of the crew men to be escorted to a table.
 

Mara surveyed the line of men while she waited for her escort. It was shorter than the woman’s line, a lot shorter. No, maybe not. A bunch of guys were milling around at the back of the room. So how was this going to work? She’d missed the details when she was in the ladies room. Were they going to seat all the women first, then let the men pick? Not very PC.
 

“Miss?” The hunky dark-haired crew man who had been moving tables smiled down at her. Oh, my. He had dimples. She placed her hand on his proffered arm. Hmmm, nice, muscular. Mara glanced sideways to see if she could glimpse a ring on his left hand. What was wrong with her? This was business. She was here to critique the singles icebreaker event. Must be Tiffani and her perpetual chatter about Alex and what fun everything was going to be.
 

The crew man pulled out the chair at a small round table at the far corner of the lounge.
 

“Thanks.” She smiled at him.
 

He nodded and the dimples flashed again. This job had its benefits.
 

Mara whipped out her official GHC rating notebook and pencil and skimmed the check off for personnel ratings. Nothing about heart-starting dimples. Polite and neat appearance would have to do.
 

“Is this seat taken?”
 

“Alex! How did you get in here?”
 

“I have my ways.” He grinned and sat down across from her.
 

Talk about dimples. His grin put an extra tha-thump in her heartbeat. This was the Alex she knew. Not the pod person she’d had dinner with.
 

She leaned forward on her elbows. “Seriously, how did you get in without being signed up ahead of time?”
 

“Your friend Jack.” His mouth hardened ever so slightly.
 

“My friend? I met him this evening, same as you.”
 

“Whatever. He knows a lot about you.”
 

Mara backed off and fiddled with her pencil. In her mind she did a fast forward replay of the couple of days she’d spent in the corporate office training for the cruise. Jack didn’t appear in any of the scenes. She would have remembered if she’d met him before.
 

“I thought you worked with him.” Alex leaned back in his chair in a pose that would have been casual had he not had an aura of tension around him. “Jack said you’re not at the resort anymore.”
The last statement sounded like some kind of accusation to Mara. Since when did she have to report her job status to Alex? For that matter, when did he start caring where she was or what she was doing? That is, if he did. Her pulse was still thumping at time and a half, but now more out of irritation.
 

She shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve moved from the resort to corporate. Public relations.”
 

Alex raised his eyebrows in question. “I thought you were in hotel management.”
 

Warmth that had nothing to do with her irritation flowed through her. So Alex had paid some attention to what she’d been doing. Candy said they sometimes talked about her.
 

“Long story.” She double tapped her pencil on the table. “You still haven’t told me how you got in here.”
 

“Apparently, Jack is well connected at GHC. I said I might want to attend some of the singles events and he said no problem. When I checked in here, I was on the list.”
 

Whoa! Sounded like Jack was someone at GHC. Maybe she should get to know him better.
 

“It was a lot harder getting the ticket for your table.”
 

“What do you mean?” Alex wanted to be with her? A trill of anticipation ran through her. She certainly hadn’t gotten that impression at dinner. He’d been in his usual avoid-Mara mode.
 

“I had to trade all my free drinks for the whole cruise to the guy in line to be your first match.”
 

“And you did that why?” He was up to something if he’d gone so far as trading away his free drinks to be her first speed date. But what? She would not give into the tiny part inside her that held the hope he was finally noticing her.
 

“I wanted to talk with you.”
 

His words sparked the hope despite her rational side telling her they didn’t even know each other that well anymore.
 

He drew a small figure eight on the table with his finger tip. “I didn’t have your cabin number. Didn’t want to leave a message.”
 

“O-kay.” She had a few things she wanted to ask him, too.
 

“Hey, everyone,” the party MC shouted above the increasing din. “Some of you have gotten a head start. But now, it’s time to officially begin. When you hear the gong . . .” The MC paused while one of the crew men rang the large copper instrument in the middle of the stage. The sound reverberated through the lounge. “You have five minutes to get to know your current partner. Hear the gong again and gentlemen move on to the lady to your right.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “If you connect, you can hook up after the speed dating is done. Now, let’s . . . get . . . started.”
 

The gong rang again. Mara rubbed her temples.
 

“You okay?”
 

“Yeah, that gong is getting old fast. But we’re wasting time. Do you want to go first? What do you want to know? Where Candy and I hid the journal you did for senior English? Interesting stuff.”
Alex leaned forward and cleared his throat. “I need a favor.” His voice was low and intimate.
Intriguing. And a little disconcerting to have all that male attention suddenly focused on her. Mara tapped her foot under the table and waited.
 

“It’s, ah, Tiffani.”
 

He wanted her help with Tiffani? So much for that little hope. Not that she’d expected her and Alex to ever make a connection.
 

“She reminds me of my ex-fiancé.”
 

Mara’s heart sank further. “Really.” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
 

“Yeah, except nicer.”
 

From what Candy had said, Attila the Hun was nicer than his ex. “You said it, not me.”
 

His forehead wrinkled in question.
 

She shrugged.
 

“I need help avoiding Tiffani. Everywhere I turn, she’s there. I can’t take it, not for five days straight.”
 

“Poor baby,” she murmured. “I thought all the Price brothers were used to women falling at their feet.”
 

“Well, yeah.” He flashed her a heart stopping grin. “But, I’m out of practice. I haven’t been in circulation for a while.”
 

This was sounding more intriguing than his old journal, most of which she and Candy had figured had to have been made up. “So, what do you want me to do?”
 

He looked down at his hands and tapped his index finger on the table. “I thought you could–”
 

“Bong!”
 

“Time to move on, gentleman,” the MC boomed.
 

Alex shot him a dirty look. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand.
 

“Wait, I can’t leave.”
 

“Why not?”
 

Work, that’s why not. She slid her journal off the table onto her lap. “Ah, things are about to get fun.”

 
“Without me?”
 

His tone was light, but he gazed at her so intently, she had to look away. She fumbled with the notebook on her lap. No one on the cruise was supposed to know what she was doing.
 

“I kind of promised Tiffani. We came together.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. They had come together.
An irritated look she remembered well flashed across his face and, then, was gone. “Can we meet up later and finish talking?”
 

“Sure, but you’re not going to stand up the woman at the next table are you?”
 

“Me, stand up a pretty lady. Never. I’m not actually playing. I only paid the guy for a turn with you.

“See.” He pointed to a man taking a seat at the next table. “There he is.”
 

“Come on guys, move it.” The MC looked directly at Alex. “We have lots more women for you to meet this evening.”
 

“Later, by the bar?” Alex asked.
  

She nodded and watched him cross the room with that easy fluid gait of his until his progress was blocked by the arrival of her next speed date.

Was that Alex Price lugging a suitcase up the ramp to the Carolina? Mara squinted against the bright morning sun. Yep, it sure was. What was he doing here in Charleston? Candy hadn’t said anything about him coming down.

“Alex.” She waved.

The blond man raised his hand to shield the sun and looked up into the crowd. He frowned.

“Alex,” She called again. This time he saw her. Their eyes met briefly before he stopped short and glanced behind him as if to size up the opportunity to turn around and escape back down the ramp.  What was with that?

“Excuse me.”

Mara stepped back to let some other travelers pass. Once they were by, she looked back down the gangway, but didn’t see Alex. Had he really left? They’d avoided each other for years, ever since her freshman year in high school when she’d chased him relentlessly. Heat crept into her cheeks. He’d gotten really good at maneuvering the halls of Harmony Hills High without her spotting him. But they were adults now. Time to get over it. She turned her back to the gangway and went off in search of her cabin.

 Alex turned back up the gangway. Great! His sister’s best friend. He’d come on this trip to get away from family and friends. Six months of their well-meaning sympathy was as much as he could take. He shrugged off a pang of regret. He was so over his ex-fiancé. But this would have been his honeymoon cruise. He picked up his pace so he wouldn’t be blocking the people behind him.

Mara was here. So what? She was probably with some guy. It wasn’t like she was going to tag after him like she did when she was a kid. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. Mara had cut her hair. The light breeze blew the wispy dark curls in a riotous halo around her face. She used to wear her hair long. He didn’t much like short hair on women. But on Mara, the short, no nonsense cut looked right. His gaze drifted lower. The silky-looking sleeveless shirt and fitted Capri pants suited her, too. If she wasn’t his little sister’s best friend, almost like another sister, he wouldn’t mind her tagging after him now.

What was he thinking? This was Mara, little Mara. That would be his mantra for the cruise. Little Mara. Only Mara wasn’t little anymore. He forced himself to think of his ex-fiancé Laura. He could barely make himself conjure up her likeness. But he had no trouble reliving the pain and embarrassment and remembering his personal vow to steer clear of any female contacts that could lead to anything more than a casual hookup. His entire family would kill him if he put the moves on Mara.

When Alex reached the top of the gangway, Mara was gone. A uniformed woman smiled at him. “Welcome to the Carolina. Enjoy your cruise.” He looked at the crowd on the deck. With any luck, he and Mara might not even run into each other. He headed down the deck and up the elevator to his room. Getting away from the bustle of everyone boarding would be good.

He unlocked the door and stepped in. When the cruise line said mini-suite, they meant mini. The room was somewhat smaller than many hotel rooms he’d stayed in. Laura wouldn’t have been impressed. He walked across the thickly carpeted cabin. The cabin might be small, but the balcony gave him his own space away from the other travelers. He walked out into the sunlight and tested the deck chair. Not bad. The small umbrella attached to the back provided the right amount of shade. He leaned back, crossed his legs, and surveyed the deck below through the intricate curls of the wrought iron railing.

A small figure with curly dark hair caught his eye. Mara? Alex smiled to himself, then shook his head. He had to decide whether he wanted to seek out Mara because she was Mara and a family friend or avoid her. Or he’d drive himself crazy. He checked his watch. He had a couple of hours to relax before his “assigned” dinner time.

No! No! No! This was so not happening again.

Mara Riley gulped her drink, her eyes glued to the scene playing out across the sports bar. Her boyfriend was nuzzling the neck of some leggy blond.  Was she the reason their dates had all been places they were unlikely to run into anyone from work? And, here, she’d thought he was being romantic, wanting her all to himself. “Hey, isn’t that Ross?” her coworker Caro asked, pointing across the dance floor.

Mara struggled not to choke on the ice in her mouth.

“That must be his wife–or it had better be.” Caro laughed.

Mara crunched down hard on the cube, possibly cracking one of the few fillings she had. Wife? Ross was married? And how did Caro know if she didn’t. This was worse than last time. Luke had only been engaged.

I’m not a stupid woman. How could I have not known he was married? Mara tore the cocktail napkin into little pieces. Uh, maybe because he never gave any sign he was taken. The rat.

“He used to be a real player,” Caro said. “Before and after the wedding.” Her voice lowered. “He and his wife separated for a while, but I heard they recently reconciled.”

If he was separated when they went out it wasn’t that bad. Mara swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. “You know his wife?” she asked, thankful that the music hid the squeak in her voice.

“My sister works with her.” Caro studied the couple.  “I thought she was a redhead. But I supposed she could have bleached her hair. I bet that’s not his wife, though. I’ll have to ask my sister.”

This was getting worse and worse. Mara dropped the last of the napkin onto the small pile in front of her. “I’d better get going.” She pushed away from the table.

Her coworker looked at the paper pile on the table in front of Mara. Her eyes narrowed. “It’s early yet.”

Mara felt the flush creeping up her neck. Did Caro suspect her interest–make that her former interest–in Ross? That would be just great. She wouldn’t be able to show her face at work. She’d look as stupid as she felt.

“I haven’t finished the activity schedules for tomorrow,” Mara said. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She hadn’t. But, then, she usually wrote them the first thing in the morning. Her boss didn’t care as long as they were posted for the guests by nine o’clock. “I really should get back to my room and do them.”

“Okay.” Caro shrugged. “See you tomorrow.”

MARA’S MOVE will be June 2009 release from Avalon Books.

MARA RILEY is out to prove she can make it on her own and to disprove her mother’s contention that the only way to security and, therefore, happiness is to marry a doctor or a lawyer. But with her job as an activity director at a North Carolina mountain resort on shaky ground and her penchant for choosing all the wrong men, she’s not scoring high in either the pursuit of security or happiness.

ALEX PRICE is on the rebound from a broken engagement. Who would have guessed his social-climbing fiancé would drop him, a successful lawyer with his own practice — okay, a successful practice with his two overbearing older brothers — for a back-to-nature forest ranger?

When these childhood adversaries meet on the “honeymoon” cruise Alex is taking alone, they make a pact to help each other ward off unwanted attention from fellow shipmates — a pact that sends them sailing into uncharted waters.

It’s been snowing almost nonstop all weekend. A perfect time to hunker in and write, you’d think. Think again. I’ve found almost evey excuse possible to avoid my current work in progress:

• Grocery shopping
• Last minute Christmas shopping
• Cleaning
• Gift wrapping
• Holiday decorating
• Updating my RWA chapter website (www.CR-RWA.org)
• Blogging
• Putting new windshield wipers on my car
• Paying bills