Raleigh in Rio
Raleigh Campbell just learned that her five year marriage was a sham. Not only did she find her husband in their bed with a co-worker, but he has been carrying on the affair for four years! To cheer her up, Raleigh’s friends take her to Rio during Carnivale to celebrate her 30th birthday and pending divorce.
Little does she know that her soon-to-be ex has cheated his company more than her. Private investigator Cristo Santiago has been assigned to watch Raleigh’s every move in search of twelve million dollars of embezzled corporate money and that’s landed him in the hot waters of obsession. His love for Raleigh is sealed under the starry Rio sky, but can he find the missing money without losing Raleigh’s trust?
Excerpt From Raleigh in Rio
Happiness was hers for the taking, Raleigh realized. And maybe she could find herself again, here in Rio. She just needed a little affirmation.
The vibrant crowds throbbed with vitality, buzzing their enthusiasm for the next part of the Samba Parade to enter Marquês de Sapucaí Avenue. Raleigh and the girls had learned the drill from yesterday’s Carnival Sunday parade. Over the course of two evenings, fourteen groups of dancers and float movers called “samba schools” would each perform their song and dance in extravagant costumes atop and around several large floats, all matching the theme for their school.
The break after the last samba school had ended and the new school, Império Serrano, had arrived. Eighty thousand people did the wave, about half of them costumed in masquerade regalia, and a deafening roar rolled down from the concrete stadium above all the way down to the standing room closest to the street. Raleigh smiled in remembrance of the free aspirin and condoms they had been given upon entering the Sambadrome.
Brazilians obviously believe in preparation.
During the break, Império Serrano supporters had passed around paper flags in their school colors of green and white and Freesia, Diana, and Robin all waved wildly as the first float came into view. Raleigh gasped at the ostentatious splendor before her.
Spanning nearly the entire width of the avenue, a float holding a massive tree structure crept into view. The tree’s trunk had been sculpted from copper wires and bright swaths of emerald material hung from its metallic branches. Each branch held an absolutely gorgeous Brazilian dressed as a bird of paradise, each lovelier than the last.
Robin gave a low whistle. “I’ve gotta move to Brazil, Leigh. These girls are hot! I want one in every color.” Diana laughed and grinned at Raleigh. It was true, she thought. The women of Brazil ranged in skin tone from deep ebony to pale and blonde, and every shade in between. Regal in their outlandish costumes, every woman sported a glittering feathered headdress and wings in bright tropical colors. One or both breasts were left exposed, and only the tiniest scrap of glitter covered them between their thighs. The Brazilian government had outlawed complete nudity, but the samba schools had designed costumes that abided by that rule in only the barest of senses.The women had no compunction about displaying themselves, but in fact, they smiled and glowed, proud of their assets.
I could be like that, Raleigh thought.
Maybe Diana had been correct and she really just needed an affirmation of her sexuality, her desirability. She could find that here. Out of eighty thousand people, the majority of the spectators were male and primed for her by the half naked beauties on the floats.
Raleigh surveyed the crowd, looking for the Brazilian hunk she needed. Her eyes scanned over the colorful crowd and caught on the leering face of an older gentleman with a thick black moustache that obscured his mouth and a definite interest in her body.
“And you’re not him,” she muttered aloud, an amused smile on her face.
She still wore the same look of amusement when she locked eyes with a man of unparalleled beauty. The lights and sounds of Carnival faded away as the man held her gaze. Raleigh couldn’t have looked away from him if her life depended on it.
A black satin mask obscured the upper half of his face but could not conceal his piercing coal eyes or the way they had registered surprise, then defiance. Even if she had caught him, he boldly watched her still, his eyes communicating the things he wanted from her.
And he wasn’t asking.
The masked man’s shoulder-length hair seemed to be spun from the same black satin of his mask. Her palms itched to confirm the strands felt as silky as they looked. His high cheekbones left dusky shadows in the hollows of his clean-shaven cheeks, all covered by tawny, golden skin. Her breath caught as her glance hooked on the sensual beauty of his mouth: smooth, voluptuous lips she wanted to feel on her sensitive neck and in the delicate whorl of her ear. His costume continued the Zorro theme, a midnight black shirt opened to expose a sprinkle of dark, crisp hairs on his broad, muscular chest. The man’s expansive upper body tapered to narrow hips, clad in black cloth and moving fluidly to the relentless beat of the samba.
For the first time since she had seen him, Raleigh noticed the two women dancing with him. Their seductive movements seemed to have no effect on him, so intently did he watch her. For a moment, she wished she could move like that, be one of them.
Raleigh wanted to be a seductress, too. And that’s when she thought up her opening line.