Harlequin’s Deception The Naked Truth Series By Candi Fox Copyright © 2017 by Candi Fox All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews, without permission of the author This book is a work of fiction. The characters, names, events, and places are fictitious and products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. Cover design: © Karen Williams Edited by: Avril Stepowski www.aveseditservice.com ISBN-13: 978-1545240250 ISBN-10: 1545240256 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CHAPTER THIRTY CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN DEDICATION “I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” – Eleanor Roosevelt Many people have encouraged and inspired me to write The Naked Truth Series. In truth, I’m writing this series for me. I needed Harley in my life. I needed her to do and say the things I do not always have the courage to. Harley is a strong female that is much like many of you. She’s had her share of hard knocks in life. She chose to go on. Step by step, she has reached her goals in life. Instead of hiding she rode on and continued with life. This book is for all of you. Any person that has felt the crush of life, yet continued on. To all who have ever shed a tear, felt hopeless, wondered how they got here. For those that never fail to put on their big girl panties. I watched my mom go through many tough situations. As a child, those situations though not fully realized were felt on many levels. As an adult, I never wonder where I got my strength from. The energy to keep on going regardless of what life throws at you, is an ability that she taught me. Cheers to the wonder woman locked inside each of us. To the inner goddess who is often hidden, waiting to be realized. Step forward like our kickass heroine and grab life by the balls. Cher, Demi Moore, RuPaul, Lady Gaga, thank you for being positive influences in my life. CHAPTER ONE “You have a most unusual name, tell me how your parents decided on it?” Ahh, small talk, Harley wasn’t into small talk, on the other hand, the guy across the table was hot. Really hot, so she would do her best to wade through the tedious part. “My parents are big fans of old Hollywood movies. “Platinum Blonde” is my father’s favorite movie. He is in love with Jean Harlowe. My mother’s favorite movie is the 1946 version of “The Blue Dahlia” with Veronica Lake. I’m named after Jean Harlowe and Veronica Lake. Kelly is my married name.” He smiled at her, his perfect white teeth showing. “Harlowe Lake Kelly is a beautiful name. I like the way it rolls off the tongue.” She wished something else would roll off his tongue, or rather across his tongue. She smiled at him. Ok girl, slow your roll. What she really wanted to do was undress him, gag him, and have her way with his hot body. Just a little BDSM. Christian Gray has it all wrong. Harley liked to be in charge, although there was one exception to that rule. Her exception was a man she called Cowboy. He was an entirely different story. This wasn’t the time to tie anyone up or to be tied up. Instead, she would endure the small talk and hope it paid off in the end. They ordered drinks and dinner. The small talk continued. He was intelligent, handsome, and seemed to genuinely care about what she had to say. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all, she thought, sipping on her second glass of wine. Roger Davies was a handsome, successful man. He was worth investing a little time in. The waiter had just brought their food when her phone rang. “This is Harley.” “Harley, this is Lieutenant Meyers. We have an emergency call and we need you to get here right away.” “Anyone else on backup? I’m a little busy right now.” “Yes, but I think we need your expertise, Harley. I don’t trust this to anyone else.” “Must be big. Give me the address Meyers, I will be there as soon as I can.” Harley made apologies to her date and said she would call him tomorrow. Ten minutes later she was in her Escalade headed toward Ardmore, Oklahoma. The lieutenant told her that a group of college students had reported a gargoyle on the loose. A little over ten years ago, the paranormal world exploded into the normal world. Since then life had not been the same. Harley had been a practicing witch at the time, what she didn’t know was that she was a generational witch and preternatural or paranormal abilities ran in her family. After “The Shift”, which is what the day became known as, her mother and grandmother began to display magical abilities as well. They weren’t as strong as Harley’s, yet they were there. The world was now full of vampires, werewolves, gargoyles, and so many more things, that were once only fairytales. Being a witch was one of the
