Blurb:
I never imagined I’d hit rock bottom.
To be honest, the only thing I expected less was him.
From the moment our eyes met across the zucchini, something woke in me and started dusting away the cobwebs I’d let gather around my heart.
Not that there was anything loveable about the guy. He was gentle as a scorpion when I met him, and his venomous words stung me more than once. Which was fine. Really. Detesting him made it easier to do my job. Easier to sleep at night.
But it was all a front, a costume, a lie. He’d simply been a beast for so long he didn’t know how to stop stomping around his castle, his grudges clanging behind him like a rusted ball and chain.
Yet even the most hardened men can change. Even the most stubborn can learn to admit when they’re wrong.
Not that Ash was wrong very often. At least, not when it came to me.
And now I feel hopeful again. Beautiful. Enchanted.
All because of a beast.
*The Other Brother is a sizzling, STAND-ALONE romantic comedy for grown-ups who still believe in fairy tales*
To be honest, the only thing I expected less was him.
From the moment our eyes met across the zucchini, something woke in me and started dusting away the cobwebs I’d let gather around my heart.
Not that there was anything loveable about the guy. He was gentle as a scorpion when I met him, and his venomous words stung me more than once. Which was fine. Really. Detesting him made it easier to do my job. Easier to sleep at night.
But it was all a front, a costume, a lie. He’d simply been a beast for so long he didn’t know how to stop stomping around his castle, his grudges clanging behind him like a rusted ball and chain.
Yet even the most hardened men can change. Even the most stubborn can learn to admit when they’re wrong.
Not that Ash was wrong very often. At least, not when it came to me.
And now I feel hopeful again. Beautiful. Enchanted.
All because of a beast.
*The Other Brother is a sizzling, STAND-ALONE romantic comedy for grown-ups who still believe in fairy tales*
Excerpt One:
“What time do you get off work?”
I glanced at my preoccupied colleagues in the
crowded kitchen behind me and then back at him. “I should be done by eleven.
Why?”
“There’s a diner down the street. I want you
to meet me there.”
My face puckered like he’d squirted lemon
juice at me. “What?”
“It’s called Rudy’s,” he said. “I’ll be the
guy in the corner booth who looks pleased you’re on time.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he’d already
excused himself without waiting for my response. Dumbstruck, I stared after
him, watching his long black coat swing behind him as he wove his way through
the busy kitchen and saw himself out.
What the heck was that about?
It sure wasn’t a date because you ask people
on a date. You don’t order them.
I mean, that was super high on the list of
things you don’t do, right? Up near the top next to you don’t meet weird
men you don’t know in the middle of the night. I didn’t even know his
name, for crying out loud!
But by the time I glanced at the
clock, the decision was made.
I was going, and I wouldn’t be late.
Excerpt Two:
Ash opened the door like he’d been impatient
for my arrival. “Morning.”
The sight of his sweat-soaked T-shirt
clinging to his chest made my mouth go dry. “Hi.”
“Where’s all your stuff?” he asked, his eyes
falling down my body as he towel-dried his sweaty hair.
“Tony’s going to bring it up later,” I said,
my nose waking to the scent of masculine sweat mixed with peppery deodorant as
I stepped inside.
“You want the clean tour or the dirty tour?”
Oh God. “Excuse me?”
“Do you mind if I grab a quick shower before
I show you around?”
The fact that he was still somewhat
breathless from his workout was doing things to me.
“Maybe you could make me something to eat,”
he suggested. “Make yourself useful.”
“Sure.” Anything would be better than
staring at you like an idiot. I glanced across the room at the open kitchen,
which was all shiny black granite that looked clean enough to eat off of. “What
do you want?”
“Honestly?” he asked. “I want you to not
break the coffee machine.”
“Okay.”
“Actually, I don’t even want you to touch
it,” he said. “Just wait for me to show you how it works.”
I clasped my hands in front of me and tried to
act like his manspeak didn’t offend me. “No problem.”
“And eggs,” he said. “I want eggs.”
I was so nervous I feared I might be sick.
“Would you like them cooked a certain way?”
He considered the question for a second, his
big hands hanging on the ends of the white towel around his neck. “I don’t care
how you cook them,” he said finally. “Just impress me.”
I kept my eyes on his and hoped he couldn’t
tell I was absolutely bricking it.
“It’s been too long since someone impressed
me.”
And with that, he disappeared down the
corridor, leaving me to guess what kind of eggs Mister No-Second-Chances was in
the mood for, not break the coffee machine, and pretend I wasn’t at all
distracted by the knowledge that my unreasonably attractive new boss was
sudsing his naked body down the hall.
Holy shit.
I could get used to this.
 |
Excerpt Three:
The hint of a smile drew his lips to one
side, and his face came so close I thought he might kiss me again. “I need to
be with someone I can trust, Piper. Someone who trusts me.”
“I trust you,” I whispered.
“Yet you play games.”
My breath shallowed. “It doesn’t feel like
I’m playing.”
“Good,” he said. “Because I am not a cat, and
you are not a mouse.”
“What is this then?” I asked, my heart
hammering in my chest. “Because I’m not your guest either. So what am I? Your
dirty little secret? Do you sleep with all your personal employees or-?”
“Are you questioning my professionalism?”
“No,” I lied. “I just want to know what your
intentions were last night.”
“Simple.” He locked his eyes on mine. “To
make you earn all those baths you’ve been taking.”
I swallowed. “You think I’m taking too many
baths?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how dirty you
are.”
“Ash-”
He stepped forward, pinning me against the
counter with his hips so I could feel his hard length against my stomach as it
swelled in his track pants.
I leaned back, letting his eyes sweep over my
face like we were a couple on the cover of an old romance novel, and by the
time his gaze settled on my lips, they were parted and ready for him.
“Don’t ever play games with me again,” he
said, his hard-on still burning against my belly. Then he stepped back,
retrieved his espresso from the machine, and walked away.
“Yes,” he said without turning around. “But
not for eggs.”
My chest finally relaxed when he disappeared
down the hall, but a gentle smile tugged at my lips when I realized he wanted
me back, wanted me still. Wanted me bad.
Buy Links:
Teasers:
1. Heat
rushed to my cheeks as I watched him drag his tongue up the far side of his ice
cream cone, and as he scooped a bite into his mouth, I melted in places I
didn’t even know were paying attention.
2. I
could see in his eyes that our charade was torturing him, too, and I wondered
why we were humoring this stalemate when the feelings between us were
everything but stale. If anything, they were ripe. Ripe and juicy and begging
to be plucked.
3. She
was prettier than I remembered. Then again, the last time I saw her she was
sweaty and frazzled and stuffing her face. I smiled at the memory. I liked a
woman who wasn’t embarrassed by her appetite.
4. “Let
me take the lead tonight,” he said, his voice low. “Let me spoil you.”
5. I
could feel my heart opening, laying down it’s armor, and exposing itself to the
elements.
6. The
pull in my chest was almost painful. I never dreamed I’d want to trust a man
with my heart this bad.
7. “Don’t
put words in my mouth,” she said, her heavy lashes batting up at me. “Anything
but words.”
8. I
realized two drinks into the evening that I’d never had to share Piper’s
attention before and having to do so made me feel like a toddler whose candy has
been taken away.
9. His
eyes drifted down to my cleavage like there was a rip current.
10. I was fiddling with my
cufflinks at the kitchen table when I heard the light click of her heels coming
down the hall. My body tensed as if I were a lion waiting in the reeds for a
gazelle, my mouth watering as my heart raced in my chest.
11. When she came around the
corner, I stood and tried to locate the breath I’d misplaced. Her lips were
dark, a deep merlot color like her dress, which dripped over her smooth curves
like liquid. “Wow,” I said. “You’re a goddamn masterpiece.”
12. Did she have to savor
every bite like that, letting the flavors melt over her tongue for ages before
she swallowed? I’d never seen someone take so long to eat an ice cream in my
life. Not that I didn’t love every fucking second of it. So much. Too much. Hell,
I had half a mind to open a culinary school tomorrow just so I could sit at the
back of the class and watch her taste things.
13. She was wearing skinny
drop earrings that hung beside her delicate jawline, and I wanted to suck on
the place where they dangled.
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