Happy Release to
Reckless & Real #2
Adult Contemporary
After everything blew up on Christmas, Liz walked
away from me, and I let her. She said she needed space and a chance to pursue
her dreams. But we both knew she was running from the mess she made. Now the
political campaign she used as an ex- cuse to leave is bringing us back
together and I’m proving to her what she really needs—not just the hot nights,
greedy hands, and undeniable physical chemistry. What she really needs is
something real. What she really needs…is me.
Something Real Playlist
From
Lexi:
Because I so frequently have to switch gears at the drop of a
hat—from Mom to writer, from the business side of writing to
drafting an intensely emotional scene—I rely on music to quickly
plant me in the zone for any given book. Every time I start to write
a book, I create a playlist that makes me think of the characters and
I listen to it and add to it as I write. Here’s what I was
listening to while I was writing Something Real. I hope you
like it!
Amnesia—5
Seconds of Summer
Over
You—Ingrid Michaelson (feat. A Great Big World)
How
Long Will I Love You—Ellie Goulding
You
Ruin Me—The Veronicas
Don’t—Ed
Sheeran
All
You Had to Do Was Stay—Taylor Swift
Changed
by You—Between the Trees
Thinking
Out Loud—Ed Sheeran
Crazy
in Love—Sofia Karlberg
Love
Me Like You Do—Ellie Goulding
Security
had better not have let one of those asshole journalists from
downstairs up to my floor. I swear, those soul suckers would do
anything to get a new detail to add to their nothing stories. I open
the door without removing the chain and feel as if I’ve been
punched in the gut when I see the woman on the other side.
Liz
is worrying her lower lip between her teeth and watching down the
hall. Is she looking for Sabrina or trying to make sure no one sees
her coming to my room? My insides twist at the sight of her—an
internal tug-of-war between conflicting emotions. I want to pull her
into my room and kiss her until she can’t see straight, touch her
until she promises never to leave me again, and at the same time, I
want to demand that she go back to her room because having her close
makes me hope for things I can’t have.
I
remove the chain and tug her inside by the arm before closing the
door behind her.
“No
one saw me,” she says, her eyes locked on the floor. “I made
sure.”
“I
saw you,” I growl. It’s painful to be this close—to breathe her
air, to smell her perfume. I never knew how much it could hurt to
want and be denied.
She
swallows and avoids my eyes. “Is she here?”
“What
do you want, Liz?”
She
lifts her head and stares at me. “Is she here?”
“Sabrina’s
on her way to meet her mom in South Dakota for a campaign stop.”
Her
gaze dips to my bare chest and back up. “I’m surprised they
didn’t ask you to go with them.”
“They
did. I declined.” I sound like a fucking dickhead, and I make
myself take two steps back so I don’t do something equally dickish.
Like kiss her until she melts in my arms and forgets about the other
guy, until we both forget that this is hopeless.
“I’m
sorry that video was leaked. You didn’t deserve that invasion of
your privacy.”
She
has red lipstick on, and it matches her shoes. Ever since I saw her
tonight, I’ve been picturing her on her knees in nothing but those
shoes, those red lips stretched around my cock. I can’t help
myself, and I skim my thumb over her bottom lip.
The
second I touch her, she draws in a ragged breath. “You came to my
apartment yesterday.”
“I
did.”
“Why?”
I
trail my thumb down her neck and over the red strap of her dress.
“Probably for the same reason you came here tonight.”
“To
talk about Sabrina?”
“You
knocked on my door in the middle of the night to talk about Sabrina?”
I follow the strap down and graze my fingers across her cleavage. “Is
this about her, or is it about you and me?”
“There
is no you and me,” she says. “We both know that.”
“There’s
so much you and me, there’s no air left when we share a room.
There’s always you and me.”
“Even
when you’re making sex tapes with someone else?”
“And
even when you’re keeping warm in another man’s arms.”
SOMETHING RECKLESS (#1) is on sale for .99 cents until March 14th!
Reckless and Real #1
He wants to tie me up, but I don’t know his face.
He turns me on, but I couldn’t point him out in a crowd.
I’ve fallen for an anonymous stranger, and tonight the anonymity ends. Tonight I want more than typed secrets and texted promises. I want something reckless. Heat. Passion. The thrill of being entirely possessed.
Because I suspect this anonymous stranger isn’t a stranger at all.
Lizzy Thompson met riverrat69 online through Something Real, a service promising to deliver meaningful relationships by forbidding its users to share names or photos until they’ve reached a certain benchmark. She was looking for love. He was researching an investment. They hit it off. Talked and flirted, hid behind screen names and cartoon avatars.
Now they’re breaking the rules and meeting in person. But Liz is prepared. She’s picked up hints and followed clues.
She’s ninety-percent convinced she’s discovered the identity of her dirty-talking online friend.
She wonders if her ex-lover Sam Bradshaw knows her identity too.
When she rolls the dice on one reckless night, her chance at something real could crumble.
Once a college English professor, I now write full
time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out
with my husband and two kids--a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly,
reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and
pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I en- joyed before I had children.
When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m
really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out
such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.
Author Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment