by Emme Rollins, Julia Kent, Anna Antonia, Helena Newbury, Aubrey Rose
I crossed the distance between us and now a foot or less separated me from him, his fingers stopping on the frets, his hands still, his legs flexing and his face serious and willing. Trevor scrambled out of the car, practically peeing his pants from hysterical laughter, bent over double with his hands on his knees.
“I'm high on you.”
“What happened—the note?”
“Yeah, the note. I know. My mom reported the BMW stolen. I needed to rush home.”
The twenties were still fresh in my pocket, his note tucked away too. My heart pounded, slammed against my ribs as I watched him stretched out in the morning sun, his body like a relief map of brilliance against the faded, chipped blue of my car hood.
The grin on his face stretched from ear to ear and he said, “Howdy there, ma'am. Any chance you can give me a ride to Sudborough, Massachusetts?”
“Not if you're gonna mess up my vinyl seats with that bare ass,” I said, grinning back, nudging his knee with my hand.
A car shot by, a giant SUV that looked like a Honda Pilot. The driver did a double take and then honked hard and extended his right arm across the passenger seat with a big thumbs-up.
Joe gave him a thumbs-up back and waved, his ass flexing for the driver to see, the guitar tipping at a dangerous angle.
“You comfortable?” I asked.
He shifted the guitar behind his back, exposing a specimen of manhood that I'd become all too intimate with last night, and then reached for me, pulling me against him. I could feel him harden, pushing into my hip and my body formed to his, so grateful for some kind of a last chance. The second naked man who had hauled me to him in fifteen minutes. That's got to be some kind of record.
In broad daylight, that is.
“I am now. I don't know what I'm doing, Darla,” he said, leaning down and kissing my lips with a soft, gentle gesture. “But I don't want to go home.”
“You want to stay here, in Peters?”
“I want you to come back with us.”
“And do what? Live in Trevor's mom's basement.”
Honk! Honk! The blast of a semi's horn cut through the air, scaring the shit out of all three of us, Joe jumping, the guitar banging against his groin and making him bend over in pain. We all turned toward the source of the sound to see Uncle Mike sitting in the driver's seat of his haul truck, grinning and giving me a thumbs-up.
Aw, fuck. As Joe stood up and came into Mike's view I could see the smile on his face slowly change to a frown, his lips mouthing the words What the fuck? as he drove on past, not hitting the brakes.
I had a very uncomfortable conversation waiting for me when he got home in five days.
How fast could I move?
I kept Josie's offer to myself; I wasn't going to act hastily, though. When you act too fast on things you can get burned.
“Well...uh,” his face faltered and he slapped a small bug that had landed on his hip bone. “How about his garden shed?”
Trevor sounded like a barking hyena at that comment, and I started giggling, too. Knowing I'd already said yes to Josie meant I could string these guys along a bit.
We locked eyes and grinned like mad fools at each other, my hand sliding up his shoulder to his neck and burying itself in his hair.
“You guys want me to move there?”
They exchanged a knowing look and nodded.
My sarcastic deflecting self rose up. “I don't live with anybody who is naked all the time, especially on the side of the road. Can you imagine the germs you get from somebody's ass being on strange car seats?”
“I'll clean him up,” Trevor said.
“And he'll clean your naked ass germs off my hood?”
Joe's eyebrows flew up. “What is she talking about?”
Trevor was gasping and red-faced, trying to stop laughing. “We'll explain later.”
“I—what are you doing here?” I asked him. “I thought you had to get back. Didn't your mom call the cops?”
“She did. I realized I needed to stop texting with her so instead I called the Sudborough Police and told them that no, I'm not missing, that the car is registered in my name even though they pay the lease, I have insurance, and that I'm a twenty-two year old man who can do whatever the fuck he wants with his time. Whatever alert they had out is canceled. If my mom does this again she is going to be charged with a nuisance for reporting a crime that isn't.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“No, the police chief did.” Joe looked simultaneously proud and sickly green. It was a good start.
Both men leaned in and held me. I thought about my life, about how so many things could change with one turn of the wheel, with one missed observation and how I had lived my life following what Mama needed, what money dictated but most of all, how my own mind had caged my body, forcing it to live in a world that wasn't what I wanted.
Josie's offer was on the table—a job, a place to live. It sounded like I had two places to live now. I wasn't sure I was ready for that—jumping into a domestic life with two guys I'd just met two days ago. Did I take the leap and tell them what Josie had just offered? Did I trust them enough to say that I'd been offered the biggest chance of my life to follow my own path? If I opened my mouth and said the words I couldn't take it back, I couldn't unwind it, I'd have to acknowledge the reality of it and live with the consequences if I didn't do what my heart told me.
Trevor's eyes were the color of the clear sky and Joe's were warm, inviting me to jump into an abyss without knowing how or when I'd ever find myself not in freefall. I looked at them both.
“You know what boys? It's time for me to commit my random act of crazy.”
The End
Ready for More?
Thank you so much for buying and reading this book. Please lend it/share it with friends who you think will enjoy it.
Also, please write a review—reviews help new readers find my books!
Darla's story isn't over yet—in many ways, it's just begun! Follow her as she moves to Boston and joins Josie to help run a new business funded by Mike and Dylan, the accidental billionaires from my Her Two Billionaires series. Learn about Josie's own search for love as she finds it on a labor and delivery ward as her best friend Laura gives birth—to Mike and Dylan's baby!
Josie's book, It's Complicated, is out at major eBook retailers. 500 pages of Josie, Alex, Laura, Dylan, Mike, Darla, Trevor, Joe—and more! Follow Darla and the rest of the gang through trials, tribulations, laughter and joy. No chicken kissing—promise!
Next up: Random Acts of Trust. When the band's drummer, Sam, learns an old flame is burning for him, will he take a leap of faith? And will Amy break out of her own fear to trust Sam?
Learn more about all my new books at my blog: http://jkentauthor.blogspot.com
Grab Her First Billionaire FREE!
COULD SHE REALLY FIND THE RIGHT GUY ON THE INTERNET?
“Hot, luscious piece of ass who can suck a golf ball through forty feet of garden hose seeks rippling-ab'd firefighter who has a tongue that thrums like a hummingbird and enjoys painting my toenails and eating Ben & Jerry's out of the carton while watching Mad Men.”
Laura Michaels stared at the online dating site's registration screen and frowned. That's what she really wanted to write. Here was the truth:
“Needy, insecure, overweight twenty-six year old Business Analyst with three cats, a corporate job with pension and no debt seeks Mr. Impossible for way more than friendship and lots of ice cream. I'm desperate for some physical affection and oral sex with a guy who doesn't view it as some sort of favor he's granting me, and then expects to be praised like he cleaned my toilet. One night stands are better than nothing as long as you brush your teeth. So call me, maybe!”
So when hot firefighter Dylan Stanwyck responds and asks her out, it's just too good to be true. When she searches him online and learns he offers himself up for date nights in bachelor charity auctions, she wonders if she's on the right planet.
&n
bsp; Because what could a guy like that see in a fat girl like her?
OR WOULD HE NOT BE WHO HE SEEMED?
Trawling through the online dating profiles isn't Dylan's idea of fun, but it's been more than eighteen months since their lover, Jill, died, and Dylan and his unconventional partner, ski instructor Mike Pine, need to find a new love. While their threesome situation is more complicated than a contract from Fifty Shades of Grey, at least one aspect is simple: Laura Michaels, the cute, soft blond from the online dating site, seems like a good fit for at least a first date. Soft curves, gorgeous hair, eyes that light him up from the computer alone, and a profile that makes her seem smart and interesting—he has no problems asking her out.
The problem is letting her in.
Dylan and his not-quite partner have more secrets than their unconventional romantic relationships, and this latest snafu is a mixed blessing, for both became billionaires overnight after the third in their threesome, Jill, died. With her estate finally settled and Dylan and Mike the recipient of an annual income that gives them enough to buy entire towns in the Midwest, the two were left reeling. Months after the lawyer explained their new-found fortune, Dylan still works his regular shifts at the station while Mike remains on the slopes as a ski instructor, but with a caveat; now he owns the entire resort.
But if they tell Laura everything, they risk losing a chance at a new bond.
Two problems may have one lush, ample solution as Laura meets her first billionaire on her date with Dylan, but with a stunning twist at the end...
Get Her First Billionaire FREE now at any major eBook retailer!
Just do a search for Julia Kent.
About the Author
Julia Kent turned to writing romance novels after learning that she could not work as a fighter pilot because her fear of flying disqualified her. Turning to her second love, she became a dog groomer, but had to abandon that job after adopting too many strays. Writing about very real, very flawed people is a natural extension of her life and, well, her. She lives on the east coast with her partner, two small children, seventeen dogs that weigh less than fifteen pounds each, and a monthly consumption of Nutella, brie and French bread that makes cardiologists cringe.
She loves to hear from her readers by email at [email protected], on Twitter @jkentauthor and on Facebook (Like me!) at http://www.facebook.com/julia.kent.100
Sign up for my New Releases and Sales email list at my blog to get the latest scoop on new eBooks, freebies and more: New Releases by Julia Kent
MAD FOR YOU
By Anna Antonia
I had gone to high school with Gabriel Gordon. Despite his heavenly name and matching beauty, Gabriel was anything but angelic. Rich, spoiled, and far too cynical for his age, he could easily charm the skirt off a prim beauty or a young teacher or two. Gabriel Gordon was mad, bad, and ...well, you probably know the rest.
The years hadn't changed him, despite taking over his father's company and expanding it into a multinational corporation. Unfortunately, it was just my luck that I found myself working in Gabriel's building. Although I had managed to avoid him for the better part of a month, a chance encounter in the elevator proved he was still an arrogant man who showed far too much interest in the shape of my mouth and nape of my neck.
From then on, Gabriel bedeviled me, teased me, and more often than not, made me want to throw things at his head. Still, just as in high school, I couldn't help but see the pain behind his lazy grin and the shadows in his crystalline gaze. When Gabriel confessed his love for me, I should have been the happiest woman in the world. Too bad I couldn't believe him...
Emma Adams had always considered herself level-headed, even-tempered, and most of all, sane. So how did she become someone who couldn't seem to push Gabriel Gordon away? No matter how sweet his words could be or how easily passion exploded between them, getting involved with the outrageously wealthy playboy had to be the height of insanity. Given their tumultuous natures and personal demons, there was only way a relationship between them could survive: in madness.
MAD FOR YOU
By Anna Antonia
Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure.
Lord Byron, Don Juan
Chapter One
“Emma, open the door!”
“Go away, Gabriel!”
The door knob rattled violently. “Emma, please! Don’t do this!”
I almost slammed my hand against the wall, only pulling back at the last moment. I clenched my fingers into a tight fist. “I’m not going to talk to you right now. I can’t.”
I heard what sounded like his forehead hitting the stout door. Gabriel’s voice came out low and tortured. “Baby, please don’t do this. Don’t shut me out. It kills me when you do it.”
Just like that my anger drained through the sieve of my heart. My palm rested where I imagined his beautiful face to be. “It hurts me too.”
“Then let me in, Emma. I need to be with you. I love you…”
I slid down to the door, feeling tears roll slowly down my waxen cheeks. I wondered how the hell I was going to last the next five minutes without him, much less the rest of my life. I couldn’t breathe through the pain. I whispered his name softly. He heard me and whispered mine in return.
“Please, Emma…”
Sitting there, legs sprawled and body battered with longing for the man only inches away from me, I wandered back through the corridors of my mind. Past the last devastating hours, further back to a time when I was a young girl who had done everything to stay out of Gabriel’s ruined sphere.
Back before he was Gabriel Gordon, photogenic billionaire and world’s most eligible bachelor, he was simply Gabriel Gordon—heartbreaker of Pine Woods High.
Gabriel Gordon was mad, bad, and ...well, you probably know the rest.
Despite his heavenly name and matching beauty, Gabriel was anything but angelic. Rich, spoiled, and far too cynical for his age, he could easily charm the skirt off a prim beauty or a young teacher or two. I watched him from afar in equal parts disgust and fascination for four years.
Logically, I had understood the allure. He spoke the right words, courting his targets with just the right amount of disinterest and zeal. Reputation notwithstanding, Gabriel managed to make each one think she was special—the one. Not necessarily through lies, but by showing just enough of the vulnerable boy hiding behind the exterior of polished arrogance to make him worth loving.
It always fell apart.
Sometimes quietly with just a note of farewell and our lively, lovely French teacher replaced in mid-year. Usually, it was a spectacle of gossipy delight that had the tongues wagging for weeks to come. I had stepped past enough dustups in the hallways to wonder what it was about Gabriel that made those previously well-mannered girls beat against his wide chest in rage, heartache, and more than a bit of desperate longing.
Gabriel’s eyes would lock onto mine as he bore their abuse just as stoically as he had their love—never yelling in return or raising a hand in defense.
And if it seemed that his gaze softened, looking apologetic and ashamed…well, that surely must’ve been my imagination. Studying the silent boy and the screaming red-faced girl, while skirting the ever-widening crowd, I couldn’t help but judge the tantrum that would forever mar how the rest of our classmates looked upon them.
Fallen. Ruined. Insane.
How could they be so torn up over one guy? Didn’t they understand no one was worth losing it like that?
My pride was a mighty thing once, making me hard on those who didn’t possess it to the same degree. If I only knew then what I’d become now…
Usually the rejected girls faded into the background, bitter by their loss, while others developed a ‘flair’ for dating. Apparently, Gabriel had taught his exes well. It was unfair and shitty how the girls’ reputations suffered but his had only grown more attractive.
Worse, what made the sordid affairs scintillating was the very same girls who had slapped
his face for our sport were rumored to secretly come back on figurative hands and knees just for another taste of sin. Which he doled out quite lavishly as I could confirm after stumbling across one heated encounter during senior year.
Even now the image was just as razor-sharp.
Their bodies had been locked in a state of half-undress. She on her back, he over her on the lab table. Gabriel had his hand wrapped around her neck as he pounded into her. He looked at me, angelic face slack with pleasure, and mouthed the words “I’m so sorry.”
I backed up, arms limp and cheeks aflame. He never looked away. Gabriel kept me pinned with a crystal-blue stare as I silently slipped out of the empty classroom. The power of his tormented gaze stayed until I had collapsed on the ground outside by the football field.
Knees drawn up to my chest, I blindly stared at the girls twirling their turquoise banners for flag practice. The circular blur of color matched my thoughts in speed and tempo. What exactly was he sorry for? That he didn’t have enough self-control to turn down a pretty girl’s plea for more? That he exposed me to seeing something I had no business seeing?
What?
I was never able to come up with any satisfactory answer, no matter how many times I replayed the “I’m so sorry.” Just for that Gabriel should’ve earned my contempt, but even then I couldn’t bring myself to really hate him.
Judge him as a playboy? Yes.
See him as an obviously bright person who was wasting his talent by sleeping in class and blowing off his work? Yes.
Envy his wealth and social standing, knowing circumstances dictated that no matter how hard I worked there were certain experiences closed to me?
Absolutely.