by Jules Court
“That’s not the only hard thing I drive.” He tried to wiggle his eyebrows, but from her expression he didn’t think it was successful.
She held up a finger. “One thing,” she said. “I’m taking a road trip. I was planning on leaving tomorrow. I want to see the Grand Canyon.”
“An adventure,” he said.
“Exactly.”
“Are we talking the open road, greasy spoon diners, and tacky tourist attractions like the biggest ball of twine or Stonehenge made out of old cars?”
“Yes. You get it.”
“I’m in.”
Her face lit up. “You’d want to do that?”
“Of course, I’d want to do that. I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon either. One thing, though. Can we put it off a week? I’m going to need to arrange some time off.”
Her answer was to twine her arms around his neck and kiss him until he felt it all the way down to his toes.
When they broke, he found himself grinning like an idiot. “There’s another reason I need the extra time,” he said, wanting to share everything with her. “There’s this art gallery that’s going to hang some of my paintings.”
She hugged him tight. “That’s wonderful! It’s a good thing I saved that sketch of me you did the night we met. It’s going to make me rich one day.”
“You kept that?”
“Of course I did. It’s amazing. You’re amazing. I should have said yes the first time you asked me to dinner.”
The nice thing about Elizabeth in heels was that he didn’t have to bend his head to whisper in her ear. “You’ll have plenty of opportunities to say yes tonight. You can even scream yes.”
“Yes,” she said.
* * *
Elizabeth was happy. Truly happy. Not the “put a smile on and pretend” that she’d been doing, but deep down in the core of her being she felt warm and wonderful and maybe that was the kiss. Will was kissing her back with skillful enthusiasm. And she knew she could have it both ways—someone special and fun. There would be no sacrifices with Will.
Someone was clearing their throat pointedly behind her. She pulled away from Will, and whirled around. An older gentleman with Will’s eyes was smiling broadly. “You going to introduce me to your friend, son?” he asked.
Will didn’t look at all embarrassed to be caught making out with a strange woman in front of his father. “Dad, this is Elizabeth,” he said.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said hastily, holding out her hand.
He took her hand in his, but instead of shaking it, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s good to finally meet you, Elizabeth. We’ve heard a lot about you.”
Will was looking at his dad with a question mark on his face.
“Your brother and sister have big mouths,” his dad said in response. He released her hand and said, “I’m glad you could come. I hear you planned this party.”
“It was Will,” she said. “I only helped.”
“Well, it’s fantastic.” He turned to Will. “Aren’t you going to ask her to dance?”
“I was just about to,” Will said. He extended an arm to her. “Shall we?”
“Yes,” she said. In her heart she added, yes, yes, yes. Yes to life, yes to taking chances, yes to a new adventure.
“I think my parents would have liked you,” she said as he swung her onto the dance floor and pulled her back into his arms.
As they swayed to Frank Sinatra, she felt as though something had just changed. Another fall, another new life. This new path was opening in front of her and she would boldly take that first step.
But not alone.
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my editor, Mackenzie Walton, for her endless patience and for knowing how to take a good story and make it great.
Also available from Jules Court
and Carina Press
Hot in the City
Enticing the Enemy
About the Author
Jules Court is a Boston-area native currently living in Oregon with her husband and dog, where the coffee more than makes up for the nine months of constant rain. She’s a recovering attorney who wrote her first romance novel while she was supposed to be studying for the bar. When not writing, she enjoys reading, running, hiking, watching movies, playing with her neurotic dog and baking vegan cupcakes. You can find her at www.julescourt.com.
Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!
The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:
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HIS ALONE
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Paige Turner is trying to outrun her past, but there it is, tossed back in her face any time she manages to get two steps ahead. As soon as she is ready for revenge, her boss, Ryan Justice, gets in her way and takes her off course. Ryan will stop at nothing to make her his. Before she knows it, he has made his way into her life and into her heart...
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ROUGH & TUMBLE
by Rhenna Morgan
A self-made man with his fingers in a variety of successful businesses, Jace Kennedy lives for the challenge and he always gets what he wants. From the start, he sees Vivienne Moore’s hidden wild side and knows she’s his perfect match, if only he can break it free. He’s proud of who he is and where he came from, and he’ll be damned if he lets Vivienne go before showing her the safest place of all is in the arms of a dangerous man.
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ACT LIKE IT
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Richard Troy used to be the hottest actor in London, but the only thing firing up lately is his temper. We all love to love a bad boy, but Richard’s antics have made him Public Enemy Number One, breaking the hearts of fans across the city. Have the tides turned? Has English rose Lainie Graham made him into a new man?
HOT IN THE CITY
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The first time Detective Brian MacGregor met Priya Shah, he was bleeding. He didn’t expect to feel a gut punch of
lust for the beautiful ER doc. And even if the hot ginger cop seems like the perfect solution to Priya’s summer dry spell, they both have more important things to worry about. Like finding Priya’s cousin before the murderer does. They just need to keep their hands off each other until then.
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Rhenna Morgan
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A self-made man with his fingers in a variety of successful businesses, Jace Kennedy lives for the challenge and he always gets what he wants. From the start, he sees Vivienne Moore’s hidden wild side and knows she’s his perfect match, if only he can break it free. He’s proud of who he is and where he came from, and he’ll be damned if he lets Vivienne go before showing her the safest place of all is in the arms of a dangerous man.
“Gritty, raw, and a side dose of sweet lovin’. ROUGH & TUMBLE by Rhenna Morgan will warm your heart and melt your panties.”
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WILD & SWEET
Zeke Dugan is not a man who walks the straight and narrow. He may have sworn an oath as a trauma doc, but he has zero problem leveraging his medical skills outside a hospital if it means giving the Brotherhood—the group of men he calls family—an advantage. Blood before business. All that changes when shy Gabrielle stumbles into his life and ignites his protective instincts.
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Trevor Raines lives on the edge of legal. A good guy doing bad things to save lives, the only rules he follows are the Brotherhood’s, and there’s nothing in the world that will change that. That is, until Natalie Jordan walks into his life. She’s a woman with a plan, and the plan doesn’t include a man with secrets, no matter how kind—or intoxicating—he is. Trevor has no interest in settling down, but there’s something entirely too appealing about the woman he can’t stay away from.
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ISBN-13: 9781488024542
Tease Me Tonight
Copyright © 2017 by Jules Court
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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