by Cat Johnson
He laughed. “No, that’s not it. I meant I didn’t come inside for coffee. I came inside because I wasn’t ready to say goodnight to you yet.”
She swallowed hard and forced herself to bring forth the sultry, smooth-talking woman that had to be somewhere inside her, buried deep. “Good. I’m not ready to say goodnight to you either.”
It wasn’t incredibly clever, but it was sincere, and she had delivered it in her best sexy television announcer voice. The one she used for auditions but rarely remembered to use on air.
“Good. I’m glad.” Perhaps it was her imagination, but she thought his head dipped just a fraction of an inch lower. His gaze broke from hers, and then he shook his head. He let out a short laugh. “I’ve been out of this world too damn long.”
“What world?” Annie had trouble getting that question out since breathing seemed extra hard with Luke so close.
He brought his gaze back to hers. “The dating world.”
“Oh.” Tonight was a date? Her mouth went dry at the revelation. Good thing she hadn’t known that or she would have been even more awkward than she had been.
“You had asked about Lilly. Well, she and I have—had been together for a long time. Since right after she graduated high school.”
The last thing Annie had imagined doing in a hotel room with Luke Carpenter was standing by the door talking about his ex-girlfriend, but she had to admit what he’d just revealed was a fascinating tidbit of information.
“Really? Wow. That’s a long time.” A very long time for a man to date a woman and not get married. She didn’t say that last part out loud. There was obviously something that stopped them from getting married. What was that? His career, maybe?
“Yeah, I guess. What I’m saying is, it’s been a really long time since I’ve had to tell a girl—woman—how I feel. Or, you know, let her know I’m interested in her, um, you know…” He glanced at the bed then back to her.
Her eyes opened wide. “Physically.” The word slipped out, soft but definitely audible.
“Yeah. Physically.” He looked relieved she’d supplied the word for him.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, what the hell. She might as well go for it.
“Are you saying you’re…interested?” Annie swallowed hard and waited for the answer.
He let out his breath in a short burst of air. “Oh God, yes.”
Luke took his hat off. He worked the rim in his hands, spinning it round and round. He kind of looked like a little boy waiting for permission to do something. This was so not how she pictured this night going. Talking about sex was…strange. Like they were negotiating contracts.
It must be the gentleman in Luke that had him checking with her before he made a move. The few men she’d dated back home in the off-season hadn’t been like this. Actually, as she thought about them—fumbling to kiss her goodnight, slobbering on her whether she turned her cheek to avoid their lips or not—the negotiations she was currently in with Luke were far preferable. Especially if they led to the outcome she wanted. Him in her bed.
As long as they were talking things out first, she might as well get all her anxieties out on the table. He’d already alleviated one fear—it was pretty obvious he hadn’t been sleeping around since his breakup, or he’d be better at this. That helped her insecurities. At least she wouldn’t be competing against some twenty-year-old he’d been with last night, or last week, or whatever. But there was still one more thing weighing on her mind.
“We need to make a deal.”
His hat stopped slowly rotating in his grasp. “What’s that?”
“Whatever happens between us now, or even afterwards, won’t affect our professional relationship.” Now that she thought about it that was a lot to ask of both of them. Sex changed things. Hell, just this little talk would change things between them, whether they did it or not. She glanced up at him. “Do you think we’ll be able to do that?”
He nodded solemnly. “I do.”
She wasn’t so sure, but she wanted this man too much to worry about it any further. With the knowledge that she would very likely regret this when she was able to think again, she nodded. “Okay, then.”
His brows rose. “So that means…”
“It means you might want to put down that hat and take off those boots.” She smiled at his reaction.
“Yes, ma’am.” His excitement was nearly tangible as he tossed his hat onto the dresser and then turned back to her. “As soon as I do one other thing first.”
“What?” Was there a quaver in her voice as Luke’s head dipped lower toward hers?
“This.” That one word was spoken just shy of her lips, then Luke was kissing her.
She couldn’t say he kissed her breathless because she was having trouble breathing to begin with.
It’s the perfect plan…until the ties that bind reach into their hearts.
Flanked
© 2012 Cat Johnson
Studs in Spurs, Book 5
Garret James doesn’t need a woman tying him down. Not when the number of buckle bunny notches on his belt—and his position in the pro bull rider standings—are both on the rise. Just when he learns he’s this close to blowing out his bad shoulder, Silver Jordan roars into his life, long, leather-clad legs straddling her Harley. Hell, he might not mind being tied to one woman, if that one woman was her. There’s one problem—she’s his friend’s sister. But once their eyes lock, resistance is futile.
Then Silver offers him a smoking-hot deal. They both get the hottest sex of their lives and he gets access to her health insurance for his career-saving surgery—all wrapped up in a marriage of convenience.
For a while, dodging questions and hiding their arrangement is easy. But in private, they battle emotions between them they never expected to grow. After all, the marriage is only temporary…isn’t it?
Warning: Contains body piercings guaranteed to make you squirm, a very intimately placed tattoo, one clandestine wedding and even more secretive sex.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Flanked:
“You guys dressed?” Aaron’s voice came through the door.
“Yup. Come on in.” Skeeter jumped up from the bed and actually wet his hand with his tongue and ran it over his hair. Garret shook his head and waited for the door to open to see what, or rather who, had Skeeter acting like this.
He didn’t have long to wait. Aaron and—holy crap—his hot-as-hell sister were in the doorway the next moment and Garret understood why the Aussies had run off the road when they got a look at her. If she looked this hot standing in a cheap hotel room, he could only imagine what she looked like straddling a Harley. Her thighs spread wide. The powerful machine between them.
Garret glanced at Skeeter to make sure the kid wasn’t watching his reaction since he was pretty sure his jaw had dropped when he saw her. He needn’t have worried because Skeeter only had eyes for her.
From the top of her head to the tips of her black biker boots, this chick was so not what Garret had expected. Her short dark hair, cut to frame her heart-shaped face, was tousled and messy, likely from the helmet. It made her appear as if she’d just rolled out of bed, but in a sexy rather than sleepy way. Then there were the black leather pants that stretched across her wide hips while pinching in at her tiny waist. He mentally willed her to turn around because he was sure the back view of her ass in those snug pants would be even better than the front view.
Aaron brought her a step farther into the room. He glanced at his sister, not that Garret could see any resemblance between this babe and dorky Aaron, but whatever. “This is Garret and Skeeter.” Aaron pointed to each in turn. “And this is my sister S—”
“Silver.” She didn’t let Aaron finish. Rather, she took a step forward and extended her hand to Skeeter.
When she could finally get her hand back from Skeeter, who pumped it happily while grinning, she stepped to Garret. Silver had a good firm grasp to go along with her other firm assets, both front and b
ack—but they were all attached to a fellow rider’s sister. He had to keep that in mind.
Garret stoically kept his gaze off her leather-clad legs and her cleavage peeking out of the top of her shirt and instead noticed her violet-blue eyes, the color so unbelievably intense he frowned. “Are those colored contact lenses?”
“Uh, no. All mine, just like his.” She laughed and hooked a thumb in Aaron’s direction.
“Oh. Yeah. Um, nice to meet you.” Crap. A girl’s eyes could be his downfall, even without the rest of the package being so enticing. Garret glanced over and saw Aaron frowning at him, and noticed he did have almost the same color eyes. Funny Garrett had never noticed that before, or how angry Aaron could look when his dark brows pulled down low and unhappily over his eyes. Shit, time to change the subject. “Uh, so we all going out now or what?”
Aaron screwed up his mouth. “Maybe. And maybe Silver and I will just hang here. Maybe she’s tired.”
“I’m not tired. I’m up for anything.”
“Great.” Skeeter stepped forward, looking excited at the prospect. “Where are we going?”
Now that Skeeter had a fake ID so he could get into bars that required proof of twenty-one or over, he was always up for a night out. But Garret had a feeling it wasn’t the prospect of going out that had Skeeter excited tonight. It was definitely Silver. The kid hadn’t taken his eyes off her or stopped smiling since she’d arrived in the room. If Skeeter had been a puppy, his tail would be wagging.
Aaron raised a brow. “Don’t get too excited. Choices around here are pretty slim. It’ll probably be an early night.”
Garret wasn’t sure if the warning tone in Aaron’s voice was for him or Skeeter, or both.
“We’ll find somewhere, I’m sure. I’m just gonna go change. Be right back.” Silver turned, waltzing that heart-shaped ass through the door between their bedrooms.
When she disappeared from view, Garret could finally wrestle his focus back, though the memory of those rounded leather-clad globes of hers remained. He realized the room had gone very quiet. He glanced at Skeeter and found him looking dazed. Then he dared a look at Aaron and found his face screwed up into a scowl.
“I’ll go get my keys.” With one more unhappy-looking glance sent in their direction, Aaron turned and went back to his room, slamming the connecting door shut behind him.
“Told ya sisters are off limits.” Garret looked at Skeeter.
“He’ll get over it.” Skeeter shrugged and turned toward his duffle bag. “Maybe I should change clothes before we go out.”
Garret shook his head at Skeeter, knowing exactly why he was reconsidering what he was wearing. That reason was currently in the next room peeling leather off her hot little body.
Thrown
Cat Johnson
This ain’t their first rodeo…but there are a lot of other firsts they can experience together.
Studs in Spurs, Book 6
Skeeter Anderson was born to ride bulls. He bypassed college to shoot straight to the top of the elite pro tour, but lately all he can seem to do is hit the dirt.
Unwilling to admit his career might be over at twenty-one, Skeeter brainstorms a bull-riding boot camp with his buddies, which will put him closer to a girl who’s caught his eye—a stock contractor’s daughter called Riley.
Riley Davis lives and breathes bulls. Since her mother’s death, she’s been her father’s business partner as well as the apple of his eye—until a coronary rips him out of her life. Now, at nineteen, she must find a way to hang onto the family business.
When Skeeter hears about Riley’s dad, he drives straight to Mississippi to lend her a hand, his buddies hot on his heels. Suddenly Riley has more help than she can shake a stick at, and an attraction to Skeeter that’s heating up by the minute…
Warning: Contains cowboy yoga, cowboys in love, and a romance that hits so hard and fast, it makes being thrown from a bull look like a friendly game of hopscotch.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Thrown
Copyright © 2014 by Cat Johnson
ISBN: 978-1-61922-061-4
Edited by Heidi Moore
Cover by Angela Waters
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First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2014
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