Crashing Down

by Cathryn Fox

  “Noah,” she said, her heart softening. “I’m in love with you, too. Because of you I’m ready to live the life I’ve always wanted.”

  He exhaled. “I promise I won’t ever do anything to hurt you again.”

  “I know.”

  “I talked to your father.”

  “I know. So did I.”

  “And?”

  “I think everything’s going to be okay.”

  He stared at her for a long time, his glance moving over her tear-stained face, and then he finally broke the quiet. “You know, you once told me you and your dad only had each other. But you were wrong.” He opened his arms. “You’ve got me. That is, if you’ll have me, flaws and all.”

  She met his eyes, everything inside her reaching out to him. “I’ll have you.”

  She wasn’t sure who moved first. The next thing she knew they were in each other’s arms. As he held her, touched her, kissed her deeply, she knew that as long as they had each other, everything was going to be okay.

  He inched back, and handed her a helmet. “Come on.”

  “Where are we going?”

  He grinned and said, “To run over every last demon.”

  Her heart soared with the love she felt for him. “Good idea.”

  He planted another warm kiss onto her mouth. “Then we’re going to find that happy medium we once talked about.” He patted the bike seat. “But first we’re going somewhere quiet because I really, really need to be inside you again.

  Thank You!

  Thank you so much for reading, Crashing Down. I hope you enjoyed Noah and Kathryn’s journey as much as I loved writing it. Please read on, I’ve included an excerpt from Hands On with the CEO! I hope you enjoy!

  Interested in leaving a review? Please do! Reviews help readers connect with books that work for them. I appreciate all reviews, whether positive or negative.

  Happy Reading,

  Cathryn

  Coming Soon from Cathryn Fox

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  Coming July 21st, Losing It, Audra North

  With a childhood full of broken promises and uncertainty, forgiveness doesn’t come easy for Emery Phillips. Now, with her family home on the brink of foreclosure, it’s up to her to track down the elusive Theodore Chambers, Jr. and convince him to sign the clause that will extend the loan. Armed with nothing but a name and a possible location, Emery heads to Canada and Stone Cliff Resort, where she meets Ryan, a man who seems as lost as the one she seeks. An accidental encounter of who’s that sleeping in my bed turns into a night of the hottest sex Emery has ever known. As they search for the answer to her family’s future, a summer of stolen kisses and steamy passion slowly turns into much more and the fragile bond of trust begin to grow.

  After a year of grieving, all Ryan Miller wants is to get his late mother’s estate squared away and prepare for medical school, but even the best laid plans have a way of veering off track. First, there’s the cryptic words from his mom, I should have told you…things you need to know. Then there's the key he found amongst her things. And finally, there’s Emery, who stumbles into his room, rocks his world and, over the summer, proceeds to steal his heart. When the key unlocks the mystery of Ryan’s past, will it mean a happy future for him and Emery? Or will they end up losing it all?

  Coming August 4th, Loving Lies, Renee Field

  Blake Samson is a man driven to succeed. Having grown up with a disinherited, alcoholic father, he knows the value of money and isn’t afraid to work for it. Now, with a degree in business, he’s out to prove himself to his wealthy grandfather. Securing his first major deal by acquiring Stone Cliff Resort at a rock bottom price will confirm that he’s a wheeler-dealer type who won’t take no for an answer, just like the old man. To accomplish his goals, Blake has put his personal life on hold, determined to remain focused on the prize, until the sexy little Gothed-up bartender dumps a drink in his lap.

  Having a wealthy, Greek tycoon for a father wasn’t easy for Alyssa Papadopoulos, especially one who still believed in the archaic tradition of arranged marriages to seal a business deal. Now, three years after skipping out on the groom, she’d been on her own, coping in the real world with a new name, a new look and fake history that guaranteed no one would associate her with her father. Accepting a job at Stone Cliff Resort in Alberta provides her with a good income and the opportunity to work on her one true love—photography. Getting involved with a rich bad boy didn’t factor into the plan. Too bad she hasn’t dated in months, and Mr. McDreamy of the lake has dimples to die for and a body that makes her hormones stand up and scream, Oh, hell yes!

  Alyssa tries to avoid Blake, but he’s determined they enjoy some summer loving, offering her a deal filled with stolen kisses and hot steamy nights she finds impossible to resist. When Blake’s father dies and the world he's struggled to build begins to crumble, will Alyssa reveal the truth she so desperately holds on to, or will two people lying about their past give themselves permission to love.

  Coming August 18th, Taming Tess, Jan Meredith

  Once, Tess O’Neil had it all: head cheerleader, dating the most popular guy in school, a GPA of 4.0 that promised the spot of Valedictorian and a SAT score that guaranteed a full scholarship to the exclusive Culinary Arts Institute of her dreams in Nashville. Prom night was the icing on the cake…or so she thought. A date rape shatters her trust, leaving Tess skittish of a man’s touch, and fearing she may never be able to have a normal relationship again. Now, three years later, she’s ready to move on. When the opportunity to spend the summer at a posh vacation resort in Canada interning as a pastry chef arises, Tess welcomes the chance to get away from the past and her overprotective family. What she didn’t expect was to meet a former soldier with a wounded soul and a gentle touch that awakens the woman within.

  Jackson (Jax) Warren has seen enough of blood and sand. Two tours of duty in Afghanistan has left him with grit in his heart and memories that haunt his dreams. A month out of uniform with his loving but hovering family has him ready to fly apart like the IED that killed his best friend. When a fellow veteran invites him to Alberta for the summer, it’s just what Jax needs. He finds solace in running Stone Cliff Resort’s stables and caring for a horse in need of a gentle hand. At last he finds a modicum of piece—until a diminutive blond with big green eyes full of longing and doubt walks in to his stables. Suddenly, Jax finds himself walking a line more fragile than the minefields in the Middle East. In her arms, he finds the sleep of a peaceful heart—but when the demons come to him in the night will she still want the man they leave behind?

  Coming September 1st, Surviving Nikki, Lilly Cain

  Nikki Martin comes from Compton, one of the roughest neighborhoods in Toronto. She caught a break getting into the U of T, but like everything else, she’s had to bust her ass to stay there, especially when there’s no support from home to help pay for her degree. When her bursary becomes defunct she’s desperate to find work for the summer, even if it means she has to lie on her application to score a job at a resort far from home. Hell, that might be the best part. A summer in the mountains has to be better than bumming around the city. She can figure the whole mountaineering thing out before anyone realizes she’s never so much as climbed a tree—It can’t be as hard as surviving in the inner city.

  Evan Cade has worked at Stone Cliff Resort as a guide since he was sixteen and loves it to the point where someday he intends to buy the place, or build one just like it. So when a hotshot girl from Toronto is hired on to run one of the survival camps, he decides to take her for a test run and make sure she’s as good as she claims—before some innocent camper pays the price. Out on the mountain he discovers Nikki is nothing like she reads on paper, and while some of that is good, very good, it’s bad news for the c
amp. It’s either teach her everything he knows, or cancel half the bookings and risk closing the program. He just has to get past his reaction to her and concentrate on the job at hand.

  Evan has his mind on business but Nikki doesn’t take direction well. Following Evan and trusting him goes against her nature. But this isn’t the city and she needs the job. She can only imagine there is one thing he could want in exchange for the lessons, even if he doesn’t spell it out. Nikki needs this job to survive, but can Evan really imagine surviving Nikki?

  Coming September 15th, Saving Sullivan, Sara Hubbard

  Sullivan Hope is a total screw up. He finished university with the help of his father’s donations to the school and an ultimatum: Straighten up and join him in the family business, or screw up again and he’s cut off for good. This summer is his last chance to live it up before walking the straight and narrow in the fall, and the lure of a good party and, even better, alcohol is more than he can resist. Besides, he’s never met a situation he can’t handle or talk his way out of, or a pair of panties he couldn’t talk his way into. That is, until he meets Abby, the nursing student full of sarcasm and sass.

  Flying half way across the country to do her practical nursing placement at Stone Cliff Resort hadn’t been part of Abby Claire’s plans for the summer. When her first appointment, which would allow her to stay at home and care for her family, falls through, it’s either pack up and go or risk not graduating. Meeting the rich, God’s gift to all things on earth playboy, Sullivan Hope wasn’t in her plans, either, but the more she’s around him, the clearer she sees the man who hides behind the parties and liquor.

  When a summer fling turns into more than either of them had bargained for, Sullivan’s world begins to crumble and Abby gets dragged down into the rubble. He can’t let her in despite her healing touch. And Abby can’t risk getting too close and finding a reason to stay and save Sullivan.

  Discover other titles by Cathryn Fox at:

  www.cathrynfox.com

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  HANDS ON WITH THE CEO: Excerpt

  New Adult Romance

  Copyright 2014 by Cathryn Fox

  Published by Cathryn Fox

  Edited by Denise McClain

  Cover Design CrocoDesigns

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Cathryn Fox.

  First edition January 2014.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9918032-8-6

  Chapter One

  Alexis Cassidy stood inside the grand villa overlooking the breathtaking Mediterranean Sea and tried to keep her jaw from dropping. She hadn’t flown halfway across the country, to babysit for some rich CEO in Athens, only to come across looking like a corn-fed Iowa farm girl—one whose idea of luxurious living involved late night pizza delivery. And to think this beautiful seaside mansion was merely her employer’s summer home. Heck, maybe she should forget about finishing her English degree and get involved in the software industry instead.

  “Alexis,” Mr. Georgiou greeted, a dazzling smile on his boyish face as he stepped farther into the airy entranceway.

  “Mr. Georgiou,” she responded in return, working to keep an air of professionalism about her, a difficult task considering the sudden jolt of sexual awareness turning her scholarly brain to mush. Chatting with her new employer and his four-year-old daughter over Skype was one thing, but seeing her new boss in the flesh was quite another. Not only was he smoking hot, he had an air of badness about him. Everything from his dark, sexy eyes, the rebellious length of his hair, to the confident way he moved had lust exploding inside her. As her body registered every delicious inch of him—and from the bulge in his jeans, he clearly had many delicious inches—she blew a long strand of hair off her face and shifted her purse to conceal the telltale hardening of her nipples.

  The soles of his shoes tapped on the marble floor as he closed the distance between them and perfect white teeth flashed against his rich olive complexion when he said, “Welcome to our summer home.”

  Alexis extended her arm for a shake, but Mr. Georgiou put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her on both cheeks, one of the many Greek customs she’d read about before beginning her overseas journey. He crowded her as his mouth brushed one cheek and then the other, his warm minty breath washing over her face in scintillating ways. Hyperaware of his closeness, she became very aware of just how young and athletic he was, very aware of the way her body reacted when he pressed against her, his soft lips so damn close to hers.

  So damn close…

  Behind her Mr. Georgiou’s limousine driver placed her luggage on the marble tile floor. “Will that be all, sir?” he asked, and Alexis inched back, thankful for the distraction before she did something that could only embarrass them both, something like angle her head so his lips landed squarely on hers.

  She turned to the driver and worked to regain her composure; pretending her boss’s close proximity and feel of his lips brushing her cheeks hadn’t turned her knees to rubber or warmed her in all the wrong places. Exhaling slowly, she reached for her purse to give the driver a tip.

  “I’ve got this, Alexis,” Mr. Georgiou said in a thick Greek accent that sent little shivers skittering up her spine. He pulled out his wallet and stepped past her, the warm sandalwood scent of his skin curling her toes and teasing all her senses as it enveloped her. The muscles on his forearms bunched beneath the rolled up sleeves of his light blue dress shirt and it was all Alexis could do not to drool.

  The man was a freaking Greek God!

  She knew he was young and good looking when she’d Skyped with him a few weeks back, but the distorted image on her tablet didn’t do the man justice. She also knew his multimillion-dollar software company had landed him and his partner on Forbes’ “30 under 30” list. The man was smart, successful, driven.

  Single.

  Of course he hadn’t always been single, but after losing the love of his life during the birth of their daughter four years ago, he’d become reclusive for a time, removing himself from the public’s eyes. He reappeared as—according to the rag mags—one of Europe’s richest, most eligible bachelors. Photos of him filled the tabloids, a different woman on his arm in every shot. Rumors of relationships were immediately shot down, the captions always reading the same: according to a close personal friend, Mr. Georgiou and his current companion deny rumors of commitment…

  Alexis liked his way of thinking. She wasn’t in the market for a full-time partner, either. Nor was she looking for love. She simply wanted a man to help her get in touch with her sexual self, and to teach her a thing or two in the bedroom. She cringed as she thought about the one and only guy she slept with at last year’s football party. She was pretty sure he was simply giving the chubby girl a pity fuck, and when it was over, College Boy walked away and told his buddies she wasn’t just fat, she was frigid.

  The whole experience had been horrible and embarrassing. Not only had the reputation clung like a sweaty sports sock, following her around her entire first year of college, it was the last football party she’d been invited to. Which was why she planned to go on a strict diet for the next two months, learn her way around the bedroom, and return home a new woman. Then she’d show them!

  Her glance moved over Mr. Georgiou, taking pleasure in the self-assured way he moved. He certainly looked like the guy who could give her what she needed, but he was her boss, which meant he was completely off limits. Still, she couldn’t wait to text Melanie back home and tell her all about him.

  As Mr. Georgiou spoke with his driver, Alexis stifled a yawn and waved to the little girl with the big brown eyes and thick dark hair as
she ran into the foyer and latched on to her father’s leg. Sophie waved back, and then Alexis put her hands over her face to play peek-a-boo. With two younger brothers, and having spent her high school years babysitting for nearly every family on her block, Alexis was used to being around kids. Which was why, when the ad for an au pair went up on the bulletin board outside the student employment center at her college—an au pair who majored in English and could help Mr. Georgiou’s daughter refine her speech—she’d jumped all over it.

  The benefits of taking the job were twofold. Not only did she need the money, which turned out to be a substantial sum, but rumor had it the men in Greece liked their women plump. With any luck she’d meet a hot guy during her time off from the job, gain a little more experience and learn to loosen up in the bedroom department before her upcoming sophomore year. A shiver moved through her. She never wanted to be called frigid again!

  With the driver gone, her new boss turned back to her. “Alexis, it’s so finally nice to meet you in person,” he said, taking her right hand between his palms. “I’m sure you must be exhausted after travelling all day.”

  “I’m a little tired,” she admitted. Actually she was exhausted. She’d gotten up at the crack of dawn, only to discover her flight had been delayed. She’d sat at the airport for hours, forcing herself to stay awake for fear of losing her luggage, and hadn’t touched down in Greece until late this evening.