“Pensacola.”
“What’s Cape Cod have that you couldn’t find in Florida?”
“A change of scenery. Different opportunities. Somebody new to look at.” Aaron leaned forward, his hands braced on his thighs.
If she reached, tucked his cross beneath his collar, and tasted the curve of his mouth as if experimenting with a new recipe, he would retract what he said about this not being weird. He’d haul his sexy ass out of here and she’d lose a potential tenant and a damn fine set of helping hands.
So Joss kept her hands to herself. “Nothing wrong with a fresh beginning. A do-over.” She held a finger to her lips. “Shh…Hear any noise?”
“Nah.”
“It’s past nine, the club’s open, and we’re not being disturbed. Told you so.”
“You get an unusual amount of joy out of being right, don’t you?”
“Sure do.” Because it didn’t often happen. Her parents would passionately attest to that. “What do you think of the apartment?”
“Suits my needs. The rent posted on the sign is good, but I want the bed.”
“Why would I just throw in this expensive bed?” And why would a guy who drove a lust-worthy Lincoln shake her down for a freebie?
“I don’t doubt it was expensive when you bought it, but you said it’s about a year old and, come on, I don’t know what kind of mileage it has.”
Oh, really? Feigning insult, she let her mouth drop open. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Which lie do you want me to believe—that you’re offended by it or that you’d be doing me a favor to throw the bed in?”
He had her. “The second one. All right, the truth is this set doesn’t fit in my room next door. I have nowhere else to store it.”
“Include it in the rental agreement.”
“This isn’t a done deal, Aaron. All I know is you’re from Pensacola and have a nice ass—I mean, you’re strong. You lifted that easel with zero effort. So yeah, all I know is you’re from Pensacola and you’re strong.” Water. She needed water, or to tie her tongue in a knot to keep from screwing herself with it. “Résumé, background check, references, rental history—I intend to work you over very thoroughly.”
“Cool.” Aaron pulled out his cell phone. “I can email you whatever you need, or I can bring it tomorrow and maybe help you hang your art. I’m qualified—construction and plumbing.”
Construction and plumbing explained the ride. When you knew how to optimize body and brain power, the money could be nice in those trades. She’d learned the foundations of small business from watching her blue-collar laborer parents turn Let There Be Light into a countywide success.
What she had here was a handyman named Aaron who baked for charity and wore a cross around his neck. Had her parents prayed him into existence just to come to her and rescue her from herself?
“How much would you charge to help hang the art?” she asked him.
“I don’t want your money.”
“You’d do it for free?”
“Not exactly free. I still want this memory foam to sweeten the rental deal, but my services are going to cost you. Fixing that wall and hanging your art…A half dozen Little Deaths ought to cover it.”
A half dozen treats—or orgasms? And why was she even considering pulling his sweater over his head, unzipping his jeans, and acrobatically accomplishing the latter? “Desserts,” she said, because she was a reasonable adult after all. “Six of them.”
“Mm-hmm. Want to do that for me?”
She caved, smiling and nodding. That was always her problem. She was so easy that even an utter stranger detected it. “Come early.”
“What’re you thinking? Seven?”
“Earlier.” She stood and gestured for him to leave the apartment with her.
“Six?” he asked on the stairs.
“Five.”
“Damn.”
Downstairs in the bakery, she wrote her cell number on a business card. Now they could feel the low vibration of bass and hear the muffled swell of music. “Guilty Pleasures closes at two. Go down and have a drink. Dance a little. There’s no cover charge tonight.”
“Where are you going?”
“Home. I can head over there and drink and dance whenever, but that, sir, is a perk of being part owner.”
“You sound sad about that.”
“I’m not. Not about that, anyway. It’s an off night.”
Aaron turned the business card a few times before tucking it in his pocket. “You said that a couple of times. Why’s it an off night?”
“Today’s my birthday. It’s been a very boring one.”
“Oh. Well, Joss, happy—”
“That’s not necessary, Aaron,” she interrupted. She went to the door. Thankfully he didn’t put up any argument. “I’ve got more tidying to do. So I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Yeah. Five.”
“Okay. Good night.”
Alone again, she sighed. She couldn’t refuse a tenant or employee simply on grounds of ridiculous attraction, but she was courting complications.
Cleaning away the debris from her earlier art-hanging debacle, Joss washed her hands, then wrapped a few ice cubes in a towel and held it to her thumb. After a while she liberated a cube, popped it into her mouth, and was crunching gracelessly when she heard her phone chime.
“Hey, Sof,” she answered. “What’s up?”
“Can you come down to the club? Quickly? We’ve got a problem.”
Oh, screw. A fight? Drugs? Cops?
“On my way.” Joss snatched off her socks, stepped into her high heels, and grabbed her purse. She locked up, then blindly twisted her dark blond hair into a knot as she hurried down the sidewalk, took a sharp turn around the corner of Au Naturel, the photography studio, and thundered down the building’s side steps to Guilty Pleasures.
She flung open the door.
And was immediately assaulted with confetti.
“What the—” It tangled in her hair, clung to her skin and sparkled on her clothes under the teal and gold club lights. “Huh…Uh…”
“Surprise!”
Fall in Love with Forever Romance
WINNER TAKES ALL
By Erin Kern
The first book in Erin Kern’s brand-new Champion Valley series, perfect for fans of Friday Night Lights! Former football player Blake Carpenter is determined to rebuild his life as the new coach of his Colorado hometown’s high school team. Annabelle Turner, the team’s physical therapist, will be damned if the scandal that cost Blake his NFL career hurts her team. But what she doesn’t count on is their intense attraction that turns every heated run-in into wildly erotic competition…
LAST KISS OF SUMMER
By Marina Adair
Kennedy Sinclair, pie shop and orchard owner extraordinaire, is all that stands between Luke Callahan and the success of his hard cider business. But when the negotiations start heating up, will they lose their hearts? Or seal the deal? Fans of Rachel Gibson, Kristan Higgins, and Jill Shalvis will gobble up the latest sexy contemporary from Marina Adair.
MEANT TO BE MINE
By Lisa Marie Perry
In the tradition of Jessica Lemmon and Marie Force, comes a contemporary romance about a former bad boy seeking redemption. After years apart, Sofia Mercer and Burke Wolf reunite in Cape Cod. Their wounds may be deep, but their sizzling attraction is as hot as ever.
RUN TO YOU
By Rachel Lacey
The first book in Rachel Lacey’s new contemporary romance series will appeal to fans of Kristan Higgins, Rachel Gibson, and Jill Shalvis! Ethan Hunter’s grandmother, Haven, North Carolina’s resident matchmaker, is convinced Gabby Winter and her grandson are meant to be together. Rather than break her heart, Ethan and Gabby fake a relationship, but if they continue, they won’t just fool the town—they might fool themselves, too…
AN INDECENT PROPOSAL
By Katee Robert
New York Times an
d USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert continues her smoking-hot series about the O’Malleys—wealthy, powerful, and full of scandalous family secrets. Olivia Rashidi left behind her Russian mob family for the sake of her daughter. When she meets Cillian O’Malley, she recognizes his family name, but can’t help falling for the smoldering, tortured man. Cillian knows that there is no escape from the life, but Olivia is worth trying—and dying—for…
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
A Preview of YOURS TO TAKE
Fall in Love with Forever Romance
Newsletters
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by Lisa Marie Perry
Excerpt from Yours to Take copyright © 2016 by Lisa Marie Perry
Cover design by Elizabeth Turner
Cover images copyright © Shutterstock
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBNs: 978-1-4555-9435-1 (mass market), 978-1-4555-9436-8 (ebook)
E3-20160727-DA-NF
Meant to Be Mine Page 34