“My best pick up line?”

“Yep. Hit me with it,” I goad.

“You sure you can handle it, Matty boy?”

 

I chuckle at the challenge. “Bring it on, Legs.”

 

“Still don’t get the legs thing,” she mutters.

 

“It’s because every time I see them I imagine them wrapped around my head.” 

 

She chokes down the phone and then the line goes eerily quiet.

 

 

“Mia?”

 

 

“I’m here. Just hitting pause on that mental image and saving it for later.” Now it’s my turn to swallow my tongue.

 

 

“Jesus, woman. Warn a guy before you throw out the Viagra lines.”

 

 

“What?” she says, choking down laughter.

 

 

“Words like that take a man from floppy to stabby in zero point five seconds.”

 

 

“What can I say, it’s a gift.”

Friends since kindergarten, North had been the one to jump first, and his fall into Will’s bed ten years ago had been no exception. Will and North had been inseparable, but things change, people grow apart, and even a blazing flame can dwindle to a dying ember over time.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

After a run in with a bottle of Bundy rum, Will and North find themselves in a compromising and all too familiar position.

Blurred lines, bad decisions, and one wrong foot after another lead these two down a spiral of sarcasm, secrets, and sex, but when North’s hetero status is called into question he can’t figure up from down. And despite Will telling himself he wouldn’t fall again, he’s head over heels and wandering without a compass.

Love is love.

Love is truth.

Love … shouldn’t be this damn hard to figure out.

 

I push my glass towards him for another refill, downing the shot of liquid courage. “You ever think about what might have been?”

Will scoffs and sets his glass down. “You’re seriously asking me this?”

“What?” I say, getting pissy now, because he acts as though he’s the only one who lost something. “I can’t ask a question?”

He takes another sip, avoiding my gaze. The humour has left his face; his mouth forms a tight line as he stares down into his drink. “You can’t ask that question.”

“Okay then,” I say, agitated that he’s calling the shots. I ask a question I’ve been wanting the answer to for a very long time. “Why didn’t you leave?”

“Jesus, not you too.” Will shakes his head. “You sound like Josh.”

“Who the hell is Josh?”

He slams back the rest of his drink and beats his fist against his chest. “Fuck buddy.”

“You have a fuck buddy?” I clench my jaw. I’m starting to see why Bundy has a bad name. Right now, I’d like to find Josh and beat his fucking head in.

Will laughs. “Look at you getting all jealous.”

Is he fucking kidding me?

“How long?” I say through my teeth.

“How long have I been fucking him? Or how long is his cock? It’s about five for both.”

“Five what?” I snap. “Days? Weeks?”

“Months.” He rests his elbow on the bar, dangling his glass from his long fingers. “And inches.”

“You been fucking this Josh for five months, and you didn’t think to mention it?”

“I’ve fucked a lot of men in the last twelve years, North. Why would I mention any of them to you?”

“I kissed you.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t ask for it,” he says, swirling the liquor in his glass. “How many women have you slept with in the past twelve years?”

A tattoo enthusiast, hardcore MAC addict and zombie fangirl, Carmen lives on the sunny north coast of New South Wales, Australia, where she spends her time indoors wrangling her two wildling children, a dog named Pikelet, and her very own man-child.

A romantic at heart, Carmen strives to give her characters the HEA they deserve, but not before ruining their lives completely first … because what’s a happily ever after without a little torture?


Published titles to date:

Welcome to Sugartown (Sugartown Series #1)Enjoy Your Stay (Sugartown Series #2)

Greetings from Sugartown (Sugartown Series #3)

Now Leaving Sugartown (Sugartown Series #4)

REVELRY (Taint #1)

KICK (Savage Saints MC #1)

TANK
(Savage Saints MC #2)

Giveaway

Her husband doesn’t want her anymore. The man next door would give up everything to have her.

He squeezes me closer. Moves his hand up and down my bicep. “You’re shivering.”

The driver looks at us in the rearview mirror. “You guys are a cute couple.”

“Thanks,” I say.

Finn arches an eyebrow, pleased—because she thinks we’re together, or because I didn’t correct her? I don’t even want to correct her. I’ve missed the look she’s giving us, the one a woman makes when she’s more envious than jealous. I get it all the time with Nathan. That feeling, coupled with the heater blasting from the front seat, leaves me slightly woozy.

We’re just like actors in a movie, I tell myself. This isn’t real. It doesn’t count. After a few minutes, the urgency to get warm lessens, and the door opens to another less pressing, but still basic need. Because that’s how my arousal feels—essential. The more it’s ignored, the fiercer it grows. I snuggle into his side. All it takes is his hand on my upper thigh to invite an assault of graphic fantasies. Finn shoving me down on the backseat because he can’t control himself anymore. Thrusting his fingers under the hem of my dress to find me ready for him. The lower half of my body aches with sudden demands.

“Some of those photos we just took were for me,” he whispers in my ear. He couldn’t have chosen a worse moment to tease me. My legs are jelly-like. “Does that make you mad?”

I check to see if the driver is paying attention. She must know I’m married. How can something so vital and concrete in my life be hidden? “What if I say yes?” I ask.

“I’ll delete them. If you’re sure it doesn’t . . . turn you on.”

I try not to pant. “Why would it?”

“Imagining me looking at them later.”

I turn my head. Our mouths are a breath apart. One more inch, and they’ll touch. Again. Those lips are the color of sunburnt rock but whisper soft. We’ve done it once. Would one more kiss hurt? I can’t stop the image of him looking at me, my exposed, white throat on his computer, his cock in a firm fist. It should disgust me. It makes my panties damp instead.

Jessica Hawkins grew up between the purple mountains and under the endless sun of Palm Springs, California. She studied international business at Arizona State University and has also lived in Costa Rica and New York City. To her, the most intriguing fiction is forbidden, and that’s what you’ll find in her stories. Currently, she resides wherever her head lands, which is often the unexpected (but warm) keyboard of her trusty MacBook.

MAILING LIST

Martial arts expert Lewis is the kind of bodyguard who slips under most people’s radar. Quiet, reserved, but constantly on alert, he’ll do his job, keep his charges safe, then relax by reading Shakespeare in his spare time.

When he’s given a case involving a spoiled celebrity singer, Lewis isn’t all that impressed. The job is nothing but babysitting a pretty boy, and he’s used to diplomatic postings with depth and challenge. What could he possibly have in common with the man he’s being forced to look after?

Alex became the envy of many when he and his fellow bandmates won second place in a huge TV talent show. He has more money than he knows what to do with, no life goals, an ex-boyfriend selling a sex tape and now, someone who wants him dead, or at the very least maimed.

Can Lewis keep Alex safe, even when things usually in his control go to hell? Is running to a remote Scottish island the only way for them to stay alive?

RJ Scott has been writing since age six when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies and was told to write a story. Two sides of A4 about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born. She reads anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror; however, her first real love will always be the world of romance. From billionaires, bodyguards and cowboys to SEALs, throwaways and veterinarians, she writes passionate stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and more than a hint of happily ever after.

HOSTED BY:

Will changes direction and heads to Harmony Creek, Ohio, and the only person who’s ever really been there for him, his brother Chase. Chase saved Will in the past, but will he rescue him yet again? Some lessons—like fatherhood—can only be learned by doing. Is Will up to the challenge?

And where does Emma Metzger fit into Will’s suddenly upside-down world? Emma knows all about his troubled past and sees his hesitation to commit to his new daughter. How can she commit her heart to a man who doesn’t know what the word means?

Chase always told Will “Follow your heart. Always try to be a good man.” But will following his heart be enough for his daughter, and for Emma?