Spotlight: Heated by Naima Simone

/

(Burned, Inc., #1)
Publication date: July 5th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

From USA Today bestselling author Naima Simone comes Heated, a sizzling novel about a breakup professional who embarks on a fake relationship with a client’s ex—the one person she wasn’t supposed to fall for.

Zora

I’m Denver’s unmatchmaker. Every city needs one.

Why? Because people break up—and sometimes they should. But when I learn that entertainment attorney Cyrus Hart is someone else’s mistake, I can’t believe it. He’s smart, successful, and sexy as hell.

When a chance encounter with Cyrus turns into something more, I can’t help but fall for him. Our chemistry is undeniable. But his ex used my company to send him that letter—and that’s a problem. Especially since he doesn’t know I own the company.

How can this possibly work? I know from experience that the riskiest ventures are the worthiest ones…but falling for Cyrus Hart may be my biggest gamble yet.

Cyrus

I’m a man with a plan—college, law school, a great career. So far, so good.

Until a stranger shows up on my doorstep and reads me a breakup letter from my girlfriend. My carefully laid plans unravel.

But then I meet someone new. It’s spontaneous. It’s electric. And it’s not according to plan.

Excerpt

Why are we here?”

“I haven’t quite figured that out yet,” I admit.

It’s not a lie. My hastily thought-of plan drove me here. But part of me hasn’t decided if it also wasn’t simply the desire to see her again. Or an exercise in self-control. Dangling what I shouldn’t take in front of me to see if I possess enough discipline to keep my hands to myself, to walk away. Or tempt myself with this sensual form of edging by embracing what I shouldn’t. 

The ambiguous answer seems to be the correct one, though. The tension slowly ebbs out of her body, and she props an elbow on the chair’s arm.

“That makes the two of us, then, because I haven’t figured out yet why I came here.” She huffs out a soft breath. “I’m certain of one thing, though. This isn’t right or smart.”

“Why? Because you’re Val’s friend?” I slice a hand between us. “She’s already seeing someone new. Probably was before she sent you to do her hatchet job. So I don’t care about that.”

“Is that what this is, then?” she murmurs. “Revenge? Payback? You plan to throw”—she twirls a hand in the air—“whatever we’re doing here back in her face one day for breaking up with you and moving on too quickly?”

I almost laugh long and loud at that bullshit.

“There aren’t many things that are a one hundred percent certainty. Weather, election outcomes, the price of gas, Hollywood marriages. But this I can state without a shadow of a doubt. Not happening.”

She studies me, and I can practically read all the questions in those brown eyes. How can you? Why? What happened?

But she lifts her cup and drinks, and instead of asking what she so clearly wants to know, she says, “Not my business.”

“Isn’t it? When you chose to put yourself in the middle of our relationship, it became your business.” The moment comprehension dawns, her eyes widen, then narrow. But I lean forward, a smile curving my mouth. And that smile? It’s possible it isn’t nice. Because nice doesn’t accurately describe this uncomfortable and unwanted gnawing inside of me. I’m feeling hungry. “You owe me.”

I both hear and see the hitch in her breath. The almost nonchalant note in her voice belies the worry in her eyes. Too bad for her; I make a living at reading people. Too bad she’s shit at hiding her emotions. God, I could fucking feast, become a damn glutton on her honesty.

“What?” she whispered.

“You heard me.”

“Yes, I heard you.” My own breath really shouldn’t quicken or my blood pump hotter at the sound of those words coming through clenched teeth. Or the sight of her hand wrapped tighter around her cup. As if only her grip on the cardboard container is preventing her from transferring it to my neck. “But obviously I don’t understand your meaning. I owe you for what?”

For witnessing my weakest moments since leaving my aunt’s house. For reminding me that my life, my world, is not in my control. For throwing me back to that twelve-, fourteen-, sixteen-year-old uncertain boy again.

For refusing to be evicted from my head like a sexy, stubborn squatter.

For being my answer, my salvation, in this moment, when for years I’ve vowed to depend only on myself.

And her most heinous sin? For deviating from my carefully laid-out plans. For stepping outside those lines and hungering for something, someone, I have no business desiring.

But I say none of that because those reasons are mine and mine alone.

She gets, “For not stepping back and letting Val have the guts to do her own dirty work. Instead, you allowed yourself to be her patsy, and I’m pissed with you and her about that. I’m also mad as hell that you both stole the chance for me to have my say.”

A starkness enters her eyes, and she briefly closes them before glancing away, her hair concealing most of her profile. Fisting those curls and moving them out of the way so I can see her expression, her thoughts, is such a fierce urge I shift away from her. 

“I didn’t think about that. About stealing your voice. I’m truly sorry for that.”

I believe her. But I’m not letting it go that easily. It isn’t in my interest to.

“Look at me,” I say softly. I order softly. And a coil in my gut draws almost painfully, sweetly tight when she obeys. “You owe me. And I’m offering a form of . . . penance.”

She loses that pained, haunted expression, and anger tautens the skin across her cheekbones, emphasizing their boldness, their strength. As perverse as it might make me, my cock pounds at the sign of her ire. Yeah, I’m turned on, and part of me is hoping she takes it out on me with teeth and nails.

Well shit. When did I become a man who enjoyed an edge of pain with his pleasure?

The answer?

Zora.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Audible | Paperback | Bookshop.org

Meet the Author

Published since 2009, USA Today Bestselling author Naima Simone loves writing sizzling romances with heart, a touch of humor and snark. Her books have been featured in The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, and described as balancing “crackling, electric love scenes with exquisitely rendered characters caught in emotional turmoil.”

She is wife to Superman, or his non-Kryptonian, less bullet proof equivalent, and mother to the most awesome kids ever. They all live in perfect, sometimes domestically-challenged bliss in the southern United States.

Connect:

http://naimasimone.com/

https://twitter.com/Naima_Simone

https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/y7o1t4

https://www.facebook.com/naimasimoneauthor

https://www.instagram.com/naimasimoneauthor/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3232449.Naima_Simone

Spotlight: Buck Up, Buttercup by Anna Alkire

/

Publication date: June 30th 2022
Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

All’s fair in love and war.
With Randi and Buck, it’s hard to tell the two apart…

An uptight, self-contained college girl, Randi Becker just needed one thing: a room. Somewhere she could study, and keep away from the things that most confuse and frighten her: people.

Unfortunately, the “nice quiet place” she reserved turns out to be a room in the campus’ most raucous house. A place seemingly designed to make studying impossible, made even worse by the other girls’ non-stop drama.

But then Buck, a fun-loving cowboy whom all the ladies love, shows up…and everything gets much worse.

Buck seems to have it all: friends, fun, and a never-ending line of admirers. But what he most desires is a break. So when Buck spots Randi, he figures she’s a perfect decoy: he can play up a “crush” on her that will take him off the market; buy him some breathing room. And if he can tease her a bit, and get under the skin of the uptight busybody? Well, that’s just gravy.

But Buck is about to find more than he bargained for. Randi’s strong-willed, opinionated, difficult—and maybe just what he needs. And Buck isn’t alone. Soon Randi wonders as well…if the world she wanted is really the world she needs. If her future is nothing more than a diploma on the wall. And if the most important thing in her world isn’t a grade, but the cowboy who’s planted his boots firmly in her heart.

Fans of Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare and Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game will delight at this mix of romantic comedy, contemporary romance, and cultures colliding in a campus town with a western flair. Grab your copy today, and fall in love with Buck Up, Buttercup!

Excerpt

An old pickup, with new shiny green paint, slowed down beside her until it crawled along at her pace. A quick glance sideways revealed black-hat-cowboy-guy grinning down at her.

A jolt of awareness cleared some of the fog from her head. He was more good-looking than she’d remembered, and also incredibly large above her in the truck.

“Good morning, darlin’,” he called down.

“Drive on,” she called out.

“Headed into town? We’ve got room.”

“I’m going to walk.” She wouldn’t get into a car with a single person from that party. She walked forward, not looking at him.

“Hold up, you dropped something,” he said, stopping the truck.

Randi whirled around, scanning the empty ground behind her. Her fingers lost their grip and her bags crashed down, things spilling out onto the gravel road. Her eyes burned.

Buck turned off the truck engine and leaned out the window.

“That’s a lot of gear to haul all the way into town,” he said, cheerfully.

“That was a dirty trick.”

“I just want to talk to you for a minute.”

“Leave me alone please!”

“Listen. Hugh, in the passenger seat, and I are headed in for some breakfast. If you ride with me, this gas guzzler will have a full cab. Darlin’, that’s a load off my conscience.”

Randi’s belly shuddered and her lips quivered. The dam burst. Her hands flew up to cover her eyes and a hiccupped sob exploded out.

“I can’t jump in some stranger’s pickup,” she mumbled through her fingers.

“Hey now,” he said, the amused condescension in his voice making her glare up at him. “You hold on to that pepper spray if it makes you feel better. Land’s sake, girl, we hauled around passed-out-Sarah last night. You’re practically part of the family. And Hugh here has about twenty sisters, so he’s well-trained.”

The door of the truck opened. She took a step back, pulling up the inside collar of her dress to dab at her face.

Buck’s eyes crinkled at her, a lopsided half-grin on his face. It was probably the way he looked at cows right before he lassoed a rope around their necks, or whatever. But he had helped Sarah. And her.

Her shoulders slumped. Defeated, she was beyond resistance. If they murdered her, at least she might be sitting down.

“All right?” he asked.

She exhaled. “All right, I’ll take a ride to the closest bus stop. Thanks.”

Buck picked up her bags and put them in the back of the truck. She hauled her heavy backpack off her aching shoulders and turned to sling it up, but Buck was already gripping the top and lifting it out of her hands.

“Hi,” said a burly man sitting on the passenger side of the bench seat, a gentle smile on his face. Like she was a crazy person. Which she was. With a deep breath, she hoisted herself up into the cab next to him.

“Sorry about Buck,” the big guy said, glaring at the culprit with one eye squinted. “He’s devious about getting what he wants.”

Buck landed on the seat beside her. “Hugh keeps the standards up. Probably why he’s so grumpy all the time.”

Hugh crossed his arms, leaning into the passenger door. His buzzed blond head and muscular frame brought to mind a late-twenties version of Mr. Clean, minus the jewelry.

“I ain’t grumpy. Just tired of your ugly face.”

Buck chuckled. Randi caught herself staring at him. She wouldn’t call his face ugly, not even anything related to unattractive. More like relentlessly cheerful. And way too confident that he could boss everyone around. She sniffed, annoyed with him enough to stop crying.

The truck rolled forward, bumping on the gravel road. They sat on an old-fashioned bucket-style bench, comfortable for two people, and a squeeze for three. The middle seat offered no belt. A death trap. Because that was the logical conclusion to her week from hell. She braced a hand on the dash to keep from bouncing into the bodies next to her.

Not touching either man, holding her body tense and straight, made her neck ache. And still she knocked knees with Hugh and almost leaned on Buck’s shoulder. Buck’s hand on the manual gear shifter was an inch from her thigh, his fingers brushing the edge of her skirt when he shifted. Short of sitting on Hugh’s lap, there was nowhere for her to go to keep from touching him.

She felt shaky, barely keeping herself together. Every time Buck changed position she noticed it, his muscular arms flexing as he drove. It was like sitting next to a tiger: electrifying, an experience you never forgot, and total madness.

“So,” said Buck, flashing a grin at her. “What’s your rush this morning? You just moved in last night.”

Randi dug a tissue out of her bag. “I can’t live in a party house,” she said, dabbing at her running nose.

“A Waffle House?” said Hugh.

“She said party house, Einstein.” Buck glanced at her. “How’d you end up with a room out there?”

“I was teaching in Argentina and found it online. Paid everything…” She paused, choking up, not sure why she was telling them. “They lied to me.” And she dissolved again, covering her face with the tissue.

What was wrong with her? It was beyond humiliating to be crying like a child in front of these strangers. At least she’d never have to see them again.

“Huh,” said Buck, tapping the steering wheel. “Well, I know Trish isn’t happy about the parties.”

“They got an ugly ticket last June,” said Hugh. “She’s on probation.”

Randi sat up straighter, taking in this information. She managed to stop crying, and dabbed her cheeks clean with the tissue.

Buck rubbed the side of his face. “Is that right?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t know that, Buck. Jesus.”

“I just look like I know everything.”

“Yeah, well, one more ticket and they’re facing jail time. And, of course, there were minors everywhere last night. I turned my back and they slurped down my keg.”

Randi pushed up her glasses. No wonder Trish hadn’t been there during the party. It revealed, even more, how shamelessly Trish had lied to her in the emails they’d exchanged about the house.

The farmland was transforming into residential housing when Buck turned onto a major road.

“That bus stop coming up will be fine,” said Randi, her voice annoyingly shaky.

“No way, darlin’,” said Buck. “You cry in my truck, and I buy you a coffee. Then, I drop you off wherever you want.”

“No, really—”

“Hey,” he said, “I put up with all the tears. So now we’re going to go to this coffee drive-through and get sugary drinks to make ourselves feel better. Otherwise, Hugh over there might start his period.”

“You’re such a jackass,” Hugh said, shaking his head.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Meet the Author

Anna Alkire has been a long-term college student, a business owner, and a world traveler. Now “settled”—with a sigh and a cup of decaf—Anna lives in Washington state, where she splits her time between a husband who thinks the North Pole would be a great place to live, chasing her hurricane of a son, learning new handicrafts, and creating worlds full of the kind of romance and fun she most wants to read. Find more about her (and grab a freebie or two) at her website, annaalkire.com.

Connect:

https://www.facebook.com/anna.alkire77/

https://www.annaalkire.com/

https://www.instagram.com/anna.alkire/

https://twitter.com/AnnaAlkire

https://www.annaalkire.com/newsletter

Spotlight: Revel In You by Scarlett Se Leva

/

(Determined, #3)
Publication date: June 30th 2022
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

Simone Goodman.
The only girl I’ve loved.
Until she ripped my heart out.

It’s been five years since I’ve laid eyes on her.
Five years since she was mine.

I told myself never again.
But truth be told I still yearn to indulge in her.
To get lost in her touch. 
 
I plan to own the one thing she’s denied me.
Her heart.

Excerpt

I see Craig and Tinea across the room, sitting close to each other, whispering and giggling with flirty smiles in their eyes. I admire their love, but at times I can’t stand being around them. Always touching, petting, and kissing each other. 

Like what the fuck. 

You’re just jealous.

I’m anything but; I get to bang the girl on the cover of this month’s American Vogue. 

Upon my approach, Craig leans over and kisses Tinea. 

“You two are corny as hell,” I greet them, then place a kiss on Tinea’s cheeks before sitting.

“Don’t be kissing my wife.”

“She isn’t your wife yet,” I point out. “She could come to her senses and run away.” I laugh. 

“Wishful thinking, Mulligan.” Craig laughs. “When you put it down like I do, you never worry about your woman leaving.” He winks at Tinea.

Is that a dig? Simone didn’t leave because I couldn’t fuck her brains out. She left because she’s a conceited bitch. She thinks only of herself. Only Simone has feelings, no one else. Men don’t feel. We do fucking feel, but we can’t show it the way women do cause were expected to be strong. 

Fucked up world standards. 

“You’re hilarious.”

The waiter comes over and takes my drink order. 

“Let’s add mozzarella sticks, potato focaccia rolls, and bruschetta with spring vegetables,” Tinea orders.  

“Are you ready to order your main course?” The waiter asks.

“We’re still looking,” Craig answers. 

“Okay, let me get your appetizers in. I’ll be back with your drink,” the waiter says to the table before walking away. 

“Have you started planning the wedding yet?” I ask Tinea as she sips on her drink through strawberry-red lips.

She nods and puts her glass down. “That’s why we asked you here.”

“What you want us to be a throuple?” I smirk. 

“Do you not enjoy the air you breathe?” Craig sneers. 

“So touchy.” I laugh. 

Tinea snickers, looking sideways as she brings her drink back to her lips. 

“The reason we wanted to meet up is, I would love for you to be my best man,” Craig says.

“Of course, I’m honored you asked.” Craig and I bump fists then I stand to give him a man hug, patting him on the back. I sit back in the chair. “You’re sure you don’t want to ask one of your brothers?” Craig has three brothers he’s very close with. I don’t want them to be upset that one of them weren’t chosen.  

“No, dude, you’re my best friend. Besides if I choose one brother the other is going to be mad. It’s better this way.”

“I have to get Lisa to help me plan your bachelor’s party,” I say, a smile dance on my lips. 

“If he’s going to have strippers I need to know, then I’ll make sure I have strippers at mine.” 

“Ryan, I don’t want any strippers.” Craig’s brows snap together. 

“What?” I give him a puzzled look. 

“Why not?” Tinea rolls her eyes. 

“Woman!” Craig growls.

Tinea snickers behind her hand. I always thought Tinea would run all over Craig, but he’s tamed the lioness.

We begin talking about the issues Craig is having at the investment firm he works at. He’s one of their top producers and is eyeing a promotion to become a fund manager. 

“If I get this position I’ll be making the big bucks.” Craig beams.

He’s already making bank. He has a medium size portfolio over a hundred million. Craig graduated Summa Cum Laude, and I didn’t hesitate when I made the decision and gave him fifteen percent of my net worth to manage. 

The account has grown... 

Wait a fucking minute? 

It’s as if I suddenly have static in my clothes, and there’s a zap to my brain.

“Who’s going to be the maid of honor?”

“Simone,” Tinea says as she sheepishly looks away. 

I’m left speechless. My mind spins as if I just came off a fair ride. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I bark. I look between Craig and Tinea. Craig is my friend, or so I thought. Why the hell would he think this is a good decision is beyond me. Are they trying to play matchmaker? Simone and I have been down this road twice. I’ve accepted we aren’t meant to be. 

That’s not a road I’m willing to travel down again. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, this would be the third time and I’m not a fucking jackass. 

Buy on Amazon

Spotlight: Summer Lovin' by J. Sterling

/

Release Date: July 1

New York Times Bestselling author J. Sterling brings you a steamy story about a dirty talking pro-football player who doesn't take no for an answer and the woman who is trying her best to resist him.

I don't date my clients.

Being the top relocation specialist for professional athletes- a woman has to have rules. And that's the only one I need. The only one that matters. The only one I've lived by since starting my own company.

But when Crew Maxwell walks through my office door with his cocky attitude, arrogance and downright delicious body, I'm half tempted to throw my rule straight out the window.

Crew doesn't help matters; flirting with me at every turn, telling me he's different than the other athletes I've known in the past, all while trying to convince me to go out with him.

But I don't date my clients. And why would I break my rule for him?

I don't date my clients.

Being the top relocation specialist for professional athletes- a woman has to have rules. And that's the only one I need. The only one that matters. The only one I've lived by since starting my own company.

But when Crew Maxwell walks through my office door with his cocky attitude, arrogance and downright delicious body, I'm half tempted to throw my rule straight out the window.

Crew doesn't help matters; flirting with me at every turn, telling me he's different than the other athletes I've known in the past, all while trying to convince me to go out with him.

But I don't date my clients. And why would I break my rule for him?

Buy on Amazon

Meet J. Sterling:

Hi there and welcome to my website! I'm so glad you're here. :) A little about me... I'm a New York Times and USA Today best selling author whose goal is to write stories that you can get lost in. I want you to end my books with a smile on your face and a happy heart. If you can forget about the real world while you're reading and fall in love with my characters, then I've done my job. A lot of what I write has real life aspects in it, but that's what makes the stories so relateable- the fact that they could happen to anyone... and have! 

I live in California with my only son, Blake. If you can't find me sitting behind a computer screen, then there's a good chance I'm sitting in the bleachers of a baseball stadium watching him play. I love traveling to new places, meeting my readers and living life with the Real Jack Carter. ♡

I know you have a million books to choose from and I am humbled, grateful and thankful each time you choose to read one of mine, or tell someone else to read them. Thank you for being the best readers on the planet! I appreciate you. 

xox J. Sterling

Connect with J. Sterling: https://www.j-sterling.com/p/quick-links.html 

Spotlight: Etude by Morgan Shamy

/

(The Dark Nocturne, #2)
Publication date: June 28th 2022
Genres: Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis:

For November Huntington, the past haunts worse than any ghost.

After spending a summer without Vincent, a tortured pianist who also happens to be immortal, November tries to move on. When kids begin to fall into comas, November is thrust back into the haunted, musical world. Except, this time, more danger lurks. 

Vincent is powerful. Dreams are causing these comas, and November believes he’s the one behind the attacks. To stop him, November must find the Blood Magic—the only power capable of helping her save these kids. But in doing so, she awakens a horrific group  who live off of blood and kill for sport. What’s worse? A brood of witches con their way in, hungry for the power at hand. 

One by one, November finds all her loved ones being wrenched away. Fear grips her, and she’s worried she might lose her mind, her sanity slowly fading, until she must face Vincent alone.

Is he her true love? Or is he out for her blood?

Only her dreams will tell.

Excerpt

The group edged back toward the exit, their footsteps quiet in the large cavern, when a deep pounding reverberated from within the walls. The sound was slow, heavy, and with each pound, the ground vibrated beneath them. Conroy motioned everyone to stop, his head cocked to the side. 

“What’s that?” Margaret whispered, her arm still linked through Cam’s. 

“Stay calm,” Conroy said. “Whatever it is, we’ll be gone before we see. Let’s go.” 

The group started to head out once more, feet shuffling quick, but the pounding continued. The pools of water on the ground rippled, the deep sound jarring November’s teeth. They continued to hurry through the dark cave when a large blast rocketed through the area. White light seared November’s eyes, and she blinked back, waiting for her vision to clear. The group paused again. The pounding continued from the walls, vibrating her bones, and everyone scrambled back in confusion. 

“Keep going!” Conroy yelled, but everyone seemed frozen. 

The walls began to shimmer as the pounding intensified. November placed her hands over her ears, clamping her teeth down together tight. The noise had taken over her brain, it was hard to focus on the present. 

Move your feet, November thought. Run. But she seemed to be as paralyzed as the rest of them. 

Very slowly, faces began to appear on the rocky walls. Eyes. Lips. Noses. Cheeks. The faces solidified, pushing outward from the rock, until their bodies also surfaced, pushing outward. They looked skeletal in the dim light, and the pounding continued on. November’s eyes were glued wide. None of the group moved. They couldn’t breathe. It was as if their lives were tied to these men—if such they were—who were peeling themselves from off the rock. 

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Meet the Author

Morgan Shamy is an ex-ballerina turned YA writer. She has been immersed in the arts since the young age of 4, where she performed various roles alongside a professional ballet company for over seven years, and has danced on prestigious stages like soloing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has taught hundreds of girls in her fifteen years of teaching, where some of her students have received full-ride scholarships to schools like School of American Ballet, the Harid Conservatory, Kirov Academy of Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, to name a few.

Morgan discovered writing when her three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. It was through that experience which instilled the need to share art and magic with children through words on the page.

Morgan is also an accomplished concert pianist. She was the first girl in Utah to receive the 75 pt. Gold Cup in the Utah Federation of Music in piano solo/concerto competition. Morgan currently lives with her X-Games gold-medalist husband and four children in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Connect:
https://www.morganshamy.com/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/morgan-shamy
https://www.instagram.com/morgan_shamy/
https://www.facebook.com/MorganShamy1/
https://twitter.com/MorganShamy
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18494856.Morgan_Shamy

Spotlight: Unconditional: A Love Story by Shon

/

Publication date: May 10th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Charli is everything Damian ever wanted.

Captivated from the moment they met, he allowed her to set the tone for their summer fling.

But when the summer was over and he wanted more, he soon found out that maybe his feelings were one-sided.

That was two years ago and he’s still stuck on Charli. He needs to move on.

A lot has changed since they last saw each other, but Damian can’t shake the what-ifs. And the moment they cross paths again he knows his heart still belongs to the elusive woman who stole it the first time he laid eyes on her.

Who’s to say they won’t get it right this time around?

Excerpt

prologue.

summer2019

“We need to talk.” 

Well, shit. That’s not good, Charli thought to herself as she continued pulling on her shorts. 

She couldn’t decide if it was worse to hear those four fateful words from a boyfriend or a fuck buddy.

I guess I’m about to find out, was her wry thought as she finished zipping up the distressed jean shorts that barely covered her ass. With her eyes darting around the room to avoid eye contact with the man who claimed they needed to talk, she located one of her gold hoops on the rug. 

Following her avoidant eyes, the other occupant of the room bent to pick it up before she had the chance. 

“Thanks,” Charli spoke lowly as their fingers brushed during the exchange. 

The warmth of his fingers led to a sharp inhale that she couldn’t even hide. 

“Did you hear me?” the beautiful man in front of her wanted to know. “I said we need to talk,” he reiterated. Just in case. 

But she’d heard him loud and clear the first time. 

Sighing, Charli took a step back and shoved the earring into her pocket instead of trying to put it on right now. 

“I heard you,” she said, trying to veil the worry in her voice. 

What could Damian possibly want to talk about? And why couldn’t his timing be better? They’d just finished…making each other very happy. His scent still surrounded her and captivated her senses. 

But now, the knots in her stomach quickly pushed her to forget the pleasure she’d just experienced. 

“What do we need to talk about?” she finally asked meeting his green eyes. They were usually enchanting and full of lust when they were together, but now he looked…panicked? 

No, it couldn’t be. Not cool, calm Damian. 

Unless…

Had he found a girlfriend? Was he about to end their arrangement and politely tell her to get on with her life? 

The thought wasn’t a pleasant one, but Charli couldn’t really blame him. 

As an Ivy League dropout and ex-socialite, she didn’t really feel like she had much to offer aside from a good time. 

She winced inwardly and vowed to deal with the origins of that problematic thought later. Much later. Not now when she was standing face to face with the man she’d been trading orgasms with all summer. 

Damian regarded her from his towering height of six-two and even though she was five-eight she felt miniscule under his unwavering gaze. 

“It’s about us,” he revealed, “I need to talk to you about what we’re doing.”

Charli gulped but didn’t break eye contact. She could do this. She could have a civilized, adult conversation with someone she shared every inch of her body with on an almost daily basis at this point. 

“What about us? I like what we’re doing.” Charli pushed her hair away from her face. She hated the sensation of stray strands tickling her cheeks. 

Damian exhaled sharply and gave a faint nod. “Yea, I did too. Until recently.” 

Ouch. 

Charli straightened her shoulders and prepared for the next words, somehow knowing they would pack a devastating blow. 

But nothing could have prepared her for what he said next. 

Buy on Amazon

About the Author

Shon is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She used her degree in English Literature for eight years to teach English all around the world. She has recently returned home to the States and now she spends all her time reading or writing down her wildest daydreams.