Kissables
Book
1
Gina
Conkle
Genre: Hot Contemporary Romance
Date of Publication: Dec. 13,
2016
ISBN: 978-0998305615
ASIN: B01N3LCLJB
Number of pages: 225
Word Count: 56,000
Cover Artist: Rebecca of
Dreams2Media
Book Description:
2
Stories in 1 Book
Proper Care and Feeding of a Broken
Heart
Bookstore clerk Abbie is
off-the-charts nervous her first night moonlighting in a sex-for-hire job. If
she only kept her mouth shut…but nothing goes as expected, including the intense
blue-eyed surfer who walks through her door. Mark wants to work out a few kinks
—and leave the lifestyle for good. Past mistakes still haunt him, but sweet
Abbie turns Mark’s plans upside down, and two broken hearts discover honesty is
the hottest aphrodisiac.
Anything But Safe
Former trophy wife Jennifer wants
to thrive again, but when her new life hits a speedbump, her unlikely hero is
rough working man AJ. The woman AJ rescued is out of his league, but the two
together are magic. Jennifer smooths his hard edges, and when she’s with AJ,
her true, quirky colors show. A surprise threatens to derail the two who
quickly learn…love is anything but safe.
Excerpts: Waiting for a Girl Like You (2 stories in 1
book)
The
Proper Care and Feeding of a Broken Heart (story 1)
My cheeks burned but I stood
taller. “I don’t know what Mrs. Smith told you but when she said ‘fresh face’
that was code for I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never done this before. Any
of it. Not sex for hire. And certainly not BDSM. Much as I want to bolt, I need
the money. So can we get this over with?”
Another
dry chuckle. “You know how to get a man going.”
I
glared at him through my bangs and hugged myself tighter. Music pulsed from the
room next door, but I couldn’t say what the song was. Did they need a sound
track to get going? The frazzled side of me surrendered to how little I knew
about sex. Despite standing bravely, I was small and adrift on an unknown sea.
Surfer Man stepped within
touching distance, his blue eyes on the verge of grey, lit with a strange
mixture of hard shell and tender patience. A faint line traced the left side of
his mouth like contempt came easy.
“First
rule,” he said evenly. “You only talk when spoken to.”
“Then
what am I supposed to call you?”
The
question startled us both. I was throwing out the no names rule and for good
reason. Something dawned on me. With the closed door, it was just the two of
us. This square room was my island. Control could go either way. Surfer Man’s
mouth opened, but an adrenaline rush took over and my hip cocked sideways. In
the world of fight or flight, my body tensed with its version of fight.
“Oh, let me guess. You’re going
to say Call me master or some crap like that. I work at a bookstore. I’ve read
those please spank me Mr. Billionaire books.”
I liked a few of them. Reading
the books was one thing. Living them was another.
One
side of his mouth curved up. “Maybe you should tell me how you really feel.”
I
exhaled slowly, blowing bangs off my forehead. No sense in telling him what I
really thought. Talk about a mood killer. No man wanted to hear me say this
place is for losers who can’t find a girl. Yet, this guy was no loser.
“Real
billionaires don’t look like you do in those jeans of yours.”
He
chuckled, his blue eyes flaring wider. “I’m no billionaire.”
Oh,
but you are one hot man. Thankfully my filter worked and I kept that to myself.
“You know what it is? It’s the
whole BDSM scene thing. Sex isn’t a scene. It’s sex. Two people being honest
skin to skin.”
Sinews
under his forearms flexed while music cranked louder in the next room. His hard
shell scrutiny narrowed, and I cringed. Sneering at my customer’s preferences
wasn’t a smart idea. How he got his rocks off was his business.
“Honest
sex.” He let the words settle in his mouth. Surfer Man shook his head and made
for his gym bag.
“What?
Are you leaving?” My voice notched higher. I didn’t want him tying me up, but I
didn’t want him to leave.
“This
wasn’t a good idea.”
Scowling
at me, he stood under the bulb, the red light pouring over him. How was it a
nice looking man in his thirties paid a hefty price to tie a woman up yet he
was the one getting all contorted about it? I was pretty sure he could get the
average beach bunny to shed her bikini and play sex games for a night. Unless
his tastes ran too dark.
I
eyed the bag at his feet. Dust lined a few creases. “Maybe we could talk
instead.”
He
laughed harshly. “You’re naked. I paid for sex with a pretty woman.
Not conversation.”
“Want
me to cover myself with the sheet?”
“No,”
he said, his face screwing up like I wasn’t playing with a full deck. “I don’t
want you to cover yourself.”
Feet
planted wide, the bulge in his jeans was gone. The lost reaction bugged me. He
didn’t find me attractive anymore? To add to the strangeness, my reversal irked
me. I should be glad. I could run down the hall, grab my clothes and purse, and
run out the door and never come back.
Red-tinged light cast shadows
over his features. He set both hands on his hips, his raw voice reaching out to
me. “Why do you want me to stay?”
Anything
But Safe (story 2)
Tendons stood out on AJ’s neck.
If she read him right, he was flummoxed by their sizzling chemistry. What made
this different was liking each other so quickly. It was powerful. Overwhelming
and mind-consuming. Conversation flowed naturally. She’d dumped her troubles at
his feet last night without a second thought. AJ listened. And when things
weren’t hot and heavy, he was fun. She needed fun.
His
long legs stretched out under her old table last night did things to her. Her
nerves shot to life when predatory blue eyes tracked her movement in the
kitchen. AJ was different. Comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. And
his thoughtfulness with the herbs? She wanted to kiss every inch of skin on his
body.
“No
need to glower at me,” she said. “You brought up how different we are last
night right after I got into your truck.”
His
mouth’s hard line softened. “That’s what’s bugging you?”
“It
didn’t bother me. Not at first. Then, after Richard’s call, I wondered if I was
making another bad decision.” Her voice faded. “You were a great listener, but
it crossed my mind that you were after one thing and one thing only.”
AJ’s
crystalline blue eyes pierced her. “Sex.”
The
nicest shiver ran down her legs. “Yes.”
Hot
sun beat down on the rest of the world. It was August. Standing under the
pepper tree, AJ was a tall, cool drink of water. Stained coveralls didn’t put
her off nor did his tattoo and the rough cadence of his speech. Under the gruff
exterior was a real man with a good heart. He visually devoured her every time
they’d crossed paths around town, and last night was no exception. But, could
she be content with a sex only fling?
“Well,
that’s a relief.” Faint sarcasm edged his last word.
“What
is?”
His
steady gaze never wavered. “I thought you might be going in a different
direction.”
She cocked her head. “Did you
think I was about to give you the ‘let’s be friends’ talk?”
“I
thought you were about to give me the ‘let’s hook up for sex only’ talk.”
“Oh
AJ,” she said around hiccups of laughter. Her cheeks burned. She shook her
head, a little dazed. “I…I don’t know
what to say to that.”
“It’s
not the first time a woman like you propositioned me.”
Eyes
rounding, she laughed at the absurdity. “I’m not propositioning you.”
“Good
because my answer would be no.”
She’d come for lunch and
conversation of the talking variety. A kiss or two was more than welcome, but
they needed to slow down, let things simmer. AJ’s forbidding frown told her
some of Hidden Valley’s well-shod women had dallied with him, and he was having
no more of it. The town was an eclectic mix of gated communities, small
farm-to-table co-ops and wineries. A lot of working class people had lived here
long before it was hip.
Hurt
bloomed in her chest at the idea of any woman taking advantage of AJ’s
goodness. Or his body. His past was likely more colorful than hers, but his
flat out refusal to hook up intrigued her. He’d messed around in the past. What
made him change his mind?
Gina Conkle writes Viking,
Georgian, and contemporary romance. She grew up in southern California and
despite all that sunshine, she love books over beaches and stone castles over
sand castles. Now Gina lives in Michigan with her favorite alpha male, Brian,
and their two sons where she occasionally gardens and cooks. Living in snow
gives her the perfect excuse to get lost in reading and writing.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
1 comment:
Thanks for hosting me on your blog.
Post a Comment