Gena Showalter, The Closer You Come
(The Original Heartbreakers #1)
Blurb:
Just released from
prison, Jase Hollister has a dark and twisted past. And now, he has only
one goal: stay out of trouble. Strawberry Valley, Oklahoma, sounds like the
perfect place for him and his two brothers-by-circumstance to settle down and
live a nice, simple life. But model
citizen isn’t exactly this rugged bachelor’s default
setting—especially when it comes to a certain hot-blooded Southern beauty…
Brook Lynn Dillon has always been
responsible. Not that it’s done her much good. The down-on-her-luck waitress is
broke, single and fun-deprived. Until Jase comes along. He is dangerous,
stunningly protective, breathtakingly sexy and as tempting as sin, and the passion
sizzling between them is undeniable. But can it melt her resistance? After all,
the right kind of trouble might be just what they both need.
About AuthorGena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty books in paranormal and contemporary romances, as well as young adult novels. Her series include White Rabbit Chronicles, Angels of the Dark, Otherworld Assassins, Lords of the Underworld, Alien Huntress and Intertwined.
Her novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Seventeen Magazine, and have been translated all over the world. The critics have called her books "sizzling page-turners" and "utterly spellbinding stories", while Showalter herself has been called “a star on the rise”.
EXCERPT ONE:
“Pay attention, honey,” Jase said to
Brook Lynn. “This isn’t a lesson you’ll want to learn twice. You throw a
tantrum in my room, you get wet.” Jase tossed the little wildcat into the deep
end, hoping to calm her down.
Jessie Kay beat at his arm, screeching,
“Idiot! Her implants aren’t supposed to be waterlogged. She’s supposed to cover
them with a special adhesive.”
Please. “Implants are always better
wet.” He should know. He’d handled his fair share.
“They aren’t in her boobs, you moron.
They’re in her ears!”
Well, hell. I’m on silent, she’d said, the words
suddenly making sense. “Way to bury the lead,” he muttered.
Brook Lynn came up sputtering. She swam
to the edge of the pool and climbed out with her sister’s help, then arranged
her hair over her ears before glaring up at him, reminding him of an avenging
angel.
He’d hoped the impromptu dunk would
lessen her appeal.
He’d hoped in vain.
Water droplets trickled down flawless
skin the color of melted honey. The plain white button-up and black slacks she
wore clung to her body, revealing a breathtakingly erotic frame, legs that were
somehow a mile long, breasts that were a perfect handful…and nipples that were
hard.
Those traits, in themselves, would have
been dangerous for any man’s peace of mind. But when you paired that miracle
body with that angel face—huge baby blues and heart-shaped lips no emissary
from heaven should ever be allowed to have—it was almost overkill.
Damn, I picked the wrong sister.
Well, what was done was done. Another
piece of broken glass in his conscience. Another memory to leave a sticky film
on his soul, like a spider determined to catch flies.
“I’m sorry about your hearing aids, or
whatever they are,” he said, “but catfights aren’t allowed in my room. You
should save all disputes for the next JELL-O Fight Night.”
She watched his lips. Her eyes
narrowed, an indication she’d understood him.
Without looking away from him, she
said, “Jessie Kay, get in the car. If I have to start counting again, you’ll
regret it.”
For the first time that evening, her
sister heeded her command and took off as though her feet were on fire.
West and Beck arrived a second later
and scoped out the scene: a gorgeous woman who was soaking wet, probably
chilled, stood as still as a statue, her hands fisted at her sides, while Jase
couldn’t seem to look away from her.
“What the hell happened?” Beck
demanded, running a hand through his hair.
“This is between him and me.” Brook
Lynn pointed to Jase. “You guys go inside.”
“Your hand is bleeding.” West frowned
and reached for her.
“I’m not your concern.” She stepped
away, avoiding contact, and would have toppled back into the pool if Jase
hadn’t caught her arm.
With her sex kitten curves, he was
surprised by the slenderness of her bones. Even more shocked by the soft silk
of her skin, the warmer than melted honey temperature. She wasn’t chilled,
after all, and the longer he held on, the more electric the contact proved to
be, somehow cracking through the armor he’d spent years erecting around his
emotions, until he practically vibrated with the desire to touch all of her…to hold
her…
To devour.
What the hell?
He released her with a jolt and widened
the distance between them. His inner armor wasn’t something he maintained just
for grins and giggles. It was for survival. As a boy abandoned by his parents
and sometimes mistreated by fosters, he’d learned emotions were a weakness that
could be used against him. To feel something for a person or object meant he’d
placed value on it—whether for good or ill.
Feel nothing. Want nothing. Need nothing. For the most part,
the motto had served him well. There had been times the armor vanished, the
darkest of emotions consuming him…pushing him to do things he shouldn’t.
Trouble had always followed.
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