Actually sticking to my excuse of why I haven't got a riveting post this month is rather apt at the moment as it's summer down here in New Zealand, and we're having a real cracker one. Long hot days, hot nights, the pool beckoning 24/7. It makes it a tad hard to resist, when I should be in my office writing up a storm. So it's too hot and that's my excuse...however, I have been working...sort of! In fact I have just finished the first draft of The Royal Affair - the second book in my royal series, - The Bachelor Prince is being released by Entangled Publishing - June this year was the latest release date - yay!
So while i SHOULD be back in the office now doing editing, tweeting, FB-ing, writing more and more, the glistening waters of my pool are terribly difficult to ignore.
So... to prove that i do write LOL - i've decided that this month, i might post an excerpt of my faborite book
So here goes
This book is one of my very favorites, pitting a playboy kinda guy against a gal that...well, hasn't had much fun. But that's all going to change as far as she's concerned.
Virginity is definitely overrated.
Taylor Sullivan doesn’t trust Cupid
Cade Harper doesn’t do commitment, and marriage is a dirty word
Taylor wants to lose her virginity
Cade knows two things about women. They either abandon him, or use
him as a walking bank.
Taylor doesn’t buy anything sight unseen and wants to test the waters with a kiss.
Excerpt
“Virginity is overrated.” Easy words? She’d said them often enough.
Yet when Taylor Sullivan whispered them, the swell of panic threatened to take hold.
She had to do this.
It was time.
Taylor exhaled every emotion she’d bottled for the past twenty-four hours, ever since she’d seen him: Mr. Perfect-for-the-Job.
As she stood outside the bar, her bravado waned and panic set in. Who wouldn’t panic when they were about to make an off-the-wall suggestion to a stranger?
She gripped her assistant’s arm. “I can’t. This is a mistake.”
“No, it’s not. You said so yourself, he’s the one.”
“What do I know? I mean, who is he?”
“Cade Harper. Bad boy made good—and one sexy hunk. Is that enough for you?” Nita gave her a suggestive grin.
Oh, yeah.
Taylor wiped her sweaty palms down the sides of her skirt. “The fairy godmother sure did hand out good looks at his bassinet.” He’d been the best man at a wedding she’d planned recently. Haloed by the light streaming in from the stained glass window, he’d taken her breath away.
But now, twenty-four hours after that wedding, as the throbbing beat of music threaded its way out onto the kerb where she and Nita waited, Taylor’s wayward nerves vaulted into overdrive. “I should never have told you.”
Nita shrugged. “Probably not, but, hey, I get those calls too.”
“But you can answer them,” Taylor countered.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
Taylor bit down on her bottom lip, chewing it as if it afforded her the luxury of time. “I don’t want a relationship.”
“Who said anything about a relationship? This is a fling. A one-nighter. Get you past first base, so to speak.”
First base! Taylor swallowed the lump that choked off her breathing. The icy chill that slid along her bones had absolutely nothing to do with Auckland’s balmy May evening breeze.
Her fingers grazed the side of her handbag and snapped back as if scalded when she remembered exactly what her bag
contained.
Condoms!
An appropriate reminder: preparation and safety first.
She could do this. She could. She grabbed Nita’s arm. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Nita stalled mid-step. “What? You expect me to come too?”
“I need you. I can’t do this on my own. I need…”
“Cade Harper is who you need, Taylor. You said so yourself. Cade’s a love ’em and leave ’em sort of guy. Now go.” Nita gave her a push toward the entrance and waved goodbye.
Love and leave. Definitely perfect credentials. Cade didn’t know it yet, but he was the answer to Taylor’s prayers.
Battling the raw panic lodged in her gut as every second edged her toward turning and running, Taylor surveyed the patrons. Her hands shook. She wanted to forget the idea. Forget sex. Forget Cade Harper.
If she could.
Instead she focused on the entrance, and her pulse quickened.
The best man. How appropriate.
Cade hadn’t been at the wedding rehearsal; otherwise she would have noticed him. But at the wedding, dressed in a black tuxedo that molded his broad shoulders and a crisp white dress shirt with diamond stud buttons, he absolutely stood out and, within seconds, she’d made her decision. He was perfect for the job.
Squaring her shoulders, Taylor shoved the bar door open. For a moment, she stood motionless, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting, the noise and heat hitting her in an undulating wave.
This was it.
Taking a deep breath, she clutched her bag and ventured in.
A single length of hand-chiseled wood operated as a bar and spanned one end of the room. Behind it were a medley of liquors and an ornate mirror etched with the slogan of a famous beer. Tables and chairs dotted around the room were mostly already taken. In one corner, a jukebox emitted ear-piercing rock music. In another corner, an eager group of players surrounded a pool table.
All of this was of little consequence to Taylor, because all she could focus on was her quarry—Cade Harper.
He stood behind the bar, a cocktail shaker in one hand and a salt-crusted margarita glass in the other.
Tawny, sun-bronzed hair tapered over his collar, and an unruly tendril dipped across his forehead, seemingly refusing to be controlled. He looked good. Very sexy.
No tuxedo tonight, but a black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled back, stretched taut over biceps that flexed and…
Oh, God.
Definitely a bad boy.
And now...i'll head back to the pool Bring me my pina colado would you!
Happy reading
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