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Sharkbait, an all-new romantic comedy full of laughs and third standalone in The Natural History Series from USA Today bestselling author Erin Mallon is available now!
My name is Louise and I’m a serial-monogamist marine biologist.
Try saying that five times fast.
Fresh out of an awful relationship and tired of always doing the right thing, this girl is finally saying “screw it” and having herself a meaningless fling.
Here’s the thing about flings though: they only work if you keep feelings out of the equation.
Well, that won’t be a problem for a sensible scientist like me… that is, until a one night stand with a hot single dad rocks my world and blows my plans completely out of the water.
If I’ve learned anything from the ocean world, it’s that those with the hardest shells have the most to fear. And something tells me this guy is going to crack mine wide the hell open.
Fall in love today!
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Excerpt
Tonight I‘m not “smart girl” Louise who weighs every decision over and over until her brain is ready to burst. Tonight, I’m not “responsible girl” Louise who everyone counts on to do the right thing.
Tonight, I am Lou: the girl who does whatever—or whoever—she wants.
James breaks from the kiss and runs the backs of his fingers down my cold cheek. “You’re really not gonna tell me your name?” His whisper sends delicious chills across my skin.
“No, I am not,” I whisper back.
“Alright.” His deep voice vibrates as he rains kisses down the column of my throat. “I guess I’ll keep calling you Cold Brew then.”
“I don’t like that.”
“Oh no?” He tears his lips away.
“Resume what you were doing, please!” I’m giving him mixed signals. “What I meant was I like that.” I point at his mouth, then jut my neck out in his direction. “The uh, that thing you were doing just now to my neck? That was good. But I’d prefer it if you didn’t call me... Cold Brew.”
He dives into my neck again, and I think we’re back on track until he murmurs this madness between kisses, “That’s too bad. A hot thing like you slowly pouring over me and effortlessly spiking the temps in my refrigerator? A strong, concentrated woman like you who won’t be diluted with water for other people’s comfort? A delectable drink of a girl like you who isn’t afraid of a coarse grind when everyone else is pummeling themselves into soft, palatable powders to please the masses? Cold Brew is the perfect nickname for you.”
What the hell is he talking about?
So he’s weird.
That’s fine.
After tonight, I’ll never see him again.
Looks like I need to take matters into my own hands.
I cup the bulge in his jeans and feel him respond.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
I think.
“You said you don’t mind the cold,” he breathes. “Are you into winter sports then? Skiing, snowshoeing, mountain climbing?”
“Not into winter sports, no.” I desperately work to undo his pants.
“So what are you into?” he rumbles as he helps me with the button.
“You mean sex-wise? The regular stuff. The regular stuff will do.”
He laughs. “Good to know. But I meant what are you into in life? Like hobbies and stuff.”
Alright. Now buddy boy here is starting to test my patience.
“Not really a hobby person. My hobby is my work, and my work is my hobby.”
Score! Jeans are officially down. He kicks them, and they land on top of an icy growler, almost like he choreographed it. You would think a woman getting him pants-less would be enough to curb this guy’s relentless inquisition, but no.
“What’s your work then?”
“Marine biology,” I huff. “Can we—?”
“Oh wow, the ocean and I are like this.” He crosses his index and middle finger in that universal sign of closeness. “I’m a swimmer! A diver too!”
“Cool, cool,” I say and try to get his focus back to the physical. The fact that we have both been in a body of water at some point in our lives does not bind us together in any meaningful way.
“I’ve been told I have the lung capacity of a whale.” He pats his chest. “Yeah, these guys certainly served me well when I free dived in Sri Lanka. Wait. Is it ‘dived’ or ‘dove’? ‘Dived’ always sounds wrong to my ear, but I think that’s actually correct. Doesn’t matter. Point is, I love extreme sports! And speaking of marine biology, get this, once a week I volunteer at—”
“Hey, James!” I shout.
He stops speaking.
Hallelujah!
I soften my voice to a husky tone. “It is James, right?” “James, yeah,” he confirms with a dazzling smile.
I reach into his pants and find him more than ready for me, so I start to stroke.
“You’re fucking gorgeous, James,” I whisper in his ear and shiver when his stubbled cheek brushes against mine. His olive skin smells like ivory soap and shaving cream.
He tightens his strong arms around my back and pulls me closer. I continue my ministrations below.
“Thank you,” he says. “You’re also—”
“And you seem like a nice guy.” I interrupt.
He smiles. “I appreciate that. You seem like a—”
“But I’m not looking for a nice guy.”
“No?”
“No. I’m not looking for any guy.”
He looks down and laughs good-naturedly. “So why are we—?”
“I’m using you.”
His laughter stops.
He removes my hand.
His dark eyes land on mine.
Whoa. When he looks at me like that, I feel completely naked. In fairness, I am practically naked right now, but I mean more in the emotional sense, in the oh-my-God-he-can-see-deep-into-my-soul sense.
He stays completely still and silent, giving no clue as to what he’s thinking or what he’s going to do next.
“I’m not interested in anything beyond what we do here tonight, okay, James?” I continue. “Listen up because this is very important.”
His non-response seems to say, “Go on.”
“After tonight? If you ever run into me again, we pretend this never happened.”
No reaction.
I repeat myself. “We pretend this never happened.”
Still nothing.
Geez. For a guy who couldn’t shut up a few minutes ago, he’s now fully committed to his silence.
“Got it?” I say with more force than necessary, but suddenly, I can’t get myself to look directly at him.
He closes the distance between us, climbs his fingers into my hair, and gives it a tug, gently forcing me to look up at him.
Tingles cascade down my spine.
He tilts his head slightly.
His lips are barely an inch from mine.
His warm breath caresses my skin.
“Then I guess we’ll need to make tonight count, won’t we?”
Now I’m the silent one.
All I can do is nod.
“Let’s do this, Cold Brew.”
About Erin Mallon
Erin Mallon's debut romantic comedy novel, Flirtasaurus, releases in July 2020. She is an award-winning narrator of over 450 books and an accomplished playwright and producer in New York City. She has written over 40 plays, which have been produced Off-Broadway and all over the country, including These Walls Can Talk, a raucous theatrical love letter to the romance audiobook community. She lives in a little yellow house on the outskirts of NYC with her husband and Three J's.
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Don’t Tease Me, an all-new heat-filled dark age-gap mafia standalone romance from USA Today bestselling author Renee Rose is available now!
I own you now.
Desperate and alone, I strike a bargain with a mafia boss.
I make myself available to him, he pays my bills.
I’m his beck-and-call-girl. He’s my sugar daddy.
Bobby Manghini owns me–that’s our arrangement.
Giving myself to him is easy.
He may be older, but he’s sinfully sexy. Skillful in bed.
It’s a win-win for both of us, so long as I remember one thing:
Don’t fall in love.
Bobby calls the shots, but he doesn’t play for keeps.
I’m a toy, not his happily-ever-after.
The book is a lengthened and revised version of the previously published story Mob Mistress.
Fall in love today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BFFJI6
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/dontteaseme
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3qSuerI
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Excerpt
“Let go of her.” The guy seizes Jayden by the throat and shoves him up against the wall. Jayden lets go and stays pinned there, the side of his face mashed against the plaster.
“This guy bothering you?” my rescuer growls in a gruff, gravelly rumble. He’s an extremely hot, older man with a commanding presence. One of the owners, then.
A mob boss.
The good girl, the nice girl in me would say no. Because complaining about people isn’t polite. But I’m way too pissed. I rub the red marks on my arm where he held me. “Yeah.”
My rescuer turns his attention to Jayden. “When a woman says no, you back the fuck off. Capisce?”
“Is there a problem, Mr. Manghini?” Now the bouncer appears. He’s just as beefy and tattooed as Leo, but it’s the mob boss–Mr. Manghini–who still seems to be the most dangerous man in the room.
“You need me to give you a lesson in manners?” Mr. Manghini asks. When Jayden doesn’t answer he shakes him by the throat. “Huh?”
“No.” Jayden still sounds petulant, but his face is turning red from lack of oxygen, so I do think he’s getting the message.
Mr. Manghini snorts and releases my stalker, shoving him at the bouncer. “Throw him out. He was assaulting a customer.” Then he holds up a hand and looks to me. “Unless you want to file charges?”
I’m shaky all over, but other than bruises on my arm, fine. “No.” I start to say, “It’s okay,” but bite my tongue. It’s not okay. Why would I even say that?
The bouncer hauls Jayden away and throws him out the back door, and Mr. Manghini gently slides his palm over the skin I’m rubbing. His fingers are large. They look strong. I’ll bet he could’ve choked the life out of Jayden with just that one hand if he wanted.
For some reason, I find myself wondering what else he can do with those hands. What it would be like to have those commanding hands on my body in an altogether different way.
“You’re hurt.” His warm brown gaze circles my face. He smells like scotch and cigars, but it’s not unpleasant. “And you’re shaking. I’m sorry that happened to you here. Let me get you a drink to calm your nerves.”
You’d think after what just happened I’d never let another man buy me a drink, but there’s something completely different about this guy’s vibes. Somehow I’m sure that he wouldn’t be douchy enough to think a drink buys him sex, and he obviously believes no means no. “Thanks, I…” I nod my head. “I’d like that.”
“I’m Bobby.” He extends a hand.
About Renee
USA Today Bestselling Author Renee Rose loves a dominant, dirty-talking alpha hero! She’s sold over a million copies of steamy romance with varying levels of kink. Her books have been featured in USA Today’s Happily Ever After and Popsugar. Named Eroticon USA’s Next Top Erotic Author in 2013, she has also won Spunky and Sassy’s Favorite Sci-Fi and Anthology author, and Romance Reviews Best Historical Romance. She’s hit the USA Today list ten times with her Chicago Bratva, Bad Boy Alpha, Wolf Ranch books, and various anthologies.
Connect with Renee
Amazon: https://amzn.to/34n3nMe
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Website: https://reneeroseromance.com/
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