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“Mr. Gaines,” I say, pasting on my best customer smile when he lifts his gaze to mine. His dark brown eyes flash with an unfamiliar gleam and my breath catches in the back of my throat. “Back so soon, I see.” “You know I can’t resist you, Miss Harrison.” His smile is slow. Wolfish, if that’s really a thing. I read it in a romance novel once, thought it was kind of silly, but right now, it’s working for Jared. His entire demeanor right now reminds me of a predatory creature. His face is all hard lines—stern, straight nose, granite jaw, sharp cheekbones, steely eyes. Yet his mouth, his lips are soft. Full. Lush. Kissable. Shaking my head at the wayward thought, I return his smile, trying my best to remain polite. Professional. “Is there anything in particular you’re looking for this afternoon?” I’m surprised by how steady my voice is, considering I feel like my insides are sloshing back and forth, like I’m on a boat in the middle of the ocean. “You don’t have anything pulled aside for my appointment?” He raises a single brow, the expression on his face practically daring me to say no. Well, guess what? I’m about to say it. “No, I didn’t pull anything aside.” I shrug when he glares at me. “You never told me the nature of your visit.” He glances about, making sure no one is around, I’d assume. And lucky for him, there’s no one in the store currently. It’s the middle of the week, early afternoon. We normally don’t get too many customers at this time. We are the only two people in here. Even Marlo has disappeared. “Perhaps you can show me some of your newer items,” he suggests. “I can do that.” All new arrivals are at the front of the store, so we’re in the right spot. I lead him to a table showcasing our latest bra and panty design. “Celestial is the theme for spring into summer.” I point to the bras made of thin, sheer netting and pink silk, tiny pale pink stars stitched in a scattered pattern across the tulle fabric. They leave nothing to the imagination, and the panties are the same. “They hide nothing.” He holds up a pair of brief-cut panties, turning them this way and that. Every time he holds underwear in those big hands of his, I melt a little inside. I don’t know why he affects me like this. “You’re right. They don’t,” I agree, grabbing a thong and flipping it over to the thin string of lace that makes up the backside. “But they’re terribly sweet.” “Sweet?” I glance up to find him watching me. “Sweet yet sexy,” I counter, my cheeks going hot from the way he’s studying me so carefully. “You like the celestial theme?” I nod. Press my lips together so I don’t say something I regret. Like, I love this theme, or Do you want me to model the panties for you? Yeah. That’s a bad idea.

“So… I guess we should just be…” Logan swallowed. “Friends?” The way he asked it, the way his eyebrows bent together, his lips flattening — I knew it was a hollow offer. I nodded. “Sure. Of course.” A smile that felt like a wave of nausea found my lips. “Friends.” Logan watched me, and I watched him, both of us waiting for something more. It seemed like there were a million unborn words between us, floating in the air, waiting for us to reach out and grab them and bring them to life. When a long moment of silence had passed, Logan bit the inside of his cheek, picking up his highlighter he’d abandoned on the desk when I’d walked in like he was ready to get back to work. “But,” I said, and his eyes snapped to mine, the highlighter frozen over the page. “I mean… there’s another option, isn’t there?” Logan dropped the highlighter, leaning back again. “There is?” “I’m just saying,” I said, voice shakier than I wanted it to be in that moment. I took a sip of my coffee, shrugging. “What if we kept things low key… casual… just between us?” My eyes found his again. “It is what it is, and it’s not what it’s not. Right? No need for anyone to know.” “Low key,” Logan repeated, like he was tasting the words, checking them for poison with his tongue. “So, friends… with benefits.” I snorted. “If you want to be twenty-one about it, sure.” Logan nodded, over and over, just a slight movement of his chin up and down as he considered it. I watched him as he stood, and I expected him to start pacing the office, but instead, he crossed it, closing his door and turning to face me. His eyes swept over me, sparking a fire low in my stomach. He wet his lips. He took a step. And then I was out of my chair, meeting him in the middle, the two of us crashing together like magnets. His hands weaved into my hair when he captured my mouth with his own, both of us sighing on an inhale, moaning on the exhale, leaning into each other like we could somehow melt together completely. All the electricity I’d felt that night came back like a tidal wave, and I surrendered to the waves, letting them drown me. I wanted him to fill my lungs, to conquer every breath, to imprison me. It was a kiss that told me we were both lying. We both wanted more. But if it was a choice between this, or nothing at all? There wasn’t a decision to make — not where I was concerned. It had already been made for us, without either of us having a say, without either of us having an ounce of control to throw this story in another direction. We were inevitable, me and him. And maybe we knew it from the start. Logan backed me up to the desk, and when my ass hit it, I hiked both legs up, wrapping them around his waist and squeezing. He hissed, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth and releasing it with a pop, his hips rolling against mine. I broke the kiss to let out a gasp, and his mouth was on my neck in an instant, sucking and biting, my eyes rolling back at the contact. He paused with his lips by my ear, breathing heavy. “I think this could work for me,” he whispered, running his tongue over my ear lobe. “This… friends agreement.” His hands squeezed where they held my hips, and the familiar pressure sent flashes of Saturday night barreling through my memory. I gasped, mouth still hanging open when he kissed my neck over to the opposite ear to whisper again. “What do you think?” Against the voice inside me warning me not to, I ran my fingers through his hair, gripping those dark strands and pulling his lips back to mine. That kiss was an answer. That kiss was a lie. And distantly, I realized that kiss might be the biggest mistake of my life.

BOOK BLURB   When all that you want, is all that’s forbidden...   I’ve known him my entire life. Before marriage. Before fatherhood. Before betrayal. Now, he’s one of rock’s bad-boys trying to be good. Trying to be the best father he can for his daughter. He’s my brother’s best friend. He’s my boss. He has a wife. Max isn’t mine to have, but I want him all the same. And I haven’t survived all that I have to not go after what I want.   Her story is a tragedy, mine’s a publicity disaster.   Just when I needed her most, she walked back into my life, and the timing couldn’t be worse. With a newborn baby, a divorce, an album to record, and a world tour to plan, I don’t need the distraction. She’s off limits. She’s my best friend’s little sister. She’s my nanny. Billie’s a golden drop of sexy sun on a grey autumn day, tempting me into the light and a life full of possibilities. A life not meant for us.   Add to your Goodreads TBR: http://bit.ly/2YKvG2Q 

This book sucked me in right from the beginning. I was unable to think of anything else when I had to actually adult and put the book down. Lesley Jones has a way with rock Star books. 

Max touched by heart so much! To see this big rock star crying and showing his vulnerability was so heart touching. This book was angsty and will give you so many feels.

The way we were introduced to Billie was simply heart breaking. She’s been through so,

So much but was come out with such a big heart. 

“We need to figure this out.” She spins back to me, her eyes blazing. “Do it yourself.” I huff out a laugh and prowl toward her. “What did you say?” Those defiant eyes brim with tears and her bottom lip trembles. “I said do it yourself. I have nothing to say, but you’re the one so determined that we have this conversation.” I come closer. She backs against the wall, and I keep coming until there are only inches between us. “That’s real mature, Shay.” I cup her jaw and stroke her bottom lip with my thumb as I study her face. “This is what you want?” I dip my head and bring my mouth a breath from hers. “You want me to corner you and make you talk? Maybe I need to remind you how good we are together.” I cock my head to the side, touching the bridge of my nose to hers. “You try to keep hating me, but you lose your grip on it when I get close, so I wonder what would happen if I got closer.” Her breath is sweet against my lips, and she grabs my arms and curls her fingers into my biceps. “Is that how it has to be, then? You want me to press you against this wall and kiss you until you can’t remember your name and can’t blame yourself for letting your guard down?” Her pulse quickens beneath my fingers and her back bows as she arches into me. “We have nothing to talk about.” “Bullshit. But maybe first you want me to track down that fucker you’re sleeping with—the one who you’re fine to let ‘see other people’? I could throw my weight around a little. He’d probably leave you alone just so he doesn’t have to deal with me.” I drag my nose along her cheek until my mouth is at her ear. “Then you wouldn’t have to tell him that you don’t want him. You wouldn’t ever have to admit that even after all these years, even after all the shit fate threw at us and all the mistakes I made, you still want me more than you’ll ever want him.” She swallows, and when she draws in a breath, I think she’s going to deny it. But she doesn’t say a word. Her only response is sliding a hand up to cup the back of my neck. Fuck yes. “I’m not going to do that for you.” It takes every drop of my will to force myself to step back. “I want you to talk to me. I want you to scream at me for every shitty decision I ever made. Then I want you to kiss me and tell me I get another chance. I want you to break it off with that douchebag completely and be with me, but I’m not going to do it for you.” I take another step toward the door. “You’re going to have to make the choice yourself.”

BOOK BLURB   When all that you want, is all that’s forbidden...   I’ve known him my entire life. Before marriage. Before fatherhood. Before betrayal. Now, he’s one of rock’s bad-boys trying to be good. Trying to be the best father he can for his daughter. He’s my brother’s best friend. He’s my boss. He has a wife. Max isn’t mine to have, but I want him all the same. And I haven’t survived all that I have to not go after what I want.   Her story is a tragedy, mine’s a publicity disaster.   Just when I needed her most, she walked back into my life, and the timing couldn’t be worse. With a newborn baby, a divorce, an album to record, and a world tour to plan, I don’t need the distraction. She’s off limits. She’s my best friend’s little sister. She’s my nanny. Billie’s a golden drop of sexy sun on a grey autumn day, tempting me into the light and a life full of possibilities. A life not meant for us.   Add to your Goodreads TBR: http://bit.ly/2YKvG2Q   PURCHASE LINKS iBooks|Nook|Kobo: https://geni.us/ALLOTHER Amazon: https://geni.us/ATFT Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/all-the-forbidden-things-by-lesley-jones   EXCERPT It’s at that point I notice Billie climbing from the car. Although, if Mel hadn’t told me, I’d never have recognised the girl standing on my drive as Billie Wild. She closes the car door and turns towards me. Silence. She stares down at her feet as she moves slowly along my driveway. When she reaches the front of the car, she looks up. The bluest of blue eyes meet mine, and she stops moving. Deafening silence. No birds singing. No traffic sounds. The silence is so loud it hurts my ears. What. The. Actual. Fuck? She takes a step towards me, and my hearing returns. The gravel crunches beneath her green biker boots, a pigeon coos, brakes screech, engines rev . . . a bomb could fucking drop, but nothing, not a single thing can divert my attention from Billie Wild as she moves towards me.   TEASERS     ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lesley was born and raised in a small working-class town in Essex, just outside of East London. She’s married with three sons and in 2006 they all moved to the other side of the world, settling on the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, about fifty kilometres outside of Melbourne, Australia. Lesley is currently ‘a stay at home mum’, but in the past, she has worked at ‘good old Mark & Spencer’ for thirteen years and as a teacher’s assistant.As well as writing, Lesley loves to read and has been known to get through four or five books a week, when she’s not writing that is. Her other interests are watching her boys play football… the round ball version. She’s happy to admit to being an addict of social media and owes a lot to her Facebook and Twitter family in promoting her book. Lesley is also rather partial to a glass or bottle of wine, a nicely chilled Marlborough Sav Blanc being her favourite. Being a born and raised Essex girl, she will happily admit being a big fan of spray tans, manis, pedis, and is regularly, waxed, tinted and sculpted, although she doesn’t own a pair of white stilettos.   AUTHOR LINKS Facebook Reader Group: bit.ly/LJBOOKBAR Facebook Page: bit.ly/LJFBPAGE Website: www.lesleyjoneswrites.com Newsletter signup: http://bit.ly/NLSIGNUP Amazon: http://geni.us/lesleyjonesamazon BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lesley-jones Goodreads Author Profile: http://bit.ly/2hAfiOv Twitter @LesleyKJones : http://bit.ly/2DIBCwo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesleyjoneswrites/

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Title: Stay With Me
Author: Jessica Prince
Series: Hope Valley
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon Universal

Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon Universal

Read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon Universal