Friction(84)
Becks rises from her chair and smooths her pink pants suit. “Did you say Newark?”
“Newark. Prudential Center,” he says staring down Becks’ Oh god face. Nobody likes going into Jersey if it's at all possible to avoid.
As the Doc walks by me, Robert E. Lee licks my arm with his soft tongue. “Got a big New York City PR team to announce it though.” The Alabama accent is back in full force. “Gonna be a big event, y’all.”
Becks follows the Doc out of my office. “Mark is such a fantastic looking guy,” she sings down the hallway. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
Chris looks at me and shrugs. “Well, I guess our morning drive time is sports talk now. Maybe we can sneak some rock beds between the sports chat, at least.”
I can’t even register how meh I feel about sports right now. Meanwhile, my brain is doing a copy-paste loop with no end.
Mark Carrington.
Mark Carrington.
Mark Carrington.
I reclaim my chair and just melt into it. Fucking hell. I can’t believe this is happening. I’m going to be forced to work with the high school crush that completely shattered my heart.
I haven’t seen him face to face in person for years, but I am acutely aware that he has only gotten hotter since high school. Your crushes getting famous will do that to you.
A Google search later and I'm eyeing his naked chest and stubbled but impossibly sexy jaw in a shaving cream ad. Water drips down his pecs and the towel, oh, the towel barely clings to his hips in a tease. I think of what his dick must look like behind the white terry cloth and tingle in all the right places. Then I forcibly banish that thought.
No, no, no. Ain’t going to happen.
Another Google image search pulls up the reason why:
Amber Wilson, supermodel, lingerie designer and UNICEF ambassador.
She is the quintessential standard of American beauty with cat eyes, thick auburn hair and a swimsuit bod. With each image, I feel more inadequate as a woman and as a human being. Who looks that good feeding orphans in South Sudan? Seriously?
Apparently, Mark and Amber are finito as a couple, but it doesn’t matter. For guys like Mark, there are always supermodels or actresses ready to pounce. Dorky, career-obsessed regular gals like me can’t compete. He probably doesn’t even remember me. At least, not like I remember him. My heart beats hard when I think of seeing him again, but then I remind myself that all I have to do is stay calm, focused, and professional—and he’ll no doubt do the same.
I just pray it’s not a repeat of high school.
Talk Dirty To Me comes out January 25! Add it to your TBR here!
Acknowledgments
I want to say a big thank you to the AMAZING team at HEA Press—Rebecca and Abby—my incredible copyeditor Christine Estevez, and Jenn and the rest of the kickass team at Social Butterfly PR. Seriously, you women are so wonderful and patient and I appreciate you so much. Thank you for guiding me along the way. Lucy, Jace and I are all so grateful to you.
To my “Your Toxic Sequel Support Group” on Facebook, thank you ladies so much for making me smile on a daily basis and supporting my books. Y’all rock!
Thank you to my INCREDIBLE beta readers: Stacy Kestwick, Michelle Valentine, Kandy Lute Butler, Yolanda March, and Lourdes Santin Sanchez. Lourdes … I bow down to your wonderful translation skills. Thank you for helping me with B’s naughty bits!
To Kellie Dennis, my cover designer—this cover is EVERYTHING! I also want to thank the amazing Wander Aguiar for such incredible photography and Jonny James for being the perfect “Jace.”
To all my amazing author friends—you guys kick ass. I’m so blessed to be a part of such a great, caring community. Lots of love to you all.
To the bloggers in the romance community—THANK YOU! Your support and love for my books mean so much to me. I appreciate you all more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for taking such good care of me and all the other indie authors.
And to my family—my husband and my wonderful children: I appreciate the hell out of you guys for putting up with me while I was deep in the world of Jace and Lucy. Thank you guys for eating McDonalds far too many times and leaving me in my cave to work. I will prepare a feast for you guys now that the book is out in the world, and it shall be amazing. Love you guys so much.
And last, but certainly not least, to you: Thank you so for being so amazing. Your enthusiasm and support for my books amaze me constantly, and I feel so blessed to have you. Thank you for all the emails, reviews, and messages! They always put a smile on my face.