Reckless by Lex Martin
About The Novel
Tori…
For the record, I’m not going to hook up with my boss.
I'm a lot of things—a screwup, a basket case, a flunky. But when I take a nanny job to be near my pregnant sister, I swear to myself I’ll walk the straight and narrow, which means I cannot fall for my insanely hot boss.
I don't want to be tempted by that rugged rancher. By his chiseled muscles or southern charm or the way he snuggles his kids at bedtime. Ethan Carter won't get the key to my heart, no matter how much I want him.
* * *
Ethan…
Between us, she's the last thing I need as I finalize my hellish divorce.
What sane man trying to rebuild his life wants a hot nanny with long, sexy hair, curves for miles, and a smart mouth? A perfectly kissable, pouty mouth that I shouldn't notice.
My focus is on my kids and my ranch, not the insufferable siren who sleeps in the room next to mine. It doesn't matter that she wins over my kids in a heartbeat or runs my life better than I do. Tori Duran is the one woman I can't have and shouldn't want, no matter how much I crave her.
* * *
Reckless is a standalone companion novel to the USA Today bestseller Shameless. Each book features a different couple.
To Matt & my little bears
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
- Lao Tzu
Prologue
Tori
A blush creeps up my skin as I gun my car through the quiet neighborhood intersection, my clunker’s obnoxious rattle garnering a dirty look from a suburban mom.
Whatever, lady.
I can’t afford to fix that problem now, especially not after I bought my boyfriend’s birthday present.
If it weren’t so hot inside my deathtrap of a car, I’d be jumping out of my skin with excitement to see Jamie. But I’m trying to conserve my energy for our horizontal activities. Although he’s not supposed to be home until tomorrow, I overheard my boss, who’s friends with Jamie, mention that my guy might be back today, and I thought I’d surprise him. It’s his birthday after all, and I have the perfect gift, something I’ve been saving up for weeks to afford.
When I see Jamie’s Bronco parked in the driveway of his house, I slow my beater and pull up to the duplex across the street.
My legs are stuck to my seat, and I slide my hands down my bare thighs below my cutoffs to dry the sweat. As soon as I open the door, a blast of cool air hits me, and I sigh with relief. Austin in early May is still relatively cool and breezy. Thank God, because my car windows don’t roll down, and the air conditioning died long before I got this junker.
Reaching into my messenger bag, I grab Jamie’s present—two tickets to see the Texas Rangers play next month. He’s always traveling to Dallas on business, and I thought it might be fun for us to go together.
I wrestle the balloons out of the back seat and skip up the pristine walkway to his two-story colonial.
Pride fills me as I take stock of how much he did to the property. This place was an eyesore when he bought it a few months ago, but after replacing the roof, stripping the interior to the studs, and replacing the appliances, it looks brand spanking new. I don’t know how he parts with these investment properties because it would break my heart to sell this gorgeous house.
An image of me and Jamie flashes behind my eyes. A vision of us starting a family. Of kids and more birthdays and barbecues in the back yard. I mean, I haven’t decided how many children I want or their names, but I’m pretty sure I want them with Jamie.
Two months ago, I’d laughed off his suggestion that we should get married because we were both drunk, but I can’t lie—I want the white picket fence with him someday.
Yeah, he’s a little older than me, but what’s an eight-year difference in the grand scheme of things? Besides, he’s not all judgy about me struggling with school.
I want to get serious about figuring out my life, which is why I need to keep my shit together long enough to graduate from the University of Texas in a few weeks. Most of my friends seem to know where they’re going and what they’re going to do. Me? I’ve operated on the party-now, plan-later mindset, but that only got me an academic warning, mandatory tutoring sessions, and a run-in with law enforcement.
So I’m trying to buckle down. Do the smart thing. Study and whatnot. God knows school is not my thing, but I’m almost done, thank fuck.
When I ring the doorbell, I’m beaming the biggest, brightest smile, but a second later when he opens the door, he frowns, his dark hair falling into his deep brown eyes.
“Happy birthday, babe!” Ignoring whatever weirdness is going on, I throw my arms around his neck. “I missed you.” He smells so good. Like spicy cologne and man.
“Tori.” His arm comes around my back in a stiff hold. I wait for the passionate kiss. For him to rip off my clothes like he usually does.
Except he just stands there.
What’s going on?
I lean back and look at him. He’s still frowning.
And then he glances down at his watch.