Shut Out (Bayard Hockey #1)(86)
BY KELLY JAMIESON
Aces Hockey
Major Misconduct
Off Limits
Icing
Top Shelf
PHOTO: LANCE THOMSON PHOTOGRAPHIC
Kelly Jamieson is a bestselling author of more than forty romance novels and novellas. Her writing has been described as “emotionally complex,” “sweet and satisfying,” and “blisteringly sexy.” She likes coffee (black), wine (mostly white), shoes (high), and, of course, watching hockey!
Want more from Kelly Jamieson?
kellyjamieson.com
Facebook.com/?KellyJamiesonRomanceAuthor
@KellyJamieson
Instagram.com/?authorkellyjamieson
Pinterest.com/?kellyjamieson/
Plus.Google.com/?u/0/?+KellyJamieson/?posts
Sign up to receive Kelly Jamieson’s newsletter straight to your in-box.
The Editor’s Corner
Looking for your next book boyfriend? I think I can help you out—check out these wonderful stories from Loveswept: Something brand-new from Loveswept debut author Lynda Aicher, The Harder He Falls. Author Ellie Cahill releases a sexy, witty new adult story called Just a Girl. The first in the Bayard Hockey series comes from Kelly Jamieson, with Shut Out. New York Times bestselling author Missy Johnson steams it up with The Proposition. The third story in Cassie Mae’s LOL All About Love romantic comedy series holds true to its name, Crazy About Love. Readers will fall fast and hard and clamor for the next in Tina Wainscott’s Florida-set Falling Fast series with Falling Free. Sharon Cullen’s Highland Pride series continues with MacLean’s Passion, as Scotland’s most reckless smuggler meets his match in a beautiful spitfire who arouses a renewed sense of duty, camaraderie, and passion in him. New York Times bestselling author L. P. Dover sets hearts on fire in Defending Hayden, where a damaged football star teams up with the only woman who can take away the pain. More from Lavinia Kent’s Bound and Determined series comes in the form of Angel in Scarlet. And I hope you’ll agree that there are never too many men in kilts: Ladies, meet the Wild Highland Guardians, new from Violetta Rand in Her Highland Rogue.
Be in the know—friend us and like us on Facebook and Twitter.
Until next month ~Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
Read on for an excerpt from
Top Shelf
An Aces Hockey Novel
by Kelly Jamieson
Available from Loveswept
Jared had been watching her since she’d walked into the bar. Alone.
Pale blond hair swung across her face and curved into her neck, brushing her shoulders. She pushed her hair aside with fingertips to reveal killer cheekbones, perfect ivory skin, full lips painted red, and big eyes emphasized with a lot of dark shadow. She wore all black—skinny black jeans, black motorcycle boots, and a loose black sweater that didn’t hide a slender body. The overall appearance said tough, but her bone structure was delicate and her face decidedly feminine. She intrigued him.
So he hadn’t waited to see if someone was joining her before crossing the bar to take the stool next to her. A quick glance revealed no ring on her third left finger, just slender fingers with short, unpainted nails, and now that he was closer, he saw a tiny diamond stud glinted in her right nostril.
“The cocktail menu here sucks.” She shook her head as she looked at the small menu.
What? Jared blinked and paused as he sat on the stool.
She’d spoken aloud, although not directly to him.
“Really?” he said. “Why do you say that?”
She turned to him. Her eyes widened briefly, then swept over him in a quick appraisal. Judging from her blink and parted lips, she liked what she saw.
“Er. It’s basic. Unimaginative. I mean, having some basics is good, but these days you need to be creative.” She frowned. “There seems to be a big focus on beer here.”
“Yeah.” True that. “What’s wrong with beer?”
“You don’t look like a beer drinker,” she said slowly. “More like a guy who’d drink Laphroaig. Or Absolut.”
Again, what? La froig? That sounded like something his teammate Marc Dupuis, who was French-Canadian, would say. He stared back at her, keeping his expression neutral. “Uh. Okay. Why do you say that?”
“Look at you. Mr. Perfect.” She waved a hand.
He grinned. Her eyes widened briefly in response to his smile. “I’m not perfect.” He grimaced. “Far from it.” Then he gave her the same kind of look she’d given him. “But you are.”
“Riiiight.” She lifted her dainty chin dismissively. “I’ll bet you say that to all the girls.”
Well, truthfully, he probably had said that to a lot of girls. He liked women a lot and he liked a lot of women. So sue him. “I never give a woman a compliment if I don’t mean it.”
She sent him a look laced with skepticism and amusement. “Uh-huh.” Then she turned away from him.
He resisted the urge to frown. Not that he had a big ego or anything, but usually this went a lot better for him.
Jack, the bartender, slid a glass of Jared’s favorite ale across the polished surface of the bar to him with a smile, then turned his attention to the woman. “What can I get you?”