Happy Release to Elle Aycart!
To The Max is NOW LIVE!
Blurb
Forensic accountant Annie Griffin has always suspected
she's a bit jinxed, so when she finds herself 35, single, temporarily homeless,
and pregnant on a technicality by a gigolo, her fears are confirmed.
Adrenaline junkie and professional stuntman Max Bowen
needs a house-sitter to watch after his pets while he's out of town. Annie
needs a place to stay. Standard quid pro quo. No biggie. She can handle that,
whatever hellhounds he owns. Until Max, the most sought-after bachelor in the
county, comes back ahead of schedule and suddenly she's roommates with a
27-year old sex God who turns out to be so much more than what she expected.
Max might have had the attention span of a humming bird on
crack when it comes to women, but that was before Annie. Her quirkiness and
sweet contradictions soon captivate him, not that she's inclined to give him
the time of the day. With his reputation preceding him, he knows the odds are
badly stacked against him, but he will do his best to prove her that he's what
she needs, stuck-up socialite grandmothers, doomsday preppers, groupies,
pregnancy hormones, and repentant biological dads be damned.
Excerpt
Chapter
One
“You know, if the idea behind a midnight wedding was to
discourage people from attending, I think we can fairly say it hasn’t worked,”
Annie Griffin heard from behind her.
Shit, busted.
She whirled around so fast, she not only got a dizzy spell
but almost fell from the hammock she was sitting on. Thank God someone with a
very strong grip reached out and steadied her.
“Wow, careful there.”
As she regained her balance, Annie lifted her gaze to find
Max Bowen, the groom’s younger brother, smirking at her. She brought her hand
to her thumping heart. “Jeez, you scared me, Max.”
“Sorry,” he said, his light eyes sparkling with amusement.
“What are you doing here?”
They were in the unlit part of the backyard, as far away
from the wedding reception as possible without actually leaving the Bowens’
property.
“I’m in hiding. Go away.” She shooed him, peeking around
to make sure no one had followed him. “You always have a string of girls
attached to your hip. Soon they’re all going to be gathered here giggling,
drawing attention, and I don’t want to be found.”
Her duties as bridesmaid were done. Tate and James were
already on their way to their honeymoon; she could disappear in good
conscience.
“Hey,” he complained, sounding offended. “I may need to go
into hiding for a while too.”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “You? Why?”
Max loosened his tie and, unfastening the first button of
his shirt, sat beside her on the hammock. “Why? Because my ass has been pinched
so many times tonight, I swear I can barely feel it anymore.”
Annie stifled a giggle. “Your ass is sore?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” he said, breathing out slowly
and running his hand through his shoulder-length hair.
She locked eyes with him, realizing too late he was
smiling less than three inches away from her face. The sight of him all but
knocked the wind out of her. Max in faded old jeans and a tee was breathtaking.
In a tuxedo? A total heart-stopper.
She wasn’t too fond of blond men, but Max was in a league
all his own. With model-perfect masculine features, wicked blue-green eyes, and
his usual weeklong golden stubble, Max was sexy as hell. Add to his Hollywood
looks his laid-back disposition, kick-ass body, and roguish smile, and, well,
it was almost impossible not to drool in his presence. A fact the charming
devil knew very well and played to his full advantage.
Annie wasn’t sure how, but she managed to break eye
contact. “I think the senior contingent from Eternal Sun Resort might be the
ones primarily responsible for your ass condition.” She got it that both Mr.
Bowen and Tate’s mom lived down there—were neighbors, in fact—but they should
never have told the other residents about the wedding. The Bowen brothers were
popular enough in the greater Boston area. No need to bring reinforcements from
the South.
“Probably.” Max pondered for a second and then grinned at
her. “I should just count my lucky stars those ladies are on the short side and
can’t reach my nipples, huh?”
Annie burst into laughter. God, Max was such a clown.
Although on that one he might be right. “I hear they chartered a bus and made
regular stops along the way from Florida to Boston to pick up their
granddaughters and nieces.”
And who could blame them? It was not every day that one of
the Bowen brothers tied the knot. The standard guest plus one had transformed
into guest plus ten. Not to mention the groom’s wedding party, which alone was
a sight to behold. All those hunks in tailored tuxedos, standing tall and proud
and yummy. Talk about eye candy. She must have gotten a couple of extra
cavities tonight just from staring.
Max smiled. “That would explain it. This is the first
wedding I’ve attended where there are more people crashing the damn event than
actual guests. James should’ve hired his own security company to guard the
place.”
He should have, but judging by the way he’d looked, he’d
been so over the moon lately that he probably hadn’t thought about anything
besides putting his ring on Tate’s finger.
Max seemed to be able to read her mind. “Yeah, I know my
brother is in married-man bliss, but there is Cole and me to think about. Well,
okay, just me now that Cole is engaged,” he conceded with a rueful grin. “But
seriously, with how fiercely protective Cole is of Christy, and the mean right
hook she’s developed, I’d say some guests would have thanked him for the extra
protection too.”
“Please. Christy is a pussycat.” Nevertheless, Annie sure
relished the yellowish remnants of the black eye Rose was still sporting,
which, by the way, she’d totally deserved. A real pity no one had gotten that
on video. “And you, mister, don’t need protection from women.”
If anything, it was the other way around. He was the
ultimate ladies’ man. He’d never hurt for female attention before, but now with
James married and Cole engaged, Max was getting so much action he was gorging
on it.
His cheeky grin lit his face. “True, under normal
circumstances, but that back there is a bit overwhelming, even for me.”
Annie was about to answer, when suddenly Max moved, making
the hammock rock like crazy. “What are you doing?” she squeaked, gripping the
net hard.
“Lying down. I need to give my poor, abused ass a respite.
Come on,” he said, patting the spot near him. “Lie down with me. I don’t bite.”
Oh, she wouldn’t bet on that.
She warily eyed the net. Forget the spiky high heels she
was wearing and the skintight bridesmaid’s dress, which was the shit but didn’t
allow for much movement. She’d spent three hours in the beauty salon getting
her unruly mop of hair pinned up and adorned with dozens of tiny white flowers.
“If my hairdo gets tangled in that, I won’t be able to yank it free without
looking like the modern version of Medusa.”
“Here.” He stretched out his arm and offered it as a
pillow.
Annie doubted this was a good idea, but she was so tired.
“I’m not that great with hammocks. I may roll us both over.”
“I’m a professional stuntman. I think I can handle a
hammock.”
Well, he had a point there. She’d seen him on the big
screen doing the craziest things. Not to mention his fondness for extreme
sports.
“I’ll keep us steady,” he insisted. “Come on. You’re
messing with the center of gravity by sitting there.”
She hesitated for just a second, then shrugged. “Fine. But
I’m not too coordinated. Don’t come crying to me when we find ourselves on the
grass, Mr. Hotshot Stuntman.” She slowly moved to lie beside him.
It was a two-person hammock, but he was so big and his
shoulders were so damn broad, he took more than his fair share of space. She
rested her head on his arm and tried to keep her body at a distance from his,
but he was much heavier and her whole left side ended up glued to his right.
“Comfy?” he asked.
Actually, yes, but that was beside the point.
“Hmm…”
She tried separating herself from him, but gravity and his
massive body worked against her. The more she moved away, the more the net
bounced her right back against Max.
“Not that I’m complaining, but you’re rubbing against me.
Anything you want to tell me, Miss Griffin?” he asked, his words laced with
laughter.
This was the closest she’d ever been to Max. She could
feel every flex of his muscles, his warm breath tickling her face. In spite of
herself, his low, deep rumble and hard body had all her girlie parts tingling,
which was so inappropriate on so many levels, she refused to even think about
it.
She cleared her throat, trying to sound outraged. “Of
course not. Besides, you’re way too young for me.” Eight years younger. Not to
mention that at thirty-five, Annie was a good decade older than the women Max
usually dated.
“Sure, you’re ancient. Now stop squirming, Ace. You’ll
break your femur, and at your age any fracture could be fatal.”
She saw the smirk on his face and went to elbow him, but
there was not enough space between them to get a good jab in.
“Watch it. You could easily dislocate a shoulder. I hear
all you have to do is sneeze, and there goes the hip.”
“Oh please. Just shut up,” she said, unable to contain her
laughter.
Annie hadn’t had much contact with Max before. But since
Tate and Holly had started to hang out together, and Christy and Cole had
become an item, the Bowen brothers and their crew had ceased to be a bunch of
gorgeous guys she admired from afar and had become permanent fixtures in her
life. It was hard to get used to such an overabundance of panty creamers, but
she was coping. With the occasional panic attack, but she was coping.
Chuckling himself, he pinned her by his side and turned
his gaze to the sky. “Settle down and look up, Ace.”
Bossy guy, she thought, but she found herself obliging
him. “Wow,” she whispered as she took in the view.
“Everything looks better from a hammock, doesn’t it?”
It sure did. “I’m going to take one to the Friday-night
outdoor movie instead of sitting on those wooden chairs. The Arnie marathon
they’re running won’t be better, but at least the hammock will improve my
viewing experience.”
“I hear they’re preparing a Mel Gibson marathon for next
year.”
“That’s marginally better.”
His low voice rumbled in the night. “How do you figure
that?”
“More rom-coms, less commando crap. Plus, I could stand to
see his milky-white ass again in Braveheart.”
She felt him turn to her and shake his head.
Max lowered a foot to the ground and kicked, gently
rocking the hammock. They lay there in silence for a long while, enjoying the view.
She should have been more freaked about being there with Max Bowen, but the
truth of the matter was she didn’t have the energy to get herself worked up.
It had been a very hectic day. The wedding had been
beautiful, and everything had gone according to plan—more or less—but it had
been taxing. For a while she’d felt dizzy and out of breath from the excitement
and the place being packed. And then there had been the cake. Annie loved cake,
even risqué ones, but she must have eaten the poisoned piece intended for
Tate—or Christy—because, boy, the little sucker had repeated on her. Now
though, away from the crowd, her gaze on the black sky, gently rocking, she
felt totally relaxed and at ease.
“The wedding was beautiful,” she said.
“Aunt Maggie and Tate’s mom really thought of everything.”
“Except for the electrified fence around the yard.”
Max chuckled. “Yes, except for that. I could have done
without the impromptu conga line during the reception too.”
“Come on, Max, you rocked the conga line.”
It had been one of the highlights of the night, second
only to seeing Tate all but run down the aisle and kiss the living daylights
out of James before the priest had gotten a word in, that amazing green dragon
tattoo swirling on the small of her totally exposed back. Ah, and the dance of
the best man and the maid of honor. There had been so much tension rolling off
Jack and Elle, it was palpable.
“Did you see Elle’s face when the bouquet hit her on the
head?” Annie asked.
Max nodded. “Epic. I hope the photographer got it. That
picture is so going to the wall of fame in Rosita’s.”
Elle hadn’t looked happy the bouquet had defied physics,
changed trajectory in midair, and landed on her head while she’d been standing
beside her date—Kai, a gorgeous Japanese American full of tattoos. Jack hadn’t
looked much happier either. It wasn’t clear if his displeasure had to do with
Kai or the bouquet. Both, probably. Not that Jack himself could talk,
considering the exuberant blonde he’d had perched on his arm.
“So, why are you in hiding?” Max asked, turning his
captivating gaze on her and disrupting all her thoughts. God, the guy was
stunning. And this close, there was all the olfactory and tactile data to deal
with. Even in his relaxed position, Max oozed masculinity and testosterone. His
smell, a mixture of aftershave, clean sweat, and a hint of tobacco from the
cigar James had given him, was so male it gave her goose bumps. She couldn’t
explain it, but to her, Max smelled like summer and sunshine. Even now, in the
middle of the night.
She sighed and turned her face up to the sky. “I’ve been
in the dating arena long enough to know that when your date starts talking
about himself in the third person, it’s time to hide.”
The hammock shook with his muffled laughter. His hard body
too.
“Not to mention the more he drinks, the more arms he
grows. And the more his eyes bulge every time he sees a pair of boobs. It’s bad
enough that he’s spent the last two hours talking to my nipples, but ogling
other women’s goodies on top of that? Gross.”
Steven was a coworker from her office. She’d gone out with
him once this past month. The first date hadn’t turned out too horribly, so
she’d given it a second try. Bad, bad idea.
He tsked. “Moron. Doesn’t he know your goodies are the
best?”
She felt her face flame. Then she realized what he was
probably referring to. “You’re talking about the candy basket from the
fund-raiser, right?” A couple of weeks ago, for the annual town fund-raising
dinner, her candy shop had donated a basket of gourmet candy, which Max had bid
on and won.
“Those goodies too.”
God, he was such a shameless flirt. Gorgeous, charming,
easygoing. Pity when it came to women, he had the attention span of a
hummingbird on crack. Which was irrelevant, really. Not only was he totally out
of her league, but there was the age difference to contend with. Eight years
might not seem like much, but in mind-sets, they were light years apart. Annie
was ready to settle and marry, and Max was… Well, Max was most definitely not.
He wasn’t playing the field; he owned the damned field.
“Behave,” she admonished him.
“I am, Ace. I am,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ve been
meaning to tell you those chocolate things were fantastic.”
“You liked them?”
He nodded. “Don’t misunderstand me; traditional candy is
great, but this new shit you’re bringing…mouthwatering.”
Annie smiled, pleased as all hell. She’d inherited the
little candy shop in Alden five years ago, when her mom remarried and moved to
Ohio. Annie already had an office job in Boston, but she hadn’t wanted to close
the place down. So she’d hired a girl to run it during the week, and Annie took
care of Saturdays and the odd afternoons when the girl couldn’t.
The shop had barely been turning a profit. With the extra
salary to foot, Annie had decided to upgrade the whole concept. Along with
jelly beans and candy canes, she went for a more sophisticated line, sporting
gourmet chocolates and truffles from Brussels, strawberries with champagne and
white-chocolate frosting, and all sorts of products for special occasions.
“Remember to come ready to tweet.”
He winked at her. “Don’t worry. Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram, the whole shebang.”
“You have all of those?”
“Actually, no, but I’ll sign up. How did you think of the
whole concept?”
“Honestly? I didn’t. Christy did.”
One day, brainstorming while chatting with Christy about
how to reach more customers, her friend had come up with the idea of using
Twitter. The shop Sweets had become Sweets and Tweets, and clients got a
discount if they tweeted on the spot about the goodies they were buying. Word
got out about the new products, and in no time they had people coming from
Boston to get their sugar fixes or to buy treats for special dates. This past
Valentine’s Day had been crazy. The line had gone all the way to the street and
around the corner.
Max smiled. “My future sister-in-law is a charming geek.”
“That she is.”
Annie and Christy had met in college and had kept in
contact ever since. A bit over six months ago, Christy had taken a sabbatical
from her job as a software engineer and moved temporarily from LA to Alden to
get away from her ex-fiancé. Now she was engaged to Cole Bowen and ran Alden’s
library. Funny how things changed.
They swung in comfortable silence for a while longer.
“So, I have to ask,” he said after a long pause. “How
often do you end up in hiding during your dates?”
She snorted. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I’d
be hiding in the bathroom right now if I could be sure that the Women Only sign
would stop that self-absorbed pompous ass from entering.”
Annie was an active dater—an optimist. Yeah, the world was
full of frogs, but there were princes out there. She just had to persevere
until she found hers; it was a matter of probabilities, pure and simple. Easier
said than done. A romantic at heart, she’d always kept faith that everyone got
a happily ever after, but with the luck she’d had lately and all the frogs
she’d had to deal with, she’d begun to suspect “everyone” just didn’t include
her.
Max barked out a laugh. “Self-absorbed pompous ass?”
Annie nodded. “Aka Steven.”
“You’re dating the wrong guys.”
Didn’t she know it.
Not that Max would understand her predicament. The guy
went through women like most men went through potato chips, a handful at a
time. He charmed girls out of their panties as if it were an Olympic sport.
Nevertheless, Annie hadn’t heard a single complaint from the female population.
Far from it.
“What about the stud gala? Did you end up in hiding there
too?”
Annie stilled. “How did you know about the gala?”
“You kidding me? I heard Cole grumbling about you guys
buying the gala invitation for Christy. Then I had to listen Tate complain
about not getting one. And then James growling and threatening Elle with bodily
harm if she dared to buy one for Tate.”
She cleared her throat. “That wasn’t a date. But, no, I
didn’t end up in hiding then.”
No, sir, not at all.
“Guys, what are you doing there?” a woman asked.
Annie turned her head to see Christy and Cole approaching.
“His ass was hurting and he needed to lie down,” Annie
blurted, tensing. Under somebody else’s scrutiny, lying there with Max felt
suddenly awkward.
Christy looked confused. “What?”
“Never mind,” Annie mumbled, clumsily hauling herself up
and out of the hammock. Max followed her much more gracefully, holding her when
her wobbly legs and the rocking made falling on her face a very distinct
possibility.
“How’s it going?” Max asked his brother. “Is the party
winding down already?”
Cole looked toward the reception and grimaced. “Nope,” he
muttered. Then he turned to Christy. “We’re eloping.”
She smiled widely. “Sure, let’s elope to Vegas.”
Cole’s expression tightened. “I’m not getting hitched by
Elvis,” he warned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and bringing her front
to his side.
“Who said anything about Elvis? I was thinking more along
the lines of Captain Kirk.”
“So not happening.”
Christy, bless her heart, ignored him and smiled even
wider. “Or Spock. We could book the Star
Trek package, marry with a Vulcan and a Klingon as witnesses. And wire the
chapel so that our friends could follow the wedding through the Internet.
Wouldn’t that be a blast?”
He kissed her hard, then whispered against her lips, “I
love you, baby, but no fucking way.” If his expression was anything to go by,
it was a good thing Cole loved Christy to pieces, because he sure as hell
wasn’t a man to be led by his dick, much less into a Star Trek wedding.
“Elope all you want, but I’m organizing your bachelor
party. Imagine all I could do with Vegas as the backdrop,” Max said, to which
Cole grimaced even more strongly.
“Here you are,” Annie heard someone say.
Shit. Steven, aka Pompous Ass. Her stomach roiled and
realization dawned. Oh God, the spell of sickness she’d experienced during the
reception? Apparently it had nothing to do with the crowded yard or the cake.
She’d reached a milestone—her dates were physically making her sick. Way to go.
Max came closer and whispered, “Is this the guy?”
She nodded and turned to Steven, who was obnoxiously
grinning.
“Ready to dance with the king of the night, darling?”
He was now close enough that his sugary smell reached her.
Nausea rose in her belly. Trying not to cringe, she took a step forward,
frantic for an excuse.
Suddenly, someone tugged her hand from behind. “Sorry,
man,” Max apologized. “The prettiest girl in this wedding owes me a couple of
dances, and I’m ready to collect.”
Max twirled her and wound her in, winking. “Let’s give him
a show,” he whispered. Before she could react, Max wrapped one hand around her
neck, the other around her waist. Exaggeratedly bending her backward, he placed
his lips over hers.
She hadn’t regained her breath or her bearings when he
pulled her up for another spin.
Oh God, too much movement.
“I’m not feeling good,” she managed to get out. Then she
leaned over and threw up all over Max’s shoes.
* * * *
“Okay, spit it out, Annie,” Holly prompted, tapping at the
table. “I’m the dispatcher for the sheriff’s department. Whatever it is, I’m
sure I’ve heard worse. Although, if memory serves, Ben switching teams on you
was a DEFCON3 emergency. I truly have no clue what possible planetary disaster
DEFCON1 could refer to.”
Annie glanced around, making sure they were alone in the
terrace. Then, trying not to hyperventilate, Annie uttered those two tiny
words, the ones that had her freaked out of her ever-loving mind.
Holly, Christy, and Sophie gaped at her, totally shocked.
Thank God they’d been sitting; otherwise her friends’ behinds would have had
very close encounters with the floor.
“Definitely DEFCON1,” Christy mumbled and Sophie assented.
“Pregnant? What do you mean pregnant?” Holly asked,
sounding stupefied.
“Pregnant,” Annie choked out. “As in knocked up.”
“How? When? Who?” Then, before Annie could answer, not
that she was too eager to answer anyway, Holly continued, “Please don’t tell me
it’s Steven’s.”
At least there was that: a positive side of this whole
mess she hadn’t thought of. “Eww. You nuts? I didn’t have sex with Steven.”
Her friends let out a collective sigh of relief. “Thank
God,” Holly muttered.
Annie had been about to chide them for even thinking she’d
had sex with Steven after just two dates, but she saw the irony in her
predicament and decided to bite her tongue.
“If it isn’t his, then…?” Christy asked, motioning with
her hand for Annie to go on.
Annie cleared her throat. “Remember the StudsRus.com gala
a while back?” she said with a grimace. “The nice Italian escort I met there?
Luigi?”
Complete silence.
Annie had attended the yearly gala in Christy’s place. The
most prestigious escort agency in Boston had hosted it a month ago at the Ritz
Carlton downtown. The girls had managed to buy an invitation for Christy’s
birthday, after her vow to get professionally laid, but once Cole had heard
about it, he’d put a damper to the whole plan. So they had drawn straws, and
surprise, surprise, Annie had won.
“You’re shitting us,” Sophie said.
Annie shook her head. No, she wasn’t shitting them. She
wished she were, but she wasn’t.
It had been a great night. Magical, with all the
candlelight, the unending flow of expensive champagne, and the great company.
That it was a masquerade ball had also added an extra layer of magic and
privacy that had been exhilarating.
Apparently StudsRus.com’s escorts were highly sought
after. They traveled all over the country accompanying clients, some of them
very powerful people, to high-profile events. They were not only gorgeous; they
were extremely well educated and charming. One of the escorts she’d met that
night was a dark-haired, handsome man by the name of Luigi. One thing led to
another, and she most definitely had not ended up hiding in the bathroom.
Holly cursed. “What about the whole stash of condoms I put
in your purse? Didn’t you think of using them?”
“I used condoms; I swear I did.”
“How exactly did you use them, sweetheart?”
“What do you mean, how did I use them? How does anyone use
condoms? Are there so many different ways of using them?” Annie asked, out of
breath, her tone of voice rising. She was freaking out. Big-time. But all in
all, she thought she was entitled to. “I certainly didn’t put them on my head
as new-age hats.”
“Did it break?”
She shook her head. If it had, she would have gotten the
morning-after pill, and she wouldn’t currently be about to pass out.
“Are you sure it’s not a false alarm?” Sophie asked,
trying to calm her down.
“No false alarm. Five peed-on sticks and two blood tests
confirm it. I’m pregnant up to my eyeballs,” Annie said as she, very
ineffectively, fanned herself with a napkin. Damn hot flashes. Before she found
out about the pregnancy, she’d been having so many of them, she’d even
considered going to the doctor to make sure she hadn’t entered some sort of
freaky early menopause. Wouldn’t that have been a laugh.
“How did this happen?” Holly asked.
Sophie waved at her. “The usual way?”
“Not helping, sweetie.” Holly chastised Sophie with a look
and then turned to Annie. “If you used condoms, how did you get pregnant?”
And here was where it got embarrassing. “It seems there’s
an infinitesimal chance of getting knocked up if you start rolling the condom
on, realize it’s inside out, and then turn it the right way. Drops of precum
get onto the outside of the condom, and voilà, if the semen is of quality and
has great mobility, you’re in deep shit.” Annie looked at them, fidgeting. “I
was a bit nervous, and there wasn’t too much light…”
She should have left the logistical details to the pro.
All the head shaking she’d done when women in her office
got pregnant out of carelessness, and look at her: knocked up on a
technicality.
Sophie whistled. “Wow, some super-duper power sperm those
studs have, huh?”
“Tell me about it,” Annie muttered.
“Could it be someone else’s?” Christy asked.
“It’s either Luigi’s or an immaculate conception.”
The good thing about getting laid so seldom was that she
could pinpoint the conception date with 100 percent accuracy, which meant that
if her baby was as anal as she was, he or she should be born in the early hours
of March thirty-first.
Holly looked at her, worried. “I hate to say this, honey,
and I know these guys are the best of the best, but did you get checked for
diseases?”
“Yeah, no STDs.” That was what she’d done first once she’d
found out about her pregnancy. And hadn’t that been fun, explaining to Alden’s
only doctor, the same one who had treated her all her life, why she needed
testing for STDs right after he told her she was pregnant. “All I got from the
superstud is a baby.”
“At least you had a valid excuse for throwing up on Max
the other night,” Christy said.
Annie cringed at the memory. Talk about making an ass out of
herself. The most sought-after bachelor in the whole state was being sweet and
offering her a way out so she wouldn’t have to dance with Steven, and what had
she done in exchange? She’d puked her brains out all over his shoes, messing
his pants too. Well, on the flip side, the second she’d started throwing up,
her oh-so-attentive date had all but run in the opposite direction.
Max, on the other hand, had been very nice and
understanding. He’d even joked that if he’d been saddled with a date like
Steven, he would’ve been puking too.
“Does Luigi know about any of this?”
“Nope. And I never got a last name, so I don’t know how to
contact him.” Or even if she wanted to.
Annie had been dazzled by Luigi, who had been so not what
she’d expected. He wasn’t a young, buff stud with more muscles than brains. No,
he was in his mid-to-late thirties, sophisticated, elegant, and a great
conversationalist. She wasn’t a knockout, but she was pretty enough. And so far
her body was holding its own against gravity and time, if one could ignore the
expansionist tendencies of her ass. Still, Luigi favoring her company had kind
of blown her mind. Between that, the alcohol, and the privacy the masks
offered, she’d just let go. In the morning, though, she’d panicked and, much to
her shame, run out on the guy before he even woke up. How the hell was she
supposed to face the proverbial morning after when she had slept with a
professional escort in his spare time? At least she thought it had been in his
spare time. She didn’t even dare consider he’d been working and she’d stiffed
him of his fee. That was just too much.
“It seems Italian escorts are in fashion. StudsRus.com has
eight Luigis on staff. I’m going to have to ask them for pictures.”
If the conversation at the doctor’s had been fun, she
shuddered to think about the one with the stud-agency receptionist.
She might never find Luigi again, and she couldn’t say she
felt particularly sorry about it. After all, she didn’t know the guy. But a man
had the right to know he was a father. And although she didn’t need a husband,
the thought of raising a kid all by herself sucker punched her. Money was not
an issue; she had a good job, the shop was doing well, and she still had the
untouched trust fund her paternal grandparents had created for her. They hadn’t
trusted her flighty father, and thank God for that, because the man was already
on his fifth bimbo wife, who was bleeding him dry like three of her
predecessors.
So financially she was more than covered, but there were
other things to consider. Some mornings it took her forever to decide whether
she wanted to have cornflakes or honey puffs—how the hell was she going to
choose a school for the kid? He or she would be old enough for junior high by
the time Annie had made up her mind.
“You know, I somehow envisioned embracing motherhood
differently. Not at thirty-five, without a partner, and knocked up by a gigolo
who might or might not be named Luigi.”
After all, maybe Luigi was just his stage name.
“It beats the hell out of a sperm bank, which is what I
can see in my future,” Holly muttered.
They were silent for a while. Then Annie sighed. “I’m so
screwed, guys. I’m a forensic accountant. What do I know about kids?”
“You own a candy store. I’d say you’re already ahead,”
Christy offered.
Well, there was that.
“I should have never gotten up on that flower pot after
you,” Annie said to Christy. “You got the good stuff. I got…backlash.” Annie
covered her face with her hands. “This is so unfair. You and Cole are the ones
humping like rabbits all the time. Me? It was just once. One little screw. Why
me? The universe hates me.”
She should have suspected there was some mega cosmic catch
to it when she’d won that gala invitation. She never won anything. Ever. On the
contrary. She was that jinxed.
Holly interrupted her mental rant. “Wait a second. What do
you mean, only once? Wasn’t he, you know, up for a rematch?”
“It was good, don’t misunderstand me, but let’s just put
it this way: when an overpriced European escort isn’t working, he starts snoring
after the deed.”
“Are you sure he was a member of StudsRus.com and not some
nutcase impersonating a stud, like in True
Lies?” Sophie asked.
Oh crap, she hadn’t thought of that possibility. Annie
panicked for a second, then shook her head. “No, can’t be. He knew everyone
there.”
“True Lies?”
Holly repeated.
“You know, the waiter in that Arnie movie, the one who got
chicks by impersonating a spy,” Sophie explained.
Christy frowned. “A waiter? Wasn’t he a car salesman? I—”
“People, people. Concentrate,” Holly interrupted, out of
patience. “I told you to quit with the outdoor movies.” She turned to Annie.
“Are you going to keep it?”
Annie looked at her friends. “Forget the fact I’m
thirty-five and my clock is ticking. What are the chances of getting pregnant
like this? One in a frigging billion. This baby hasn’t been born yet, and it’s
already a damn superhero. Of course I’m keeping it.”
Bowen Series Reading Order
More than Meets the Ink (Bowen, #1)
Heavy Issues (Bowen #2)
Inked Ever After (Bowen, #2.5)
To The Max (Bowen, #3)
Releasing 2/10/2015
About the Author
After a colorful array of jobs all over Europe ranging from
translator to chocolatier to travel agent to sushi chef to flight dispatcher, Elle Aycart is certain of
one thing and one thing only: aside from writing romances, she has
abso-frigging-lutely no clue what she wants to do when she grows up. Not that it stops her from
trying all sorts of crazy stuff.
While she is probably now thinking of a new profession, her
head never stops churning new plots for her romances. She lives currently in
Barcelona, Spain, with her husband and two daughters, although who knows, in no
time she could be living at the Arctic Circle in Finland, breeding reindeer.
GIVEAWAY
No comments:
Post a Comment