The Thrill of It by Lauren
Blakely
(No Regrets #1)
Publication date: November 21st 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
(No Regrets #1)
Publication date: November 21st 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
A new adult story of Love. Sex.
Addiction. Blackmail. And Power…
Some say love can be an addiction. Others say it’s the thing
that makes life worth living. Let me tell you everything I know
about love…Love isn’t patient, love isn’t kind. Love is a
game, a chase. A thrill. Love is wild and war-like, and every
man and woman must fight for themselves. At least that’s
how it was for me. A high-priced virgin call girl by the time I
started college, I was addicted to love and to sex. Even
though I’ve never had either. I controlled love, played it, and
held the world in the palm of my hands. Then I fell down from
those highs, and I’m being blackmailed for all my mistakes,
forced to keep secrets from everyone, except the only guy I
don’t regret.Trey…
With all the other women, I knew what they were. They were temporary. They were pills, they were bottles, they took away all the pain, and numbed the awful memories that wore down my ragged, wasted heart. Until I met Harley. She’s the only girl I ever missed when she walked away. But now she’s back in my life, every day, and there are no guarantees for us, especially since I don’t know how to tell her my secrets. What happened to my family. All I know is she’s the closest I’ve ever come to something real, and I want to feel every second of it.
How can you love with no regrets when regret is all you know?
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Excerpt:
A few minutes later a cab
pulls up, and she pays the driver, then escapes. I squeeze my eyes
shut when I see what she’s wearing. Then I open them.
“Hi.” She offers a
meek little wave as she sinks down next to me. I close the
sketchbook.
The cab races off, kicking
up exhaust into the night breeze, mingling with all the other scents
nearby. This is New York for you – I can smell Harley’s wild
cherry lotion and I can smell garbage that needs to be picked up
tomorrow, the fume from cabs, and the trailing scent of cigarettes.
The ugly with the beautiful.
“You look guilty,” I
say. “But you don’t have to look guilty on my behalf.”
“I feel guilty.”
“Why? Are you going back
to him?” I ask in a strangled voice. The thought makes me sick.
She shrugs. “He made me
an offer.”
I recoil, then stand up
quickly as if I can’t even be near her when she’s like this. When
she’s in this zone. “Are you going to take it?” I ask with a
sneer. I don’t mask my disgust. I can’t
mask my disgust.
“I don’t know,” she
says, and her voice breaks, and I fucking hate that she can be like
this.
Tempted.
I push both hands through
my hair, grabbing hard. “You’re not a fucking whore, Harley.”
“It’s not like that,”
she spits back.
“Fuck that,” I shout
through clenched teeth. I pace down the block, walking away from her,
far away. To the end of the block, where I stop and slam a hand
against the street sign. I take a sharp, deep breath, then turn
around. She’s still on the stoop, and she’s fiddling with her
shirt, shakily fastening the top two buttons.
When I reach her I bend
down and grip her knees. I stare hard at her, her brown eyes like
pools. One lone tear streaks down her face. “You are better than
that,” I tell her, never breaking her gaze. “You are so much
better than that.”
“But what if I’m not?”
She chokes out in the tiniest voice.
I wipe the pad of my thumb
across her cheek. I want to kiss her tears away, but I can’t go
there right now. For a million reasons.
“You are,” I say
firmly. I want to shake her. I want to smack some sense into her.
“How can you even say you’re not?”
She drops her head so I
can’t look at her. “Because I’m not. Because I went to see him.
Because you’d never do this. You’re stronger than me. You’re
never even tempted.”
“You think this is easy
for me?” I crouch on the sidewalk, my hands still gripping her
knees. I glance down at her socks, then shake my head. “I hate
these socks,” I mumble, as I peel the right one down her leg. She
lets me, lifting her calf for me. My fingertips brush her skin, but I
manage to resist running my hands up and down those calves. The
mission to get her out of this awful costume is stronger than my
desire to touch her. I unbuckle one shoe and take off her sock. I do
the same to the other leg, rolling down the white knee-high, undoing
the shoes, and tugging the sock off her foot, ignoring how smooth her
perfectly shaven legs are. I hand her the offending items, and she
stuffs the white socks into her purse. Out of sight. Somewhat out of
mind. “I can’t stand seeing you dressed like this. I wish you
were wearing a t-shirt and jeans right now.”
I earn a small laugh for
that, and she lifts her head, flashing a quick lopsided smile. The
Harley smirk that makes me want to wipe it away with my mouth. Kiss
that sexy smirk right off of her. Hear the sweet sighs she makes when
I kiss her.
----
AUTHOR BIO:
Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with
heat, heart, and humor, and her books have appeared on the New
York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks
bestseller lists. Like the heroine in her upcoming novel, FAR
TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family,
laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren
lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. She
loves hearing from readers! Her novels include Caught Up In Us,
Pretending He's Mine, Playing With Her Heart, and Trophy
Husband. On October 21 she'll release the sexy rock star
romance Far Too Tempting, and on November 21 she'll release her
edgy new adult novel THE THRILL OF IT. She also writes for
young adults under the name Daisy Whitney.
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