New Release Spotlight
KISS ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT
By Mahalia Levey
Blurb
One
gigantic mistake threatens to bring Carlie Steven’s world crumbling down.
Everywhere she turns she’s faced with reminders of the drunken moment leaving
her friendless, expelled from her Ivy League College. With Jackson out of the
country singing for the troops, his empty home will give her the breathing room
she needs while coming up with a game plan to fix her situation.
Playing
guitar used to be enough for Jackson Laurent. For years he’s played the part of
not giving a fuck. Too many one night stands in the bag leave him wanting what
his two friends have found. With only a handful of shows left on the tour, his
mind wanders to the off limits Carlie Stevens. For years, he’s denied the
brewing attraction. When he finds she’s taken up residence in his home. He may
have the in he’s wanted for too many years to count.
Excerpt
The
smell of ocean welcomed him. He stepped out of his service car, hoisted his
backpack and clicked the handle on his suitcase. Why carry something that had
rollers. The house was dark in the early afternoon, making him wonder if he
still had a houseguest.
He
entered and placed his things in the foyer. Emotions long forgotten tugged at
him. Every time he stepped foot in his childhood house, he expected to see his
mother come down the stairs to greet him with a warm smile on her face, smelling
like an afternoon spent baking. And, as always, reality cruelly crashed down,
reminding him of fate’s viciousness. With a sigh, he looked toward the
staircase. Carlie.
Carlie. Carlie.
Jackson
walked up the stairs, toward his bedroom, noting how everything looked to be in
in place, as if Carlie didn’t dare disturb anything. He passed by his mom’s
bedroom, now a guest room. He ruminated on things, what to say, what would her
reaction be to seeing him?
What
he loved most about flying was sleeping, but thanks to one overprotective
brother he barely rested at all, with his mind obsessing over the sweet woman in
his bed.
A
foul odor hit his nose upon opening the door to his bedroom. He ignored the
stink and approached his bed covered in chocolate wrappers, empty bags of fast
food and the girl sleeping on top of the covers in the same clothes he saw her
in online while he was in Afghanistan.
Garrick
always boasted of his ‘sleep like the dead’ sisters. He decided to test out the
theory. He tapped her and got nothing. He picked her up. Her head lolled over, a
halo of hair fanning out. A loud snore popped out of her mouth. He tried to
smooth her tangled hair out of the way and carried her into his bathroom. With
one hand, he turned on the shower and stepped into the cold water fully dressed,
holding her.
Carlie
screamed. Her beautiful eyes popped opened as she came to and began thrashing in
his arms.
“Sorry,
princess. You need a shower, you stink.” Jackson whipped her soaking wet shirt
over her head and unsnapped her bra with one hand while she shivered and glared
daggers at him. He bent down and whisked off her leggings and thong, and then
threw all the pieces out of the shower.
“What
are you doing?” Carlie hissed the words thorough chattering teeth. She gave up
attempting to cover her nudity with her hands and wiped her plastered hair away
from her eyes.
“Right
now I’m standing in my shower under freezing water with a smelly girl.” He
reached up and adjusted the blasts to give them warm water. Jackson stepped out
to get a clean cloth and returned to her. Her skin flushed with the steam
pouring through the glass enclosed shower.“I mean what are you doing home?”
He
chuckled. “I didn’t know I needed permission to come to my house.” He grabbed
his body wash and lathered up the cloth.
“I
swear I’m going to kill you for tossing me in a cold shower.” Anger blazed in
her flushed face as she stared him down.
“That’s
good then, means you’re no longer cowering in your stupid self-pity
party.”
“What,
are you going to do with that?” She eyed him nervously, ignoring his
words.
“Well,
I figured your hands must be broken or something so I’d wash you, since you
can’t do so yourself.”
“Uh-uh,
no way. Give me that.” She tugged at the sudsy cloth in his hand, his gaze
dropping to her lush breasts.
“Nice.”
He winked at the way they bounced with her efforts to take the wash rag. He let
her have the wet cloth and watched the recoil, suds covering her chin, dripping
down her neck, between the valley of her tits, and the path downward. Damn she
was in great shape.
“Get.
Out.” She pointed to the door, her face flushing a deep red.
“I
don’t mind helping, not at all.” The sheer stubbornness in her glare told to him
to surrender. With a sigh, he stepped out of the stall. “Get clean. We’ll talk
after you’re done.”
“Fine.
Privacy would be nice. Please close the door behind you.”
“See
you soon.” He stripped off his clothes on the other side, knowing she had a
direct view of him. His dick jerked in the cool air. At her gasp, he noticed her
riveted gaze stayed on his Prince Albert and beads. He quirked a brow at her,
ready to answer any questions she might have. “Done staring at my dick?” The
crass words caused her head to jerk and her gaze to land on his.
“Could
you be more of an asshole?”
He
smirked in response, snagged a towel and walked into his bedroom. Carlie’s
continued rant echoed in his bathroom, the sound carrying into his master
bedroom.
“Perfect
princess, you know this is who I am and you still wanted to jump my
bones.”
“I
hate that nickname. Whatever. I don’t want to jump anything on you.”
While
she screamed expletives at him from the other side of the door in a righteous
fit of temper, he dried off and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt,
impressed that she knew such a dirty range of swear words, and used them. Ten
minutes later, Carlie emerged with a huge fluffy towel around her lithe
body.
“Let’s
get one thing straight. I’m not a new notch for your bedpost, don’t ever strip
me naked again. I made a stupid drunken comment months ago that will not happen
in this lifetime. Got it? Better yet maybe you should move to the other room
while you’re here.”
“Don’t
hole yourself in my bedroom like a hoarder,” he snapped back, grabbed his
trashcan from the bedside and began tossing wrappers and leftover crap inside.
He stopped to gift her with a glare. “This is my room. You don’t dictate where I
will or won’t sleep in my fucking house, princess. Got it?” He resumed his task
and counted backward from twenty to cool his temper. The heady scent of
innocence dripped from her delectable body, driving him mad. He needed his hands
occupied to prevent him from lashing out at her in sexual frustration.
Amazon- not avail til 7/29
ARe- not avail til 7/29
links:
twitter @Hales3000
www.facebook.com/mahalialevey
www.goodreads.com/mahalialeveyblog www.mahalia2010.wordpress.com/blog
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