Hold Tight: A For Him Novella (For You)

by Alexa Riley

  “God, I love him,” Penelope sighs, watching Ivan walk back to her.

  “Come with me,” Royce says, pulling me from the blanket and taking me with him to the snow cone vendor. “Should have brought you the first time.”

  The girls sit down with their aunt and uncle and finish what little they have left of their icy treat.

  “Don’t get all grumpy,” I tease, wrapping my arms around him and leaning close.

  “I dropped my snow cone,” he complains, and he sounds like a little boy. It’s so adorable, I start laughing.

  He growls and then turns, grabbing me up and squeezing my ass.

  “You’re lucky you’re hot,” I say, kissing his lips.

  “Yeah, well, I’m cursed that my wife is so damn hot. Can’t keep them off of you.”

  “Well, I did wear my best yoga pants,” I say, and shrug.

  “I told you your ass looked too good in them.”

  “Give me my smile,” I say, and he does as I ask.

  He beams at me, giving me that cocky-ass grin with dimples showing. I kiss each one before I kiss his lips, and he grinds against me.

  “You get turned on when you get jealous,” I mumble against his lips.

  “I get turned on when I’ve got you in my arms. And you damn well know it.”

  “Maybe you should remind me,” I push.

  I’m not disappointed when he throws me over his shoulder and tells my sister and Ivan to take the girls home. He’s got something he needs to take care of, and it has to do with my sassy mouth.

  God, I love my man.

  * * * * *

  For more books from Alexa Riley, visit alexariley.com.

  Enjoy a sneak peek at this unedited excerpt of

  CLAIMED: A FOR HER NOVEL

  The next full-length novel from Alexa Riley

  Coming April 2018

  Chapter 1

  Jordan

  “Yo, Pop!” I yell through the house as I close the front door behind me.

  I can see through the kitchen out onto the back porch where he’s sitting. I make my way out to him and glance around the place as I go.

  This was my childhood home, so this place is more familiar to me than anywhere. Walking down the hall, I automatically kiss my fingers and touch the picture of my mom hanging on the wall as I pass, silently saying hello to her like every time I enter the house.

  I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in a small suburb on the edges of Queens. It was safe and clean, and when I was a kid I played for hours on the streets outside the house with my buddies. So many good memories surround this place, and I always feel safe when I come home.

  My mom and dad were second-generation immigrants, so tradition is the most important thing. When my mom died when I was seventeen, I thought it might be the end of my dad. Hell, I’d thought it might be the end of me, too. She was the light of our lives and the center of our trio. Her death was also the reason for the scar on my face.

  “There you are. Where’s my scratch-off?”

  My dad smiles, and the lines around his eyes crinkle. He’s sitting on the back deck with the newspaper and a cup of coffee, his standard spot for Sunday afternoon. I finished up sparring with the guys and Paige, and headed out to spend the rest of my day relaxing with Dad like we do every Sunday.

  I hand him his ticket, and he pulls a coin out of his pocket, kissing it before he starts scratching it. I smile at him and shake my head. I guess we’ve both got our superstitions.

  He doesn’t buy the scratch-off tickets himself, so I have to do it for him. I think it’s his own way of restraining himself, and this way he’s not responsible if he loses, I am. I come out to see him every Sunday, and this is always our routine. Sometimes I come home in the middle of the week, but he’s so busy that most of the time he’s not even home.

  I’m lucky that my dad is still healthy and has a solid group of friends who keep him on the go. He’s got more going on his social calendar in one week than I do in a month. It’s nice not having to worry so much and to know that at least part of him is happy. I know he’ll never get over losing Mom, just like I won’t, but he’s been able to live his life, and that’s what she would’ve wanted.

  When he’s finished scratching, he’s got a winner and slides it back to me. Then he puts the coin away and winks at me. “Press it for next week.”

  I put the winner in my pocket and nod, knowing he’ll probably hit another then, too. The old man has more luck then anybody I’ve ever met.

  Pop leans forward and looks over the top of his bifocals. “How’s our girl?”

  I glance down at my watch and then roll my eyes. “That only took about five minutes this time.”

  His smile widens as he waits for me to answer him. I ignore him and try to change the subject. He’s been on me about her for a while, knowing that I’m already in love with her. If it was up to him, we’d be married with grandbabies on the way.

  “Your tomatoes are coming in.”

  “Oh, she’s got you all twisted up today.”

  I grip the edges of the chair and try not to let him bait me. Pop can be like a dog with a bone when he wants.

  “Already got her eyes on someone else?”

  “No,” I snap, and then realize I walked right into his trap. I let out a sigh and drop my head in my hands. “She’s fine. Still the same.”

  “Ahh. You know, Jordan, I remember the first time I saw your mother.”

  “I know, Pop. You were at the middle school dance and spotted her on the other side of the room. She was the new girl in town, and you wanted to go over and introduce yourself. The rest was history.”

  He nods, then smiles and looks away, reliving the memory in his mind. There were times when he couldn’t recall it without tears, but the older he gets, the more the memories stay happy ones. I wonder if it’s because he thinks he’s getting closer to the time when he can see her again.

  Once he comes back from the stroll down memory lane, he shrugs one shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with being friends first. It just means the first steps will be the strongest. Take your time. But don’t take too long.”

  Pop picks up his crossword and goes back to it while I sit there, silently brooding. He’s right, but he doesn’t know the whole story. Or who I’m even hung up on.

  I love my dad, but I don’t tell him everything. He knows me well enough to know I’ve got my eye on someone. But I haven’t told him her name. He also knows me well enough to know that I haven’t made a move yet. But I haven’t told him why.

  How can I explain it? I guess I could come out and say that I work with a woman so beautiful I can hardly look her in the eyes. That before she spoke a word to me, every cell in my body ached to reach for her. That she’s so utterly perfect, I’m not sure she even notices me like that.

  I rub my temples and think about how I’ve been locked in the friendzone, with no means of escape.

  Jay is the administrative assistant to Miles Osbourne, so essentially, she’s the gatekeeper for the entire company. If you need Miles, you go through her, but as the old saying goes: though she be little, she is mighty.

  She’s small and perky, friendly to everyone she meets. But there’s a pit bull inside of her, and I’ve seen her take a grown man down a few pegs on several occasions.

  The first time I saw her, I’d had to run up to the top floor to deliver some intel to Miles. Ryan, my boss, had asked me to run some documents upstairs because he was on his way out. It wasn’t anything above my security clearance, not that there wasn’t something I couldn’t find if I wanted to, so it was an easy drop.

  When I stepped off the elevator, I saw her. And that was that.

  One look at her and I heard the voice of my father echoing in the back of my mind. When you know, y
ou know. That first glance at Jay, and boy, did I know.

  It was all a blur, but I’ll never forget her chestnut-colored hair in a knot at the nape of her neck. The way her glasses slipped down her nose to reveal big, round, chocolate eyes looking at me expectantly. The way her top lip was fuller than the bottom, and how her fingers held her pen. All of that is burned into my brain, yet it feels like a dream.

  Without realizing it, one second I was dropping off papers, and the next she was asking me if I wanted to eat in the cafeteria with her. I don’t even think I answered her, I just followed along and got a tray of food. She was friendly and talked nonstop, but nothing beyond that. She kept her distance, and I’m pretty sure I only said about three words the whole time, but it was nice. The nicest meal I’d ever had.

  “You’re overthinking,” my pop tuts, and I ignore him.

  He’s right, but it’s complicated. Isn’t it? I don’t want to mess things up. I’d rather be in the friendzone with her than be nothing at all.

  “I’m going to take a look at your computer and make sure you haven’t turned that virus software off yet,” I say, pushing away from the patio table and going in the house.

  “The damn thing slows down my solitaire game,” Pop yells from the porch, and I shake my head. That’s all he thinks a computer is good for.

  I spend the afternoon cleaning up his software and then walking with him to the market and helping him bring groceries back home. We cook Sunday dinner, and some of his friends come over to eat and give me a hard time about not being married or having any kids yet.

  Old men are almost as bad as the ladies. But these widowers are old softies to the core, and they all want grandkids. Some of them have their own, but apparently a lot is never enough.

  When they break out the cards, I call it a night and head back into the city. I’ve got a place on the Upper East Side that I got for a deal when I was twenty-five. I’ve fixed it up, and though it’s simple, it’s palatial by New York standards, and it’s all mine.

  I take the subway back home and think about Jay the entire ride back. I always think about her this time of night. I wonder what she’s doing, who she’s with, and if she’s thinking of me.

  It’s the worst part of the weekend, being away from her. And the reason why I love Mondays so much. Another chance to see her, another chance to be near her. It’s the day I look forward to the most.

  Look for

  CLAIMED: A FOR HER NOVEL

  by Alexa Riley

  Coming April 2018

  From Carina Press

  In print, digital and audio

  In stores and online

  Copyright © 2018 by Author Alexa Riley LLC

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to Carina Press for loving our stories and not allowing us to leave this world. Our readers are grateful to everyone there, and so are we! Lots of love to our editor Angela James for knowing our voice and letting us roll around in this one on our own. Don’t ever let it be said that you don’t know how to herd cats!

  To our friends...thank you for stealing us away on signing vacations to help keep us sane. To our husbands, thank you for putting up with our crabby attitudes, late-night writing sessions and forgetting to cook dinner. Again. You are the butter on our bread...and we mean the full-fat kind.

  And to our readers. You guys begged for more, and we gave it to you. Although now we’re terrified we’ve fed the beast and you won’t take no for an answer. Thank you for your kind emails, social media messages and words of encouragement. It means so much to us that you’re a part of our stories. We hope you love this book just as much as we love you.

  Also available from Alexa Riley and Carina Press

  Everything for Her

  His Alone

  Stay Close

  Hold Tight

  Coming Spring 2018 from Alexa Riley and Carina Press

  Claimed: A For Her Novel

  About the Author

  Alexa Riley is a pseudonym for the sassy dynamic duo of Melissa King and Lea Robinson. Both are married moms of two who love football, doughnuts and obsessed heroes in novels. They bonded over their love of steamy reads in the summer of 2013 and haven’t been able to stop talking since. As a team, they are New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling authors.

  Alexa Riley specializes in insta-love, over-the-top sweet and cheesy love stories that don’t take all year to read. If you want something safe, short and always with a happily-ever-after, then these are your girls.

  Connect with Alexa Riley!

  AlexaRiley.com

  Facebook.com/AlexaRileyAR

  Twitter.com/_AlexaRiley

  Instagram.com/AuthorAlexaRiley

  Introducing the Carina Press Romance Promise!

  The Carina Press team all have one thing in common: we are romance readers with a longtime love of the genre. And we know what readers are looking for in a romance: a guarantee of a happily-ever-after (HEA) or happy-for-now (HFN). With that in mind, we’re initiating the Carina Press Romance Promise. When you see a book tagged with these words in our cover copy/book description, we’re making you, the reader, a very important promise:

  This book contains a romance central to the plot and ends in an HEA or HFN.

  Simple, right? But so important, we know!

  Look for the Carina Press Romance Promise and one-click with confidence that we understand what’s at the heart of the romance genre!

  Look for this line in Carina Press book descriptions:

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

  Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise.

  Find out more at CarinaPress.com.

  The first full-length novel series from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author

  ALEXA RILEY

  EVERYTHING FOR HER

  Mallory Sullivan never expected Oz to be the greatest culmination of her dreams. But sometimes fate determines who you fall in love with. Who makes you lose control. Who owns your soul.

  And then you realize it wasn’t fate at all...

  HIS ALONE

  Paige Turner is trying to outrun her past, but there it is, tossed back in her face anytime she manages to get two steps ahead. As soon as she is ready for revenge, her boss, Ryan Justice, gets in her way and takes her off course. Ryan will stop at nothing to make her his. Before she knows it, he has made his way into her life and into her heart...

  STAY CLOSE

  A former Russian-mafia soldier is hired to protect a friend’s young daughter, but he knows he’ll do more than keep her safe—he’ll make her his. Forever.

  “I devour every single delicious word Alexa Riley writes.”

  —#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Maya Banks

  Grab your copy now!

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  A self-made man with his fingers in a variety of successful businesses, Jace Kennedy lives for the challenge and he always gets what he wants. From the start, he sees Vivienne Moore’s hidden wild side and knows she’s his perfect match, if only he can break it free. He’s proud of who he is and where he came from, and he’ll be damned if he lets Vivienne go before showing her the safest place of all is in the arms of a dangerous man.

  “Gritty,
raw, and a side dose of sweet lovin’. ROUGH & TUMBLE by Rhenna Morgan will warm your heart and melt your panties.”

  —#1 New York Times bestselling author Audrey Carlan (Calendar Girl series)

  “A must read!”

  —RT Book Reviews, 5 stars, Top Pick!

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  Zeke Dugan is not a man who walks the straight and narrow. He may have sworn an oath as a trauma doc, but he has zero problem leveraging his medical skills outside a hospital if it means giving the Brotherhood—the group of men he calls family—an advantage. Blood before business. All that changes when shy Gabrielle stumbles into his life and ignites his protective instincts.

  CLAIM & PROTECT

  Trevor Raines lives on the edge of legal. A good guy doing bad things to save lives, the only rules he follows are the Brotherhood’s, and there’s nothing in the world that will change that. That is, until Natalie Jordan walks into his life. She’s a woman with a plan, and the plan doesn’t include a man with secrets, no matter how kind—or intoxicating—he is. Trevor has no interest in settling down, but there’s something entirely too appealing about the woman he can’t stay away from.

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  PRETTY FACE

  It’s not actress Lily Lamprey’s fault that she’s all curves and has the kind of voice that can fog up a camera lens. She wants to prove where her real talents lie—and that’s not on a casting couch, thank you. When she hears esteemed director Luc Savage is renovating a legendary West End theater for a lofty new production, she knows it could be her chance—if only Luc wasn’t so dictatorial, so bad-tempered...and so incredibly sexy.