The slice of morning light coming through the curtains illuminated his face, showing his mounting exasperation, but he did as requested. “I love you,” kiss on the neck, “I love you,” kiss on the chin, “I love you,” kiss on the nose. “Happy?”
I chuckled, feeling ridiculously cutesy and ridiculously happy. Who would have guessed we would ever be this way together? I was going to savor every moment of it. “Yes, I am.”
Ian’s eyes moved over my face, his disgruntled expression fading. “Me, too,” he whispered.
We gazed into each other’s eyes for a long time. The air in my lungs expanded and the feeling of completeness caused my skin to tingle. At the same time, we reached for each other, our lips pressing together as we poured everything we felt into each other.
My phone rang.
Ian’s brow rose. “You gonna get that?” he asked against my mouth.
“Nah. If it’s important they’ll call back.” I reclaimed his mouth and deepened the kiss.
Things had just started heating up when the phone rang again. We both pulled back and sighed. “Guess it’s important,” Ian said, rolling off of me so I could retrieve my cell phone.
I wrapped the sheet around my breasts as I leaned over to get my phone from my purse. When I found it, I looked at the caller I.D. “It’s Amery,” I said, answering it. “Hel-lo?”
“If you two can manage to tear yourselves out of bed for a few hours, come meet us for brunch at Luna’s.”
“Good morning to you, too,” I said with a laugh, glancing backward as Ian sat up and rested one leg on either side of me. Amery, I mouthed. I leaned back against him and sighed as his teeth nipped at the back of my neck.
“Yeah, I bet it is,” Amery said. I could hear the knowing smile in her voice. “Anyway, eleven o’clock. Be there or—”
“Be square?” I asked, biting down on my lip as Ian’s hand slid beneath the sheet to cup one of my breasts.
“I was going to say, or be the topic of conversation. But that works, too.”
I shuddered a breath. “Oh, I imagine I am already. Let me talk to Ian, and I’ll get back to you.”
I disconnected the call, leaning against Ian’s chest as his hand trailed down my stomach and even lower. A soft sigh exited my mouth and my eyes closed as his hand leisurely began stroking between my legs.
“What did she want?” he asked, his lips fluttering against my ear.
“Food. Um, I mean, they’re all getting together for lunch and we’re… oh….”
“Are you hungry?” Ian asked casually, as if oblivious to the heights he was bringing me to with his hand. “I’m hungry.”
I moaned. “What else is new?”
“You’re not hungry?”
“Starving, actually. I’m just...”
He grinned against my temple. “Having a hard time concentrating?” He slid two fingers inside me.
“Oh, God!” I gasped, feeling like I’d been stuck by a live wire.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Just a little,” I rasped, finding it difficult to form coherent speech. “Someone’s distracting me.”
“I can stop, if you want?”
I shook my head. “No!”
“No?” he asked, burying his nose in my neck so quickly that I tensed and erupted into ticklish giggles.
Before I could issue a protest, he withdrew his fingers and repositioned us so I was once again lying beneath him. Gazing up into his mossy eyes, my laughter tapered off. That hungry look was back on his face, the one from the first night we’d been together. Blood surged from my fingertips to my toes, and I writhed beneath him, eagerly awaiting him to touch me again.
Putting his weight on one arm, he reached out for another condom – the last in the box. I put more on my mental shopping list. He sat back on his knees to roll it on. Before I could even beg him to hurry up, he was positioning himself between my legs and sliding home. We both groaned. We both sighed. He dropped his forehead to mine. “How much time do we have?” he gritted out between clenched teeth.
“Half an hour, or so,” I told him. “And all the time in the world.”
He smirked, rearing back and pushing into me again. “I like the way you think.”
***
“Ever get the feeling that people were just talking about you?” Ian whispered as we stood just inside the entrance of Luna’s. It was his attempt at lightening the mood, but I didn’t find it the slightest bit funny. People were staring at us and not even trying to hide it. Ian trapped my hand in his; he must have sensed my flight instincts kicking in.
As I saw it, I had two options. I could leave the restaurant now, go into hiding like a big coward, and wait until bigger news was making the rounds on campus, or I could stand up tall, cross the room to join my friends.
Looking over into Ian’s face, I smiled. “Come on.”
“Well, look who it is,” Casey said with a big grin as we reached the booth they occupied. “Ironwood’s very own reality stars.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” I asked as I slid into the booth. Ian slid in next to me and dropped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me in close.
Casey shrugged. “Just kind of popped into my head.”
“It’s not a bad comparison,” Amery said. “You are the closest thing we have to local celebrities.”
I sighed. “Give it to me straight. How bad is it?”
Amery’s head tilted to the side as she considered my question. “Well, that’s a matter of opinion. I mean, it’s all anybody has been talking about all morning...”
“How many people could have really been listening last night?” Ian asked, his voice skeptical. “My show has what, eight listeners? Tops?”
“I don’t know about that, but even those who didn’t hear the show last night have heard all about it by now. I even had people approach me about it before class this morning.”
“Me, too,” Chelsea said. “People know we live together, so they figured I’ve got the inside scoop.”
“What inside scoop?” I asked. “They pretty much heard everything there was to hear on the radio last night.”
“I think they want confirmation that...you know.” Amery’s eyebrows waggled suggestively.
“That we did the deed?” Talk about nosy and intrusive.
Amery shrugged. “Like I said, it’s the whole celebrity thing. Either way, you should enjoy it. You’re the envy of all the girls, while Ian is now considered the most romantic man on campus.”
Catching Ian’s smirk, I pinched his leg.
“Sure,” I said to Amery, “the girls all envy me because they’re not the subject of people’s scrutiny.”
“Don't you think you’re overreacting?” Chelsea asked.
I shot a glance around the restaurant, and sure enough, more than a dozen eyes were turned our way. “Look around; everyone in here keeps looking at us.”
Chelsea looked and laughed. “Wow, they kind of are.”
“See. It’s like they’re waiting for our heads to spin around or something.”
“Ignore them then,” Amery advised. “Don’t make a big deal of it. They’ll get bored and find something else to talk about.”
Amery was probably right. Sighing, I grabbed a menu from the middle of the table and held it open between myself and Ian. “Have you guys ordered?”
“Just drinks,” Casey answered.
My stomach growled as I studied the menu. Now that I was here, I almost felt weak with hunger. An all-night sex marathon tended to do that to me. I had just decided what I wanted to eat when I saw someone stopping at the table. I looked up to see Jayden waiting. Right on time.
“Hey, Jayden, what are you doing here?” I asked, my voice sweet as honey and slick as oil.
“Yeah, what are you doing here?” Ian asked.
I elbowed him in the ribs. “Behave.”
“Um, you told me to come,” Jayden said.
I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I had, having called him
when Ian was in the shower. But he had obviously missed the ‘just happened to stop by,' excuse I’d provided him with. Men could be so dense!
“Yeah, and that was supposed to be a secret,” I said quietly, causing him to flush in embarrassment. “Anyway. You remember my friends, right? Casey, Chelsea, Amery?”
He smiled crookedly at Amery. “Hello.”
“And Amery, you remember Jayden, right?”
Amery gave me a long questioning stare and I smiled. She tore her eyes away from me and smiled up at Jayden. “Yeah. Hi.”
“Good, so why don’t you join us. Look there’s an empty seat next to Amery. Sit, talk. We’re just getting ready to order.”
Ian peered at me. “So, it’s Amery and Jayden, now?” he asked.
“Yes. Or I have a feeling it will be,” I murmured out of the corner of my mouth. “Trust me.”
He nodded. “I do.”
Jayden sat down and looked around the restaurant with a frown. “I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but it seems like everyone is looking over here.”
Wow, someone who didn’t know what happened the night before. How refreshing.
“No, I haven’t noticed anything,” Amery said. “Have you, Ivy?”
I leaned into Ian’s side with a small smile. “Nah. It must be your imagination.”
EPILOGUE
TWO WEEKS LATER
“Where the hell are my headphones?”
I bit my lip down on a giggle as I watched Ian spin around. “Where’d you leave ‘em?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking, now, would I?” He patted himself down from his neck to hips, then spun another circle.
I couldn’t hold the laughter back anymore when he actually shimmied his hips, as if trying to shake them loose.
Ian stopped mid-spin to turn to look at me. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, while I tried to keep my face absolutely blank. “You have them,” he finally said.
I widened my eyes and brought my hand to my chest. “Moi?”
“You do, don’t you?”
Lifting my leg onto his chair, I sat forward and brought them out from behind my back, letting them dangle on the tip of my pointer-finger. “Well, maybe.”
Ian reached out for them, but I yanked my hand back and out of his reach. “I don’t think so, bub. You have to pay the toll, first.”
With a soft snort of laughter that quickly transformed into a grin, Ian dropped to his knees before me and pulled me down on his lap. I tossed my head back and laughed, then looked down into his green eyes and pressed my mouth to his. Feeling a little curl in my lower belly, I deepened the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck and sighing when his flingers started to slide under my skirt.
Amery cleared her throat. “Ugh, would you two cut that out, please? We do have a show to do.”
Pulling my mouth away, I smiled. “Sorry, Amery.”
“I’m not,” Ian murmured, leaning in to put his mouth on my neck.
“Is this gonna become a normal thing? Because, while I’m really happy for you two, I just don’t know how much I can handle. And I just heard that the campus television station is hiring interns.”
“Don’t tease us like that, Amery. You know you’d never want to leave us.”
“Much more of that, and I will.”
Tearing myself away from Ian, I climbed into my chair. Ian did the same, smoothing his hair back and whistling out a breath. When he looked to have gained more control, he wound his headphones around his neck and turned his attention to the computer. “Ten seconds.”
Winking at him, I counted down the remaining seconds and then flipped the switch.
“Welcome back, Razorbacks, to the long-awaited return of The Truths about Dating and Mating, with Ian Hollister and Ivy Rossini! You heard that right. We’re back on the air, thanks to you, and hotter than ever.”
“That’s right, listeners,” Ian said. “Calls, emails, and texts have flown into the station, requesting our speedy return, so here we are, back in action, and ready to answer your questions.”
“So pick up those phones and give us a call,” I said. “We have lost time to make up for and want to hear everything we’ve been missing. And that number, in case you’ve forgotten, is 555-KRAZ.”
“But before we begin,” Ian reached out for my hand, twining his fingers in mine, “let me preface tonight’s show by saying that, as recent events have taught us, even we don’t have all the right answers. The real truth is, no one has all the right answers. Sometimes you just have to follow your gut and do what’s right for you, regardless of what others say. But, if still find yourself in need of some friendly advice, then we’ll be here, and we promise to do our best to steer you in the right direction. The rest, as they say, is up to you.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Mom, Dad, John and Linda for your support, love, encouragement, and advice.
Thanks to my incredible husband, Jim, who has put up with my obsession to get this done the last year, been there to offer support and positive words when I started getting down on myself, and for reminding me why I write in the first place. I love you! (And I promise to start doing more of the housework soon.)
Major love to “Seph” and “C-Dub” for being my little cuties and putting up with mommy being busy all the time.
Thanks to Juliana Haygert., Jaybird, Suzanne R., my sister Angela B., and everyone else who has beta’d or even just looked over parts of my story, also to Stephanie Lott for editing services.
Thanks to my CP Victoria Smith, who has helped push me into being a better writer this last year, been there to chat, laugh with and rant to. She’s co-hosted many a blog hops with me, helped start NA Alley, and has sent me great texts (21 fun!). You rock, girl!
Thanks to Amery, Ivy, Nathan, Jim, Carrie, Angela, and Casey for allowing me the use of their names.
Thanks to the awesome and incredibly supportive blogging community for reading my excerpts, participating in my blog hops, and being willing to host my virtual tour and taken times out of their busy schedule to read my blog.
Thanks to my incredible NA Sisters for your support, fun discussions, and lively debates. You ladies are just wonderful!
And thanks to anyone who has read enough of my book to get to this section!
About Jaycee DeLorenzo
Jaycee DeLorenzo hails from Tucson, Arizona, on the outskirts of the Saguaro National Park – which she believes to be the most beautiful spread of desert in the world. By day, Jaycee is an English language teacher to elementary students. By night, she’s a wife, mother, writer, cover artist, website designer, and blogger. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, singing (very poorly), catching up on her favorite T.V. shows, and researching.
The Truths about Dating and Mating is Jaycee's debut novel, and the first in a series centering around students of the fictitious Riordan College.
Author Contact:
Website: http://jayceedelorenzo.com
Blog: http://blog.jayceedelorenzo.com
Twitter: @jayceedelorenzo
Facebook: jaycee.delorenzo
Sample of Ocean Kills by Jade Hart
This excerpt is a pre-edited version. Ocean Kills, book one of Ocean Breeze Series, is due for release December 2012. ARC’s (advanced reader copies) are available to anyone who will post honest reviews. Please contact Jade Hart on [email protected] for more details.
Author contact details:
email: [email protected]
Twitter: Jadehart8
Facebook: JadeHartAuthorPage
Blog: www.dreamwritepublish.blogspot.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16057779-ocean-kills
Chapter One: Ocean
My name is Ocean Breeze. Yep. Ocean freakin' Breeze. It was my mom's attempt at some posh-sounding name. She was inspired by—get this—a bottle of toilet air-freshener. My heart squeezed at the thought of a cookie-scented woman with hugs that held sunshine.
The sound of my Nikes pummelling the pavement chased away my thoughts. The slapping of rubber against asphalt was similar to the slap the last prostitute-abusing john gave me. Stinking bastard. No one raises a hand to Ocean Breeze without losing an appendage. Or more, as the case may be.
I swiped my hands on my vinyl, red miniskirt. It wasn't exactly an attractive outfit—Nikes with a miniskirt? But I've learned the hard way. Running in heels never worked. Ever. The sleazy men who paid for sex didn't care what was on my feet, only what was between them.
I jumped and jived through the crowd. It was two in the morning, and the streets of Kings Cross, Sydney, were a hive of activity. Drunken students hauled themselves from karaoke clubs. Rich business men back-slapped each other for the lap dance from the uni-student, who pocketed their tips to pay for her law degree. This place was full of clichés and smut.
And I loved it.
I could disappear here. I was a nobody. Even boasting a pair of ruby lips and a figure that could've graced the center fold of Playboy, I didn’t stand out. Beauty was coveted in the Cross, and plastic surgery was the salvation if nature didn’t do the work.
So why was I running?
I just killed a guy. That's why.
I bolted past the three-story sized Coca-Cola advertisement, blazing red and white, and disappeared into an alley full of meth-heads and crack whores. I leaped over comatose figures, sprinting toward the city centre. Keep running. Get far away.
The night was heavy with muggy heat, unusual for this time of year, and sweat made my miniskirt slide against my thighs.
Kings Cross embraced sin and naughtiness. The suburb encouraged unleashed pleasure and endless partying. It also encouraged rapists and murderers who lurked in the shadows. . . waiting.
A flash of blue and red lights.
Sirens.
Fuck! I pirouetted on my heel and charged down another alley, passing a gay club blasting Kylie Minogue. Ugh.
“You! Stop!”
Yeah, no chance of that, Fat Cop. I flipped him the bird, and kept running. He jumped back in his cruiser and gave chase. Lazy bastard. Too many kebabs and doughnuts for that slob. He wouldn't catch me. No one ever caught me.
The Truths about Dating and Mating Page 31
