by Skye Jordan
He was standing and clapping along with the rest of the audience, but Lexi’s hearing seemed to have gone, because it all sounded muted now. All she could focus on was the beam of his smile, the sparkle in his eyes.
This was the moment each designer brought out those significant to the line and shared them with the audience in a show of appreciation. Designers often brought their wives, husbands, business partners, or a special model onto the runway. Lexi had always been up here alone.
Now, she managed to reach out to Jax.
When he stepped forward and took her hand, everything turned dreamlike. The applause dimmed. Her vision narrowed to include only Jax. And time seemed to float as Lexi tugged him forward. With one smooth leap, he stood on the runway with her.
She circled his waist beneath the blazer. Jax’s hands cupped her face, and he looked down at her with love and tears in his eyes. His lips moved as he spoke, but Lexi couldn’t hear a thing over the noise. She didn’t know if he was with another woman now, didn’t know if he still saw their differences as too large to bridge, only knew she needed to feel his lips on hers. Lexi pushed up on tiptoes to kiss him.
“I told you to come as you were.” She forced the words louder than felt comfortable to make sure he heard them.
He leaned down, put his mouth by her ear. “I did. This is part of who I am too. I was just resisting that uncomfortable merge.”
He pulled back, and the expression in his eyes when he looked down at her again was filled with so much love, Lexi’s heart flipped in her chest.
Jax pulled her face close, pressing his mouth hard against hers. Then he opened to her, and in that moment she knew he was still hers. A whole new sensation of relief and gratitude and excitement flooded her body.
Sound and sensation rush back in. The applause pierced her eardrums.
In her peripheral vision, Lexi saw two of the models approach Jax from behind. She smiled into his eyes and lifted her hands to the knot of his tie at the same moment as the models stood on either side of him and slipped his blazer off his shoulders and down his arms.
He darted a surprised look at the women, then a questioning look at Lexi.
“I love all of you,” she said as she loosened his tie and unfastened the buttons of his shirt to the increasing roar of the crowd. “And I want them all to see my inspiration for the new line.”
Then the models slipped the shirt from his shoulders. Lexi couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him the way she wished she’d been able to kiss him for the last six weeks. Jax kissed her back, his mouth generous, his lips unsteady with laughter and emotion. She guessed it was the actor in him that played up to the crowd and leaned her into a deep dip onstage, kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.
He finally brought her upright and pulled out of the kiss. Lexi beamed, held tight to one hand, and turned toward the roaring crowd with a sweeping gesture toward all his stunning male beauty, including his tattoo.
The crowd exploded with approval. Jax laughed, bowed graciously, then swung an arm around Lexi’s shoulders and turned her toward the archway, walking her offstage.
Jax’s heart was hammering as they walked through the rows of lingerie-clad models, all grinning and clapping. As soon as they stepped off the runway, Jax pulled Lexi aside and kissed her like he was possessed.
She didn’t flinch, didn’t push him away. Even as models and announcers and others passed by, she just kept kissing him.
She finally broke away, stroking his face with warm fingers and taking him in as if she’d never seen him before. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
Tears streamed down her face. He lifted a hand from her waist to wipe them away. “Baby…”
He couldn’t find the words. He was overwhelmed. He’d never felt so completely accepted or loved in his entire life.
“Excuse me,” a voice said behind them. “Lexi, can we have a minute?”
Lexi glanced past Jax, and he turned to see Martina standing nearby with another tall woman. One of the models came over and handed Jax his clothes. Along the runway, the audience remained abuzz.
Jax’s nerves returned. “I’ll give you a minute while I get dressed.”
“No.” She squeezed his hand. “You’re part of my life, and if they want me, they have to take all of me, which includes you. Stay with me.”
Martina looked both contrite and excited as she introduced the head of Galliano’s board of directors. Neither of them looked Jax in the eye again after a quick acknowledgment, which didn’t bother him in the least. The only woman whose opinion mattered to him was Lexi’s.
She patiently listened to Martina’s retraction of her earlier statements and the board director gush over Lexi’s designs. When the offer for the partnership came, Jax squeezed her hand.
Lexi grinned at Jax briefly, then turned to the women. “Thank you. It’s a fabulous offer, and I’ll seriously consider it. I’ll get back to you next week sometime.”
Both women’s expressions fell from polite excitement to shock.
Lexi turned to Jax and slid her arm around his waist. “I’m ready to go. How about you?”
He only nodded, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and followed her lead as she led the way deeper backstage.
Jax stopped her again before they reached the area where photographers crawled over the space.
She glanced up at him. “What?”
“Photographers…”
She grinned. “You can’t be camera shy.”
He laughed with the joy of feeling so complete. Then he circled her in his arms and sobered. “I should never have left you that night,” he said, his voice a hoarse murmur. “I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve missed you so much. I’m so sorry—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Just tell me you’ll stay.”
“I’ll stay.” He lowered his lips to hers, whispering, “Always.”
Looking for your next great read? Look no further!
NICE GIRL TO LOVE
by bestselling author VIOLET DUKE
Available now: Amazon and all other major etailers
NICE GIRL TO LOVE (The Complete Three-Book Collection)
This is the complete boxed set collection of the international bestselling Nice Girl to Love serial romance trilogy, which contains: Resisting the Bad Boy (Book One), Falling for the Good Guy (Book Two), and Choosing the Right Man (Book Three).
THE ONE SHE NEVER THOUGHT SHE COULD KEEP…
Abby Bartlett is the quintessential nice girl. Between teaching, volunteering, completing her PhD, and helping her best friend raise his daughter, Abby never gets the chance to be anything but nice. That is, until the all-wrong-for-her man she's only ever known from afar starts daring her to simply take that chance for herself. His sage advice? Try something wild and fast. Preferably him.
An unbridled, hotshot attorney with a not-so-little black book, Connor Sullivan has earned himself quite the bad boy reputation. But in his defense, he's a very conscientious one. He knows far too well that sometimes in life, love isn't enough…or worse, not even a factor at all. To avoid that misery-and repel the drama-Connor has a firm 'nothing over a month' rule. Who knew a nice girl would be the one to make him want to break all his rules?
THE ONE SHE NEVER HOPED SHE COULD HAVE…
Abby is well aware that everyone thinks she's in love with her best friend Brian. He is, after all, the type of man a nice girl should be with-the polar opposite of the bad boy-the kind of guy who didn't let his wife's decade-long illness stop him from showering her with a lifetime of love every second until her dying day. But everyone's wrong; she couldn't possibly be in love with him. Because she's never once allowed herself that option.
It's taken a while but Brian has finally come to terms with surviving the woman he spent half his life loving, a third of it losing. Truth is though, he wouldn't have 'survived' any of it really had it not been for Abby-sweet, incredible Abby-the woman h
e's never once had to picture his life without, never realized he couldn't truly live without. Until now. Now that he's finally able to love her the way she deserves, the way he knows she wants to be loved…by his brother. Who's giving him exactly one chance to speak now or forever hold his peace.
A DECISION SHE NEVER DREAMED SHE'D HAVE TO MAKE…
And now it's up to Abby to decide between the bad boy wanting to start a life with her and the good guy fighting for the life they've already built.
Available now: Amazon and all other major etailers
Sneak Peak: NICE GIRL TO LOVE
by bestselling author VIOLET DUKE
Available now: Amazon and all other major etailers
Excerpt from book 3, CHOOSING THE RIGHT MAN.
“I don't get why those women gossip about me,” Connor grumbled. “I'm not really all that interesting.”
“They seem to disagree. They went on and on about pool hall brawls and sex clubs…”
He rolled his eyes. “The first is only partly true and the second not at all.”
“Aw. Brian will be so disappointed,” she teased. “He's been making cracks about all your sexual conquests for at least the last decade or so.”
Oh, he has, has he? He made a mental note to kick Brian's ass later. “Yeah, well my brother tends to have a flair for the dramatic.”
“Really?” Another impish grin. “So no plundering or pillaging to speak of?”
Trust a future English professor to get him all hot and horny with choice vocabulary words. “Nope, sorry,” he downplayed.
“I don't think I believe you,” she sang out, hopping onto the bed and propping herself up on a pillow, heels kicking in the air as if they were about to exchange sleepover stories. “In fact, I think you're going to have to let me be the judge of that. Tell me the most supremely wicked thing you've ever done.”
“I am not having this discussion with you.”
“Why not?” Abby lowered her gaze down to his zipper, which seemed to be moving telekinetically. “Uncomfortable?”
He crouched over a bit more.
“C'mon. I'm curious about your hedonistic ways,” she kept on, clearly amused by his discomfort. “Are we talking secret society orgies with whips and chains?”
“What?! God, no.”
“Backdoor action? Threesomes?”
He averted his gaze to study a missed stitching in the rug he never noticed before.
“Seriously?” That quieted her, and boggled her eyes quite a bit. “Were they with two women or are you a 'Devil's Three Way' kind of guy?”
Where the hell did she learn that term? Attempting to clear his throat was suddenly very difficult. “Uh…both.”
She let out a faint whistle. “Wow.” Okay, she looked far too curious now for her own good.
“But I haven't done either in a while. It was all pretty much consolidated to one year of my life a long time ago.”
“You didn't enjoy it?”
“I didn't say that.” He shrugged. “Honestly, it was fun and exciting at the time but it got old fast. It's a ton more work than pornos make it out to be.”
“Well, what if it were me and another girl satisfying your every carnal desire? Would you still feel like it was work?”
He nodded. And meant it. “Another woman would just end up getting in the way. Plus, she'd get all pissy that I'd be focusing solely on you and that's never fun.”
She bit her lip, a reluctant smile peeking through regardless. “What a sweet, utterly disturbing compliment.” Her expression turned contemplative then. “Well what about you, me, and another guy?”
“Oh, hell no.” He scowled. No way was he inviting some other man to see her, let alone touch her. A low growl rumbled in his chest. No, just no. The thought of it made him...jealous. An altogether unfamiliar and extremely unpleasant feeling.
“Oookay. Then how about the other thing? The…you know?” She turned a sweet shade of pink and shook her heinie in the air.
Holy hell, but the woman was trying to kill him. “Abby, you don't have to do any of that for me. Honest. Contrary to what the rumor mill spews out, I'm not some kinky sex fanatic. When you and I eventually get together, it's going to be plenty hot, believe me. We won't need any of those bells and whistles.” As he said it, he realized how true a statement that was. Just kissing Abby last night had been ten times more intoxicating than some of the more down and dirty romps he'd had with other women in his past.
“Hmm.” She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, silently thoughtful, a small smile playing on her lips.
Good god, what was she thinking now? Already, this kinky interview from hell had him ten degrees past aroused. His own fault for coming in here, really. It was way past time for him to leave.
But just as he stood to go grab what was unequivocally going to be a very cold shower, Abby sat back up and called out casually, “Hey, could you toss me my lotion?” She pointed at the dresser behind him. “My legs get so dry here in the summers without it.”
Such an innocent request.
That he didn't trust for one second.
He was sure this was going to be a look but don't touch deal with her lathering up those gorgeous legs of hers while he sat there like schmuck. Staring, no doubt. He narrowed his eyes and began silently listing all the ways he was going to pay her back for this when her two-week stay here was up. Slapping an unaffected look on his face, he passed her the lotion, forcibly blocking all the erotic lotion-inspired images that were attempting to take over his brain. Evil woman. Only a day into their no-sex agreement and already he was closer to begging than he cared to admit.
While avoiding direct eye contact with the skin smoothing extravaganza, his gaze strayed to the partially open plastic bag sitting atop her dresser. It was over at the other end but he recognized the hot purple logo on the bag immediately.
Just like that, every muscle in his body stopped working.
Well, save one, that is.
The bag was from an adult novelty shop his friend Kim owned just a little north of here. He could only make out two of the items in the bag but they were enough to send his blood pressure skyrocketing-the first was what looked to be the tiniest pair of sheer white panties that would effectively cover nothing and, Lord help him, a silver bullet vibrator. He was going to have a stroke.
Stifling a groan over how the word 'stroke' instantly made him think about rubbing one off, he gripped the edge of the dresser like a man possessed. The door was just a few feet away. He could make it. But first he needed to get some much needed air into his lungs. Breathe, you moron!
He dragged in a breath. And that's when he heard it.
The tiniest whisper of a giggle.
“Why you little-”
Available now: Amazon and all other major etailers
Exclusive Sneak Peak: STOLEN CHANCES
(Book 4 in the STOLEN series)
by NYT Bestselling Author ELISABETH NAUGHTON
Coming September, 2013
Many of you may know that Elisabeth Naughton and I have been critique partners for many years now.
I just finished critiquing her latest in her fantastic romantic suspense and adventure series, STOLEN CHANCES, and adored it!
Her STOLEN series can be read in any order, so pick up whichever sounds most interesting to you! Or, of course, the whole set!
First three books in the STOLEN series
Available at: Amazon and all other major etailers
Exclusive Sneak Peak: STOLEN CHANCES
by NYT bestselling author ELISABETH NAUGHTON
First three books in the STOLEN series
Available at: Amazon and all other major etailers
Excerpt from STOLEN CHANCES.
“Is that true?”
“What?” The hair on the back of Maren's neck stood straight. Had he been listening to the whole conversation?
“About the shark.”
“Oh, um…yeah.”
She
stepped past a booth, intent on getting away from him as fast as she could. But a hand closed around her arm, stopping her forward progress. She yelped as she was tugged into a dark corner, then gasped when her back hit a solid wall and Thad closed in at her front. “Wh-what do you think you're doing, Leighton?”
Was that her voice? It sounded breathless and-dammit-excited.
He braced one arm against the wall near her head and fingered the shark tooth at her throat. “Getting a look for myself. When did this happen?”
“Um…” She couldn't think straight. Dammit she was flustered. And hot. He was making her all hot and flustered. “About two years ago, I think.”
“And?”
Why was he hounding her? It was no big deal. And why had he cornered her in here like this? Perspiration slid down her spine. “You're crowding me.”
“I know. Focus, Maren.” His finger skimmed the tooth, and heat shot all across her collarbone where his hand brushed. “The shark.”
She swallowed hard. Tried not to look into his dark eyes. Focus on his chin or throat or something besides his eyes. “I-I was working a wreck off the reef, and this tiger shark came along, thought I was a tasty morsel. My dive partner happened to see him eyeing me and came to my rescue.”
“He didn't get you?”
“No, Raoul got to him first.”
“Raoul?”
Something in his tone made her relax. He hadn't heard her talking about Isabel, she was sure of it, and she hadn't mentioned Isabel by name, so there was nothing to stress over. That gave her the balance she'd been missing. She lifted her eyes to his and smiled sweetly. “Handsome Australian marine archaeologist. With a body like Russell Crowe and a voice to match.”
“I doubt that.”
Her smile faded. Was that hurt in his voice? Irritation? She couldn't tell. And since he was looking down at her shark tooth necklace and not into her eyes, she couldn't read him.
