~Synopsis~
Lucas
Thorn wasn’t born a cheater. All it took was a single moment—say, a certain
disastrous incident on the night before his wedding—and boom. Reputation
destroyed forever and always. So now he owns it. He has a lady friend for every
night of the week (except Sundays—God’s day and all), and his rules are simple:
No commitments. No exceptions.
But a
certain smart-mouthed, strawberry blonde vixen is about to blow that all to
hell.
Avery
Black has never forgiven Lucas for cheating on her sister. And suddenly being
forced to work with him is pretty much a nightmare on steroids. Of course, it
does afford her the opportunity to make his life as difficult as possible. But
no good revenge scheme comes without payback. Because he didn’t become the
Lucas Thorn without learning a few things about women.
Now
Avery’s lust for vengeance has turned into, well, lust. And if Lucas stops
cheating, it’s definitely not because he’s falling in love…
~Buy links~
~Excerpt~
The
office building loomed ahead of me. I squinted up at it, covering my face with
part of my hand as the sun cast its glare against the glass.
“What
are we looking at?” Lucas whispered in my ear.
I let
out a little yelp and jumped away from him, and I would have run into a passing
biker if Lucas hadn’t pulled me out of the way with his coffee-free hand.
“Must
you be such a pain in the ass?”
“Must
you try to kill me?” I fired back.
He
rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.” He started walking, hauling me with him.
We weren’t
walking in the direction of the office.
“Um,
Thorn—”
“I
will seriously shove this Starbucks up that skinny ass if you don’t stop
talking and just listen for once in your life.”
I shut
up and followed, but only because he’d said “Starbucks” and was very
purposefully moving in the nearest outpost’s general direction. If I looked
pathetic enough, would he buy me coffee?
That
was what my life was coming to.
Pity
coffee.
My
shoulders slumped at the thought when we walked into the building. The smell of
fresh baked goods hit me with full force, and my stomach growled loudly, saying
to everyone, I’m a hungry bear and may eat my young. Out of the way, please!
I
followed Lucas to the line, still tempted to speak, but I figured if he wanted
noise from me, he’d say something like, “You may grace me with your voice now,
Avery.”
Even
though I wasn’t talking, every time I heard someone order pumpkin bread I
sighed, loudly, so loudly that the barista eyed me cautiously. Chill,
Starbucks, I’m not going to steal a piece of pumpkin bread.
My
mouth watered.
I
mean, I wasn’t that desperate.
But if
I took two, maybe three, steps toward her, yelled “Fire!” and then screamed
nonsense about a bee attacking me, the pumpkin bread she had in hand would
probably fall to the ground, and it would be wasteful if I didn’t rescue it
from the ants.
All
creatures deserve food—but pumpkin bread was too good for ants, too rich, and
they’d explode all over the floor from the richness and it would be my
fault—for saving the barista’s life, right? From the bee?
I
think I just confused myself.
“Why
are you breathing so heavy?” Lucas asked from my right.
I
snapped out of my pumpkin-bread daydream and shrugged. “Sorry, low on sleep.”
He
gave a noncommittal nod and then it was his turn, greedy little bastard already
had one coffee now he was getting two! “A venti macchiato and a large coffee
with room for cream, two slices—”
I
elbowed him hard in the ribs.
“Sorry,
um, three slices of pumpkin bread, thanks.”
He
handed the barista his card, while my greedy eyes locked on the pumpkin bread
as the barista placed it into a bag and gave it to him.
With
an exasperated sigh, he shoved the bag into my hands. “Just leave me one bite.”
“No
promises.” I was already digging into the bag, my mouth watering as I followed
him around the counter with a little pep in my step.
Lucas
grabbed our drinks and motioned toward one of the tables. I sat, stuffed more
pumpkin goodness into my mouth, and managed to chug some coffee almost all at
once.
Lucas
shook his head. “I always forget how seriously you take your pumpkin bread.”
I
moaned and took another huge bite. “My theory is this.”
He
leaned forward, a smile curving around his gorgeous mouth. “Alright, out with
it.”
More
pumpkin bread found its way into my mouth as I talked—I didn’t even care if I
looked like a starved animal. “Pumpkin bread has the same addictive properties
as cocaine.”
“That’s
your theory? That it’s a drug?”
“Right.”
I sighed and leaned back. “Except it doesn’t make you skinny, unfortunately.”
His
smile widened, and he grabbed a small hunk of bread. “Want to know my theory?”
“Yes,
that’s exactly what I was thinking—I hope Lucas tells me his theory so I can
eat his portion of bread.”
Lucas
scooted the bag toward me and whispered, “Merry Christmas.”
“Oh,
pumpkin gods.” I moaned again.
His
eyes darted to my mouth.
“What?”
I wiped my lips. “Is something on my face?”
“No.”
He looked away. “So my theory is this . . . pumpkin flavoring is a conspiracy
by the government to see how many ways we can market a flavor and make money
off it.”
“Boo.”
I gave him a thumbs-down. “Thanks, grinch. Oh, and stop ruining holidays.”
He
smirked. “You’ve known forever that Santa isn’t real. Still doesn’t stop you
from leaving him cookies every Christmas Eve, then sneaking downstairs and
eating them all by yourself.”
“One”—I
held up a finger—“it’s genius because nobody will touch them for fear that I’ll
get mad. Two”—I held up a second finger—“when everyone else is sad about the
Christmas cookies being gone, I know I’ll have them all to myself. It’s like .
. .” I sighed, “. . . a Christmas present. To myself.”
“Except
for that one time.” He smirked.
“Cruel
man.” I glared at him. “How dare you eat my cookies?”
He
shrugged. “They were sweet.”
Was it
hot? In this little Starbucks? By the window where the sun was searing me alive
like I was under a magnifying glass?
I
tugged at my sleeveless blouse.
“About
Saturday . . .”
Uncomfortable
conversation, here we come! I strapped in and waited for the inevitable. And
then realized, to my dismay, that he’d just bought me coffee and food without
letting me go to the office.
My
eyes filling with tears, I shook my head a few times. “Lucas, I may give you
crap, but I really need this job.”
He
frowned, like he was confused.
“Don’t
say another word.” I held out my hands. “I’ll do anything, Lucas—and I mean
anything—to keep this job. I wasn’t kidding when I said my parents were
chomping at the bit to get me to move home, and I don’t want to. It’s not just
about me being defiant; they want me to take over the family business.”
Lucas
burst out laughing and then sobered. “Oh, you’re serious.”
“I
can’t sell chicken, Thorn.”
“I
mean, to be fair, Avery, your parents own a very lucrative organic meats company.
I’m sure they could offer you at least five figures.” His smile was way too
smug, but I still had to be nice to him rather than throw him off a cliff,
because he could fire me.
~Review~
Ok, so
I’ve been a fan of Rachel’s writing since day one and I was very excited to
read this story. The characters are one that you will love because they give
light to a story that most would frown up. The entire time I was reading I was
wondering if Lucas really was cheating, because the thing he was doing was
right in front page, nothing hiding.
Loved
the banter in the book between Lucas and Avery, then we have Lucas’s parents
they were my favorite part about the book. I think Avery was made for Lucas
because they were two of a kind; she gave him back the snakiness just as much
as he gave her. I loved the hilarity in this and it is one fun read. I love
Rachel Van Dyken’s work and can’t wait to see what’s next.
~About the Author~
Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When
she's not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting
her next book while watching The Bachelor.
She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband, adorable son,
and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!
~Giveaway~
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