Laura Kaye's Blog, page 32
March 10, 2015
Apollycon and Austin Book Fest Event Photos! #ABF2015
From Apollycon:
Me and the super sweet Kristen Proby before it started!
Me and table mate Katie McGarry, who is awesome!
Love meeting readers! Thanks to Kimberly Rocha for this one!
Meeting Franci!
Meeting Carla (again)!
Saying hello to Virtual Renee!
Hanging out with Katee Robert, Tessa Bailey, Mary Lindsey, and Jillian Stein at the after party!
The world’s biggest photo bomb, with Mary, Tessa, Drew (Jen’s cover model on The Return), Jen Armentrout, Megan Erickson, Katee, and Sophie Jordan!
Trying, and failing, to have a serious face!
From the Austin Book Fest:
The whole group!
So happy to meet Sharon Slick Reads!
Me and Sharon!
Meeting Laura!
Jenn is the best!
So great to see Amy again!
These were just some of the fun photos readers shared with me over the past week or so. If I get more, I’ll post!
It was so great meeting everyone! It’s my absolute favorite thing about going to signings!
Thanks for reading!
Laura
Hard to Be Good Release Event Sign-Ups
1) Join my new release Facebook party on April 14 from 7-10pm EST:
2) Host my release day launch event on April 14 or 16:
Sign Up Here!
3) Sign up for the review and excerpt tour, April 9-18:
Sign Up Here!
About Hard to Be Good:Hard Ink Tattoo owner Jeremy Rixey has taken on his brother’s stateside fight against the forces that nearly killed Nick and his Special Forces team a year before. Now, Jeremy’s whole world has been turned upside down–not the least of which by a brilliant, quiet blond man who tempts Jeremy to settle down for the first time ever.
Recent kidnapping victim Charlie Merritt has always been better with computers than people, so when he’s drawn into the SF team’s investigation of his army colonel father’s corruption, he’s surprised to find acceptance and friendship–especially since his father never accepted who Charlie was. Even more surprising is the heated tension Charlie feels with sexy, tattooed Jeremy, Charlie’s opposite in almost every way.
With tragedy and chaos all around them, temptation flashes hot, and Jeremy and Charlie can’t help but wonder why they’re trying so hard to be good…
Pre-Order at Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo
I’m so excited for this book, guys! I can’t wait to share it with you!
Thanks for reading!
Laura
March 5, 2015
Happy Release Day to K.A. Tucker! #BecomingRain
I’m super excited to help celebrate K.A. Tucker’s Becoming Rain! Becoming Rain is a New Adult Romantic Suspense novel, and the second novel in K.A. Tucker’s Burying Water Series. I absolutely adored book one, Burying Water! Here’s everything you need to know:
BECOMING RAIN US BUY LINKS:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound | Apple | Blio | Books-a-Million | Google
UK BUY LINKS/BECOMING RAIN:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | Google | Waterstones | Foyles
About Becoming Rain:
Luke Boone doesn’t know exactly what his uncle Rust is involved in but he wants in on it-the cars, the money, the women. And it looks like he’s finally getting his wish. When Rust hands him the managerial keys to the garage, they come with a second set-one that opens up the door to tons of cash and opportunity. Though it’s not exactly legal, Luke’s never been one to worry about that sort of thing. Especially when it puts him behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 and onto the radar of gorgeous socialite named Rain.
Clara Bertelli is at the top of her game-at only twenty-six years old, she’s one of the most successful undercover officers in the Washington D.C. major crime unit, and she’s just been handed a case that could catapult her career and expose one of the west coast’s most notorious car theft rings. But, in order to do it, she’ll need to go deep undercover as Rain Martines. Her target? The twenty-four-year old nephew of a key player who appears ready to follow in his uncle’s footsteps.
As Clara drifts deeper into the luxurious lifestyle of Rain, and further into the arms of her very attractive and charming target, the lines between right and wrong start to blur, making her wonder if she’ll be able to leave it all behind. Or if she’ll even want to.
Excerpt:
Screwing the customers . . .” Miller grumbles, pushing the filing cabinet shut with a loud metal bang.
Only the pretty ones.” And she is that. It wasn’t until she lifted her sunglasses that she had my undivided attention. Those big, blue eyes up against an olive complexion are striking. I wouldn’t have guessed Italian. Mediterranean, definitely.
Exotic, dark-haired, killer body—my type exactly.
“You’re going to lose business for the garage.”
“Relax. I wasn’t the one fishing.” And there was definite fishing on her part. For a long while there, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take the bait. Everything about her—her upscale style, her expensive car, her cool demeanor—says she’s my kind of girl, and therein lies the problem. My kind of girl is good for one thing, and it’s not having lunch over at the food carts of Portland. Or conversation, in general.
Give those kinds of girls more and suddenly they become work, and money. Endless streams on both accounts. Rust warned me about them years ago. Thank God I haven’t tumbled into any of their traps. Even Priscilla, my fallback lay, who I consider a friend, knows exactly where we stand in terms of our “relationship” and that I don’t have the kind of money she wants—even she will occasionally try her hand at sucking more out of me. A new bracelet, cash for rent, a tank of gas for the BMW that her last sugar daddy handed her . . .
But Rain was cute today, in a feisty way, humoring me by taking a bite of that sandwich that she was so obviously not going to enjoy. Her nose crinkling up at the sight of it. Her witty little insult. The way she hung back, waiting, hoping for a chance to see me again but not willing to come right out and ask after already being so forward earlier. Girls like Priscilla would have kept pushing. But Rain obviously has some self-respect.
And when she started walking out of the office, I couldn’t help myself.
I punch her number into my phone so I can call her after work. If I’m lucky, I’ll also have her naked and tangled in my sheets later tonight.
And don’t forget BURYING WATER, the first book in this thrilling series…
Amazon ** Barnes & Noble ** iBooks ** Kobo ** IndieBound
About Burying Water:
The top-selling, beloved indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths returns with a new romance about a young woman who loses her memory—and the man who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away.
Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives—but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body—the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor, quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?
Twenty-four-year-old Jesse Welles doesn’t know how long it will be before Water gets her memory back. For her sake, Jesse hopes the answer is never. He knows that she’ll stay so much safer—and happier—that way. And that’s why, as hard as it is, he needs to keep his distance. Because getting too close could flood her with realities better left buried.
The trouble is, water always seems to find its way to the surface.
About K.A. Tucker:
Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.
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March 4, 2015
Apology, and Clarification
Hi everyone – I am writing to share my writing partner’s message, below, and to add a clarification.
From my America’s First Daughter writing partner, Stephanie Dray:
When I decided to write a mainstream historical fiction book about Thomas Jefferson’s daughter Patsy, it was in part, because of my continued frustration with people in our country who refuse to believe, even with DNA evidence, that Thomas Jefferson initiated sex with his slave, Sally Hemings, most probably when she was fifteen.
It has been my ambition, from start to finish with this project, to shed light on the devastation of slavery–a devastation that became more and more evident as we researched. And to make clear that the scars of that devastation are still evident today in our politics and our culture.
Racial justice is something that I feel deeply about. Something that I think deeply about.
But apparently not deeply enough.
Because after editing this book, I made a joke–which I won’t repeat in the interest of not offering new offense–thinking I was mocking our culture’s casual acceptance of women’s lack of consent in sexual circumstances.
Instead, I hurt people and sent a message that goes against everything that I’m about. It undercut what I’m trying to accomplish with my work. And with my life.
I’m a writer; it’s my job to pay attention to what my words are actually communicating. And I’m bitterly disappointed in myself for communicating in any way that would trivialize the very matters I feel most passionately about.
To that end, the post has been removed. I would like to extend my heartfelt apology. And I thank those of you who made me take a hard look at this.
I was wrong.
It will not happen again.
I stand with Stephanie in apologizing for the pain my words caused in all of this. I was insensitive, unthinking, and hurtful, and for that I truly apologize. I am a rape survivor, so I am disappointed in myself for doing something that trivializes or makes light of rape, intentionally or not.
For the purposes of the clarification that has been requested on social media, please let me also offer the following:
America’s First Daughter is a straight historical fiction that offers a sweeping treatment of Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph’s life from dutiful daughter traveling at her diplomat father’s side to First Lady during her father’s presidency to mistress of the iconic Monticello.
There is a paranormal BDSM short story currently for sale on Amazon involving Jefferson and Sally Hemings. That is not our book and we are not affiliated with it in any way.
We do not plan, nor have we ever planned, any BDSM story about Thomas Jefferson.
I, too, was wrong. And I apologize for the harm I have caused.
Sincerely,
Laura
March 3, 2015
Happy Release Day to Kristen Proby! #EasyLove
I’m super excited to bring you the Release Blitz for my friend Kristen Proby’s Easy Love! Easy Love is a Contemporary Erotic Romance novel and is the first book in The Boudreaux Series!
Amazon
About Easy Love:
Eli Boudreaux’s family has built ships and boats in Louisiana for generations. He comes from a hardworking, wealthy family and his empire is growing by leaps and bounds. At thirty, he is the youngest CEO to ever head Bayou Enterprises, co-chairing with his eldest brother. His head for business and his no-nonsense work ethic is also quickly making him the best the company has seen in generations. His staff admires him, women adore him and Eli’s family is solid. But he’s recently discovered that someone on the inside of his business is stealing from him and he’s determined to find out who.
Kate O’Shaughnessy is hired by companies all over the world to slip inside and investigate every member of the organization from the CEO down to the custodial staff to find the person or persons responsible for embezzling. She’s excellent at blending, becoming part of the team, and finding the weakest link. She’s smart, quick-witted, and she’s now been hired by Bayou Enterprises, specifically Eli Boudreaux. The attraction is immediate and the chemistry is off the charts, but Kate has heard all about Eli’s playboy past and she has a job to do. Sleeping with the boss isn’t a part of that job, even if just the sound of her name rolling off that Cajun tongue and the way he fills out a designer suit does make her sweat.
Eli’s southern charms surprise Kate. The man whose reputation labels him as a ruthless, callous womanizer is not the man she’s coming to know intimately. He’s generous, protective and makes her smile. Cracking through Kate’s cool, reserved demeanor and discovering her love of sexy, expensive lingerie is a challenge Eli can’t resist, but her sweet nature, love of family and sense of humor pull at him in ways no one else ever has.
But when the person responsible for trying to single-handedly dismantle Eli’s empire comes to light, and it’s time for Kate to move on, to what lengths will Eli go to keep the woman he’s fallen in love with by his side?
Excerpt:
“Ms. O’Shaughnessy?”
“Kate, please.”
“Hello, Kate. Mr. Boudreaux is in his office. Follow me.” She smiles and offers to take my suitcase, but I shake my head and follow her into the elevator. She doesn’t ask me any questions, and I’m thankful. I’ve learned to lie well in this business, but I don’t know what she’s already been told. I’m led past an office area and into the largest office I’ve ever seen. The massive black desk sits before a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. Furniture is big and expensive. Comfortable. There are two doors, each on opposite sides of the room, and I can’t help but wonder what they lead to.
“Ms. O’Shaughnessy is here, sir.”
“Kate,” I add without thinking, and then any hope of being able to think at all is tossed right out of those spectacular windows when the tall man standing before them turns to look at me. The photos didn’t do him justice.
Yum.
The door closes behind me and I take a deep breath and walk toward him, hiding the fact that my knees have officially turned to mush.
“Kate,” I repeat and hold my hand out to shake his over his desk. His lips twitch as he watches me, his whiskey-colored eyes sharp and assessing as they take a slow stroll down my body, then back up to my face. Jeez, he’s taller than I expected. And broader. And he wears a suit like he was born to it.
Which, I suppose he was. Bayou Enterprises has been around for five generations, and Eli Boudreaux is the sharpest CEO it’s seen in years.
He moves around his desk and takes my hand in his, but rather than shake it, he raises it to his lips and places a soft kiss on my knuckles.
“Pleasure,” he says in a slow New Orleans drawl. Dear God, I might explode right here. “I’m Eli.”
ABOUT KRISTEN PROBY:
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Kristen Proby is the author of the popular With Me in Seattle series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong characters who love humor and have a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type—fiercely protective and a bit bossy—and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves. Kristen spends her days with her muse in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, and sunshine. And naps. Visit her at KristenProby.com.
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February 17, 2015
Happy Release Day to Lauren Blakely for Forbidden Nights!
It’s here! My friend Lauren Blakely’s FORBIDDEN NIGHTS, the fifth full-length novel from her New York Times Bestselling Erotic Romance Series, Seductive Nights, is releasing today! Lauren is well known for writing sexy, heartfelt and humorous contemporary romance as well as deeply emotional new adult stories –one commonality in all her books is the scorching hot sexy times. And FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is absolutely no different! Nate Harper and Casey Sullivan’s story is sexy and will keep you asking for more! Down below there’s a super sexy excerpt and everything you need to know about the book, but first Lauren has an amazing giveaway for her readers!
Forbidden Getaway Giveaway
Lauren Blakely does it again and brings readers more smoldering, sexy nights in her Seductive Nights Series with her newest novel, FORBIDDEN NIGHTS.
In Lauren Blakely’s newest Seductive Nights novel, Nate Harper knows exactly how to please a woman. And Casey Sullivan is convinced Nate is the one to give her some hands-on guidance. Lauren wants to deliver with some pleasure for her readers too — so she’s offering an extra special Forbidden Getaway GIVEAWAY at a value of $500 with this novel!
Back by popular demand, Lauren Blakely has put together an extra special Forbidden Giveaway for her readers-The chance to win your very own Forbidden Night, Seductive Nights Style! This is your chance to create your own Forbidden Getaway! You’ll have the opportunity to win a night at your favorite hotel and dinner at your favorite restaurant, and all you have to do to enter is take the Be Seduced Trivia Quiz about the Seductive Nights Series in the back of the novel! This is your chance to discover a Forbidden Night of your own!* Readers can access the quiz in the eBook version of FORBIDDEN NIGHTS, and will have until February 21st to enter the quiz. To be clear, the back of the FORBIDDEN NIGHTS eBook is the ONLY location with the link to the quiz.**
FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is the next novel in the Seductive Nights Series and can be read as a standalone.
* Forbidden Getaway giveaway is for a value of up to $500 only.
**Paperback only readers can contact Lauren Blakely directly about how to enter the contest.
FORBIDDEN NIGHTS is a full-length, standalone erotic romance novel that follows the love affair of a new couple, Nate and Casey, and does not have a cliffhanger. It’s priced at $3.99 across all retailers.
Message from Lauren
I’m so thrilled that the Seductive Nights erotic romance series is continuing with a new installment starring a new couple! This series has been such a joy to write since it started as a fan-driven series, with Julia and Clay, and then Jack and Michelle, and now this this new novel is about Nate and Casey. Readers requested that I write their story next, so I did! FORBIDDEN NIGHTS can be read without having read the earlier books.
(Though, why wouldn’t you want to meet the other couples?!)
I can’t wait to introduce readers to Nate Harper and Casey Sullivan. They’re a dynamic duo and many early readers are saying this is their favorite story yet! Nate knows exactly who, and what he wants, and is thrilled when the opportunity he’s dreamed about for years presents herself to him. Expect many steamy encounters between these two!
ABOUT FORBIDDEN NIGHTS:She has been the star of his dirty dreams for years.
Sexy hotel CEO Nate Harper has lusted after his good friend Casey Sullivan for a long time, and she’s cried out his name in pleasure countless times in his fabulously filthy fantasies. But even though he’s quite skilled at pleasing a woman, he won’t act on his intense desire because he knows he’s no good for her. After the kind of hurt his ex inflicted on him, he’s a committed playboy for life, and Casey only wants true love.
All that changes one hot night when she comes to him with a proposition he can’t resist — she wants him to teach her to be submissive in the bedroom. Casey soon learns how very much she likes letting go of control to him. She’s never been more turned on in her life than she is in Nate’s arms. And he’s never been more taken by a woman.
The only trouble is as she experiences what it means to let go, he starts to experience what it means to feel again…And the lessons in seduction threaten to turn into so much more than either one bargained for…
What happens when years of desire and lust ignite a passion that can’t be denied?
Excerpt:
As soon as Bryan and Kat left, Nate shut the door, then locked it. She glanced quickly behind her at the window that provided a view of the sea of rabid fans. The stadium shook with excitement. Cheers from the crowd vibrated throughout the house of Ruth. Nate stalked down the three steps separating them. When he reached her, a vein twitched in his neck. His mouth was a ruler-straight line. His jaw was set hard. His stare undressed her.
“I was wrong,” he said. Each word possessed a hard edge.
“Wrong about what?” Was he talking about the dress? Or about wanting to be her teacher? God, she prayed he wasn’t backing out.
“I was wrong about tonight’s lesson. It’s not spanking.”
“What is it?”
“It’s role-playing.” His voice was hot and rough. His dark eyes prowled over her body.
“What kind of role playing?” She didn’t even bother to hide her nerves, but the nerves also excited her. Or maybe he was simply the one who excited her. It seemed whatever he did turned her on. The fact that he was standing here, a solid mass of muscle and strength, of extreme and utter sexiness, sent shivers across her skin. She drank him in: the wavy mess of his golden brown hair, the stubble lining his jaw, the exposed patch of skin on his chest where the top two buttons of his white shirt were undone. All of it, all of him, made her tremble with want.
He took one step closer, and reflexively she backed up so her spine hit the wall behind her. She was caged in, and against her better judgment, she liked it. She liked the fact that it was starkly quiet inside the suite, and that it was intensely noisy outside, a white noise that masked all that she was feeling.
“I’m going to be playing the role of the jealous lover,” he said, his voice still laced with the same frustration she’d picked up on earlier. Was he annoyed with her?
“What do you mean?”
“I’m the jealous lover who can’t stand the thought of his woman wearing a gorgeous, stunning, absolutely fucking breathtaking dress on a date with another man.”
A wild thrill rushed through her veins from his words and what they meant. “But I thought you didn’t like the dress?” she asked, coyly, playing along.
He lifted his hand and brushed the tips of his fingers against her wrist. She shuddered from that one subtle touch. Her body begged for more, and she was almost ashamed at how much desire flowed through her bloodstream right now. She hadn’t been completely aware of how very much she had wanted to see him tonight, of how truly disappointed she had been for the first eight innings that he wasn’t here by her side. Now that he was here, she wasn’t sure how she’d survived the game without him.
He brushed his fingers along her arm, across the crook of her elbow, and up to her shoulder. Goosebumps rose in his wake.
“I don’t like the dress if you wear it for another man,” he said, keeping his eyes locked on hers the whole time. “And sometimes that means I’m going to act like a dick and tell you I don’t like the dress at all.” He brought his hands to her hair and she wanted to cry out because it felt so fucking good to be touched by him like this, with hands that were both tender and completely possessive. He speared his fingers into her hair. “But what I really don’t like is the idea that another man might look at you in it, and want to touch you the way I touch you.”
He leaned into her neck, and pressed his lips against her skin. There was nothing gentle in the kiss. His lips were hot and angry, and she felt his teeth nip her skin. A sting of pain raced through her, but it was a good pain, a pain that made her long for more.
Amazon **Amazon UK** iBooks ** Kobo ** Barnes and Noble ** GooglePlay
About Lauren Blakely:Lauren Blakely writes sexy contemporary romance novels with heat, heart, and humor, and her books have appeared multiple times on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. Like the heroine in her novel, FAR TOO TEMPTING, she thinks life should be filled with family, laughter, and the kind of love that love songs promise. Lauren lives in California with her husband, children, and dogs. She loves hearing from readers! Her bestselling series include Caught Up in Love, Seductive Nights, and Fighting Fire. She recently released Nights With Him, a standalone novel in her New York Times Bestselling Seductive Nights series that became an instant New York Times Bestseller. Her next book in that series is Forbidden Nights, releasing in early 2015. She also writes for young adults under the name Daisy Whitney. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, text BLAKELY + your email address to 678-249-3375 (please use the actual + sign)
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Thanks for reading!
Laura
February 11, 2015
3 Hard Ink Books on Sale!
Looky looky at this awesomeness! Three of the Hard Ink novels are on sale right now, two of them for their lowest price ever! These deals won’t last so be sure to grab them up while you can!
HARD AS IT GETS
iBooks | Amazon | B&N | Kobo
HARD TO COME BY
Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N
HARD TO LET GO (pre-order) – Amazon only right now
Amazon
Now go grab yourself some Hard Ink men! And Happy Reading!
Laura
February 9, 2015
Join Me for #RomanceWeek15 on Goodreads!
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to celebrate romance! That’s why it’s #RomanceWeek15 over at Goodreads!! That means you can ask a group of your fave authors a question and vote on your favorites of their books! I’d love your vote for Hard to Come By!So, head on over and ask us anything! Thanks for reading!
Laura
February 8, 2015
The Premiere Anthology is Now Available!
Premiere is here! And I’m super excited for you all the read this awesome collection of all-new stories from some of your favorite authors, including me! Edited by Sylvia Day, there are 18 great authors included in the collection, so you aren’t going to want to miss it! I’m sharing an excerpt from my story, “Covering Her Skin” down below! Here’s everything you need to know:
From Romance Writers of America comes a never-before-published collection of tales that showcases the breadth and complexity of the world’s most popular genre of fiction!
New York Times bestselling authors Cindy Gerard and Allison Brennan bring the thrills in their tales of romantic suspense.
New York Times bestselling authors Sabrina Jeffries and Courtney Milan take you on a trip back in time with lush stories of historical romance.
New York Times bestselling authors Vicki Lewis Thompson and Joan Johnston show the wonder of contemporary romance, while New York Times bestselling authors Monica Murphy and Laura Kaye’s New Adult romances delve into the evolving Millennial perspective.
And editor and #1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Day’s tale of angels and sizzling desire takes readers to the edge with paranormal romance.
From the first love of Young Adult romance to tales of second chances, LGBT romance to the realms of the supernatural, contemporary to historical, suspense to inspirational, the genre of romance has a story for every reader and this blockbuster inaugural collection from Romance Writers of America showcases it all!
Plus tales from:
Lila Bell
T. L Costa
Diane Kelly
Amber Lin
Katy Regnery
Erica Ridley
Regina Scott
Harper St. George
Lex Valentine
Available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook!
Buy at Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N
My story in the collection, COVERING HER SKIN, is a sexy contemporary about a tattoo artist, Ro
nan Kane, who falls for a woman, Emery Morgan, recovering from a bad break-up and needing a tattoo covered. Here’s an excerpt:
As Emery Morgan parked her car in front of Kane Brothers Tattoo, she hoped she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life. Or, at least, the third biggest mistake, since falling in love with professional football quarterback Hunter Jameson and getting a tattoo of his team logo and jersey number had the top two spots locked up tight.
The dark doors of the red-brick tattoo shop taunted her, tempted her, dared her to enter. Just as she had a little over a year ago, when she’d gone in to get a special and very personal wedding present for her then fiancé.
Enough, Em. This will be different.
Yeah, it would. Because that ink she’d done for Hunter. This ink she was doing for herself.
A year was more than long enough to spend grieving and wondering how it all had gone bad—and why she hadn’t noticed until Hunter looked at the tattoo, told her he wished she hadn’t done that, and ended their five-year relationship. Today, Emery should’ve been celebrating her first wedding anniversary. Instead, she was starting over by getting rid of the last reminder of those mistakes. Because the number seven had not turned out to be lucky for her; it had turned out to be unlucky, painful, and very, very wrong.
Clutching her scarf around her throat, Emery jogged to the doors and into the wide foyer of the shop, hurrying so she didn’t have time to overthink her plan and chicken out. Compared to the frigid chill of Pittsburgh’s winter outside, the warmth inside combined with the sultry strains of a southern rock song to make her feel welcomed. Or maybe that was just because she’d been to Kane Brothers so many times—not for her own ink, because she only had the one, but with Hunter, who used Ronan Kane exclusively for all of his tattoos.
Ronan Kane. As her gaze scanned a wall of vibrant designs, Emery’s stomach flipped at the thought of the man who had drawn her wedding gift to Hunter permanently on her skin. When she’d come up with the idea of the tattoo, she’d known Ronan was the only one to do it. Many times, she’d gone with Hunter and watched as Ronan carefully put needle to skin and made something beautiful appear that had never existed before. Saying Ronan was talented was like saying Pittsburgh’s fanatic fans kinda liked football. Ronan was a master, an artist, a god with a tattoo gun in his hand. So he’d been the only one for her.
How ironic that she’d put her trust in the right man with her skin—because Ronan had managed to take the hard lines of Hunter’s number and the masculine team logo and make it pretty and feminine on her shoulder—while blowing it so spectacularly in trusting the wrong man with her heart.
Footsteps offered all the warning she had of a presence behind the counter. “Can I help y— Emery?”
Oh, that voice. Fine whiskey on a cold winter’s night. Emery turned slowly, hesitant to see the expression on Ronan’s face. Would Ronan find her naïve, presumptuous, pathetic? Or D: All of the above? After all, she was no one compared to Pittsburgh’s hometown hero—after Hunter had dumped her, the gossip rags had made that crystal clear even as they’d fawned all over Tiffany Ames, his new actress girlfriend. And since Hunter was a celebrity client who brought business and notoriety to the shop, no doubt the tattooist would feel the same.
“Hi, Ronan,” she said, approaching the counter. Her gaze dragged up the black button-down stretched taut across his chest to the surprised expression on his rugged face. “Any chance you have time to see me today?”
“Uh, yeah. What about?” he asked, bracing his hands against the counter. The position drew her gaze to the abstract black design that covered his skin from cuffed sleeve to fingertips on his right arm.
Emery was glad for the distraction, because she didn’t miss the note of wariness in his voice. It made her want to shrink into her thick down coat. “I was hoping…” She burrowed her hands in her pockets and stared out the frosty front window. You can do this, Em. You need this. “I was hoping you could do a new tattoo for me.” She forced her gaze back to Ronan’s deep brown eyes and shrugged. “To, um, cover the one I have.”
Ronan’s brows rose the slightest bit. “You want me to cover Hunter’s jersey number?”
She nodded as her stomach began a steady fall to the floor. “Yeah?” Emery really hadn’t intended the upward lilt in her voice that turned the declaration into a question, but the man’s expression was part incredulity and part…something she couldn’t name.
And then it hit her—had she offended him? Did tattoo artists find it offensive to be asked to cover their own work?
“I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I wasn’t trying to offend you. I just figured the person who did the original work would have the best sense of how to design something new over it.” Not to mention that Ronan was the only artist she could trust not to expose the existence of the tattoo. How embarrassing it would be if the tabloids found out. Luckily, Hunter had kept his mouth shut about it, but she couldn’t count on a stranger to do so, too.
“I’m not offended, Emery. And I’m free for the next two hours, so I’m all yours.”
Butterflies tore through Em’s belly at the words. Which was ridiculous, since she was nursing a broken heart and he was simply offering his services. But with his dark eyes and brown hair worn a little longer on top and his miles of ink and his perpetual facial scruff, possessing Ronan would be anyone’s dream come true.
Emery blinked the errant thoughts away. “Oh, okay. Great. So…”
He nodded to the side. “So, come on back.”
So what do you think? Go grab your own copy of this awesome anthology of all brand-new stories!
Thanks for reading!
Laura
January 26, 2015
Hard Ink Series Sales!
HARD AS IT GETS – Amazon & B&N right now
Amazon | B&N
HARD TO COME BY – B&N only right now
HARD TO LET GO (pre-order) – Amazon & B&N right now
Amazon | B&N
Plus, HARD TO HOLD ON TO and HARD TO BE GOOD are normally priced at $1.99, so you can grab the whole series for a steal! Happy reading!
Laura
