Enjoy the
following excerpt from Corporate Merger, and don't forget to comment to win a copy of book one in the series, Advertising for Love.
“Okay, on the count of three. One.” Annette lifted her shot
glass, and everyone else did the same. “Two.” She licked the salt off her hand.
“Three!”
Amy grimaced as the tequila burned its way down her throat,
and she quickly chased it with the sour lime in an attempt to put the fire out.
“Ack.” She shook her head forcefully
and slammed her glass down on the table, knocking over several empty ones as
she did so. “Whoops!”
“Careful!” Jill yelled. It wasn’t loud enough in the club
that yelling was necessary, and in fact, their private table provided refuge
from the pounding techno music, but Jill yelled nonetheless. “You almost
spilled that all over my new dress!”
“They’re empty. All eight hundred of them.” Amy waved her
hand over the top of the table. “Empty.”
“Oh, right.” Jill laughed, surveying the evidence of their
celebration.
“Hey.” Amy looked around at the reveling partygoers, the
dance floor partly tilting on its axis, thanks to all of the tequila. “Where’d
Denise go?”
“She went to get your present.” Pia’s eyes flashed with
glee, cranked up a notch by too many shots.
“Well, finally.” Amy sat up and craned her neck. “I’ve been
waiting all night. How big is it?”
“About six feet.” Annette snorted, and Jill and Pia cackled.
“What? What the hell are you talking about? Come on and tell
me. What did you get me?”
“Ooo, here she comes!” Pia stood up.
Amy turned to follow Pia’s gaze. She saw Denise approaching
the table empty-handed. “What? Where is it? Denise!” She raised her voice. “I
thought you said you were going to get my present.”
“I did.” Denise grinned broadly and gestured behind her.
“Amy, this is Derrick. Derrick, this is Amy, the birthday girl.”
Standing next to her was one of the most gorgeous men Amy
had ever seen. He was tall, with a lean build and broad shoulders. The top
buttons of his black shirt were undone, revealing a few inches of brown skin.
His dark hair was cut close, and when he smiled and extended his hand, Amy
found herself sucked into his hazel eyes.
“Hi, Amy. It’s nice to meet you.” His smooth, rich voice
came pouring out of his full lips, which then
parted in a perfect smile.
Amy knew her mouth was open. She could feel the club’s
alcohol-soaked air swirling around, drying out her tongue, but she couldn’t
close it. Nor could she control her limbs to shake his hand. All she could do
was stand there, staring at him. This man. So similar in many ways to Eric that
they could be cousins. Brothers, even. This man. This…present?
“Who—”
Denise shooed Jill out of her seat and ushered Derrick
forward. “Girl, get up, make some room. Amy, close your mouth. You’ll catch
flies that way. This is Derrick.” She swept her hand grandly over him from head
to toe. “Your present.”
“I-I don’t…”
“We got you a man for your birthday!” Pia exploded.
“We got you an Eric look-alike for your birthday!”
“Ta-da!” Annette gestured toward him. “Surprise!”
“And his name is Derrick! Can you believe that? That is so
close to Eric. So close!” Pia almost fell out of her seat giving Amy this
information.
Now next to her, Derrick wrapped his arms around her and
gave her a gentle squeeze. Amy could smell his cologne—fresh and clean. He
pulled back slightly and kissed her softly on the cheek.
“Happy birthday,” he whispered.
Amy finally managed to close her mouth and swallowed hard to
reactivate her tongue. She looked around at all of her friends who were staring
at her with looks of anticipation and glee. Amy slowly shook her head. “I don’t
under—”
“So, here’s the deal.” Denise reached forward and picked up
her half-consumed martini. “Derrick is
an escort. We have purchased his—ahem—services for you for your birthday.
So enjoy.” She winked and took a sip from her glass.
“Escort?” Amy looked at Derrick, whose handsome face was so
very close to hers. Those eyes.
“Services? What does that mean? Services?”
“It means…” Derrick snaked his arm around the back of her
chair and leaned into her, “…I’m your date for the evening, and I’m here to
make sure you have a good time.” His leg was pressed against hers, warm and
solid. She began to feel a tingling between her legs, and it wasn’t from too
much tequila.
“A good time?” she asked.
“Yes.” A smirk touched the corner of his mouth. “A very good
time.”
The similarities were striking, but Derrick had replaced
Eric’s corporate politeness with sheer, raw sensuality.
“Oh. My. God.” With Derrick’s thigh burning hot against her
own and her friends all staring at her with eager looks on their faces, the
reality of what her present really
was began to sink in. “You hired an escort for me for my birthday.” She took in
the expectant looks all around her. “You hired an escort for my birthday?”
“Happy birthday, chica.
Enjoy him.” Jill sat back and crossed her legs, revealing a few more inches of
skin. “I know I would.”
“Where in the world did you find him? Oh, I’m sorry…” Amy
met Derrick’s hazel eyes momentarily, “…I don’t mean to talk about you like you
aren’t here.”
Derrick chuckled, and the low, sensual sound traveled down
her body, causing her to grow wet. Amy shifted to make herself more
comfortable, and in response, Derrick slowly began rubbing her back.
“It’s no problem. I’m sure this comes as a surprise.” His
touch felt good, and Amy couldn’t stop herself from leaning back into him.
“It was Denise’s idea,” Annette said.
Denise nodded. “I know about this escort service that
specializes in black men, and seeing how you have a little thing for Eric but
can’t seem to sound like an intelligent person around him, I thought what you
could really use was a little company
with a man who shares many of Eric’s attributes.” She gestured around the
table. “Convincing them to go in with me on your present was easy.”
“We thought it was a great idea.” Pia seemed relieved she no
longer had to keep the secret.
Amy grinned. “Oh wow. Uh, this is a little weird since no
one has ever bought me a man for my birthday before. Because really, who buys
people as birthday presents? But wow, this is so great. Thank you.” She looked
at Derrick again. She wanted to stroke his chiseled jaw with her hand and kiss
his full lips. Whether this was fueled by sexual desire, tequila or the
generosity of her friends, Amy didn’t know, but as the end of her thirtieth
birthday approached, she really didn’t care.
*********************
Elisabeth
Roseland spends her days dreaming up ways to throw sexy heroes and strong
heroines together. Her characters explore the wonderful, agonizing, joyful,
heartbreaking and complicated human experiences that are sex and love. She also
hopes to inspire readers to grab the nearest consenting adult and do something
fun. She lives in Chicago with her very own Happily Ever After.
