Jake Takes Rebecca By Surprise - Jake's Return

What's a mom to do when her elementary school daughter starts matchmaking?

Rebecca’s budding suspicions about her daughter went into full bloom when Katie pulled herself out of the pool and announced she needed to call Jenna. Before Rebecca could even consider what to do next, Katie was gone and Jake was closing in on her like a shark.
He broke through the surface three feet away from the corner she’d retreated to, to catch her breath. He flashed her a killer smile, then glided closer, still smiling. “Alone at last.”
Her arms resting on the decking behind her, Rebecca realized she was trapped.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Jake said, still smiling. “I haven’t had that much fun in years.”
The almost speculative look in his eyes told Rebecca his mood might have improved during the game, but he hadn’t been any more oblivious to the amount of body contact they’d made during the game than she had. The knowledge sent a fresh current of awareness humming through her veins.
Jake leaned his head back and looked up at the stars. “God, this water feels great. Brings back a lot of memories.”
Rebecca sent him a droll look, all too aware she’d had nothing to do with those memories. Many a night she’d heard muffled giggles and quiet splashes in the dark pool after midnight, and had known it was Jake and his on again, off again girlfriend Mimi Modano. They’d come by when her mother was out, and Aunt Martha was asleep.
He caught her expression, and smiled a slow, knowing smile. “So tell me,” he said, as he edged closer and sent her pulse rate soaring. “Were you ever jealous of Mimi?”
“No. At the time I was disgusted.” And heartsick.
“Why?”
“She couldn’t keep her hands off of you.”
His smile turned fondly reminiscent. “I remember.”
“I believe that’s why you dated her.”
“We never dated, Becca, we just…”
“I know what you did with her, Jake.”
“Good. Then this won’t come as a surprise.” The next thing she knew, he’d braced his arms on either side of her and was kissing her. Gently, tenderly, with sweetness and finesse. No other part of their bodies touched as he made love to her mouth with an erotic thoroughness that rocked her senses. Rebecca considered lowering her arms from the decking, then realized if she did, she’d either have to hold onto Jake or go under.
Either way, she was sunk.
Long moments later, Jake pulled back, leaving Rebecca feeling dazed and disoriented. “I’ve missed you, Becca.”

Liana Laverentz

www.lianalaverentz.com

Who Will Get the Girl in the End?? - Nick and Meghan, Ashton's Secret

One woman, two men. Which do you think Meghan wants?

“Enjoying yourself, Meghan?”
She stilled. Cole. She’d forgotten all about him. Wearing her best cocktail party smile, she turned to face him.
“Why, yes, I am.” Manners—and more than a little curiosity about how they would respond—propelled her into making introductions. “Have you two met? Cole, this is—”
“I know who he is. And what. Frankly, I’m surprised to see you with him. I wouldn’t think you’d want to be associated with the likes of him.”
Meghan was stunned by his rudeness. “Cole, I don’t think—”
Nick’s hand covered hers. “It’s okay, Meghan. Cole and I go back a long way.”
“We’ve known each other too long, if you ask me.”
Nick seemed unfazed by Cole’s naked hostility. “I agree. But I don’t think Meghan’s interested in our personal problems.”
Meghan heard the steel-rimmed warning in Nick’s voice, looked from Cole’s flushed and angry face to Nick’s hand tightening on her own, and suddenly became very interested in their personal problems. But she wasn’t tactless enough to interrupt their standoff and say so, and after several tense seconds, it was Cole who backed down.
“Have a pleasant evening, Meghan,” he said tightly, and vanished.
Nick resumed his meal as if it hadn’t been interrupted.
Meghan found it impossible to do the same. “Would you mind telling me what that was all about?” In those few tense seconds when Nick’s hand had covered hers, she’d felt the enmity between the men so strongly she would have sworn they’d have liked nothing better than to let fly with their fists, right there in the restaurant.
Nick shrugged. “It’s an old story. Goes back to high school.” With a smile and a wink, he snagged a menu from a passing waitress. “How about dessert? Think they have brownies on the menu?”
Meghan swallowed her frustration with an effort. As usual, she’d get no answers from Nick. You’d almost think he’d been trained in the art of deflection. Half an hour later, they left the restaurant by a side door that opened onto the pier, having agreed on taking a stroll. As they walked the docks, Nick was pensive, but Meghan found she enjoyed his quiet companionship almost as much as she enjoyed talking with him.
She also enjoyed the simple pleasure that radiated from wherever he touched her—her arm, elbow, waist, back. Every nerve ending in her body had become attuned to his touch, and she wished he’d put his arm around her. The thought sent sweet shivers of anticipation down her spine despite the inescapable, sweltering heat.
They returned to the parking lot, and as Nick unlocked his newly washed truck, Meghan admired his hands. So strong, yet capable of heartwarming gentleness, as he’d shown with George. Her gaze roved the breadth of his shoulders beneath his tailored jacket and she suddenly felt a compelling need to slip her hands inside said jacket and explore the hard muscles she knew it hid. To feel the strength of those arms around her, holding her close.
Nick swung the driver’s door open. The sharp sexual awareness in his dark eyes when he caught her watching him rocked her to the core. She stood there, unable to move for the need coursing through her. How was she supposed to survive being alone with him in the truck?
“If I don’t kiss you right now, I think I’ll go crazy,” he said, his voice impossibly deep and husky.
Meghan’s breath caught in her throat. “I know the feeling.”

Liana Laverentz

www.lianalaverentz.com

Nick Should Have Known Better - Ashton's Secret

Meghan and Cole are missing, and Nick thinks he's found them...

Nick had spent the past fifteen minutes scouting the bar and dance lounge, but he hadn’t seen Benson.
Or Meghan.
That bothered him more than he cared to admit.
A soft light came on in an upstairs window of the duplex. One of the bedrooms, Nick recalled from the blueprints. Through the lightweight curtains, he saw shadows moving in the room.
Bingo.
He settled back against a large oak tree to wait, a slow boil starting in his blood. Minutes later, the front door opened and his nemesis appeared. A pair of slim arms wrapped around Benson’s neck. The sound of a woman’s low, seductive voice filled Nick’s ears, and made him grind his teeth. Benson allowed her to draw him partially inside the townhouse for a long moment. Nick’s hands curled into fists as he battled the primal urge to yank the kissing couple apart and beat Benson to a pulp.
Benson ended the kiss and pulled away from the woman, who obviously didn’t want him to leave. He said something to her, was rewarded by soft, musical laughter, then kissed her again and sauntered away from the duplex, looking supremely satisfied with himself.
Anger and a masochistic streak he hadn’t known he possessed compelled Nick to stay where he was, beneath the shadow of the oak tree, waiting. It wasn’t long before the duplex’s front door opened. Every muscle in his body tightened as he braced himself for the sight of her, tousled and flushed by Benson’s roll in the hay.
A full five seconds passed before his fury faded enough for him to realize the woman wasn’t Meghan. The short, busty brunette in her ridiculously tight hot pants outfit who languidly made her way back to The Wharf in no manner, shape or form resembled the woman Nick had assumed was with Coleman Benson.
Nick turned back to the townhouse, amazed at the relief surging through him. It took him several minutes to corral his emotions enough to realize the opportunity he’d been waiting for was staring him in the face. After scouting the area again to make sure there were no witnesses, he entered the duplex through the back window Ralph had left unlocked, as planned.
His visit was short and fruitless. It didn’t help that thoughts of a certain blonde-haired, brown-eyed dancer kept filtering into his mind, distracting him from his mission. Half an hour later, empty-handed, Nick strode onto the pier where he’d left his boat, cast off, and slipped away from the dock. Standing at the helm of his twenty-seven foot ketch, he lifted his frustrated gaze to Ashton and spotted the speck of light across the water that—had he thought to look for it earlier—would have saved him a ton of aggravation.
A moment later, Mrs. Weaver’s bungalow went dark.

Something tells me Nick should have known better. What do you think?

Liana Laverentz

www.lianalaverentz.com

The Actual First Kiss - Emily and Eric in Thin Ice

Emily has just, very reluctantly, given Eric a tour of her home. He refused to return her car keys until she relented. Little does she know, he doesn't have the keys...read the excerpt below to find out where they are :)

“Yeah, I like it,” Eric said. “I like it a lot.” He turned to her and smiled. “Robbie’s very lucky.”
The nostalgic note in his voice made her wonder where he’d grown up, what his life had been like before he’d become a star athlete. He’d denied it that night in the ER, but surely he had family somewhere.
The grandfather clock in the hall chimed six-fifteen. Emily looked at the kitchen clock in surprise. Eric had been in the house for over twenty minutes. “You’re going to be late.”
“I know.” His eyes captured hers. “Walk me to the door?”
She swallowed, knowing what he was asking. “Sure.”
But at the front door, she paused, suddenly unsure. What would happen now? Would he say goodbye and mean it this time? She doubted it. And how did she really feel about that?
“Thanks for letting me inside,” Eric said quietly. “I know it wasn’t easy for you.”
“Easier than I expected it to be,” she said wryly.
His eyes darkened to brown velvet. “I’m glad.”
Their eyes locked and he slowly lowered his head. Heart hammering, Emily went perfectly still. But when his lips touched hers, everything faded away but the moment. And in that moment, Emily Jordan tasted heaven for the very first time.
Never had she been kissed with such quiet reverence or sensual finesse. Never. After a brief first kiss that barely brushed her lips, Eric kissed each corner of her mouth with whisper softness, then returned to press his lips to hers again in a kiss that made every part of her yearn for more.
He pulled away just as she swayed forward, catching her gently by the upper arms. He looked into her eyes for a long moment, then sent her a slow, sexy smile, a smile filled with a delicious sense of warmth and promise.
“See you soon,” he said and released her.
Emily nodded, too dazed to speak. Her headache was gone. Her muscles no longer ached. Every ounce of her earlier tension had evaporated. She felt warm and fuzzy all over, as if she were floating. Eric opened the front door and loped across the lawn.
“Eric, wait!” she called when he was halfway to his car.
He turned, a distracted look on his moonlit face.
“My keys.”
He pointed to the Suburban. “In the ignition.”

Happy Valentine's Day, and may you have many more kisses in store for you!

Building Up To Their First Kiss - Emily and Eric

“I’ll trade you. The keys for a cup of coffee. Inside.”
“Forget it.”
“Why? Are you afraid to be alone with me?”
“Don’t you have a game to go to?”
He nodded and moved closer, watching her eyes darken as he did. “I have to be at the arena, suited up, in less than an hour. Which means I’ve got ten minutes, max, before I have to make tracks. Ten minutes, Emily. What could happen in ten minutes?”
She met his gaze for the longest moment, her own quietly searching, then closed her eyes and sighed, as if exhausted. “Would you just leave, Eric? Take your car and go? Please?”
He saw what it cost her to say please, and didn’t like the way it made him feel. But more was at stake here than transitory feelings. Something was happening between them. Something he wasn’t about to ignore—and he wasn’t about to let her ignore it either.
“After I kiss you.”
She stepped back as if he were going to steal one right there in the driveway. “No.”
“This isn’t an impulse, Emily,” he said, forcing himself to stay put when his instincts led him to follow her. It’s something I’ve thought about almost constantly since we met. To be honest, I want to do a lot more than just kiss you, but—”
Shaking her head, she backed up another step and lifted a hand. “No.”
Before she could turn away, Eric slowly, deliberately and carefully stepped forward. Just as carefully he reached up and gently wrapped his fingers around her upheld hand. He wanted her to see him coming. If she resisted at all, he’d release her and leave immediately.
His heart thudded hard as she went perfectly still.
Slowly, he drew her hand to his chest. “As I was saying, I’d like to do a whole lot more than kiss you, but it’s kind of hard to make love to a woman who’s always pushing you away.”
She looked up at him, clearly confused. Eric took heart. Confusion beat rejection any day of the week. “Please don’t push me away any more, Emily. I won’t hurt you. I swear it.” He splayed her palm across his heart, pounding inside his open jacket. “Can’t you feel what you do to me?”

Liana Laverentz

www.lianalaverentz.com