Blurred Boundaries (23 page)

Lori Crawford has two great passions—television and writing. As a child, she was a walking TV guide. When not watching TV, she was devouring every book she could get her hands on. Nearly a decade later, her love for reading developed into a passion for writing. She graduated from short stories and imaginary friends to write her first novel when she turned sixteen. It went on to languish in the bottom of a drawer where it rightfully belongs. She is delighted to share this novel with you which is waaaayyy better than the first one.

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Keep reading to check out more tall tales from Lori.

The Marriage Curve

Blurb:

Jaylyn Sanders is a church girl. She grew up a church girl and expects to remain a church girl long after she’s dead and chilling in Heaven.

Zeke Malone is a billionaire philanderer whose good looks and charm can lure any woman he wants into his bed. Except Jaylyn. Knowing he's on the verge of losing her forever, Zeke does the one thing he vowed he’d never do again. He agrees to attend church with her. After all. How bad could it be?

Turns out, it’s worse than he’d imagined. The secret he’d been hiding from her for years is brought to painful light. Unafraid to call him out on his mess, Jaylyn issues a challenge Zeke knows he should refuse. He tries to call her bluff, but they end up in Vegas and married. She treats him to an explosive honeymoon night proving that everything he’d feared about the marriage bed was unfounded.

However, outside the bedroom, neither of them can figure out how to be married in general nor married to each other in particular.

Can Jaylyn and Zeke survive The Marriage Curve?

Excerpt:

"Eyes front."

If they'd been in public, he might have felt a bit of remorse being caught staring at a woman's breasts. Given that they were alone in the car, he continued to stare. He also knew it would chip away at her defenses. He'd decided that his best offense here was to let her know as often as possible how much he desired her.

"Why? The view's pretty good right here." He turned in his seat to rest his back against the door so he could have a more full on look. They were definitely bigger than he remembered. But not surgery bigger.

"What was I thinking? Why is it that you can't manage to behave for five minutes?" She shot a glare his way. "Seriously, Zeke. We're on our way to church. Can't you curb the harassment for one morning?"

He frowned and shifted his gaze upward. "Harassment? Most women would be flattered with the attention. I find you attractive. Why shouldn't I let you know it?"

"Perhaps you should set your sights on one of them." She looked his way. "And you have let me know. Again and again. And again. The horse is dead already. Quit beating it."

Wow. He couldn't do anything right with her. "Fine. Would it make you feel any better to know that I was just wondering why your breasts are bigger?"

Her jaw dropped and she stopped at a green light. "You're kidding me, right?"

He shrugged and resettled himself in the seat. "The light is green," he pointed out. He waited until she put the vehicle back in motion before continuing. "No. I'm not kidding."

"That's not something you remark on in polite company."

"That's why I brought it up now instead of waiting until we got in the church foyer. So, what gives?" He looked at her face to await her answer. He could see her gritting her teeth and felt a little twinge of satisfaction. It was much better that she be furious with him than to feel nothing at all. Besides, a little fury made for some great sex.

He frowned as a truly horrifying thought struck him. The seat. The swollen breasts. Oh crap! "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Her jaw dropped for a second time and she looked at him again. "I'm trying a new bra," she ground out. "Is that okay with you?"

Relief washed over him. He smiled. "Aw. You really shouldn't have gone to so much trouble for my benefit. I've always enjoyed your rack." His eyes flicked downward again. "Though I must say I do appreciate the effort."

"What effort? There was no effort! Especially not for you."

He just smiled and winked at her, which increased her fury. He loved getting to her like this. It went a long way toward evening the score of how much she got to him. "If you say so."

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Thwarting Cupid

Blurb:

Carissa Langston is a perfectly lovely woman, so she can't figure out why she's always been single. The higher ups at Cupid Headquarters are wondering the same thing. 

What none of them knows is that Quincy, her assigned cupid, fancies himself in love with her. He doesn't think anyone will ever be good enough for her--especially not that James "Hutch" Hutchington person. Who cares if the man is really Carissa's soul mate? 

When Carissa and Hutch run into one another after years apart, sparks fly. Quincy does some fancy cupiding to keep them apart--no matter the cost. Can Carissa and Hutch thwart cupid and reach their happily ever after? 

WARNING: Cupid hijinks, sexy chemistry between soul mates, and adult content. 

Excerpt:

“This is wonderful, Hutch. Thank you,” Carissa gushed after she'd swallowed a forkful of eggs.

“I don't want to burst your bubble, but you've reached the end of my culinary skills.” James picked up his glass of orange juice. “Still want to hide my house keys?”

“Are you kidding? You've cooked every meal since what, Thursday? You have a pretty impressive arsenal.”

The man's face did what could only be described as beam under her praise. Quincy felt sick to his stomach.

“Who am I to argue with the world's best patient?” James shrugged in faux modesty and lifted his glass to his lips. Quincy glared at the man and flicked his finger up. The glass tipped too far and orange juice splattered on his face before streaming down his neck and chest. Embarrassment was quick to replace the satisfaction that had been in James's expression moments earlier. Quincy smirked. Score!

“Oh no!” Carissa jumped up to grab some towels while James tried to mop up the spill with the napkins already on the table. Quincy twirled his finger so the juice kept multiplying even though the glass was on the table. He grinned. It was going to take more than those few towels in Carissa's hand to clean this mess up. He brought his hands together to focus the flow toward James’s groin. How attractive would Carissa find a man who appeared wet his pants?

Carissa didn't hand James the towels like he’d expected. Instead, she wiped him up herself. Quincy frowned and stopped the flow. He hadn't seen that coming. He studied her expression. Something was amiss. Her cheeks were all pink and she was biting her lip. She kept her eyes glued to his chest while her hand smoothed over the contours of his pectorals and down over his taut belly then back up again. Since the juice had stopped flowing, her touch had turned into more of a caress.

“Cara?” James's voice sounded all husky, the way women seemed to like. He caught her hand and stood up. Their gazes locked and held. With the juice-soaked crotch, it wasn't difficult to see the effect Carissa's cleaning had had on the man. She leaned forward the tiniest bit. So did James. Crap. They were going to kiss. Quincy couldn't have that.

He looked around for a distraction. Any distraction. Ah, there. He pointed toward the cell phone on the table. He didn't recognize it so he figured it was James’s. The little gadget chirped to life. For the first couple of rings, neither Carissa nor the man appeared to hear it. With a frown, Quincy jerked his thumb up. The ringer volume increased.

“Your phone,” Carissa said and stepped back with a quick shake of her head. Finally. The girl was coming to her senses. She picked up the phone with her free hand and handed it to James.

Quincy wanted to breathe a sigh of relief now that the moment had been broken, but judging from the way the man kept holding her hand, it wouldn't take much for them to pick up where they'd left off. He needed to get the guy out of there.

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Royal Opposites

Blurb:

What can a coupon queen possibly have in common with a Crown Prince? Everything.

After being accused of attempting to rob a bank that was actually trying to rob them – legally – a coupon queen goes on the run with a Crown Prince who’d been living in the U.S. anonymously for the past year. Armed with only her coupon binder, the two flee the area in an effort to meet up with his royal head of security for protection. But first, they must elude the two very determined bank guards who will let nothing stop them from retrieving the damning video of the bank incident from the couple.

Excerpt:

“May I?” 

He gestured toward the bench seat opposite her and waited for permission to sit. Feeling like a classless idiot, she managed a nod. He slid into the booth and smiled at her. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse. The man should be forced to carry a permit for that smile. She imagined it could be absolutely deadly for any female he used it on. And right now, he was using it on her. 

“I do believe I owe you my life,” the man stated, never taking his eyes off her face. 

The over-the-top line snapped her out of her awe. She wrinkled her nose. “A bit too dramatic, don’t you think?” 

The smile left his lips, but stayed in his eyes. And she’d thought that weapon of his was lethal before. He wasn’t an amateur at using it, either.

“Perhaps,” he agreed, but she got the feeling he was just telling her what she wanted to hear. Unless he was a complete drama queen, he seemed to believe something else was behind his treatment from earlier. She didn’t know where it came from, but she had the undeniable urge to reassure him.

“I could be wrong, but I don’t think you’re the first customer who’s been cheated out of money by that bank.”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

Joan dropped her gaze to study the dark polished wood of the table between them. Did she dare tell him about her stupidity? That would make a great impression on the sexiest man she’d ever seen in her life. Who was she kidding? Great looking guys didn’t go out with frumpy chicks like her. Stupid or not. “I haven’t figured everything out, you know, with all the running away and stuff, but I’ve had the same conversation with them almost word for word.”

He leaned back in the booth with a frown marring his prominent brow. “What did you do? Did they resolve it?”

Joan snorted a humorless laugh before she could stop herself. “It was resolved alright. I was there to make the final eight hundred dollar payment on the loan I had to take out to resolve the situation.”

“I see.” He sat forward again and laced his long fingers together on the table. “How often were these payments?”

Becoming more and more uncomfortable with the line of questioning, Joan thought about refusing to answer while rolling her glass between her palms. Considering what he was about to go through, she figured it was only fair to warn him. “Every month for the last two years.”

He gave a low whistle. “How much were you overdrawn?”

Joan bristled at the question. That part was none of his business. She was already embarrassed at the hole she’d dug herself. She didn’t need to lay out the gory details for a complete stranger. The man must be a mind reader. He reached out and covered both her hands with his. The heat from his hands contrasted with the iciness of the glass and claimed her full attention.

“I don’t mean to pry. I’m just trying to get a handle on their game.”

Joan relaxed. Well as much as she could with his gentle touch warming her to levels she didn’t quite understand. “One hundred eighty-six dollars and twenty-four cents.”

Because their hands were linked, she felt him tense before she noted the tight lines that framed his mouth. “Eight hundred for twenty-four months?” His brows shot up. “So you paid them over nineteen thousand dollars when you owed under two hundred at the beginning.”

Joan shook her head. “Nineteen…? No. I doubled up on payments to get rid of the debt faster.” She wanted to grin from ear to ear at his nod and look of approval. Somehow, she managed to keep her expression neutral. “It was a little under seventeen thousand to pay them off.”

The tight lines around his mouth returned. “Almost a fifty percent interest rate. How do they manage to get away with that? Maybe ten or fifteen percent of what you owe, but not fifty.”

“Now that I think about it, I’m not positive I owed the two thousand to begin with. It’s a ludicrous amount of money and it would take me ages to spend so much. At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I think they held my deposit on purpose.”

She watched his lips quirk like something had just amused him, but she couldn’t for the life of her imagine what. Before he could share what he was thinking, the waitress interrupted. The woman was all smiles and with a trim figure that Joan could only imagine for herself. And that was if she were having a good day. She wasn’t sure today qualified.

The woman placed a glass of what appeared to be cranberry juice in front of the man and refilled Joan’s glass. She smiled at their linked hands on the table and winked at him. “It’s about time you brought in a dining companion. I was beginning to worry about you.”

Joan felt her face flush and tried to pull out of his grip. To her astonishment, he held on tight. “Well, Molly, I most humbly apologize for any sleepless nights I may have caused you.”

The woman snorted. “I didn’t say all that, Tom.”

Joan didn’t know why, but it surprised her to hear him laugh at the waitress’ reaction. He didn’t appear to be annoyed at all.

“Are ya’ll ready to order?” She swept a lock of black hair from her forehead with her left hand. That was when Joan got a glimpse of the diamond ring on her finger. Hmm. Maybe Tom’s lethal smile didn’t work on all women. The moment she recalled the name Molly had called him, Joan realized they’d never even introduced themselves. Yet, here they were holding hands like a couple of lovebirds.

Joan noticed with a start they were both looking at her. Molly had her pen poised over a pad ready for her order. Tom watched her with an expectant look in his eyes. They must think she planned to stay for dinner. While she’d been waiting for him, she checked out the prices to factor into her budget next month. This month, however, she didn’t have a spare dime because she’d allocated every penny to the final payment and now she was also on the verge of some serious late fees from the stupid loan she’d taken. No, she was going to get Tom’s e-mail and get herself home.

“I think we need another moment or two, Molly. Thanks.” The waitress nodded and headed off to check on other customers while Tom turned his attention back to Joan.

She needed to conclude their business and be on her way. So she said, “I’m Joan.”

Tom frowned at the non sequitur so she continued, “Molly used your name and I realized we never introduced ourselves so I’m…”

“…Joan,” he finished for her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Joan. I do hope you’re not thinking of running out and leaving me here to dine alone. Molly will never let me live it down.”

“In all honesty, I was just hoping to run into you to give you the video I shot and then be on my way. If you give me your e-mail address I’ll send it to you tonight.” She pulled out of his grasp and gestured with the camera case. “I think you have a pretty good claim to file against the bank. This footage will help.”

“How did you know to find me here?” he asked. His eyes took on an intensity she had yet to see from him in their brief acquaintance.

“It’s like this. I’ve kinda seen you around. Here, in fact. So I took a chance…” She trailed off with a shrug.

“That’s it? What if I didn’t show?”

“I’d have seen you sooner or later. I would’ve asked for your e-mail then.”

Tom stared at her for a long moment. At last, his serious expression gave way to that lethal smile of his. She must have passed whatever test he’d given her. She made no excuses, she knew she’d gone through one with a certainty she rarely felt.

“You’ve gone through so much trouble for me. The least I can do is treat you to dinner.”

She shook her head. “You need to conserve your funds. I have a feeling this little incident is going to get worse long before it gets better. You’ll need something to get you through.”

He tilted his head while he studied her. Without taking his eyes off her, he signaled Molly. “I have other accounts.” Molly arrived with a pen at the ready. “We’ll start with the Bruschetta and Caesar salad. For the main course, we’d like a sampling of the jerk chicken, wild salmon enchiladas and turkey meatloaf to share. We’ll top it off with the apple crisp and vanilla ice cream.”

Molly gave them a big grin. “You got it.”

Joan stared at him with one raised eyebrow. “You’re not at all worried about your bank problem are you?”

“Not at all. It’ll get worked out. To my benefit, in fact.”

Joan chewed on the straw in her tea. "I so hope those aren't famous last words."

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