Falling for Finn (21 page)

The kiss was the sweetest he’d ever had. Like a first kiss, full of wonder and delight, then becoming hotter, deeper, the edge of desperation creeping back in.

His Anna. His friend. His beautiful girl. His.

The rock that had been sitting in the very center of his chest for so long vanished as if it had never been. It felt like finally, after years of slowly suffocating, he could breathe properly.

Finn locked his arms around her, pulling her in tight against him again, surrounding himself with the soft warmth of her body, the vanilla and musk of her scent. “I want to take you to bed,” he whispered against her skin. “I want to hear those words again.”

He felt her fingers push into his hair, her body pressing against him. She seemed to know what he was talking about because she replied, “You don’t need to use sex to get me to say them again, but hey, if you want to do that, I won’t complain.”

Gently, he lifted a hand, pushed one lock of brown hair behind her ear. “Tell me then.”

Green eyes met his, no looking away. No avoiding. She looked right into him, letting him see her in return. Her heart, her soul. “I love you, Finn Shaw. I always have. I always will.”

No, he would never get sick of hearing her say that. He smiled. “And I love you, Anna Jameson.” And then, because he knew she’d laugh, “To infinity and beyond.”

She did laugh, the soft, husky Anna-laugh he’d missed for so long. “
Toy Story
, how romantic.”

He grinned and kissed her again, hotter, hungrier. A kiss that seemed to last hours, both of them lost to the heat and passion.

“One question,” he said when they came up for air. “Couch? Armchair? Or kitchen bench?”

Anna’s gaze was the color of evergreens, growing darker with desire. “Anywhere, Finn. Anywhere you want.”

His arms tightened around her. “I’m giving you control, Green Eyes.”

“I know.” She touched his mouth very gently. “But I don’t need it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” A smile. A smile for him alone. “I trust you.”

The strength of that trust took his breath away. Stopped his heart.

Finn kissed her again because he couldn’t not, her mouth, her jaw, her throat.

“You’ll stay, won’t you, Anna?” he murmured into her neck. The desperation in his voice couldn’t be hidden and he didn’t bother. He’d be vulnerable to her. His heart was at her feet.

“How long do you want me to stay?” She’d begun to tremble against him.

“How does forever sound?”

She grew still in his arms and he lifted his head, looking down into her eyes. They were wide, dark, and full of everything he’d ever hoped for.

“Not long enough,” Anna whispered.

He cupped her face, his heart filling up. “What about eternity?”

Her lips curved. “I guess I could settle for that.”

“You know I love you, right?”

“You may have mentioned it.”

“Well, I do. And I want you to know that—”

“Shut up, Finn.”

Finn did. Then he took her to bed and kept her there. And if it wasn’t for quite the eternity she’d wanted, it was pretty damn close.

About the Author

Jackie has been writing fiction since she was eleven years old. Mild-mannered fantasy/SF/pseudoliterary writer by day, obsessive romance writer by night, she used to balance her writing with the more serious job of librarianship until a chance meeting with another romance author prompted her to throw off the shackles of her day job and devote herself to her true passion—writing romance. She particularly likes to write dark, emotional stories with alpha heroes who’ve just got the world to their liking only to have it blown wide apart by their kick-ass heroines.
 

She lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband, the inimitable Dr. Jax, two kids, two cats and some guppies (possibly dead guppies by the time you read this). When she’s not torturing alpha males and their stroppy heroines, she
 
can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, posting random crap on her blog or being forced to go mountain biking with her husband.
 

You can find Jackie at
www.jackieashenden.com
or her blog at
jackieashenden.blogspot.co.nz
, or follow her on Twitter
@JackieAshenden
.

Look for these titles by Jackie Ashenden

Coming Soon:

Black Knight, White Queen

Taking Him

The relationship is pretend. The chemistry…isn’t.

Sweet Deal

© 2012 Kelly Jamieson

After her last job ended with a broken heart and a humiliating exit from the company, Shelby Leighton’s project management career is back on track with a new job and a high-profile project. The problem: her new boss is a little too friendly, and the staff is talking. Can you say, “déjà vu?”
 
The solution: casually mention a fictional new boyfriend.

New problem: she’s expected to bring her new man to the upcoming corporate picnic.
 

Jake Magill doesn’t do relationships. It’s casual or nothing, but the hot blonde he’s been eyeing at the coffee shop sure is something. Especially when she confesses her problem, and he finds himself offering to act as her date.
 

Sounds simple. Stroll around the party with Shelby’s sexy curves clinging to his arm? He’s all over it. Until he meets her boss—the man who once stole and married the one woman Jake thought he loved.
 

Now Jake’s the one with a reason to pretend. If only to save his own pride…and Shelby from the predatory gaze of the man who could ruin her, and any chance of finding out if their fake connection is the real thing.

Warning: Contains one desperate lady in need, and a pretend boyfriend who shows impressive dedication to nailing all—and then some—elements of his role. Oh my!

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Sweet Deal:

“You’re just a little thing, aren’t you?” Jake set his hands on her hips as they moved to the music and smiled his sexy smile down at her, his dark eyes heavy-lidded and sensual. They were both putting on a good act, but Shelby knew she was kidding herself. This was no act. She was so attracted to Jake. More than attracted. His charming personality, the easy way he talked to her coworkers, just the way he’d stepped in to help her and how he’d been so convincing in his role as her boyfriend drew her to him.

She could pretend this was all just an act. Yeah. When the evening ended and they parted, Jake’s favor over and done with, she’d be fine. But right now, pretending was so much fun.

“I hope Andrew doesn’t give you a hard time at work next week,” Jake murmured, a small crease between his thick, straight eyebrows.

“I’m hoping he’ll just leave me alone. I mean, I still need to work with him. Well, you know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean, Shelby Rose.”

The way he called her that made her go all soft inside. They shared a slow smile, gazes fastened on each other as they danced.

They drank another beer, chatted a bit more, danced again. As the evening grew cooler, Shelby slipped on a hoodie she’d brought. She almost forgot to be aware of where Andrew was, and whether he was watching them. As the crowd dwindled, she looked at Jake with regret.

“We could leave now,” she said softly. “I think our mission is accomplished.”

“Yeah. Okay.” He nodded and set down the cola he’d requested instead of beer last time. “I’ll drive you back to your car.”

“Oh. Yeah.” She hesitated. “You know, that wasn’t very smart of me, but I think I’ve had too much to drink.” She bit her bottom lip as she met his eyes. “I completely forgot I had to drive.”

“That’s okay. I’ll just drive you home then. Will you be able to get your car tomorrow?”

Things were pleasantly blurry as they walked hand in hand toward the parking lot. “Yeah, I’ll get it somehow. But thanks for driving me home. Geez, I feel so stupid.”

“You are far from stupid, Shelby Rose.”

“I like how you call me that,” she confessed. He opened the passenger door of his Audi SUV, and she paused. “Man, this is a high vehicle.”

“It is for an elf,” he said. “Here.” He lifted her and sat her on the passenger seat, then closed her door.

“Hey!” But he was walking around the vehicle to his side. She glared at him when he slid in and he grinned.

“I’m teasing.” He leaned over and brushed his mouth across hers, sending tingles cascading over her whole body. She blinked at him, then remembered to fasten her seatbelt.

He parked on the street in front of her apartment building in the quiet residential neighborhood and walked with her to the door. As she paused at the door, the shadows of the tall queen palm shifting moonlight over and around them, he slipped his fingers beneath her chin and lifted her face. She stared back at him, her gaze moving over his dark eyes, crinkled at the corners as he smiled, the cleft in the middle of his chin, the sexy curve of his lower lip. Oh. Her breath whooshed out of her.

Heat expanded, the air around them feeling like it might ignite, and then they were wrapped in each other’s arms, mouths fused together in a hot, impetuous kiss, bold, frantic and hungry.

His arms crushed her to him, her purse thunked to the ground and her feet lifted as he hauled her higher and tighter to his body.

“Jesus,” he muttered against her mouth, before taking it again in another devouring kiss. She kissed him back, mindless, frenzied. The sexual tension that had been smoldering inside her all evening burst into flames. Heat swept over her.

His tongue dragged over hers, licked her bottom lip, then his mouth sealed over hers again. An intense ache bloomed low in her belly, and she slid her hands into his hair, holding his head, and she kissed him back, a full-mouthed, full-bodied kiss that had more heat exploding between them.

Eventually, she pulled back, panting, heart hammering, and gasped, “Wait.”

He made a sound like a groan.

“We don’t have to do this,” she wheezed. “This was supposed to be an act.”

He made a derisive noise. “Yeah. It was supposed to be. But don’t tell me you don’t feel it too, Shelby Rose.”

His hands tightened on her ass, pulling her against him, and she felt his erection against her belly. Holy crap, he was big. She’d made him that hard. And he’d made her so wet her panties were soaked. You couldn’t fake that kind of reaction. She gazed up at him, uncertain of what to do now.

“Invite me in,” he ordered softly.

Falling for Finn

Jackie Ashenden

When you’ve been burned, the heat of the moment is the scariest place to be.

Six months after a sexual assault, Anna Jameson has decided enough is enough. She’s sick of being a victim, of letting the experience have power over her. She wants her fear of physical intimacy gone, as in now.

In the quest to reclaim her sexuality, she needs a man. A man she trusts absolutely. A man like her best friend, Finn.

Finn Shaw is all about taking risks. He does it every week on his extreme sports TV show. But there’s one boundary he’s never pushed, and that’s his friendship with Anna. When his hyper-intellectual family kicked him to the curb over his dyslexia, Anna stuck by him.

Her request to become friends with benefits throws him for a loop. He can’t deny her anything, but this is a whole different ball game. Once they’re skin to skin, there will be no hiding the fact that he’s loved her for years.

When their chemistry burns out of control, Finn decides he’s the one who’s had enough. It’s time to break out of the friend box—and show Anna that risking her heart is a risk well worth taking. Even if it costs him her friendship.

Warning: This book contains a strong-willed heroine who knows what she wants, a daredevil hero intent on showing her how much more she could have, sexy love scenes that’ll melt your heart, and a grand gesture you’ll need a tissue for.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

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Falling for Finn