Fix You (18 page)

You can visit Mari’s website at
www.maricarr.com
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She blogs at International Heat (
internationalheat.wordpress.com
) and hangs out on the Heat Wave Readers Yahoo group:

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Look for these titles by Mari Carr

Now Available:

Because of You

Because You Love Me

Because It’s True

Black and White Collection

Erotic Research

Tequila Truth

Rough Cut

Happy Hour

Power Play

Slam Dunk

Learning Curves

Dangerous Curves

Wicked Curves

Compass Brothers

Northern Exposure

Southern Comfort

Eastern Ambitions

Western Ties

Love’s Compass

Who says you can only score on the court?

Slam Dunk

© 2011 Mari Carr

A
Black & White
Story

Trey Donovan is mourning the end of summer with fellow teachers when Ellie Hunter walks into Tully’s Bar. Better yet, she’s now a former rival basketball coach and the newest science teacher at his high school. He can’t think of anyone better to fill the vacant assistant coach job. In fact, if he plays his cards right, she might end up his perfect match off the court, too.

If she stops holding him at arm’s length long enough to give him a chance.

Coming off a year of bad decisions that not only broke her heart, but cost her a job, Ellie has good reason to swear off workplace romances. Her undeniable—and undeniably mutual—attraction to Trey is a serious threat to her resolve. Especially since Trey’s too-easy capitulation to her boundaries stings just a little too much.

Funny thing, though. When she sees Trey dancing with someone else, the edges of her vision turn decidedly green. And when another man tries to kiss Ellie, Trey sees red.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to fudge the rules. Just a little. After all, casual sex doesn’t count. Right?

Warning: Lots of red-hot, half-dressed court presses complete with sex toys, food, bubble baths, strip poker and, oh yeah, balls.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Slam Dunk:

“Hey guys,” Cheryl called out as she walked into Tully’s. “Look who I found in the parking lot.”

Trey glanced up and, for a moment, he felt as if he’d been sucker punched. Ellie Hunter followed Cheryl and Lucas to the table.
 

Then Trey’s grin grew and he stood. “Take a wrong turn, Coach Hunter? Harper’s Ridge is on the other side of town.”

Ellie smiled, but before she could speak, Grace answered. “I invited her. We ran into each other at school today.”

Trey frowned, looking at Ellie. “Why were you at Preston?”

“I had a new teacher meeting to attend. I was checking out my classroom when I ran into Grace.”

Jamie looked at Grace. “Why the hell would you go to school on the last day of summer?”

Grace blushed slightly. “I wanted to work on my bulletin board.”

Lucas laughed. “Nerd.”

Grace threw a pretzel at Lucas’s head while the others laughed. Ordinarily Trey would have been amused by their antics, but he was too busy trying to wrap his head around the idea that Ellie “Hottie” Hunter was now his colleague rather than his competition. She looked smokin’ hot in short shorts and a T-shirt that showcased her perfect curves. Trey felt his cock stir.
 

“Here,” Trey said, grabbing a chair from an empty table nearby and placing it next to his. He suddenly felt the need to have Ellie in his space, close to him. “Have a seat.”

Ellie acknowledged his friendly gesture with a quick nod of thanks and sexy smile as they sat.

Lucas grabbed an empty glass and filled it, passing it over to Ellie. “So you left Harper’s Ridge, huh? Finally decide you wanted to teach at a good school with a winning athletics program?”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “You must be Lucas. Grace warned me about you.”

Lucas wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? You like bad boys?”

Trey narrowed his eyes at his friend, annoyed. While they were both known as being flirts—and players—Trey didn’t like the idea of Lucas hitting on Ellie.
 

“Bad boy?” Trey scoffed. “Jesus, Lucas. You’re as much a bad boy as Justin Bieber.”

They all laughed as Lucas playfully punched Trey on the arm.

Ellie took a sip of the beer. “I needed a change of scenery,” she replied in response to Lucas’s earlier question. “Preston had an opening in the science department, so I took it.”

“What about coaching?” Trey asked, surprised she would give up something she’d so obviously loved.

She shrugged. “There wasn’t an opening to coach basketball at Preston. I mean, that is unless you wanna quit and hand the reins over to someone who actually knows a bit about the sport.”

He grinned. Oh yeah, suddenly Trey wasn’t dreading the end of summer. This school year was looking to be his best yet. It wouldn’t be hard going to work if Ellie was there providing the eye candy. “Not likely. Besides, considering the fact I took my girls’ team to the state championship a couple of years ago, I’d say I know plenty about the game.”

Ellie wasn’t daunted. She leaned closer and Trey caught the light scent of her perfume. Damn, she smelled good. “Word on the street is you’re not going to see that much success this year. Four of your starters graduated in June, which leaves you with a young bench. Anybody can coach naturally talented players. You think you’re up for teaching a bunch of newbies?”

This was what Trey had missed at the basketball conference. Nobody kept both his feet firmly planted on the ground like Ellie Hunter. “Oh, I’m up for it, sweetheart. You don’t have to worry about that.” Actually, at the moment, he was up for quite a bit. He hoped Ellie didn’t look down or she’d see exactly how much he enjoyed sparring with her. His cock was rock hard and threatening to bust a few seams in his pants.

“Where the hell did that summer go?” Cheryl said, waving to the waitress to set them up with another pitcher. “I’m warning y’all now. I’m drinking and dancing my ass off tonight. I’m fucking depressed.”

Trey topped up Cheryl’s glass. “You say the same thing every year at this happy hour.”

Cheryl shrugged. “Why do you think I had Lucas pick me up? I came prepared. DD and all.”

“Speaking of dancing,” Trey said, when the sound of Usher filled the room, “I lined up a few classics in the jukebox for us.”

Jamie groaned. “Christ, man. You picked all black music, didn’t you? Bet you didn’t fire up one single country song.”

Trey stood up and gave Jamie a shit-eating grin. They constantly waged this friendly battle over music. “My dollar, my picks.”

He was surprised when Ellie rose quickly. “I love this song.” She grabbed Trey’s hand and led him to the bar’s tiny dance floor. Cheryl and Lucas were hot on their heels and Trey noticed Grace leading an only somewhat reluctant Jamie as well.
 

He started to move to the music, watching as Ellie lost herself to the song. Holy fuck. She could dance.

After years of Grace and Cheryl’s hilarious attempts at keeping up with him on the dance floor, he was blown away by Ellie’s natural grace and rhythm. She had some sexy-as-hell moves for a white girl. On top of that, she knew all the words to the song. When she mouthed along with Ludacris about wanting “a freak in the bed”, he resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to make it through this night without jerking off to relieve his hard-on.

Ellie turned around and moved against him. For a second, he tried to hold her away, knowing there was no way she wouldn’t be able to feel his erection. Then, he figured what the hell. There was nothing he wanted more than to feel her tight ass rubbing against him. He reached for her waist and pressed her closer. If she was surprised by his actions—as well as his cock rubbing against her lower back—she didn’t show it. In fact, she moved slower, more sinuously.

Trey gritted his teeth and tried to ignore how good her body felt against his. Her long brown hair was pulled back in her usual ponytail and he wondered what her hair would look like down, loose around her shoulders. Or better yet, he could wrap that ponytail around his hand and use it to direct her mouth to his cock as she sucked him off. A myriad of red-hot images passed by his eyes as he danced with her. No other woman had ever inspired this much lust in him, but a few minutes with Ellie never failed to drive his thoughts straight to the bedroom.

He moved his hands higher on her waist, his hands slipping beneath her T-shirt as she continued to gyrate in time with the music.

He’d never danced with Ellie, never had more than short conversations with her at conferences and before games, but he’d always watched her. Always been aware that whenever she was around, the rest of his surroundings went a bit blurry, all his focus directed at her.

He was attracted to her. He’d never denied that to himself, though he’d certainly worked hard to hide the fact from his friends. Grace and Cheryl would take a great deal of pleasure knowing he had a crush on Ellie Hunter and knowing them, they’d work overtime to try to hook them up. Grace was always trying to set him up, telling him he needed to settle down.

Ellie turned around to face him, but he didn’t release his grip on her waist. Instead he let his fingers slide over the smooth, soft skin of her tiny waist.
 

Suddenly it dawned on him exactly how small she was. Looking down, he noticed the top of her head only came to his shoulders. Her powerful personality had always made her seem taller to him.
 

She continued to dance and her new position gave him a bird’s eye view of her breasts. She wasn’t overly endowed, though she certainly had plenty to fill his palm. She sported an athletic build, trim and firm and fit. He considered all the ways she could use her physical strength in the bedroom and his cock twitched. Jesus. This wasn’t good.

The road to passion is paved with guilty pleasures.

Seven Sexy Sins

© 2012 Serenity Woods

Faith Hillman is in a bit of a pickle. She’s been commissioned to write a series of magazine articles on spicing up your love life. She’s got the theme—the “Seven Sexy Sins”—but there’s one major problem. She hasn’t experienced any of them.

Ever since Faith’s older brother gave Rusty Thorne a black eye for kissing her on her eighteenth birthday, he’s kept his distance, waiting for the right time to make his move. This is it. She needs a research partner? He’s the man for the job.

When sex-on-legs Rusty offers his services, Faith is all over it—with one caveat. The notorious heartbreaker must sign a confidentiality contract. Just to keep him safe from her brother’s wrath, of course…and her heart off Rusty’s long list of conquests.

As they work their wicked way through the list, the implications of the contract hit Rusty as hard as the handcuffs binding his wrists to the bed. It isn’t just Faith’s touch that rocks his world. It’s the way his heart likes it that blows his defenses out of the water. And makes him wonder, when the contract ends, if he can bear to let her go.

Warning: Includes rebellious hero who enjoys inserting Tab A into Slots B, C, and even occasionally D. Also includes highly inappropriate use of a Mars Bar.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Seven Sexy Sins:

Faith stared at him, her mouth falling open. “What are you saying, exactly?”

“You need to do some research for your articles. And I’m happy to help.”

“You want to help me research the seven sexy sins? Personally? Like, not in books?”

“Absolutely. Sounds like great fun.” They studied each other for a moment. Eventually Rusty gave a short laugh. “You needn’t look quite so shocked.” His eyes twinkled. “Don’t you find me attractive?”

She gave him a wry look. “Of course I do—you know you’re sex on legs. That’s hardly the point.”

“So what is the point?”

“Dan would kill you if he knew you’d even suggested this.”

“Toby suggested it—he didn’t kill him.”

“Toby wasn’t serious.”

Rusty snorted. “Of course he was. He’d give his right arm to get you into bed.”

Shock rippled through her. “What are you talking about? I’m just Dan’s little sister. I’m hardly the target of anyone’s sexual fantasies.”

“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“I…” She looked down at herself before looking back up. “What do you mean?”