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Overview
When Joya Bennett wakes up after her brother’s wedding half-naked and lying next to her lifelong crush, she’s mortified. OMG, did she try to jump his bones? Worse, did she succeed? Intending to lay low and housesit for her brother until the embarrassment fades, she sneaks away before he wakes up.
What she didn’t plan on is having company.
Lincoln Fisher doesn’t do relationships, but if he did, his friend’s little sister would be the one to tie him down. Good thing Joya had one too many drinks during the reception or he’d have crossed a line. Her brother would kill him if he found out all the places Linc wanted to kiss the sexy, auburn-haired beauty.
And now they’re stuck in the same house. For two weeks.
She’s off-limits. And he needs to keep it that way, even if the heat building between them is hot enough to blow off the roof…
Each book in the Wedding Favors series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Bridesmaid Blues
Book #2 Random Acts of Marriage
Book #3 Properly Groomed
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781633758582 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Entangled Publishing, LLC |
| Publication date: | 01/09/2017 |
| Series: | Wedding Favors , #3 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | NOOK Book |
| Pages: | 120 |
| Sales rank: | 358,392 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Properly Groomed
A Wedding Favors Romantic Comedy
By Boone Brux, Liz Pelletier
Entangled Publishing, LLC
Copyright © 2017 Boone BruxAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63375-858-2
CHAPTER 1
Joya didn't know what was worse: the pounding in her head caused by the Cosmopolitans she'd indulged in last night, or the blinding sunshine streaming through the window, demanding she haul herself out of bed and start her day.
Everything hurt. Even the soft white sheet lying across her waist felt like sandpaper against her sensitive skin. The throbbing in her ears and at her temples intensified. She'd been a bad bridesmaid, laughing and toasting to any and everything. At one point, she was fairly certain she'd toasted the flower arrangements. And that was after the group at her table had cheered the Seattle Seahawks, Kwanza, and beer cozies.
The thundering headache and drought-level thirst was her punishment.
Unfortunately, she couldn't lie in bed all day, no matter how much she wanted to pull the sheet over her head and sink into a hangover-induced sleep. She reached for the sheet.
Something beside her shifted.
Not something. Some one.
The breath halted in her throat. Only her eyeballs moved, roaming up and down her sleeping companion.
There's a naked man in my bed.
She recognized the smooth tan skin and muscled back instantly, and a small part of her pride shriveled and died.
No, no, no, no. After years of feigning disinterest, of keeping her raging lust in check, and playing the cool sister of the best friend, had she slept with Lincoln Fisher?
All traces of her hangover vanished and her mind raced through the events of last night. Eating, drinking, dancing, then dancing with Linc, flirting, more dancing, flirting and dancing. They'd danced really close.
Damn near indecently close.
Yes, there was a definite possibility she'd slept with the one guy she swore would never touch her.
Linc had been her brother's good friend since elementary school, and once she'd discovered boys, he'd made her life a living hell. Not that he ever knew it. She'd been obsessed, Linc invading her every thought and daydream. Only the fact that he was Kyle's friend — and the endless ribbing she'd get if her brother found out — had kept her from doing anything stupid.
Looks like her streak had come to an end.
Or had it?
She glanced down, noting her teal bra. Without ruffling the sheets, she inched her hand along her body until she connected with her panties. If she still had on her bra and undies, there was a good chance they hadn't done it.
Who could blame her if they had, though? Even now, her fingers itched to trace the honed planes of the muscles on his back, slide down his spine, and cup one of his firm butt cheeks. His black hair lay against the white pillow, and his breathing was deep and quiet. The guy didn't even snore. A corner of the sheet draped strategically across his hip and upper thigh, covering what were no doubt lovely man-parts. Though his face was turned away from her, she could make out his profile. Gorgeous, even after a night of partying.
She blinked.
Having to face him in the blinding light of reality, no doubt looking like a victim of prom night gone wrong, would be something she'd never live down.
As carefully as possible, she slid out from under the sheet, scooped up her dress and blue stilettoes, and headed to the bathroom. The quiet click of the door lock reverberated through the bathroom, making her cringe. Once secured inside, she flipped on the light and flinched.
"Prom night gone wrong" didn't begin to cover the mass destruction staring back at her from the mirror. How many Cosmopolitans had she had, exactly? Her shoulders slumped and she rubbed her temples. At least she'd had fun — maybe?
Risking waking up Linc, she turned on the hot water. Getting rid of the corpse bride look overruled sneaking out undetected. Hopefully, she'd make it back to her room without a chance encounter with any of the other wedding guests — namely the other bridesmaids.
With more vigor than any beauty article advised, she scrubbed her face. The result was fairly successful in removing the mascara and most of the pink from her lips, but her hair was a lost cause. Only hot water and a fistful of heavy conditioner would conquer the matted mess.
Okay, she could do this. All she needed was to find her purse and she was out of there. She slipped into the dress but opted to carry the shoes. It would make her getaway a lot faster.
The thunk of the door unlocking sounded louder than before and made her tense. She counted to ten and then eased the door open. Relief washed through her. He hadn't moved, the sheet still barely covering him and his breathing even.
A few steps out of the bathroom, she stopped for one last glorious ogle. Damn that man for being crazy hot. She gave herself a mental shake and tiptoed into the living room of his suite. Her purse sat next to the console table on the floor, as if she couldn't be bothered to get it onto the table last night. After a quick check inside, she found her room key and slipped into the hall, breathing a sigh of relief when the door finally shut behind her.
That had been close — too close. Maybe nothing much had happened between them. Maybe he'd been as drunk as she had been. Maybe he wouldn't remember anything past their dirty version of the Chicken Dance.
One could only hope.
CHAPTER 2When he heard the quiet click of the suite door closing, Linc chanced opening his eyes. She'd left. That really hadn't surprised him, but on some level he'd hoped they would finish what they'd started last night.
Linc groaned and rubbed his face. He really should get a medal for restraint. When she'd peeled off her gown and stood in the middle of his bedroom in those tiny blue panties, push-up bra, and heels, wanting to dance some more, it had taken all his willpower and the restraint of his noble ancestors not to scoop her up and haul her to bed.
There were some lines a person didn't cross, though. His friend's drunk little sister being one of them.
The girl he'd always thought of as a sister had morphed into a freakishly perfect goddess. All that smooth pale skin, long legs, and thick auburn hair made it impossible to reconcile her with good old Joya — practically one of the guys. That girl was gone, burned away by the seductress from last night, the woman who had nearly driven him past the point of no return.
He tossed back the sheet and sat up. Unfortunately, it didn't appear he'd tempted her to the same extent, or she wouldn't have made a stealthy escape. Normally, he might be offended, but this was for the best. He didn't do relationships, and even if he did, Kyle wouldn't hesitate to take him out if Linc so much as touched Joya without a wedding ring in his pocket. Probably even if he did.
Nope. She was as off-limits as they came.
But last night ... she'd been incredible. They'd danced and flirted and touched more in a few hours than they had all the years they'd known each other. It had been nice — very nice — but it didn't change the fact that she was the wrong person at the wrong time. Or that Kyle would kill him.
Sometimes he wondered whether there would ever be a right person at the right time. Maybe it was the wedding and the fact that his other friends were headed into serious relationships, but over the past month he'd been thinking about his future in terms of more adulting and less bacheloring. He'd sold his bachelor condo and was set on purchasing a house.
There was no rush to settle down — no wife and kids for him any time soon — but when he did make that move, he hoped it'd be with someone like Joya. Smart, ambitious, funny, beautiful, and she didn't take his shit — which made her even hotter.
The image of her standing in the middle of his hotel room, half naked and dancing to a song she hummed, flashed through his mind, making him hard.
He'd never get that image out of his head. Ever.
He groaned, stretched, and walked to the wall of windows to stare out over Seattle. He could — and probably should — avoid her. The problem was they were two pieces of a larger group, and their friends would no doubt wonder why he suddenly wanted nothing to do with the sweet, auburn-haired beauty. But if he got within a mile of her, they'd see right through him.
He moved away from the window. From the way she'd crept away this morning, she was probably thinking of a million ways to hide from him, too. It was all for the best. His life was chaotic right now, with the opening of a new restaurant and basically being homeless until he found a new house. Even if he wanted a relationship, he didn't have time to romance a woman.
Maybe once he got settled, he'd test the waters again. Until then he'd lay low at Kyle and Roxy's house.
CHAPTER 3Joya closed the wide door to the iguana's enclosure and latched it. "All right, Dash, enjoy those delicious lizard treats while I unpack, and then we'll share a little quality time on the couch. How about that?" The four-foot reptile stared through the glass, unblinking.
"Good talk."
After adjusting the heat lamp to shine directly on the log, she left the room — Dash's bedroom to be exact. Roxy had had the iguana since she was ten, and he was her baby. Few people were entrusted with the care and feeding of the gigantic reptile when Roxy went out of town, and frankly Joya didn't blame her.
First of all, he required a lot of attention to make sure he never got too hot or too cold. Secondly, most people were freaked out by the lizard. Sure, he was a little off-putting at first glance, but Dash was a sweetheart once he warmed up to a person. She'd been taking care of him since Roxy and Kyle started dating, and Joya could honestly say she loved the scaly pet.
As she wandered down the hall toward the living room, a car door slammed. It sounded as if it came from ... the driveway? Crossing the room, she pulled back the curtains.
"Shit." She let the fabric drop but stood frozen in place. "What is he doing here?"
After last night, Linc was the last person she'd expected or wanted to see. Her plan had been to hide out at Roxy and Kyle's, hang with Dash, and work. That was it. Her mind raced. Obviously, this had to do with last night and what may or may not have happened between them.
So not a conversation she wanted to have.
She stepped onto the wide porch and closed the door behind her. A little flutter lit off in her stomach at the sight of him climbing out of his car. Damn him for being so good-looking with his Mediterranean hotness genetically honed to trigger any woman's lust button.
Inching to the top step, she mustered her calm. "Hey there."
When he saw her, his brow pinched together. "Hey." His hand remained on the car door handle. "What are you doing here?"
"I guess I could ask you the same thing."
"Kyle said I could stay here until I find a new house." He frowned. "Didn't he tell you?"
The flutter in her stomach tightened. Her brother was renowned for forgetting to relay important information, but this was a pretty major detail to leave out. "No, he didn't. Why would you stay here?" She descended a step, standing in the middle of the entrance and blocking any attempt he might make to enter. "You have a house."
"Had a house." He moved around to the passenger side of the car. "I sold it. Kyle said I could stay here while I house hunt."
"Why don't you stay at one of Price's hotels?" She took another step down and widened her stance. "I'm sure he'd put you up, you know, doing a solid for a friend and all."
"Can't." He pulled open the door. "They don't allow pets at the hotel."
She pointed at the mangiest looking animal she'd ever seen, sitting stoically in Linc's front seat. "What is that?"
"That is Chester." Linc scowled at her. "He's a dog."
"When did you get a dog?"
"Last month." He patted his leg and Chester jumped down from the car. "He's a rescue."
Some of her tension melted into a soppy puddle of sentimentality. Gorgeous and an animal lover — those were serious male superpowers.
"He's ..." She struggled for the right words. Cute was the opposite of what this dog was. His fur reminded her of brown wire, shooting straight out in all directions, and he looked like he'd been in several fights, having had his ass handed to him every time. "... sweet."
"'Interesting' is a better word." Linc shut the car door and sauntered toward her. Chester followed, walking so close to him that the dog's ear touched Linc's ankle. "He's got a few quirks, but he just needs some love and attention."
"That's really great." She smiled at the dog and then at Linc. His blue eyes gleamed at her, his expression expectant. Her good mood evaporated and her mouth drew into a thin line. "But you don't want to stay here." She couldn't handle him bringing a parade of women to the house. Among other things.
"Yeah, I do." Though he didn't try to move past her, his constricted stare was spiked with challenge. "Is there a problem?"
No problem other than the fact that I may or may not have slept with you last night, and I want to jump you again. "It's just that I'm staying here, too, taking care of Dash."
His eyes widened and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You are?"
"Yeah, and you know Dash. How temperamental he is," she said lamely. "I think Chester would upset him. He's never been around other animals."
"He's in a cage, right?" he asked
"Yeah, but —"
"No problem, then." He angled to move past her. "I'll keep Chester with me, and Dash can hang out in his cage."
"If I kept him in the cage the whole two weeks, Roxy would go ballistic." She spun and followed him up the steps. "You know she loves him like her own child. He has to be free to roam the house."
"We can put him on a schedule. We'll figure it out."
"Are you sure there isn't somewhere else you can stay?" She paused, then added, "For everybody's sake."
He pivoted to face her, a lazy grin curling his mouth. "Is this about last night?"
"No." It was totally about last night and whether she should be embarrassed or relieved. "Why would you think this was about last night? Nothing happened ... right?"
"You don't remember?"
Mortified, she shook her head.
He closed the distance between them to a couple of inches and stroked his finger along her jaw. "Now that's a shame."
All the saliva in her mouth dried up and her breath hovered in her throat as his azure gaze caressed her face. He smelled like an autumn harvest and minty toothpaste, with a dash of cinnamon thrown into the mix. If lust had a smell, it would be Lincoln.
Before she could reply, he turned toward the front door and walked inside, Chester trotting alongside him. Damn it, he'd breached her barricade with no more than a steamy look. "Weak," she muttered.
As she sifted through her options it became clear they were limited. She couldn't leave Dash. There was no way Linc would care for him, considering he made it clear on many gatherings he didn't even like being in the same room as the lizard.
And it wasn't as if she could kick Linc out. This was Kyle's house, and if he'd given his friend permission to stay, then she didn't have a leg to stand on. It appeared the two of them would be sharing a house for at least the next two weeks.
She tried to ignore the ripple of excitement humming through her.
Get it together.
She sighed. Clearly, she had no willpower or self-preservation when it came to him. He was trouble on so many levels, but even as she mentally ticked off all the reasons why she needed to come up with a plan to get him out of the house, a tiny part of her, no doubt the stupidest part of her psyche, was excited by the idea of them staying together.
No. Nothing is going to happen. He doesn't do relationships, and you don't do flings with your brother's friends.
Until she could come up with a better option, she'd just have to avoid him.
Two weeks wasn't that long.
* * *
When Kyle had agreed to let Linc crash at his house, he hadn't mentioned Joya. Maybe he hadn't known she'd be there. No, he definitely hadn't known, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed him to stay.
With those thoughts running through his head, he tossed his suitcase onto the bed and unzipped it. The house was big, but there was no way they wouldn't run into each other. Was the humming and dancing half naked thing the norm for her, or should he expect to see her bundled head to foot in a fluffy robe?
Even fluffy robes could be removed.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Properly Groomed by Boone Brux, Liz Pelletier. Copyright © 2017 Boone Brux. Excerpted by permission of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
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