~ Synopsis ~
The
Grayson siblings are at it again—guilty of keeping secrets from
each other when it comes to who they fall in love with. This time
little brother’s best friend is the object of Riley’s affection
and their intimate connection is impossible to resist.
Riley
Grayson—snarky, successful, lonely. She’s looking for Mr. Right,
especially now that her younger, reformed man-whore of a brother is
living out his happily ever after with her best friend. If Marcus can
find true love, why the hell can’t she?
Enter
Beck Matthews, Marcus’s childhood best friend. He’s lovable,
sexy, and oh, yeah—not single. But one night of drunken partying
and wild sex with Riley and Beck may be rethinking his future. Has he
been planning it with the wrong girl?
Although
these two can’t stay away from each other, it seems the ghosts of
their pasts are holding them back from what they really want. Can
Riley and Beck overcome the threat of shocking coincidences and
unexpected events that will test their trust in one another?
Find
out if Beck’s love is strong enough to Keep Her.
~ Excerpt ~
“Hey,
sweet thing,” I whispered to her.
“Oh,
don’t you sweet thing me. You liar.” She turned to walk in the
direction of her friends, but I tugged at her elbow and spun her
around.
“Hey,
what’s this all about? I knew you looked pissed for some reason,
but why am I a liar?” I seriously had no fucking clue what she was
talking about.
She
said one word, “Marissa.” And instead of it clearing things up it
just made me all the more confused.
“What
about her? You see she’s not here, right?”
“When
exactly were you going to tell me you’re making your relationship
even more permanent while texting me all kinds of crazy things? Tessa
told me you’re asking her to move in with you.”
Whoa!
She clearly had her timing mixed up. “Riles, I think you have the
story all wrong. Come on,” I motioned toward the empty dock. We
could sit and talk, far enough away from Marcus, without him thinking
it was anything but two friends chatting. “I can explain, if you’ll
let me.”
Her
expression looked doubtful, but once she let me tell her everything,
she’d understand. “Fine,” she huffed, walking in front of me.
She was wearing a turquoise blue string bikini that left absolutely
nothing to the imagination. Her bronzed skin glistened in the
scorching afternoon sun from the lotion I’d seen her apply earlier
on. I couldn’t stop staring at her ass as it swayed perfectly,
finally stopping at the end of the dock and taking a seat. She
dangled her legs over the planks and dipped her feet in the cool
water.
“Sit.
Explain. I feel like an idiot,” she admitted. Even angry, this girl
made me want to smile.
I
kicked off my Converse, took a seat next to her, and dunked my own
feet in the refreshing lake. “This is nice.” I hummed, discreetly
tracing a finger along her thigh.
“No
touching. Just talking.”
“How
about talking and touching?” I pressed my luck.
“Come
on, B. What’s going on? Are you and Marissa back together? Are you
really asking her to move in with you?” Her features softened from
angry to upset. I had to clear this up so she could go back to
smiling and laughing, the way I liked her best. Oh, and so I could
touch her again too.
“To
answer your questions respectively, no and yes.”
“Wait,
what? She’s moving in with you?”
“No,”
I laughed. “I’m sorry. Let me clarify. No, we are not back
together, but yes I did ask her to move in with me.” I might be
busting her balls, but I wasn’t lying to her.
“Are
you serious?” she whisper-screamed. “Why in the hell would you
ask your ex-girlfriend to move in with you? Beck, this means we
can’t—”
“Calm
down,” I inched closer, placing a hand on her beautifully bare
shoulder. Her skin was warm from the sun and as soft as I remembered.
She
shrugged me off, picking her ass off the wood and scooting further
away from me.
I
lifted myself up and scooted closer in her direction. “She’s not
moving in with me and I asked her before we broke up, Riles. It’s
actually one of the reasons we’re on this break in the first place.
I don’t think she wants all the things I want—at least not yet.”
I didn’t want to talk about all this stuff with her, unless she
wanted to hear it. I told her I wouldn’t hurt her, and knowing the
way a girl’s mind worked, hearing about an ex was something that
caused unnecessary pain.
“Then
why would Tessa make it like I should tread lightly with you?
Someone’s not telling the truth here.” She wasn’t as pissed as
she was before, but I could tell she was still confused.
“Marcus
and Tessa are in their own little world, Riles. He didn’t know
Marissa and I were on a break until I told him today. Besides, you
have some explaining to do yourself.” I arched and eyebrow, placing
my hand on my hip like a girl. When she remained silent, I figured
she wasn’t picking up on my question. “You told Tessa about us?
First your other girlfriend, Fallon, gives me the third degree about
our texts and then this? I thought we were keeping this on the DL.”
I wasn’t actually annoyed. In fact, I was happy she cared enough
about our situation to tell her friends about me. It meant a whole
shit load of things—good things. But if she had questions, so did
I.
“Okay,
you got me there. But you can’t expect me to keep completely quiet
about all this, B.” She hid her eyes with her hands, finally
admitting, “I might’ve spontaneously combusted if I didn’t tell
someone.”
I
laughed at how adorable she was, but then grew serious. “You don’t
think she’ll tell Marcus, do you?” It was my only concern. Not
that I was afraid to tell him—I would, when the time was right—but
things were so new and unclear between us yet. I didn’t want to
rush into telling him when it might only cause awkwardness and hard
feelings—for everyone. Besides, it was none of his business right
now. We were adults. We could do whatever we wanted with each other,
for each other, to each other.
Staring
out at the lake where a group of teenagers tubed recklessly off the
back of their boat, she seemed to ponder her answer. “No, we can
trust her. And considering she still thought you were with Marissa
until just a few hours ago . . . she won’t let Marcus think you’re
cheating on your girlfriend with me. As much as he didn’t exactly
love Marissa, he does love me and being some guy’s mistress is not
exactly something he’d take lightly.”
“Is
she against us being together? Not that she should really have a say,
considering she snuck around with Marcus for God knows how long, but
I’m curious about her take on this.” I’d like to know that at
least one person was rooting for us on some level.
“Like
any friend, she’s skeptical because of the whole ‘break’ thing
and she doesn’t want to see me get hurt, but—” She brought her
attention back to me, staring at my lips and biting her own
nervously. I could tell she was holding back. I didn’t want her to.
“Just
say it. But what?”
“Beck,
I know we’re nothing and I’m not asking for any kind of
commitment, but I don’t make a habit of sleeping with more than one
guy at a time. I don’t expect you to—” I lifted a finger to her
lips, shushing her.
“Would
you please stop saying we’re nothing. I know it’s been like three
minutes and things are not—I don’t know, ‘the norm’—but
we’re definitely something and I want to give us a shot. I haven’t
been able to stop thinking about you, Riles.”
Her
eyes lit up at my admission. Hell, my stomach dropped and I felt my
heart rate pick up when I said it. This was all so fucking crazy and
fast. I never expected to feel something for another girl two seconds
after breaking up with another. Shit, I never expected another girl
to be Riley Grayson. But what came as the biggest surprise was that I
wasn’t upset any longer about not being with Marissa. Not because
Riley was a replacement, but because Riley was an incredible person.
I was getting to know her on a whole different level, and the more
time I spent with her, the more I liked her. And the more I liked
her, the more I realized I wanted to see where this would go.
Looking
past me, toward the house to make sure no one was watching, she
inched closer to me and gave me a soft peck on the cheek.
“What
was that for?” I asked, loving the feel of her lips on me again.
“For
being you. For making me feel like I’m not insane for feeling all
these things about you too. I’m sorry; I jumped to conclusions and
got all jealous for no reason.”
Tapping
her on the nose, I said, “I like jealous Riley.”
“Oh,
do you?” She smirked.
“So
far there’s not one side of you I don’t like, Riles. What are we
going to do about that?” This was going far beyond flirtatious fun
and I really didn’t care.
“God,”
she moaned, letting her head fall back. “Why do we have to be here
right now? Can’t all these people disappear?”
I
felt her frustration. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into the
lake with me and swim off to have my way with her. But we were
surrounded by people who wouldn’t understand the situation. If we
gave in to what we wanted to do to each other right now, it would
only come off as a random hookup. I didn’t want people judging
either of us without knowing the truth.
“I’ll
tell ya what.” I had a plan.
“Go
ahead,” she smiled, swirling her feet in the lake and making
ripples spread across the smooth water.
“Marcus
is already pretty intoxicated. If he keeps up this pace, he’ll be
passed out and comatose before the fireworks even go off.”
“Continue,”
she said, her grin growing wider.
“Once
he’s asleep for the night and all the rest of the guests are gone,
I’ll sneak into your room and we can have some fun of our own.
Sound like a plan?”
Biting
her lip and clapping her hands, she butt-danced. “The perfect plan.
So perfect I want to break out in song. Caberet ohhhh…even though
Marcus has no clue, we’re still getting our groove on!”
Putting
my arm around her shoulders and bringing her close, I kissed her on
the top of her head and laughed. “That fucking song. I have to
admit it’s growing on me.”
“Good,
because I’m just getting started. Caba—”
“Don’t
make me shut you up with a big wet kiss. If people haven’t noticed
the touchy feely-ness, they’ll be sure to notice my tongue down
your throat.”
“Oh,
Marcus!!” She called out, standing up. “Let’s go do some
shots.” Looking down at me, she extended her hand to help me up.
“Come on, let’s get him good and zonked. I want your tongue down
my throat.”
~ Synopsis ~
Sexy, tatted up, underwear model Marcus Grayson is every girl’s dream—or more likely worst nightmare. He’s a player, a self-proclaimed bachelor for life, and he’s got no problem living up to his man-whore status. But when his older sister’s friend comes back from the past, he may just have the chance to turn some of his adolescent fantasies into reality.
Tessa Bradley is a self-sufficient, take-no-bull, single mother—well, now she is. Finally rid of her abusive, alcoholic ex, she’s making a new life for herself and catching up with old friends; the ones she was forced to break ties with because of her controlling husband. When she runs into Marcus, her friend Riley’s once-adorable turned smoking-hot little brother, she has no idea how he’s about to rock her world.
You wanted me then, now you can have me. Just promise you’ll Keep Me…
Amazon: http://amzn.to/TXvk3v
~ About
the Author ~
Faith Andrews
lives in New York where she is happily married to her high school
sweetheart. They have two beautiful daughters and a furry Yorkie son,
Rocco. If she isn’t listening to Mumford and Sons or busy being a
Dance Mom, her nose is in a book or her laptop. She’s a sucker for
a happily ever after and believes her characters are out there living
one somewhere . . .
~ Social Media Links ~
Website:
http://faithandrews.wordpress.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Faith-Andrews/492043340867700?ref=br_tf
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/AuthorFaithAndrews
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jessicafaith919
~ Giveaway ~
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