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ABOUT THE BOOK
USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke delivers a “fresh and fun!” romance between a grumpy single dad and his beautiful, spunky employee—the one he can’t have.
Chemistry is not love.
That’s what my boss, the grumpy single dad with brilliant green eyes, says anyway.
I have my V-card. He’s ten years older than me. I work for him.
Nate Hughes has a million reasons why a relationship between us would never work. Honestly? It’s all a farce.
He can’t deny our connection. His soft smiles, brief touches, and protective behaviors come too easily. And when I need a place to stay? He can’t stop himself from offering me a room—though I’d prefer his bed. After all, there are sparks—delicious, sizzling sparks—when we’re together.
Our forced proximity brings things to a head. Our shared experiences and traumas draw us closer. Our undeniable attraction has us toeing the line between friends and lovers—whether Nate likes it or not.
He’s right—chemistry is not love. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t fall in love with him … even if he can’t love me back.
EXCERPT
“Do you want me to pay rent or help with groceries? We really didn’t go over any of that,” she says, licking her lips.
My gaze settles on her finger approaching the pudding container again. “You’re a college student with a part-time job. You don’t have any money.”
“That’s true.” She smiles smugly before lifting her eyes to mine. “I’m sure we could come up with something.”
She trails her finger around the walls of the plastic before bringing it to her lips again. With her hand poised in front of her face, she smiles at me.
Nope. Not letting that happen.
I clamp her wrist with my hand and suspend it in midair. Her eyes go wide, her breath halting in her throat as she waits for my reaction.
Her skin is warm in my palm. Her wrist is so small, so delicate, that I ease my grip so I don’t accidentally hurt her.
I’m not sure why I touched her, but it’s either because I’m sleep-deprived and it’s late or I want to teach her a lesson. Or maybe I just want to see her reaction.
I stare at her as deeply as I can. She holds her breath as she considers—hopes? fears?—what I’m going to do.
I twist her wrist and bring her hand to my face. A smirk settles on my lips as her entire body stills.
Then with the most deliberate move I’ve ever made, I bring her finger to my mouth.
My heart thunders in my chest as my self-restraint shatters into a million pieces.
I suck her finger between my lips. She gasps, her body shaking in response. I run my tongue around the pudding before biting lightly against her skin as I remove her digit from my mouth.
Every muscle in my body tightens. My blood heats to a dangerous degree. My hand trembles as I hold her hand in mine and try desperately not to tug her whole body into me.
Her chest heaves. She forces a swallow as she leans back against the counter. Her breath is loud and quick, breaking the silence of the room.
“Shit,” she says, a mixture of a plea and a promise.
I just look at her and smile. “Is that what you wanted?”
She swallows again.
I release her wrist from my palm. Then I lean in until we’re only inches apart—until I’m so close that I can smell the sweetness of her breath—and grin.
“That’s the only time my mouth will get anywhere near you.” I turn toward the doorway, ignoring the protest of every cell in my body. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About Adriana Locke
USA Today, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.
She resides in the Midwest with her husband, four sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.
Connect with Adriana
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Website: https://adrianalocke.com
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The Landry series which is a series I was totally hooked on. When that series ended a character from that series ended up with a Gibson Boy and so began the Gibson Boys series, the elder sister in the Gibson Boys ends up together with one of the Mason brothers and so began the Mason Family series. In the Mason series we meet Nate and also Paige as they are connected to Hollis who is a part of the Mason family as he is dating Larissa Mason and he also works with Coy Mason.
Hollis is very important to this story and his book really starts in "The Relationship Pact" where he meets Larissa Mason. It is a stand alone story but really is part of the Mason series. I guess you could think of it as a prequel to that series and also I think its a book you should read before you read this book so you understand who Hollis is and his connection to Paige.
In this book we get some fun scenes with some of my favorite Landry's like Lincoln, Dominic and Ford. Nate also works for Landry Security and he is Dominic's brother. Dom is married to Camilla Landry and thats how Nate is connected to the Landry family and why this book is part of the Landry series rather than the Mason's.
This is an age gap romance. I am not sure the exact ages but Paige in her early 20's and in college and Nate is in his 30's. He also is a single dad to Ryder who is 7 years old. Nate also works at a bar he owns and Paige is his employee and friend. When she is evicted he wants to help her, and so they also become roomies.
While this is an age gap romance, Paige is totally mature. In fact at times I thought she was more mature than Nate. I loved her so much. She wants Nate and I loved how honest she was about it. Nate on the other hand sends her so many mixed signals that I felt he needed to grow up a bit in this story. When he finally owns up to everything, I wanted Paige to torture him a bit more.
This was a really fun story and I absolutely adored it and loved all the Landy's featured in this story. I would have loved to have seen more mason's than just Hollis and Larissa but I still loved this story
I received a complimentary early release copy of this e-book from the author prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review.
