The Hotter You Burn
(The Original Heartbreakers #2)
Gena Showalter
$7.99 U.S./$8.99
CAN.
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-77969-7
ON SALE 7/28/15
New
York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter is back with a sizzling Original
Heartbreakers tale featuring a troubled playboy and the woman he can’t resist…
Beck
Ockley is ruthless in the boardroom...and the bedroom. He's never been with the
same woman twice, and vows he never will. With a past as twisted as his,
meaningless sex keeps the demons at bay. His motto: One and done. No harm, no
foul.
Harlow
Glass is the most hated girl in town. The beautiful artist is penniless,
jobless and homeless. When she sneaks into Beck's home—her ancestral estate—for
food, she's shocked by his early return...and her immediate, sizzling and
intense attraction to him.
For
the first time in Beck's life, he can't get a woman out of his mind. All too
soon, friendship blooms into obsession and he'll have to break her heart...or
surrender his own.
“I’d like to
hire you to paint my portrait.”
Harlow almost
bounced out of her seat, but caught herself with a single thought. Can’t
appear too hasty. “Okay,”
she said, playing with the edge of a piece of paper. “If you insist. And if the
price is right.” She’d drawn countless images of Beck, but the thought of
painting him to scale and seeing him in full color intoxicated her. She could
play with different shades of gold, brown and bronze, and even a wealth of
greens to get the emerald flecks hidden so deeply in his eyes just right.
Maybe Kimberly
had nailed it. Maybe Harlow had stared at Beck
for reasons that had nothing to do with the job.
“Name a figure.”
He slowly, leisurely, walked back to the couch and eased down, the whiskey in
hand. “Whatever it is, lollipop, I’ll pay it.”
The new
endearment startled her, considering he hadn’t used one these past three weeks.
The fact that he’d gone with lollipop, something
sweet and edible he’d never called the others…
I’m special to him.
Oh, no, no, no. Red alert! Red alert! That was the true danger of him. Somehow, he made everyone feel special.
“That’s a daring
thing to say,” she stated quietly.
“But true
nonetheless.”
She placed her
elbows on the desk and leaned forward. “Very well. The price is…” Inspiration
struck, and she smiled evilly. “You can’t have sex for a week.”
His eyes
narrowed to tiny slits, but he appeared far from angry. “Why do you care about
my sex life?”
“I care about
you, and I think abstinence will help build character.”
He didn’t miss a
beat. “You care? Very well, I accept.” No time to celebrate. “With two caveats,”
he added. “The week won’t start until the painting is done.” He smiled now, and it was a wicked one.
“Also, I want the painting to be a nude.”
Her breath
caught in her throat, only to exit on a gust. “I…you…excuse me?”
“A nude. Meaning
I won’t be wearing any clothing. If you want to strip down, that’ll be okay
too.”
This was
punishment for daring to impede his sex life, wasn’t it? “I’ve never actually
painted or even drawn what you’re suggesting, and I’m not sure I have the
skill.” Or if she would survive.
“I have complete
faith in your ability. And as an artist, a professional,
I’ll expect you to view me strictly through objective eyes. You can do that,
can’t you?”
“Of course,” she
said. She could absolutely, one hundred percent view him through objective
eyes…if he wore a cloak of invisibility. But even then it would be iffy. “Why
do you want a nude?” she demanded, hoping to shame him into retracting his
request.
“Maybe I enjoy
the thought of disrobing for you.” His voice had gone low and husky, a caress
of unfettered temptation, making her shiver. “Maybe I like the thought of your
eyes on my bare skin and your hands forming the shapes of my body.”
She gulped. Having
only ever dealt with boys, never with men, she had no idea how to respond to so
blatant a statement.
“Or,” he said,
his voice returning to its normal fun, flirty tone. “Maybe I’m narcissistic and
want to immortalize every inch of myself. How is one to know?”
How indeed. “When
would you like to start?”
“Tonight.”
I’m going to hate myself for reminding him of this, but… “What about your date? I can’t—won’t—hurt
Kimberly.”
“I think we both
know she was about to cancel on me. Which makes me wonder what the two of you were
discussing.”
Shifting
uncomfortably, she said, “I will never betray a confidence.”
“I could change
your mind, but I won’t. I admire your mindset.” His gaze dropped to the pulse
fluttering in her neck. “I’ll arrive at seven, and I’ll bring dinner.”
“Yes. I’d like
that.” A lot. And it wasn’t the thought of food that made her heart race, but the
thought of having him in her space. Alone…naked. Within reach.
She sucked in a
breath. Oh…crap. The worst had happened, hadn’t it?
Kimberly had
figured it out, but Harlow had done her best to deny it until the truth
practically vibrated in her bones. How had she ever
fooled herself into thinking she could fall for West…when she’d already fallen
for Beck?
“What’s wrong,
dove?” he asked gently. He came around the desk and sat at the edge, turning
her chair to trap her between his legs. “You were twinkles one moment, sullen
the next.”
He always read
her so well, while she always struggled to make sense of his moods. Life wasn’t
fair. “It’s nothing I want to discuss right now,” she said, refusing to lie to
him. But she had to talk to someone about this.
Who? She had no
confidants, and any secrets she revealed to others could be used as a weapon
against her. A game of “humiliate Harlow for sport.”
“What will it
take to get you to trust me, hmm?”
Was he serious?
“Beck, for the past three weeks you’ve treated me like I’m a carrier of
cholera. Why do you want my trust?”
“You’re my
friend.”
But I want to be more. “Yes,” she said, and cleared her throat. “You’re
right. I am.”
“So talk to me
like a friend. Share your past with me. Tell me what changed you in high
school.”
Her mouth went
dry. Always they circled back to this. “Forget I agreed to be your friend.
We’re enemies.”
“You’ll tell me
what’s easy, but nothing that’s hard.”
“I don’t like to
think about what changed me. It hurts.”
“Pain fades. Rip
off the bandage and give the wound a chance to heal.”
“No.” If she
told him, she’d have to show him. If she showed him, he’d never want her again.
And right now he wanted her. He had to. The way he was looking at her…
He leaned down
until his nose almost brushed against hers. “One day, Harlow, you’ll open up to
me.”
“One day,” she
whispered. “Maybe. But probably not.”
He cupped her
nape, the heat of him making her gasp. “Definitely. And in more ways than one. I’ll
make sure of it.”
Gena Showalter is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author whose works have appeared in Cosmopolitan
and Seventeen magazines, as well
as Entertainment Weekly. Her novel Red Handed has been optioned by Sony
Television. Critics have called her books “sizzling page-turners” and “utterly
spellbinding stories,” while Showalter herself has been called “a star on the
rise.” Her mix of humor, danger and wickedly hot sex provides wildly sensual
page-turners sure to enthrall.
Are your puppies going to make cameos in upcoming books?
I’m a dog lover to the max, and if there’s an opportunity to work my fur babies into a book, I’m going to do it! No doubt about it, I have the best fur babies in the world—and that is a completely objective, unbiased, nonpartisan opinion. Right now we’ve got eight rescues in the house. (We foster!) Nemo, the neurotic German shepherd, who likes to play hide and nip the heck out of your butt. Mary Ann, the English bulldog. If she were a human, she’d be eight hundred years old, and enjoy nothing more than standing in her front yard (while wearing rollers in her hair) telling kids to stay off her property. Thor, the Pomeranian, whose motto is: what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine. Pepper, the Catahoula mix, who loves to bring prizes into the house. Like birds. And field mice. Boots and Noel, the brother and sister lab/pit/heeler mixes. They don’t just eat anything and everything, but actually suck it up like a vacuum. Boomer, the Jackshund, who sounds like a demon when he wrestles. And our newest foster, Peanut, who loves to use the Pomeranian’s tail as a chew toy.
If you pre-order your copy of THE HOTTER YOU BURN by Gena Showalter by July 27, you will be entered to win 1 of 4 prizing opportunities!
So why wait? Click here to visit Gena’s website with all the details.
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