Don’t trust lust at first sight.
Eye Candy
Real Love #1
Jessica Lemmon
Releasing July 25th, 2017
Loveswept
Don’t
trust lust at first sight. One woman chooses
reality over fantasy in this friends-to-lovers romance.
Jacqueline:
As an adult woman—and the
vice president of a marketing firm—I shouldn’t be waiting by my office window
to ogle the mystery man who jogs by every morning at 11:45. Sure, he’s a
gorgeous, perfect specimen of the human race, but I can’t bring myself to hit
on a total stranger. However, my best friend–slash–colleague Vince Carson
thinks I should do more than talk to the guy. In fact, he’s borderline
obsessive about “getting me laid.” (His words.) But the more time we spend
together, the more it’s clear: The one I’m falling for is Vince.
Vince:
Jackie
Butler’s got it bad for some pompous, over-pumped A-hole who struts his stuff
past her window. That doesn’t bother me. I know she deserves nice things. What does bother
me is that she friend-zoned me big-time last year, so I can’t ask her out
myself. But what if I set her up with Mr. Steroids? Then, when he breaks her
heart, I can swoop in and save her like the nice guy I am. Everything’s going
according to plan . . . until we share a ridiculously epic kiss. And suddenly
anything is possible.
VINCE
Admittedly,
giving Jackie advice on how to get a guy to sleep with her is not my best plan.
“Okay, Butler,” I say, fully
focused on Jackie now. “Let’s hear it.”
She stops scribbling on the
napkin in front of her, and I bite back a smile. Since I’ve given her a few
tips, she has been frantically taking notes. She’s a planner. I’ve always been
more go-with-the-flow.
She reads over her notes,
squinting in concentration, her lips moving as she reads. Then those golden
brown eyes hit mine and she gives me a resolute nod. “I’m ready.”
Her tongue swipes pink lips,
making them glisten and making me regret again the route I’ve chosen to take with
her. Part of me concedes I could call it off and tell her what I really want,
but I know her. She’s barely convinced she can ask a dude out, so her best guy
friend throwing a date on the table would be an automatic no.
“Let’s see it,” I say, kind of
excited to see what she’s come up with.
She takes the empty seat next to
me and leans heavily on an elbow, fist under her chin. “Hi. I’m Jackie.”
I blink several times in quick
succession at the transformation from my scatterbrained best friend to a
gorgeous woman giving me bedroom eyes. She’s pretending. I’d do well to
remember that.
“Vince,” I introduce.
She straightens in her chair and
frowns. “Shouldn’t you pretend to be J.T.?”
“I’m not that good of an actor,
Butler.” And I’m not pretending to be that jerk.
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes, then
slides into seduction mode so swiftly I find myself impressed. She’s better at
this than she’s let on. “Do you have a last name, Vince?”
“You know my last name, Butler.”
“Call me Jackie.” She gives me a
slow bat of her lashes.
My smile is real, and when I lean
closer, I don’t even do it on purpose. “Well, Jackie. Last names are
irrelevant, don’t you think?”
Her chest lifts as she takes a
breath, and I’m not shy about checking out her cleavage, exposed down the V
of her shirt. Normally I wouldn’t look so obviously, but this is a game. Our
game.
“That’s very assuming of you, Mr.
No Last Name.” She quirks her lips in that way she has, and my smile broadens.
“But let’s say”—she moves her half-full wineglass onto the cocktail napkin she
wrote on—“for argument’s sake, you’re right, that last names are irrelevant.”
She runs the tip of her finger along the rim of her glass like she’s doing it
absentmindedly.
She’s doing it on purpose. I can
tell.
Damn. She’s good.
“We should have a real date
before making plans, don’t you think?” she asks, her eyes on mine.
“Yes.” Hell, yes.
“Dinner, at the very least.”
“And then if dinner works out . .
.” She lets that statement hang and my heart beats triple time as I wait for
what comes next. “We can talk about dessert.”
“We can talk about dessert now.”
I’m transfixed on her and the idea of exploring our new dynamic.
“Ohmygod.”
Her eyes go wide. “Would he say that?”
I give myself a mental shake when
I realize I was caught up in the conversation. It was one I wanted to be real,
and she was thinking about Running Man.
“Probably,” I say, the spell
broken. “Guys are assholes. Like I said.”
I lean back in my chair, find a
TV, and stare blankly.
“But if that’s the case, I’ll
have to have sex with him sooner than I planned.”
“No, you don’t, Jackie.” I hear
the anger in my own voice. Because . . . “You don’t have to have sex with
anyone. You could go to drinks, dinner, and dessert with this guy—you could end
the night with tonsil hockey on your front porch or his, and you can still say
no.”
She purses her lips. I hate the
idea of her kissing that jackass. No matter what kind of person he is—even if
he’s a volunteer firefighter who raises orphaned squirrels so they can perform
at the local senior center—I hate him.
“Tell me you know that,” I say.
“I know I don’t have to.
That’s not what I meant. I don’t want to chicken out. I want to get the first
one over with. Like you did.”
I tip my head back and groan
aloud. I can’t help it. I’m the example for her return to the dating world?
Much as I don’t want to admit it, fair is fair. I salved my wounds with girls
like Polly, so why can’t Jackie do it with J.T.? Jackie’s my friend and I care
about her. I can’t make a double standard now.
“Besides, he’s really hot,” she says,
her face going glowy.
“Spare me.”
Fun and sexy friends-to-lovers rom-com! Vince has hots for his BFF Jackie, but being a man, he figures he should push her into going out with the piece of eye candy that jogs past her window everyday instead of telling her how he feels. In his mind, that guy will only break her heart and then he'll be there to pick up the pieces and finally make his move. Jackie is clueless about Vince's feeling, but as their lessons progress, she starts to see him in a different light. I definitely connected more with Vince, perhaps because his feelings were out there first. I loved the cast of characters and can't wait for Davis' story!
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
A
former job-hopper, Jessica Lemmon resides in Ohio with her husband and
rescue dog. She holds a degree in graphic design currently gathering dust in an
impressive frame. When she’s not writing super-sexy heroes, she can be found
cooking, drawing, drinking coffee (okay, wine), and eating potato chips. She
firmly believes God gifts us with talents for a purpose, and with His help, you
can create the life you want.
Jessica
is a social media junkie who loves to hear from readers. You can learn more at
her website.
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