Jennifer Gracen is back with a brand new
contemporary romance! In BETWEEN YOU AND ME, a woman and her friend make an
arrangement: he'll be her sperm donor, if she pretends to be his girlfriend.
But maybe they're not just pretending...
Between You and Me
The Harrisons
Jennifer Gracen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Kensington Publishing/Penguin Random House
As
the only daughter of the wealthy Harrison clan, Tess Harrison has
everything—except the baby she longs for. With no husband in sight, she escapes
to her family’s retreat in Aspen, Colorado, visions of sperm donors dancing in
her head. Instead, she finds Logan Carter. When the ruggedly handsome manager
of the Harrison ski house offers to be her baby daddy in exchange for her
playing his girlfriend, Tess is breathless to begin the charade. After all, the
brokenhearted heiress knows better than to fall in love . . .
She
would be Logan’s dream girl, if his dark past had left him with any dreams. Now
the brooding bachelor’s only hope is to satisfy his mother’s dying wish to see
him happily paired off—and give lovely Tess the baby she longs for. But when he
and Tess opt to make a baby the old- fashioned way, he’s fighting hard against
the longing to hold on to the elusive Harrison beauty forever . . .
Copyright © Jennifer Gracen 2017
By
the time Logan pulled up in front of Tess’s house, she was warm, full, tired,
and happy. “I had a great time today.”
“I
did too,” he said with a smile. “Thanks again for inviting me.”
“Any
chance you’d like to do it again sometime soon?”she asked. “You’re a worthy ski
partner, and I had fun with you.”
“Yeah,
I’d like that,” he said. “But next time, I pay for my lift ticket.”
“Deal.
Sometime next week?”
“Sure.
Give me a call, we’ll work out a time.”
“Well,
you have a job with a real schedule. Right now, I
don’t. I’m free as a bird. So you give me a call.”
His
eyes held hers as he said, “Okay. I’ll do that. You’re on. Got yourself a ski
buddy.”
God,
she wanted to kiss him. Sitting so close in the warmth of his truck, he smelled
good and his eyes were intense and his mouth was inviting and she wanted to
kiss him so bad. But this new friendship—all the things they’d revealed to each
other that day—she didn’t want to cross any lines or mess it up. For now, she’d
hold back.
But
still couldn’t resist flirting a little bit. “So,” she said boldly. “Are you
coming in to soak in my tub or what? The offer stands.”
His
gaze turned hot, a full-out smolder that made her belly do a wobbly flip. “The
offer is more tempting than you know.” His voice had dropped low and dead sexy,
making her shiver. “But I think I’d better head home for tonight.”
They
stared at each other for a moment, pure electricity crackling between them. She
could feel her blood in her veins, racing now, hot and needing, as his eyes
lowered to her mouth for a few seconds before lifting to meet her gaze again.
“You sure?” she asked. Her heart thumped in heavy beats.
“Only
so much temptation a man can take,” he murmured. “And you’re testing my limits
as it is, Tess. You have to know that.”
“I
didn’t know that.”
“Well
. . .”
She
leaned in, her face so close to his that she could feel his hot breath feather
against her lips.
“Tess.”
He whispered it as a protest, but his eyes gave him away. He wanted her too,
she could see it all over his face.
She
closed the distance between them, pressing her mouth to his. It was a brush of
her lips against his, just the slightest touch. But his hand lifted to cup the
back of her neck and hold her there. He took control of the kiss, gently but
surely, slanting his mouth over hers to take more of what he wanted. Her mouth
opened with a little sigh as their tongues met and swirled slowly. As they
leaned into each other, his fingers threaded through her hair and his other
hand came up, cradling her head in his hands as his mouth consumed hers.
Her
senses reeled. His full beard tickled her face, surprisingly soft against her
skin. The feel of his mouth on hers, his hands in her hair, his big, warm body
so close . . .her head swam with it all. He deepened the kiss and groaned
softly into her mouth, and she was lost. She surrendered willingly, kissing him
back with the same slow, sensual pace he’d set, her fingers clutched in his ski
jacket. She could have kissed him for days.
He
broke away slowly, leaning his forehead against hers, eyes still closed.
“Jesus,” he whispered. When his eyes opened to focus on her, they were heavy
lidded with lust. “You . . . you better go inside now.”
Still
catching her breath, she touched his cheek. “You sure you don’t want to come
in?”
“I
do want to,” he said, his voice thick. “Too much. So I’m not going to.”
She
pulled back, trying to hide her disappointment. “Okay.”
“Tess
. . .” He stared at her, his mouth opening and closing as he fought with what
he wanted to say. “You’re an amazing woman. I like that we’re . . . kind of
friends now. Let’s try to stick with that for now, okay?”
The
disappointment sharpened in her gut, but she pasted on a smile. “Fine.”
“Ah
crap. No, no, don’t say fine,” Logan demanded gently.
“When a woman says fine, it’s never fine. Even a
loner lumberjack like me knows that.”
She
couldn’t help but giggle.
“Tess,
you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he said earnestly. “Don’t
think for a second that I wouldn’t love to go inside with you right now,
because I would. But you have an agenda, you’re gearing up to go through some
medical . . . stuff . . . and I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
She
gaped at him in shock. “I . . . I don’t know what one thing has to do with the
other.”
“You
have big plans,” he murmured, trailing the backs of his fingers along her
cheek, eyes locked with hers. “I’d be a distraction. You said it yourself, you
don’t want any distractions right now.” His gaze turned wicked and hot as he
added, “I promise you, it’d be a fantastic distraction. A sexy, fun, passionate
distraction . . . but this friendship we’ve started? Means more.”
“We’re
attracted to each other,” she said flatly.
“Can’t
deny that.” He touched his mouth to hers again, a light brush of his lips, and
her whole body shuddered. “But I shouldn’t go inside with you. Not tonight.”
Her
nerves jangled, every nerve ending alight and aware of him. Her heart beat hard
and fast as she nuzzled into his palm, stared right into his eyes, and
whispered, “If you insist.”
“I
do,” he said, not breaking their gaze. “C’mon, you know I’m right. Last thing
you need right now is us starting something up like this. Didn’t you tell me
your first doctor
appointment
is tomorrow?”
She
didn’t like it, and wasn’t sure she fully agreed with it, but had to admit
she’d thought along those lines herself before his kisses had turned her brain
to mush and her insides to jelly. With a heavy sigh, she nodded and pulled back
from him. “Pretty early, in fact. I should go inside and get into bed.”
Logan
growled, his head falling back against the leather seat. “Had to put an image
like that in my head right before you leave. You, climbing into bed . . . not
nice, Tess. Not nice.”
She
laughed lightly, and he grinned back at her. Their eyes held for a long beat
and she took a slow, deep breath, exhaling it before she said, “Good night,
Logan. Thanks again for a great day.”
“Back
at you,” he said. “Good night, Tess. Sleep well. Good luck tomorrow.”
With
a sweet smile, she climbed out of his truck and into the cold night.
I loved Tess and Logan! It took over half the book for them to finally move past friendship, but I liked that their relationship didn't feel rushed. Can't say much without spoilers, but there were fun times, sexy times and emotional times. I haven't read the previous books in the series, but I want to read them now.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
Jennifer Gracen hails from Long Island, New York, where she lives with
her two sons. After spending her youth writing in private and singing in
public, she now only sings in her car and is immersed in her passion for
writing. She loves to write contemporary romance for readers who look for
authentic characters and satisfying endings. When she isn’t with her kids,
doing freelance proofreading, or chatting on Twitter and Facebook, Jennifer
writes. She’s already hard at work on her next book.
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