A few months ago I decided to take a risk and write a story for submission. I wasn't going to have a release until January. I had time to write a short novella, and what could it hurt? Mind you, I haven't wrote to submission guidelines in more years than I can remember. But I heard about Kindle Worlds, in particular Bella Andre's GAME FOR LOVE series. Andre's story features a bad boy football player and a sweet heroine. Also, the book was hotter than fish grease. How could I resist?
I wrote the story, submitted it and Kindle Worlds accepted DEVIL OF THE GRIDIRON. It's out now! So exciting.
Anyway, here's an excerpt and the deets are below.
I wrote the story, submitted it and Kindle Worlds accepted DEVIL OF THE GRIDIRON. It's out now! So exciting.
Anyway, here's an excerpt and the deets are below.
***
Six months was much, much too long to go without if a woman's back could get him revved. Some men weren't made to be monks. Adam sure as shit wasn't. What he wanted to do was cross the room, press his dick into the soft swell of her ass, and maybe nip the skin along her neck, just to claim her as his. Hell, just to taste her.
Rule. Number. Two.
No. Women.
Not even sweet ones, because once he fell off the wagon, he would binge himself into a sexually satisfied coma.
“I like to be a man of my word, so I came early.” He rasped out gruffly, much lower than he'd intended.
The basket dropped as she whirled to face him. The dress fluttered up. A flash of green satin underwear made him want to both groan and chuckle. The tease of seeing that scanty triangle over her mound would haunt his dreams. But now he knew exactly the kind of woman she was. The kind who would make sure her panties matched her dress. Knowledge that made dying seem preferable if this was the kind of torture he had to look forward to.
He strode over to Charlotte since she still stood there, eyes wide while she panted. Her heavy breathing caused her tits to jiggle. Another moment of witnessing the latter and he'd suffer from vertigo.
“Sorry if I scared you,” he mumbled.
Her hands fluttered up then down and she shook her head. “Yeah.”
He narrowed his eyes. This was not the woman he'd talked to over the phone and in email. That Charlotte had been outspoken, maybe even chatty. He stopped a foot in front of her.
“Charlotte, are you okay?”
“Fine,” she squeaked, her eyes shifty. She bent to pick up the fallen vegetables and basket. “I'm fine,” she muttered.
He grasped her shoulders and drew her up so she couldn't hide her face. She lowered her head, bringing down a soft cascade of hair. A shame because he liked her ocean-blue eyes.
“Is this going to be the next two hours of my life?” he asked. “I say something and you give me a two-word sentence, if I'm lucky?” He really didn't want to touch her any more than he had to— they could go down a bad, bad road if he did—but the action seemed necessary.
Adam cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. Breath gone. She could look straight through a man and see exactly who he was. He dropped his hand and stepped back, not wanting her to see all his exposed wounds.
“Let's make a deal,” Adam said.
“What?”
Another one-word reply. He smiled. “You treat me like I'm not famous and things should go smoothly.”
“Oh, no,” she said horrified. “It's not that. It's…” She pushed out a breath, her cheeks coloring. “No. It's exactly that. Your fame blinds me, and I don't know what to do when you're around?”
Pleasure warmed his blood. So it was just him that flustered her. “That sounded like a question. Not sure if I'm the one who is supposed to answer or if you are.”
She threw her head back and laughed. Her entire body fell into the simple action, from a slight shake in her shoulders to the wide smile that went along with it. When was the last time he enjoyed the way a woman laughed—hell, wanted to join her because the sound was pure joy? Adam craved to be a part of it. A selfish need, but he'd taken away all other vices for his career. He needed new ones anyway.
Adam reached up and brushed a thumb along her cheek. The laugh, then the smile, faded. It hadn't been that long that he no longer recognized the change in her stance, the way she parted her mouth, and how she looked at him. Attraction buzzed between them in the silence.
Touching her hadn't been the mistake. Deciding to spend time alone with her had been the misstep. Why did he think he had impulse control when all of his adult life was proof that he didn't?
“Charlotte,” his voice was tight, tense. “Say something unsexy.”
The tip of her tongue feathered over her top lip. “I love Zucchini?”
Yeah. He was screwed. Adam tilted her chin up and kissed her.
***
BLURB
Six months down, six to go...
After a scandal puts his NFL career on the line, wide receiver Adam Carpenter must behave for a year. No partying. No sarcastic replies to the media. No women. He'll survive the longest year of his life if he can just keep his name out of the tabloids, and his hands off a sweet redhead who needs his help. He owes her a favor. Unlike most women he knows, she only wants him to donate his time to charity.
Charlotte West never thought she'd have to ask someone named Devil of the Gridiron for a favor, but her after-school food program is in trouble. She's desperate for donations to keep it going, and a visit from a sports star could create enough social media buzz to save it. But she knows with men like Adam one little favor may be all he'll need to seduce her. Charlotte's instinct is to run from men with wicked smiles and reckless natures, they bring nothing but trouble and heartache.
She can't seem to run from Adam, and the reformed bad boy stands to lose more than his spot on the team if he beds Charlotte—he could lose his heart.
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