CRAZY FOR YOU
Author:
Rachel Lacey
Series:
Risking It All, #2
On
Sale: March 28, 2017
Publisher:
Forever
Mass
Market: $7.99 USD
eBook:
$6.99 USD
The
second book in Rachel Lacey's irresistible contemporary romance series about
three foster brothers who return to their hometown to open an extreme sports
business, perfect for fans of Kristan Higgins, Rachel Gibson, and Jill Shalvis!
SHE'S
TAKING A WALK ON HIS WILD SIDE
Emma
Rush can't remember a time when she didn't have a thing for Ryan Blake. Haven's
resident bad boy is just so freakin' hot-with tattoos, a motorcycle, and enough
rough-around-the-edges sexiness to melt all her self-control. Now that Emma's
over being a "good girl," she needs a little help being naughty . . .
and she knows just where to start.
Before
Emma's brother enlisted in the military, he made Ryan promise that he would
protect her from everything--including himself. When her brother doesn't come
home, Ryan needs to turn his screwed-up life around to honor his pledge. But he
knows he's still not the right kind of guy for someone as sweet as Emma. Only
he can't stop wanting to be with her. Wanting her. Falling in love with a good
girl may be the craziest risk this bad boy can take . . .
Ryan
Blake held a bottle of Maker’s 46 in his right hand, a tumbler in his left.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the bottle. It flipped once before landing
back in his grip, top down, ready to pour. He filled the tumbler, set a napkin
on
the
bar, and placed it in front of the brunette on the other side. “Bourbon, neat.”
“You’re
good.” She picked up the glass and tipped it in his direction. “Not what I was
expecting in this little bar in the middle of nowhere.”
“I
try,” he said with the friendly, semi-flirtatious smile he always used on
single ladies seated at his bar. She wasn’t wrong. The usual clientele at The
Drunken Bear had little use for fancy liquor or bartending tricks, but the trio
in front of him were tourists looking for a good time, and he’d see that they
had one.
“You
were just about to tell me about this tattoo.” She placed her hand on his
biceps, fingering the eagle he’d had inked there after he flew this coop ten
years ago.
“That’s
right.” He shifted backward so that her hand slipped to the countertop. He
encouraged flirting—it led to better tips and made the night more
interesting—but this chick was getting a bit too friendly, considering the
diamond band on her left ring finger. “This one was for spreading my wings.
Thought I’d fly far away, and yet, here I am back in Haven.”
“You’re
from here then?” one of the other women asked, shamelessly ogling the tattoos
on his arms while giving him an eyeful of cleavage.
“Born
and raised. Moved around a lot, but I can’t seem to shake this place. It’s in
my blood.” Once upon a time, he’d been hell bent on getting as far away from
this sleepy North Carolina mountain town as possible. Spent the better part of
a decade drifting from place to place, taking with him only what he could carry
on his bike. Funny how things came full circle. He picked up an empty pilsner
glass another patron had left behind.
“Ryan?”
He
turned at the familiar voice to find Emma Rush stand- ing there, one hip
propped against the bar, and he damn near dropped the glass. Emma’s trademark
ponytail and jog- ging pants were nowhere in sight. Tonight, her blond hair
cascaded over her shoulders in shiny waves, her blue eyes sparkled at him from
behind a tasteful—yet sexy—amount of makeup, and her red top was tucked into a
pair of jeans that fit her like a glove. He swallowed past the sudden dry- ness
in his throat. “Hey, Em. What brings you out tonight?” “Girls’ night,” she said
with a smile, gesturing to her friend Mandy, who stood by the door talking on
her cell phone. Emma slid onto an empty barstool. “I wasn’t expect-
ing
to see you.”
“I’m
still here a few nights a week.” His new business
venture—Off-the-Grid
Adventures, an extreme outdoor sporting facility he’d opened with his good
buddies Ethan Hunter and Mark Dalton six months ago—was finally bring- ing in
enough income that he soon wouldn’t need to bartend to pay his rent. “What can
I get you?”
“Untapped
amber ale, please.” She watched while he filled a frosted mug. “Thanks.”
“My
pleasure.”
She
lifted the mug to her lips and took a long drink. “Damn, that’s good,” she said
with a happy sigh, setting it on the bar.
“Always
been more of a pilsner guy myself.” He tried not to stare as she licked froth
from her upper lip.
“Hi,
Ryan.” Mandy stepped up to the bar beside Emma. He leaned back, tearing his
gaze from Emma’s lips. “Hi.”
Emma
turned to her friend with a smile. “Ready to get a table?”
“Yep,”
Mandy said. “Have fun, ladies.”
“We
will.” With a wave, Emma walked off after her friend, and damn, those jeans
cupped her ass like perfection. No doubt about it, Emma looked hot tonight. And
his thoughts were way out of line. He’d promised Derek he’d look out for his
little sister, not drool all over her.
“Your
girlfriend?” the brunette at the bar asked, eyebrows raised as she sipped her
bourbon.
Ryan
cleared his throat and dragged his eyes away from Emma. “Just a friend.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The brunette gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him.
He
turned to check on his patrons at the other end of the bar, but his attention
was once again diverted by Emma— or rather, the preppy-looking businessman she
was talking to now. Ryan couldn’t make out their conversation, but the guy wore
an irritatingly smug smile, and Emma didn’t look at all happy to have bumped
into him.
Ryan
moved down the bar, chatting and pouring drinks as he went, all the while
keeping an eye on Emma. She was deep in conversation with the businessman,
although the guy seemed to be doing most of the talking. Emma smiled and
nodded. She glanced up and met Ryan’s gaze, rolling her eyes at him with a
smile while her companion kept on talk- ing.
Next
thing Ryan knew, the guy had slung an arm around her shoulders, gesturing
wildly with his free hand while Emma subtly edged away from him.
Ryan
was around the bar and across the room before he’d even realized what he was
doing. “Everything okay over here?”
Emma
shrugged out from under the guy’s arm, but her smile wasn’t nearly as warm or
genuine as the one she’d given Ryan a few moments ago. “Yep.”
“We’re
fine,” Obnoxious Dude answered. “Who are you?”
“Ryan
Blake. And you are?” “Tristan Farrell.”
“Tristan
and I are . . . old friends,” Emma said.
By
old friends, Ryan assumed she meant former flames. And since she clearly wasn’t
enjoying his company, it was time for Tristan to leave. Ryan crossed his arms
over his chest and stared him down, waiting for the loser to get the message.
It didn’t take long.
Tristan
backed up, his eyes darting toward the front door. “Well, it was great seeing
you, Emma. Take care.”
“You,
too.” She watched as Tristan left the bar then turned to Ryan. “Forgot how much
I dislike that guy.”
“He
hassling you?”
Her
eyes rounded. “No! Just talking my ear off, really.
Sorry
to distract you from your duties at the bar.”
“No
problem.” Keeping an eye on his patrons was part of the job, although he was
probably feeling more protective of Emma right now than the situation called
for.
“Right,
well . . . looks like my table is ready.” She waved over her shoulder as she walked
away.
Ryan
headed back behind the bar, turning his attention to the trio of tourists and
their mostly empty cocktails. “Any of you ladies ready for a fresh drink?”
As it
turned out, they all were. While he mixed their cock- tails, he allowed his
gaze to roam over to Emma’s table. She was deep in conversation with her
friends Gabby, Carly, and Mandy, all of whom he knew, none of whom made his gut
tighten the way it did every time he looked at Emma tonight.
He
had no idea where this had come from, but he had to get over it, pronto. Emma
wasn’t interested in a player like him, and even if she were, she was off
limits. He’d made a promise to her brother when Derek went off to war, and Ryan
had no intention of breaking it.
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THE
RISKING IT ALL SERIES
ROCK WITH YOU, #.5
RUN TO YOU, #1
CRAZY FOR YOU, #2
CAN’T FORGET YOU,
#3
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FOREVER ONLINE
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