Business as Usual(Off the Subject #3)
by Denise Grover Swank
Lexi
Pendergraft has given up on finding love after a disastrous encounter
with her last boyfriend. Instead, she focuses on two things: One,
setting up a summer program for underprivileged middle-school aged
students. And the second, getting to the bottom of her brother Reed’s
recent strange behavior. His secret is destroying his relationship with
his fiancée Caroline, and Lexi will do anything to help him save it.
Especially after he gave up his dream to give Lexi a chance at a
semi-normal college experience, something her parents threatened to
steal from her after her rape a year ago. Ben Masterson is determined to make it through his final semester of his senior year at Southern University. After recently losing his full ride scholarship, he’s suffering from sleep deprivation while trying to keep up with his mechanical engineering courses and working three part time jobs. He thinks he’s lucked out getting a job in the university math lab. The only problem is his boss—Reed Pendergraft.
As part of a role in a community theater play, Lexi wears a black wig and feels a confidence she hasn’t experienced in over a year. When she wears it to a bar close to the theater, she doesn’t think Ben, a bartender there, recognizes her. While Ben’s intrigued about what she’s up to, he’s smart enough to stay far away from his overprotective boss’s sister. Until fate forces him to help her, but why won’t she tell him her real identity?
Paperback
Expected publication:
April 10th 2014
EXCERPT:
The song
ends and I look across the room, hatred filling every pore of my body for the
person who’s putting Alexa through this charade. Tina’s watching us with
amusement. I look down into Alexa’s face and she steps away from me. Our song
is done. Our commitment is up.
Only I’m
not ready to let her go yet. Maybe I can save her at least part of her
embarrassment.
I cradle
her cheeks and stare into her eyes, looking for any sign that she finds my
touch revolting. But her breath comes in short bursts and her pupils are
dilated. My thumb strokes her right cheek bone, and it amazes me how smooth her
skin is. I should stop prolonging my torture, but I don’t want to hurry this
moment. I want to sear it into my brain.
I lower
my face to hers and her mouth parts in anticipation. Our lips touch lightly and
I run my tongue along her upper lip. Her hands return to my shoulders as she
takes a step closer, pressing her chest to mine, her mouth parting as she
sighs. My tongue accepts the invitation, twining with hers.
Her arms
tighten around my neck and I slide a hand behind her head. Blood rushes to my
groin and the way she’s pressed against me, she has to know I’m getting a
hard-on, yet she doesn’t step away. She presses closer instead.
Still, I
take my time with the kiss, making it last. I want more, so much more, but
we’re on a dance floor, surrounded by at least thirty people, being watched
intently by a group of perverts in the corner. I want to keep this pure. I want
to take the thing Tina meant as a punishment for Alexa and turn it into
something meaningful. At least for me. But the way Alexa clings to me tells me
the experience has power for her too, even if it’s just because she’s
sacrificing herself for some other guy.
I
finally lift my head and stare into her lust-filled eyes and I want to curse
the gods who put her in my path only to take her away.
“Thank
you,” she breathes out with a sigh.
“Do
think that was enough to appease her?”
Her eyes
cloud with momentary confusion. “Oh…yeah.”
“If it’s
not, I want you to promise me that you’ll ask me for help.” I sound like a
pervert myself, but the thought of someone like Tattoo Guy pawing her nauseates
me.
She
seems to understand my intention because she gives me a grateful look. Tears
fill her eyes. “Thank you.”
I want
to kiss her again, to take her out the back door and away from Tina and her
vile crew, but that’s not what Alexa wants. I step back and interweave my
fingers with hers. It takes every ounce of fortitude in my body to take her
back to that table. When we get there, I pull out her chair to show this table
full of disgusting low-lifes how to treat a woman.
Tina
claps her hands. “I think there might be hope for you two yet.” She waggles her
eyebrows at Alexa, then looks up at me. “I told you Reed’s—”
Alexa
leans forward, her eyes wild. “I think I need another drink.”
I stare
at her in disbelief. She’s trying to interrupt Tina because she thinks I don’t
know who she really is—Alexa Pendergraft, baby sister to that asshole Reed
Pendergraft. And with a sigh, I realize it’s better this way, all around,
because I would throw everything away to get one shot with this girl.
Giveaway
About
Denise Grover Swank:
You can find out more about Denise and her other
books at: www.denisegroverswank.com.
Website: www.denisegroverswank.com
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