Deliverance (The Maverick Defense #1) (39 page)

Max caught me on the landing as I came out of the bathroom, almost as if he was waiting for me. His mouth tipped up at the edges, a wicked smile spreading across his full lips. But for once, I didn’t have it in me to fight with him. I didn’t want to. If anything, I wanted him to kiss me… all over my naked body.

What was up with that?

Mentally, he appeared to be lining up his insults, but then he reached for me, snagging my wrist in his hand and tugged. Willingly, I went to him.

“Tell me what I’ve done to piss you off.”

“I’m not pissed at you.” And for once, I wasn’t.

“You usually are.” He stepped closer, trying to gauge my reaction. I didn’t stop him, so he moved even closer, his hands resting on my waist. Up close I noticed, not for the first time, how gorgeous he smelled. I couldn’t even blame alcohol for feeling lightheaded because I was stone-cold sober.

Forcing my eyes to meet his, my breath stuck in my throat. Long dark eyelashes framed dark eyes that stared down into my green ones. There was a warmth to them that I’d never noticed.

In slow motion, he lowered his mouth to press his lips to mine. When I didn’t protest, he kissed me again, his tongue running along the seam of my lips. Butterflies soared and swooped in my stomach and my hand slid up to his neck to finger the hair at the nape. One of his hands fisted in my hair at the base of my skull, and he moved closer so our bodies brushed against each other.

Desire mounted the longer our tongues dueled with each other and with a growl, he pulled away, grasping my hand in his before fumbling with the doorknob next to the bathroom. It was the guest bedroom, and thankfully, it was empty. Max led me in and slammed the door behind us. The next morning, I left as if nothing happened. But everything changed that night.

It has remained our secret. Even Beth doesn’t know. There is no way I’ll manage to stay out of his way, but a small masochistic part of me wants to see him. To see whether he can still affect me in the way he always did. As much as we used torment each other, I always wondered if it was my way of not admitting how I really felt about him.

Max Morgan is dangerous to my heart, body, and soul. Which is why I need to keep away and not have a repeat of that night, despite how much I might want to.

We’d like to thank our wonderful assistant Jenn. If it wasn’t for her, we probably would never have finished writing this book. We owe you! To our beta and test-reader team: Barbara, Erin, Ewelina, Louisa, Lucy, Missy, Robin, Sam, and Tanya, THANK YOU for all of your feedback and comments - they really did help. And to Amy, our proofreader, an extra pair of eyes is essential when we’ve already re-read the same words over and over, so thank you for such a quick turnaround. Jenny Sims, editorextraordinaire, you make the process so smooth, it’s a pleasure working with you. Robin at Wicked by Design, we got there in the end and we just LOVE this cover. And last, but not least, Stacy at Champagne Formats, you pretty up the inside of a book just right. Thank you!

And finally, to all of the bloggers that share our work and the readers that one-click… thank you for taking a chance on this story.

Your support is everything.

Everything.

Contemporary romance and romantic suspense

… written with feeling

L.A
. is author of contemporary romance novels ranging from sweet with a just a hint of steam, to suspenseful reads full of angst, tension, twists and turns. Home is a small town in the middle of England where she currently juggles being a full-time mum to two little people with writing. In her spare time (and when she’s not camped out in front of the laptop) you’ll most likely find L. A immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life.

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Jenny Siegel
writes contemporary romance. When she’s not writing (or entertaining two little terrors) Jenny is glued to her Kindle, or plotting (also known as daydreaming) about hot tattooed heroes that will sweep a girl off her feet.

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or email her at:

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