Endless Nights (10 page)

About the Author

USA TODAY
bestselling author Karen Erickson writes what she loves to read—sexy contemporary romance. Digitally published since 2006, she’s a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children.

Karen is also known as
New York Times
and
USA TODAY
bestselling author Monica Murphy.

To learn more about Karen, visit her online:

www.karenerickson.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/monicamurphyauthor

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/msmonicamurphy

Look for these titles by Karen Erickson

Now Available:

Spontaneous

Jesse’s Girl

Fortune

Fortune’s Deception

Fortune’s Promise

Fortune’s Chance

Playing with Fire

Forbidden

Tangled

Scandalous

Notorious

Fated

Under My Umbrella

Baby, Don’t Lose My Number

Simple Twist of Fate

Tahoe Nights

My Favorite Mistake

End of Days

Neon Chaos

Worth It

Worth the Scandal

Worth the Risk

Worth the Challenge

Worth Everything

The Renaldis

Temporary Arrangement

Tempted by Her Boss

Kidnapping His Bride

Falling for Her Husband

Vegas Nights

Wicked Weekend

Print Anthologies

Midsummer Night’s Steam: Hot Summer Nights

Luck of the Draw

Playing with Fire

Tahoe Nights

Playing With Fire 2

Twist of Fate

Coming Soon:

Vegas Nights

Wild Nights

Sometimes dream crushes do come true.

Reckless Nights

© 2015 Karen Erickson

Vegas Nights, Book 1

Reagan can’t believe her luck—and not in a good way. One minute she’s hanging out with her friends at an exclusive party in Las Vegas. The next, she’s attracted the attention of a famous actor. Not just any actor. Declan Carter, the man on whom she used to—okay, might
still
—have a fangirl crush. Whose blue eyes leave her embarrassingly tongue tied.

All Declan wants is to meet a nice, normal woman who won’t use him as a stepping stone to fame. Something about Reagan tells him she could be that rare woman, and he follows his instinct to invite her back to his suite—where they proceed to have wild monkey sex. All. Night. Long.

What was supposed to be one night of no-regrets sex stretches out into a blissful weekend of two people who can’t get enough of each other. But when the glamour of Sin City wears off, they’re standing on the edge of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to turn a weekend fling into something lasting. Will they take the jump?

Warning: Smokin’ hot sexy weekend with a gorgeous actor? There shouldn’t be a warning—more like encouragement to indulge your fantasies!

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Reckless Nights:

“Do you like your job?” he asked.

“I love it. I like helping people. I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, ever since I was a kid.” She lifted her gaze and smiled.

“Is it hard sometimes, though? It has to be. I’m sure you’ve seen some pretty ugly stuff.”

“Well, yeah, of course. The ugly stuff comes along with the wonderful stuff, you know? I’ve seen violence and death and horrific car accidents involving small children. Gunshot wounds, knife wounds, crime victims. But I’ve also seen kids with bonks on their head and scratches on their arm because their cat got mad at them.” She smiled and slowly shook her head, lost in her thoughts. “A frantic grandma came in once with her granddaughter who stuffed a bead up her nose. She didn’t know what to do, how to get the bead out. She was frantic, panicking which only made her granddaughter cry. I grabbed a pair of tweezers and plucked the bead out within seconds and that poor grandma was beside herself with how easily I took care of it. Said she felt like a big idiot.”

“What did you tell her?” he asked, knowing it was going to be something kind. Whereas Reagan might have noticed his innate confidence, he definitely noticed her innate sweetness. Because she
was
sweet, she had to be, what with what she did for a living.

“I reassured her she wasn’t an idiot. I gave her a hug. The poor woman was just beating herself up while the three-year-old was running around acting like it was no big deal.” She laughed. “It was kind of funny.”

“Sounds like the craziest stories are the ones where they stuff something where it doesn’t belong.”

“So true.” She turned to study him, her gaze meeting his. “I’m rambling about stuff you probably don’t care about, huh?”

“Not true. I wanted to talk to you about working in the ER, remember? I’m going to use it for my character,” he said.

“Yeah? When do you start filming?”

“Next week.” Unable to help himself, he touched her. Drifted his finger along her hairline, down her temple. She remained completely still—he didn’t think she was even breathing—and he let his hand drop. The shuddering breath that left her was full of disappointment. “A six-week shoot.”

“Where?”

“In and around Los Angeles. My character works at a fictional hospital there.”

“Awesome.” She offered him a tremulous smile. “Do you like being an actor?”

“It’s all I know. Pretending to be someone else, to do things I would never do…I like it.” Sometimes. Sometimes he didn’t. But what else could he do? He’d dropped out of school before he graduated and had to get his GED. His work schedule hadn’t allowed him for a normal high school life, and no way in hell could he go off to college. His mom wouldn’t let him.

She hadn’t allowed much of anything except work, work, work. They didn’t even talk anymore. One last major fight while he’d been high on coke and she’d been drunk off her ass had severed their relationship. He hadn’t gone back. Hadn’t said sorry, hadn’t begged for her forgiveness, nothing.

Neither had she.

He resented her for pushing him beyond his limits and she resented him for cutting her off. So they didn’t speak, the two of them too stubborn to give in first.

Stupid.

“Did you miss it? When you went…” Her voice trailed off.

“To rehab? Yeah.” At first he missed the fame and what came with it. Women, booze and drugs. His life had become an endless party, and then it was gone. Felt like he blinked and he was in rehab, going through withdrawals, cranky and feeling like he was at the end of his rope. “Once I got sober and my head on straight, I realized I didn’t want to give acting up. That I’d have to change the way I think and what I did in order to get what I want.”

A soft smile curled her pretty lips. And they were definitely pretty. Lush and full and the perfect shade of pink. Her lipgloss had worn off long ago, and he had the urge to press his lips to hers. See if her mouth turned red and swollen after a few minutes of intense kissing.

“Sounds like you’re on the right track, then,” she said.

“I feel like I’m on the right track. Now I just need to make sure and not fuck it up.”

Her eyes widened the slightest bit at his use of the word “fuck”, but otherwise she didn’t say a thing. She didn’t need to. Any other words uttered could potentially destroy the mood and that was the last thing he wanted.

Leaning in, he traced his fingers along the edge of her jaw, smoothed his thumb down the front of her chin. She parted her lips when his fingers made contact with her skin, her breath stuttering when he brushed his thumb against her plump lower lip. She tilted her head up as his descended, their mouths meeting at the perfect moment.

If this was a movie, the music would’ve swelled in the background and the camera would’ve panned out on the kissing couple. But this wasn’t a movie. This was his life.

And he planned on enjoying every second of it.

What happens in Vegas…could be a fantasy come true.

Wicked Weekend

© 2014 Karen Erickson

Vegas Nights, Book 0.5

Between nursing school and starting their careers, Reagan, Andrea, and Natalie have had no time for dating. After saving up for a special vacation, they’re on their way to Vegas for a long-awaited weekend of fun, sun, gambling and partying.

When their luggage goes missing, an impromptu shopping trip leads them to James, who makes them an unusual offer—to be part of the female scenery at his boss’s upcoming party. Not just any scenery, but women who are pretty in a real way, not the nipped, tucked and dyed Hollywood version.

Accept a “private party” invitation from a complete stranger? These ladies weren’t born yesterday. Yet before “no thanks” crosses their lips, Reagan discovers who James’s boss really is: Declan Carter, an actor she’s crushed on for, well, forever. Now she’s determined to be the eye candy who catches Declan’s eye. No matter what it takes…

Warning: Epic shopping trip results in meeting hot men. It is recommended that all credit cards be placed out of reach before reading.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Wicked Weekend:

“What do you guys think?” Reagan asked as she stepped out of her dressing room. She did a little twirl, the deep red skirt of the dress she wore flaring out and almost showing them all her goods.

“Gorgeous,” James said, clapping his hands. “You girls are going to knock them all on their asses when they see you.”

“Who?” Andrea asked, turning toward him. He’d been saying a lot of stuff about mysterious men who were going to “see” them since they started shopping with him, but he was always evasive, never revealing any names or recognizable details.

He could drop all sorts of celebrity names and she’d probably not recognize them, but still. She had a feeling he might be a liar. Or, at the very least, he was a bit of an exaggerator. But he was so much fun to hang out with, she could allow a few overblown stories here and there.

“You are all talk and no action,” Natalie accused James, resting her hands on her hips as she stared up at him. Calling him out when no one else would—that was Natalie. It was rather amusing, watching her face off with a man a solid foot taller than she was. She was probably going to get a crick in her neck if she kept staring up at him like that.

“What do you mean by that?” James asked innocently.

“You say you’re the assistant to some famous actor, but you won’t say who. You keep alluding to certain people, but you never give us any firm details,” Natalie said. “I want some concrete information, James. Tell us who you work for.”

A mysterious smile curled his lips, and he slowly shook his head. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Are you saying you’ve kissed your employer, the famous actor?” Reagan asked, sounding shocked.

“No, no, no.” He waved his hand, dismissing Reagan’s question. “You girls are so literal. Please. Like he’d kiss
me.
He is so unerringly straight, which is a shame, but I deal with it since he pays me so well.”

Andrea crossed her arms in front of her chest, sending the giant price tag attached to the dress toward her line of vision. She dropped one arm and grabbed the price tag, gasping when she saw the amount. “This dress is over four hundred dollars!” Holy crap. She was in a
screw it
mood, but not that much.

“And worth every penny,” James said smugly. “I mean, look at you. You’re freaking gorgeous.”

Natalie and Reagan both gasped about the cost of their dresses too, since they were close to the five-hundred-dollar range as well. James shushed them all, giving them a stern look before he started talking.

“Listen, girls, don’t argue with me. Buy those dresses,” he said firmly. “Buy them and then I’ll get you into the most exclusive, premier party you’ve ever been to in your
life.
”

“Uh…” Andrea started, but James sent her a firm look, silencing her. It sounded like fun, but she had a feeling he was talking out of his ass, as much as she hated to think it.

“Seriously. I don’t want to hear any protests. I don’t want to hear the whining over how expensive the dresses are, how you don’t have the money. All three of you are stunning. The people at this party asked me to find some beautiful ladies to bring tonight and to make sure they’re dressed appropriately. This party could change your
lives
. So don’t protest over a few hundred dollars. It’s ridiculous.” James snapped his fingers. “So get those credit cards and get ready to purchase, girls.”

“Wait a minute, you want us to go to a party
tonight?
But it’s already so late…” Reagan’s voice trailed off when she saw the way James looked at her.

“This city doesn’t sleep, baby. The party has hardly begun. It’s still early, but it’ll be happening for hours.
Hours.
Now go.” He clapped his hands and then waved them all back toward their dressing rooms. “Get changed and get to buying. I’ll give you all the details as soon as I see receipts.”

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Endless Nights

Copyright © 2015 by Karen Erickson

ISBN: 978-1-61922-619-7

Edited by Amy Sherwood

Cover by Syd Gill

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: April 2015

www.samhainpublishing.com