Add to your TBR List!

Excerpt

Mitchell

Celebrity baker, Corrina Freeman, was spotted with daughter, Nicole, wearing matching Day-Glo Chucks. They were headed backstage to visit friends Evangeline Brogan and Simon Houde.

Was it their shoes or their smiles that lit up Broadway?

—Eva Henn, Fashion Blogger

“What is Trevor doing for you?” I ask as I pull into the underground garage beneath my uncle’s building.

“The better question is what doesn’t he do for me? He’s essentially taken over my marketing and brand.” Austyn makes a fist near her temple before popping her fingers out. “Mind blown. He’s remarkable at it.”

Brotherly pride wars with concern over the instability of the music industry. “Really?”

“Truly. He’s worth every dollar he asked for.”

“Wait.” I stop her before we step into the elevator. “He negotiated a salary?”

She names an amount and my lips part in shock. I recover before managing, “And you’re able to pay him?”

“Yes. I keep telling him to let me pay for the extra stuff he does, but he won’t let me.”

“Like what?” I hit the button for their floor.

“Like today he’s running errands because he has a car, and I don’t. He’s picking up some new equipment, so I didn’t pay for shipping.” She names the amount shipping would have cost and I blink again.

“Did you win the lottery or something? Is that how you’re able to finance this?”

“No.”

“You’re that good that you can afford to pay my brother twenty-five percent over he was making at his old job and your own salary?”

She shrugs. “I’m worth the money I make.”

“And you’re obviously paid in gold bricks.” The elevator doors open, and we both step out.

After opening the apartment door, Austyn drops her keys on the table in the entryway and keeps walking. Once she hits the living room, she tosses over her shoulder, “Now you’re showing your age, Mitch.”

I step forward until I’m in her space. There’s no hiding the fact I’m aroused. I cock my head to the side. “Oh?”

Her breasts thrust out as her eyes roll skyward. I brace for what’s going to come out of her mouth. “If you were really on trend, you’d have accused me of being paid in NFTs, maybe Bitcoin.”

Damn her and damn that sassy mouth. I know I’m not leaving here without a taste of it. Not again.

I reach across the distance between us and clasp her hand. Tugging her toward me, her sneakers trip her up as she falls into my arms.

I lower my mouth so my lips cover hers.

The fire that’s arced between us since the first time our hands touched in this very room explodes when I fit my mouth to hers. I flick my tongue against her full lower lip before I take a small nip—not enough to hurt, but enough for her to part those sweet lips and let me inside.

Once I gain access into the deep recess of her mouth, the flames of hell couldn’t stop me from stroking my tongue against hers.

And I think of nothing but pleasure—hers, mine. Ours.

My world dims to only the tiny bundle of woman I’ve wrapped up in my arms. I lift her to the kitchen counter. Her thighs spread, forming the perfect cradle for me to step into. I place my hands against them and press them farther apart as I slide between them, right up against her core.

Her heart.

Austyn’s fingers curl into my chest, nails biting. Even as I clench her ass to lift her more fully into my embrace, she straightens her torso to push closer.

I undulate back and forth to torture us both. I feel my cock grow, extend, prepare. Her head falls back, and I take advantage, ravaging her throat until I reach her ear. “I want to fuck you, Austyn. Are you going to let me? Let me taste all your slick sweetness waiting for me,” I rotate my hips forward until they brush up against her jean-covered V.

Her response is a moan.

Needing her full surrender, I kiss her again, wreaking havoc with her senses. Just then, my phone rings—one of only two numbers that can break through when it’s on silent.

It’s Beckett.

Shit.

Fucking fuck me. And not in the way I had intended.

I tear my mouth from hers. “I have to go.”

She blinks at me. “Go? Go where?”

“Work.”

Breathless, she rasps, “What was that? Some sort of bat signal?”

My forehead crashes against hers. “Simply put, yes. That was my boss’s ring tone and the only reason he calls me directly is if he’s in trouble, about to cause trouble, or going wheels up to start some up.” I wait for her to put the connection together—me being a bodyguard and Beckett’s Miller’s “Live the Dream” being my ring tone, but she doesn’t.

Thankfully.

Instead, she stares deep into my eyes before sliding her fingers back into my hair. Lifting her lips to mine, she brushes them gently against mine before bracing against my shoulders to hop off the counter. Immediately, my hands move to her waist to help her down.

Every luscious inch of her slides down the front of me so sensuously, making me so damn hard, I want to find Beckett and punch him in the damn face. I clench my jaw. “You’re not making this easier.”

She reaches up and brushes a kiss beneath my jaw. “That was the point.”

I glare down at her.

Her cheeks flush with unfulfilled desire. “You have to go.”

The words escape before I can stop them. “The very last thing I want to do is go.”

That earns me a soft kiss, which I greedily consume. Seconds later, after Austyn’s wrapped back in my arms, I’m debating the merits of pretending I never heard Beckett’s call when a more potent noise causes us to spring apart.

A key in the lock.

“Trevor’s home,” she announces unnecessarily.

Regret blooms in my chest as I realize I have nothing but frustration to look forward to for the rest of the day. “And that’s my cue to vanish.” As the last lock twists, I drag my fingers down Austyn’s cheek. “I’ll call when I can.”

She clasps my fingers against her cheek but doesn’t say anything. Then again, does she need to?

I make it to the door just as Trevor opens it. “Hey, Austyn, they have . . . oh, hey, Mitch. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Now. “Work just called. I have to go.”

He shrugs. “Okay. See you.”

My eyes meet Austyn’s. “Yeah. See you soon.”

With that, I head out to see what the emergency is this time. 

Pre-order Link

Giveaway

One of Five eARC's for Perfect Pitch

a Rafflecopter Giveaway

Other Titles Within this Series

About the Author

Tracey Jerald knew she was meant to be a writer when she would re-write the ending of books in her head on her bike when she was a young girl growing up in southern Connecticut. It wasn’t long before she was typing alternate endings and extended epilogues “just for fun”.

After college in Florida, where she obtained a degree in Criminal Justice swearing she saw things she’ll never quite believe and never quite forget, Tracey traded the world of law and order for IT.

Her work for a world-wide internet startup transferred her to Northern Virginia where she met her husband in what many call their own happily ever after. They have one son.

When she’s not busy with her family or writing, Tracey can be found in her home in north Florida drinking coffee, reading, training for a runDisney event, or feeding her addiction to HGTV.

Connect with Tracey

Website: https://www.traceyjerald.com

Newsletter Sign Up: http://bit.ly/31KVDOe 

Facebook Personal Page: http://bit.ly/2L3wyFE  

Facebook Author Page: http://bit.ly/2zrcnQz

Facebook Reader Group: https://bit.ly/366C32J  

Goodreads Author Page: http://bit.ly/2ucXKeE  

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2L7hBCD  

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2KLRmVX  

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2L5EVkd  

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2ulAJ8E  

Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/2QDTr5U  

BookBub Author Page: http://bit.ly/2Ne9h9l