Sunday Snippet: Flanked by Cat Johnson

Today’s snippet comes from one of Helen’s favorite authors Cat Johnson. And I do have to admit that after reading this snippet I want to read the book as well. The book comes out in September so it’s a nice early tease from us!  Oh I should probably warn you it may set your device on flames 🙂 

The light in the hallway seemed blinding after the darkness of her room, but it didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust. That’s when she noticed Garret leaning against the wall and watching her.

His gaze dropped to the sneakers clutched in one hand. He grinned and shook his head. “You look like a bad teenager sneaking out of her parents’ house after curfew.”

Garret had kept his voice low but she still was afraid they’d awaken Aaron or Skeeter. She pressed one finger to her lips and mouthed, “Let’s go.”

Turning, she tiptoed down the hall, Garret behind her.

“Where are we going?” He said it behind her in an exaggerated whisper.

Without looking, she could hear the smile in his voice. He was enjoying the intrigue. She kind of was too, but she’d enjoy the eventual sex far more. She shot him a look over her shoulder. “Anywhere away from here.”

Silver didn’t stop until she’d reached the stairwell. There she slipped through the door and Garret followed. Plopping down onto one of the steps, she started to put her sneakers on.

“And when we get to anywhere away from here, what exactly are we going to do?” Garret raised a brow.

She met his gaze head on. “We going to fuck, I hope.”

God, she loved making men speechless. He opened his mouth but no sound came out for a good ten seconds. Finally, he seemed to knock himself out of the state of shock and even then, he kind of sputtered for a while. “Uh, we, uh can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Still tying her shoelace, she glanced up at him. “Aw, shit. No condoms?”

“No. I mean yes, I have condoms, but that’s not it. You’re Aaron’s sister. You and I can’t have sex.” He’d hissed the word sex as if saying it too loudly would somehow wake Aaron and bring him charging down the hall after them.

“You’re not going to have sex with me because of my brother?” Her jaw dropped open. Was he serious?

“Right.” He nodded firmly.

“Why?” Silver frowned, totally confused.

“It’s just not something one guy does to another.”

“Are you nuts?” She couldn’t believe her ears.

“Good chance.” He laughed and shook his head.

His words were telling her no, but his eyes told a different story. His gaze had dropped to take in all of her before he wrestled his attention back to her face. He was tempted. A tiny nudge and she might be able to sway him to her way of thinking.

She let out a huge breath and tried to figure out a way to salvage this night. “Okay, how about this. No intercourse, just a little bit of foreplay. Does that make it better?”

Shock once again drained the color from his face. Garret shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s any different.”

“Sure it is. It’s like if I had an itch right between my shoulder blades and I couldn’t reach to scratch it, you could help me with it. Right?”

His gaze swept her body again. “Yeah, but shoulder blades and…other areas are very different.”

“No, they’re not. It’s the same thing. Just one person helping out another.” Her shoes on now, Silver stood and moved close to Garret. Staring up at him, she ran a finger down his chest and watched him swallow hard.

“I don’t know. It could be kind of a grey area.” His brows knit above his green eyes as she reached his belt buckle and paused her torture there.

Damn, she loved green eyes on a guy. Too bad this particular green-eyed man was proving to be both stubborn and strange. But if he’d agree, she’d take foreplay over nothing at all, which is exactly what she’d had as far as sex since this piercing had begun taunting her. Of course, her ultimate hope was that one taste wouldn’t be enough for Garret and a little would turn into a whole lot more.

“It’ll be okay, Garret. I promise. I’ve been keeping secrets from Aaron my entire life. He’ll never know. Come on.” She grabbed his hand, intent on finding a janitor’s closet or something where they could have some privacy.

“Wait a minute. Before we go anywhere tell me this, why are you so intent on having sex with me? You don’t even know me.”

He was honestly asking her this? What she wanted to know was why he was so intent on fighting her? Didn’t all men want sex? How the hell did she find the one man on earth who didn’t?

“The truth?” she asked.

Garret nodded.

“I got this hood piercing and it’s been keeping me on the edge of insanity for almost a month now. I don’t have a boyfriend. You’re friends with my brother so I figure you’re a safer bet than picking up some stranger at a bar for sex.”

He swallowed hard. “H-hood piercing?”

FLANKED

Studs in Spurs, Book 5

It’s the perfect plan…until the ties that bind reach into their hearts.

Garret James doesn’t need a woman tying him down. Not when the number of buckle bunny notches on his belt—and his position in the pro bull rider standing—are both on the rise. Just when he learns he’s this close to blowing out his bad shoulder, Silver Jordan roars into his life, long, leather-clad legs straddling her Harley. Hell, he might not mind being tied to one woman, if that one woman was her. There’s one problem—she’s his friend’s sister. But once their eyes lock, resistance is futile.

Then Silver offers him a smoking-hot deal. He gets the hottest sex of his life and access to her health insurance for his career-saving surgery—all wrapped up in a marriage of convenience. In exchange, she gets her parents off her back about her reluctance to follow their marriage-and-kids roadmap.

For a while, dodging questions and hiding their arrangement is easy. But in private, they battle emotions between them they never expected to grow. After all, the marriage is only temporary…isn’t it?

eBook September 18, 2012, Trade Paper 2013