Sunday Snippet: Love Irresistibly by Julie James

One of Heather’s favorite contemporary authors is Julie James, and her her FBI/US Attorney series. She waited not so patiently for Cade’s book to come out and then devoured it in three hours. In case you missed her review of the book you can find it here. So we’re excited to share a snippet from this book. We’re giving away a copy of Heather’s favorite book in the series, the one that started it all Something About You. Just leave us a note telling us what you love about this series.

Okay, fine. She may have been a little buzzed.

Just a smidge.

Clearly, that had to be the case, because she felt warm and good and—shockingly—was enjoying being around Cade.

They’d been at the restaurant for over an hour. A while back, the manager had come by to say hello to Brooke and had sent over a complimentary selection of antipasti. Brooke had ordered a glass of wine with that, and Cade had gone with another bourbon, and then somehow they’d just rolled into dinner—a hand-tossed pizza straight out of the restaurant’s wood-burning oven.

“I have to give credit where credit is due,” Cade said, helping himself to another slice. “You guys at Sterling know your way around food.”

She took another piece herself. No disagreement there. “There are far worse places to work than for a restaurant company.”

“Is this the way it is every time you eat at a Sterling restaurant?” Cade asked. “Everyone hopping around, making sure you’re happy?”

“I don’t know if I’d say hopping, exactly.”

He threw her a look. “Please. You know you love it.”

“This coming from a man who brags about having the Secret Service on speed dial.”

“Don’t forget the FBI, DEA, ATF, and IRS, too.” He grinned before taking a bite of pizza.

“I rest my case.” Brooke chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Actually it’s gotten better when I drop by the restaurants. In the beginning, I think everyone hated me. I was the first GC Ian had ever hired, so when I came on board people didn’t know what to expect. It took me about a year to convince them that I wasn’t looking for problems—that my job is to help them when problems do arise.”

Cade played with his glass, thinking this over. “I’ve been wondering something. Don’t take this the wrong way.”

“Never in the history of humankind has a man ever managed to not say something offensive after that lead-in, but if you want to take your chances, Morgan, be my guest.”

The corners of his mouth curved in a smile. “Why are you single?”

Well, then.

Brooke reached for her wineglass and took a sip, making him wait before she answered. “Who says I’m single?”

“Vaughn. He deduced it from the fact that there aren’t any pictures of a guy or kids in your office.”

“You were talking about me with Agents Huxley and Roberts?”

“You may or may not have come up.”

“I see. And what else did you three scamps say when you were gossiping in your little knitting circle?”

His eyes danced with amusement, but his gaze remained trained on hers. A prosecutor intent on getting his answer. “You didn’t answer my question.”

No, she hadn’t. And while part of Brooke was tempted to move this conversation along to a different topic, there was another part of her that, admittedly, was a little curious herself.

She sat back in the booth, holding her wineglass with one hand as she faced off against him. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll answer that question if you will.”

“How do you know that I’m single?”

“Because no man would ever ask a single woman that kind of quasi-flirtatious question if he was already seeing somebody. At least, not somebody he respected.” Brooke took a sip of her wine. “So you’re either disrespectful to women, or single.”

The corners of his mouth curved. Touché. “I’m single.” With that admission, he waited for her answer.

Brooke tried to appear nonchalant. “Apparently, I work too hard. According to the Hot OB, that means I’m not a ‘big picture kind of girl.’” She saw Cade’s jaw tense, but he said nothing as she continued. “Oh, and dating me is like being in a relationship with a guy, because I don’t complain about not being taken out enough.”

“No offense, but the Hot OB sounds like an asshole.”

“He wasn’t the first guy with that list of grievances.” Brooke bit her lip, not having meant to admit that last part. Must’ve been the wine. “All right. Now it’s your turn.”

Cade took a sip of his bourbon. “I’m emotionally unavailable.”

Brooke fought back a smile at the matter-of-fact way he said it. “Is that right?”

“According to my ex-girlfriends, yes. And I use sarcasm as a defense mechanism.”

Brooke pointed to herself. “What do you know? Me, too.”

Cade tipped his glass at her. “So if you and I got together, we could probably go our entire relationship without ever saying anything meaningful at all.”

“Yes, although you and I would never get together since we don’t even like each other.”

“True.” Cade gazed at her across the candlelit table. “Good thing we got that straight.”

Brooke felt a few flutters in her stomach at the way he was looking at her right then. “It sure is.”

 HE’S USED TO GETTING WHAT HE WANTS…

A former football star and one of Chicago’s top prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cade Morgan will do anything to nail a corrupt state senator, which means he needs Brooke Parker’s help. As general counsel for a restaurant company, she can get a bug to the senator’s table at one of her five-star restaurants so the FBI can eavesdrop on him. All Cade has to do is convince Brooke to cooperate—and he’s not afraid to use a little charm, or the power of his office, to do just that.

AND WHAT HE WANTS IS HER.

A savvy businesswoman, Brooke knows she needs to play ball with the U.S. Attorney’s office—even if it means working with Cade. No doubt there’s a sizzling attraction beneath all their sarcastic quips, but Brooke is determined to keep things casual. Cade agrees—until a surprising turn of events throws his life into turmoil, and he realizes that he wants more than just a good time from the one woman with whom he could fall terrifyingly, irresistibly in love . .