Excerpt!
“Too bad he’ll stay hungry. Michelle, I told you. I’m not interested in f*cking some random guy.”
“Hook up doesn’t mean you have to have sex.” This woman’s second friend doesn’t look anywhere near as impressed as her first friend does. The woman, Michelle, is checking out all four of us. I hear Bogdan scoff, and I know he’s staking a claim already.
“Hello, ladies.” I practically purr, but the target of my attention stiffens. She’d been leaning on an elbow against the table, but she sits up straight. She twists in her seat, and we both jerk back. She grips the table to keep from falling off her stool.
“Ms. Doyle.”
“Mr. Kutsenko.”
We speak at the same time. I watch her glance at my brothers, but Bogdan is sidling up to Michelle. And I can see Niko and Aleks are already having no success with Laura’s other friend. She says something about preferring tacos to sausages.
“Ms. Doyle, I can’t say that I expected it to be you when I walked over.”
“Mr. Kutsenko, I definitely didn’t think it was you when my friend said there was a man rudely staring at us.”
“Prickly.” The back of my fingers glide along the outside of her forearm as I put my drink on the table. It’s the smoothest skin I’ve ever felt. “Or maybe not. And it’s Maksim.”
Laura doesn’t know what to make of me. I can see she’s battling between continuing to keep her uptight persona and whether she wants to consider herself off the clock. I glance down at her glass.
“Can I get you another of whatever you’re drinking?” I offer a conciliatory smile, but it makes Laura frown. I don’t have to walk to the bar. I merely catch a waitress’s eye, and she hurries over.
“What can I get you, Mr. Kutsenko?”
I look at Laura. She glances at me then looks at the waitress. “Whiskey sour, please.”
“Vodka for you, Mr. Kutsenko?”
“Yes. On ice.” Laura and I watch the waitress walk away.
“Not on a first-name basis with all the waitresses?”
“Do you call the man who signs your paycheck by his first name?”
“It’s a woman. You own this club.” It’s a statement, not a question.
“My brothers and I.” I can’t believe I don’t know what to say next. I notice the small gift bag on the table. “Celebrating something?”
“It’s Michelle’s birthday tomorrow.”
“It’s Michelle’s birthday tomorrow.”
Laura’s friend looks over at us.
Bogdan grins. “Sounds like a night for champagne.”
Laura watches my brother and her friend, and I’m certain she can perceive the things their body language doesn’t say. I’d noticed she was observant during our meeting, but she seems to read people better than almost anyone I know. When the waitress returns with the drinks Laura and I ordered, Bogdan orders a bottle of champagne.
“I’d say it’s a funny coincidence that my friends and I ended up in one of your nightclubs, but I suspect you own most of the best ones in Manhattan.”
“We do.”
“Then we’ve done business before. My friends and I have invested a small fortune over the past few years.” Her grin is infectious. Her eyebrows shoot up when I return her smile. “You can smile. I figured that brooding and intimidating is all you can do.”
“From the way Dmitry bitched on the way back to the office, I’d call you intimidating, too.”
“I didn’t think he found me intimidating. I mean how could I be with a stick up my *ss?” Her voice is like saccharine, but I can see the glint of humor in her eyes. She leans toward me. “Can I tell you a secret? Only if you promise not to tell your lawyer?”
“Of course.” I can only imagine what she’s going to say.
Author bio:
Sabine Barclay, a nom de plume also writing Historical Romance as Celeste Barclay, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. Growing up in the Midwest, Sabine enjoyed spending as much time in and on the water as she could. Now she lives near the beach. She's an avid swimmer, a hopeful future surfer, and a former rower. Before becoming a full-time author, Sabine was a Social Studies and English teacher. She holds degrees in International Affairs (BA), Secondary Social Science (MAT), and Political Management (MPS). She channels that knowledge into creating engrossing contemporary romances that will make your toes curl and your granny blush.
I wasn’t prepared for her…
She just got me to pay three times as much as I wanted for a company I’ll buy and destroy.
She knows who I am. The bratva doesn’t scare her.
Intelligent, brave, and unstoppable.
I’ll make her mine.
She doesn’t know it yet, but we’re soulmates.
I’ll take her to her limits. Then give her all her heart desires.
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Sabine Barclay, a nom de plume also writing Historical Romance as Celeste Barclay, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. Growing up in the Midwest, Sabine enjoyed spending as much time in and on the water as she could. Now she lives near the beach. She's an avid swimmer, a hopeful future surfer, and a former rower. Before becoming a full-time author, Sabine was a Social Studies and English teacher. She holds degrees in International Affairs (BA), Secondary Social Science (MAT), and Political Management (MPS). She channels that knowledge into creating engrossing contemporary romances that will make your toes curl and your granny blush.
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