Excerpt!
She lifted her gaze to connect with his again, and an involuntary sigh tore from her lungs. When she looked into his eyes, she felt seen. Really and truly known. Her Gucci dress, professionally airbrushed makeup, and expensive blowout made zero difference. They connected on a level that defied all pretense. She would swear it.
And she was 100 percent wrong.
Zane had used her to score points off Jack, and the connection between them was all in her head. Even knowing that, she took one more deep breath of him—purely for future sweater inspiration, of course. Then she let go of his shoulders, flung his hands from her waist, and stepped back.
The wary confusion in his eyes was satisfying.
“I promised Lila I wouldn’t let anyone get a picture of me throat-punching you. You’ve got sixty seconds to find us an empty room before I break that promise.”
“Then I’ll need to move fast.” He bent and swept her off her feet and into his arms. The crowd parted, laughing. She heard a smattering of applause.
His lips brushed her ear. “You can’t walk fast enough to get anywhere in those heels. Did you wear those to torture me? To show me how badly I screwed up? Lila said you came here to apologize to Jack, but I call bullshit. No way. No one would do that. You could have called. Or sent an email. A letter. You wouldn’t risk ruining his wedding. That’s not you.”
“You don’t know me,” she snapped.
“I used to. People don’t change that much.”
His sheer nerve was staggering. “That’s it—I’m breaking my promise to Lila.” She drew back her fist.
He tightened his hold. “I still have thirty seconds.” He carried her right through the wide door of the coat check, easily balancing her weight as he opened a door in the back of the room.
“Let’s finish this where it started,” he said, muscling her through the doorway, into darkness. He set her gently on her feet and flicked a switch, illuminating a storage space filled with cleaning supplies and broken furniture.
She gasped.
“I thought this would be an appropriate location for your throat punch. Should I text Jack and his stepmom, bring it full circle? They loved catching us in the supply closet the first time.”
She shook her head slowly. “How can you think this is funny?”
“I don’t—not even a little bit.” He straightened his shoulders and gave her a somber half-smile that twisted her heart. Then he lifted his chin, exposing the strong column of his throat. “Go ahead—hit me.”
Author bio:
Amanda Usen knows two things for certain: chocolate cheesecake is good for breakfast and a hot chef can steal your heart. Her husband stole hers on the first day of class at the Culinary Institute of America. They married after graduation in a lovely French Quarter restaurant in New Orleans. After enjoying the food and the fun in the Big Easy for a few years, they returned to Western New York to raise a family.
Amanda spends her early mornings writing romance and the rest of the day working in a bakery. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America ® and the Western New York Romance Writers. When she’s not writing or baking, she can usually be found reading a book and trying to get out of cooking dinner.
Clara Duke lives to crochet wearable art. But right this second, she’s looking at the one guy who has the uncanny ability to unravel her in every possible way. Zane Brampton. He broke her heart in high school and now wants to make it up to her—in a single night. Just being in the same room as him feels dangerously volatile. A whole night with this delectable, gorgeous man would be nothing less than a total sexpocalypse. But oh, what a way to go.
The sight of Clara and her mouthwatering curves might actually kill restaurateur Zane. Ten years ago, their volcanic chemistry exploded… taking their social circle along with it. But Zane hasn’t forgotten the heat—and this feels almost like fate. He’ll be damned if he’ll let her run from their connection again. And he might just have found his chance to prove he deserves more than just one night…
Now Zane is driving Clara to California to meet her professional dreams. But between the road, the chocolate, and the ridiculously hot sex, Clara risks getting tangled up with her not-so-one-night-stand. And worse, Zane might just be the thread that snaps all of her perfectly crocheted plans.
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Amanda Usen knows two things for certain: chocolate cheesecake is good for breakfast and a hot chef can steal your heart. Her husband stole hers on the first day of class at the Culinary Institute of America. They married after graduation in a lovely French Quarter restaurant in New Orleans. After enjoying the food and the fun in the Big Easy for a few years, they returned to Western New York to raise a family.
Amanda spends her early mornings writing romance and the rest of the day working in a bakery. She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America ® and the Western New York Romance Writers. When she’s not writing or baking, she can usually be found reading a book and trying to get out of cooking dinner.
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