Crazy Imperfect Love Page 11
But falling in love isn’t part of Abby’s plan. Will Drake have what it takes to convince her that the best things in life come from doing what scares us the most?
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Worth Fighting For: A Warrior Fight Club/Big Sky Novella
By Laura Kaye
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From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Laura Kaye…
Getting in deep has never felt this good...
Commercial diving instructor Tara Hunter nearly lost everything in an accident that saw her medically discharged from the navy. With the help of the Warrior Fight Club, she’s fought hard to overcome her fears and get back in the water where she’s always felt most at home. At work, she’s tough, serious, and doesn’t tolerate distractions. Which is why finding her gorgeous one-night stand on her new dive team is such a problem.
Former navy deep-sea diver Jesse Anderson just can’t seem to stop making mistakes—the latest being the hot-as-hell night he’d spent with his new partner. This job is his second chance, and Jesse knows he shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. But spending every day with Tara’s smart mouth and sexy curves makes her so damn hard to resist.
Joining a wounded warrior MMA training program seems like the perfect way to blow off steam—until Jesse finds that Tara belongs too. Now they’re getting in deep and taking each other down day and night, and even though it breaks all the rules, their inescapable attraction might just be the only thing truly worth fighting for.
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Nothing Without You: A Forever Yours/Big Sky Novella
By Monica Murphy
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From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Monica Murphy…
Designing wedding cakes is Maisey Henderson’s passion. She puts her heart and soul into every cake she makes, especially since she’s such a believer in true love. But then Tucker McCloud rolls back into town, reminding her that love is a complete joke. The pro football player is the hottest thing to come out of Cunningham Falls—and the boy who broke Maisey’s heart back in high school.
He claims he wants another chance. She says absolutely not. But Maisey’s refusal is the ultimate challenge to Tucker. Life is a game, and Tucker’s playing to win Maisey’s heart—forever.
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All Stars Fall: A Seaside Pictures/Big Sky Novella
By Rachel Van Dyken
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From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken…
She left.
Two words I can't really get out of my head.
She left us.
Three more words that make it that much worse.
Three being another word I can't seem to wrap my mind around.
Three kids under the age of six, and she left because she missed it. Because her dream had never been to have a family, no her dream had been to marry a rockstar and live the high life.
Moving my recording studio to Seaside Oregon seems like the best idea in the world right now especially since Seaside Oregon has turned into the place for celebrities to stay and raise families in between touring and producing. It would be lucrative to make the move, but I'm doing it for my kids because they need normal, they deserve normal. And me? Well, I just need a break and help, that too. I need a sitter and fast. Someone who won't flip me off when I ask them to sign an Iron Clad NDA, someone who won't sell our pictures to the press, and most of all? Someone who looks absolutely nothing like my ex-wife.
He's tall.
That was my first instinct when I saw the notorious Trevor Wood, drummer for the rock band Adrenaline, in the local coffee shop. He ordered a tall black coffee which made me smirk, and five minutes later I somehow agreed to interview for a nanny position. I couldn't help it; the smaller one had gum stuck in her hair while the eldest was standing on his feet and asking where babies came from. He looked so pathetic, so damn sexy and pathetic that rather than be star-struck, I took pity. I knew though; I knew the minute I signed that NDA, the minute our fingers brushed and my body became insanely aware of how close he was—I was in dangerous territory, I just didn't know how dangerous until it was too late. Until I fell for the star and realized that no matter how high they are in the sky—they're still human and fall just as hard.
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Hold On: A Play On/Big Sky Novella
By Samantha Young
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From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Samantha Young…
Autumn O’Dea has always tried to see the best in people while her big brother, Killian, has always tried to protect her from the worst. While their lonely upbringing made Killian a cynic, it isn’t in Autumn’s nature to be anything but warm and open. However, after a series of relationship disasters and the unsettling realization that she’s drifting aimlessly through life, Autumn wonders if she’s left herself too vulnerable to the world. Deciding some distance from the security blanket of her brother and an unmotivated life in Glasgow is exactly what she needs to find herself, Autumn takes up her friend’s offer to stay at a ski resort in the snowy hills of Montana. Some guy-free alone time on Whitetail Mountain sounds just the thing to get to know herself better.
However, she wasn’t counting on colliding into sexy Grayson King on the slopes. Autumn has never met anyone like Gray. Confident, smart, with a wicked sense of humor, he makes the men she dated seem like boys. Her attraction to him immediately puts her on the defense because being open-hearted in the past has only gotten it broken. Yet it becomes increasingly difficult to resist a man who is not only determined to seduce her, but adamant about helping her find her purpose in life and embrace the person she is. Autumn knows she shouldn’t fall for Gray. It can only end badly. After all their lives are divided by an ocean and their inevitable separation is just another heart break away…
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Six
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DRAGON CLAIMED by Donna Grant
A Dark Kings Novella
ASHES TO INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
A Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs Novella
ENSNARED by Elisabeth Naughton
An Eternal Guardians Novella
EVERMORE by Corinne Michaels
A Salvation Series Novella
VENGEANCE by Rebecca Zanetti
A Dark Protectors/Rebels Novella
ELI’S TRIUMPH by Joanna Wylde
A Reapers MC Novella
CIPHER by Larissa Ione
A Demonica Underworld Novella
RESCUING MACIE by Susan Stoker
A Delta Force Heroes Novella
ENCHANTED by Lexi Blake
A Masters and Mercenaries Novella
TAKE THE BRIDE by Carly Phillips
A Knight Brothers Novella
INDULGE ME by J. Kenner
A Stark Ever After Novella
THE KING by Jennifer L. Armentrout
A Wicked Novella
QUIET MAN by Kristen Ashley
A Dream Man Novella
ABANDON by Rachel Van Dyken
A Seaside Pictures Novella
THE OPEN DOOR by Laurelin Paige
A Found Duet Novella
CLOSER by Kylie Scott
A Stage Dive Novella
SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS by Jennifer Probst
A Stay Novella
BLOOD NIGHT by Heather Graham
A Krewe of Hunters Novella
TWIST OF FATE by Jill Shalvis
A Heartbreaker Bay Novella
MORE THAN PLEASURE YOU by Shayla Black
A More Than Words Novella
WONDER WITH ME by Kristen Proby
A With Me In Seattle Novella
THE DARKEST ASSASSIN by Gena Showalter
A Lords of the Underworld Novella
Also from 1001 Dark Nights:
DAMIEN by J. Kenner
A Stark Novel
Discover the World
of 1001 Dark Nights
Collection One
Collection Two
Collection Three
Collection Four
Collection Five
Bundles
Discovery Authors
Blue Box Specials
Rising Storm
Liliana Hart's MacKenzie Family
Lexi Blake's Crossover Collection
Kristen Proby's Crossover Collection
Crazy, Sexy Love
By KL Grayson
Now Available
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Three-time world champion bull rider Rhett Allen has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. Hard work, sweat, and determination have gotten him where he is today—and that’s holed up in a hospital room, wondering how he let that damn bull buck him off. He’s also wondering why he thought it was a good idea to let his twin brother talk him into returning home to heal.
Rhett has a million reasons to come home to Heaven, Texas, and only one reason to stay away. That reason comes in the form of a sweet and feisty girl who stole his heart long before he ever thought to give it away. The only problem…that girl has turned into a stunning woman.
Monroe Gallagher is downright sexy with more curves than County Line Rd. It’s been six years since he’s seen her, six years since he’s felt any form of peace, and six years since she gripped his heart in her delicate little hands and squeezed the life out of it. The longer he’s in Heaven, the more he starts to realize that the heart she took from him—the one she crushed into a million pieces—she also never gave back.
* * * *
Chapter 1
Rhett
“Are you crazy?”
The door flies open, hitting the wall behind it with a loud thud, and every man in the locker room—myself included—looks up. My manager, Nikki Atwood, is a sight to behold: big tits, plump ass, and thighs made to squeeze a man’s head. And tonight she is dressed to the nines. Any other woman in that outfit would look out of place in a room full of bull riders, but she makes it work. I know every man in here is wondering what it would be like to dirty her prissy little ass up a bit.
Except me.
Been there. Done that.
It’s not something I’m proud of, but I was young and dumb, and I refuse to dwell on mistakes of the past. And in my defense, when I slept with her, she wasn’t my manager. Not yet anyway, and I was nursing a broken heart. Had I known she would eventually slide into the role that had belonged to her father, I would’ve thought twice before getting my dick wet. But that doesn’t mean my decision to fuck her would’ve changed—because I was hurting, and she’s hot as hell, and any man would have a hard time turning her down—but maybe I would’ve given it more thought.
“I ride bulls for a living, darlin’,” I tell her. “I’d say crazy is part of the job description.”
“Don’t get cute with me, Rhett. You know damn well what I’m talking about. A bonus ride? On Lucifer no less.”
“I just walked out of that arena with a 92.2 score. Thought you’d be happier about that.”
“Oh, I am happy about that, and so are your sponsors.” She crosses her arms. “But imagine my surprise when I find out you signed up for a bonus ride. What were you thinking, and why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was thinking I could use the extra cash, and if I told you, you’d try to talk me out of it.”
Her brow creases, and for a split second I swear I see steam coming out of her ears.
“You’re damn right I would’ve talked you out of it.” Nikki stalks toward the middle of the room, plants her hands on her hips, and lifts an eyebrow at some of the other guys, a silent request that they get out.
Lincoln Bennett, my best friend in this business, is the first one to move. Pushing up from the floor, he shoots me a good luck look and taps some of the other guys on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s give Rhett some privacy.” On his way out of the locker room, he tips his hat to Nikki. “Nicole.”
“Thank you, Linc,” she says.
She waits for the locker room to clear and then turns to me, eyebrows raised.
She’s not going to intimidate me. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb. You may be crazy, but no one ever called you dumb.”
“I don’t know what you want from me.” I shrug. “They offered a fifty-grand bonus if I stay on for eight seconds. I couldn’t pass that up.”
“They offered you fifty grand because no one has been able to stay on that damn bull for longer than four seconds.”
“Until me.” I shoot her a cocky smile, and she rolls her eyes.
“Until you. Riiiiiiiight,” she says. “Lucifer has been responsible for forty-seven injuries this year alone, and unless you’ve forgotten, you’ve got commitments outside of the arena, commitments that will earn you well over fifty grand.”
“I’m well aware of the risk, and as far as Wrangler and Powerade are con—”
“Gatorade.”
“Whatever. The point is, bull riding is my job, and it comes first.”
Fifty grand is nothing to Nikki. She was born into money, and even though she works her ass off, she doesn’t really need her job.
She may come from cash, but I come from a ranch in Heaven, Texas. My parents—although they’re doing well now—have practically killed themselves for every dime they have, and even though I’ve got a decent cushion in my bank account, it’s not enough. It might never be enough. Being a bull rider is a precarious job, and it doesn’t always pay the best, which is why I’ve let her talk me in to a few modeling gigs and the occasional commercial.
Every time I get on one of those bulls, I’m putting my career and my life at risk. If something happens and I lose the ability to work, I need to know I’m going to be financially stable until I find something else to do. So, yes, whether she understands it or not, I need that fifty grand.
“Call it off.”
She’s smoking crack. “No way.”
As Nikki well knows, I don’t back down. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it, which is probably why she pinches her lips into a thin line and strides across the room. Her hand hits the door knob and she stops, but doesn’t look back.
“You better stay on that bull, Rhett Allen, or so help me God, your ass is mine.”
“Not a problem, darlin’.”
On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,
Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
InkSlinger PR
Dan Slater
Asha Hossain
Chris Graham
Fedora Chen
Kasi Alexander
Jessica Johns
Dylan Stockton
Richard Blake
and Simon Lipskar