An emotional and unforgettable new romance from New York Times bestselling author Kim Karr. The Thing About Love releases on JANUARY 3rd!
Keep reading for an excerpt!
ADD to your TBR → http://bit.ly/2hb3Ll8
BLOGGERS sign up here → https://goo.gl/forms/fAUx4UHUaT2ZDmv32
The whole stethoscope-and-white
coat thing isn’t my cup of tea.
I prefer a man with an artistic vein in his body.
9 - 5 hours. And I can definitely do without the half-lidded, sleepy bedroom
eyes. (Okay, so those are kind of sexy.)
Tall, dark, and handsome doesn’t change the fact
that he’s arrogant, cocky, and rude.
Not that I care, but he’s made it clear he wants
nothing to do with a quirky girl like me, which is why he said no.
Turns out no
isn’t an option.
I have a quickie wedding to plan, and Dr. Jake
Kissinger doesn’t have a choice. He looks at our situation like he’s stuck with
me, but in reality I’m stuck with him. Stuck with his pouty mouth. His long,
lean body. And stuck with those loose, low riding scrub pants. (Okay, so the doctor thing is growing on
me.)
When spending time together turns into more than
it should, I know I’m in trouble.
He isn’t supposed to make my heart pound.
I’m not supposed to make him look twice.
And we aren’t supposed to spend the night
together. (Okay, so he has more than one
artistic vein in his body, and other places.)
Falling for him is definitely a mistake.
Here’s the thing…
Jake is unavailable, and I know it.
Just not in the way you might think.
By Kim Karr
Copyright 2017
If a barn could be magical, this one was
definitely enchanting.
I was in a daze as I looked around. The rafters.
The tables. The river. They all seemed to sparkle with a light I wanted to
capture.
“Isn’t that right, sweetie?” The voice was deep
and husky, but I was in my own world imaging what I could do with a place like
this and not paying any attention.
An elbow nudged me, and it wasn’t until then that
I realized I was sweetie.
Sweetie?
Seriously, the man with the DR before his name
couldn’t find something a little sexier in his vocabulary to call me? Sugarcakes. Honeypie. Cookie, even.
“What’s that Chocolate Cake?” I smiled big and
wide when I said it. Obviously, he was giving this little show all he had, so I
figured I might as well, too.
Ignoring my taunt, Jake draped an arm around my
chair just as Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” came bellowing through the
speakers.
When his fingertips brushed my shoulder, I wasn’t
listening to the beat of the music though because butterflies took flight in my
belly, and lower. I had to remind myself that this was part of the show, but
still, I found myself having to squeeze my thighs together to sooth the ache
his touch had ignited.
“I was just telling George how much you love to
dance. Especially square dance,” he said.
I had been reaching for my water, and I
practically spilled it when he said that. Was
he out of his ever-loving mind? I didn’t know a thing about country dancing
other than the fact that the word do-si-do
had something to do with it.
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Yes, big boy, I do like to dance, but you
know I prefer to watch you line dance because you’re so great at it. Besides,
don’t forget, I did hurt my ankle not that long ago.”
His grin was beyond wicked. “You can be a klutz
sometimes, but I seem to recall you assuring me your ankle was absolutely fine,
and after I checked it out, I did concur with your self-diagnosis.”
Ethel tapped George on the shoulder, and when he
looked at her, she whispered something in his ear.
“Did you say you wanted to dance, Jules?” George
asked me over the music.
Before I could say no, George was on his feet and
standing beside me with his hand extended. “Would you do me the honor of having
this dance with me?”
Like I
could say no now.
He really was so sweet. Dr. Kiss, on the other
hand, well he was the devil reincarnated. “I’d be delighted,” I said and glared
at Jake as I stood.
“Have fun, Sweetie,” Jake grinned.
I bent to whisper in his ear. “While I’m gone, do
you think you could come up with something to call me that doesn’t make you
sound like you might be George’s age.”
He narrowed that blue-eyed stare at me.
Satisfied with that, I pivoted around and didn’t
look back.
The bridesmaids, in their short, peach dresses
and cowboy boots, were having a blast stomping their feet and clapping their
hands all while shaking their behinds and pressing their thumbs into their
sides.
How on
earth were George and I going to dance to this?
Thank God just when we reached the center of the
dance floor, the music changed, and Tim McGraw’s voice came overhead. As Tim
sang about how no one ever made him feel the way she did, George and I stepped
into position.
He took my hands and started to move, ballroom
style. This type of dancing I knew how to do. “So,” he said, “When are you and
Jake planning on getting hitched?”
Up until now, I had been able to twist what I
said so it didn’t sound like a blatant lie, but this question was pretty
straightforward. “We haven’t decided yet.”
Which was true. In fact, we hadn’t decided a lot.
Like as a starting point, if we were friends or enemies.
“I noticed you ain’t wearing a ring. He not
gotten you one yet?”
“That’s complicated,” I answered.
And it was. He hadn’t gotten me one and he never
would because he didn’t even like me, and after tonight, I was fairly certain
he wouldn’t be able to stand me.
“Well, he’s a good man. Give him some time. He’ll
come around.”
Yes, he’d come around all right. Come around to
telling me I was fired, which reminded me of Finn.
Where had
he gotten his information?
I leaned back. “Is Labor Day weekend available
for a wedding?”
George started to laugh. “You’ll give the man a
heart attack if you make him move that fast.”
“Oh, I know, but just in case, is it?”
“As a matter of fact, it might be. A lad called
here today inquiring about it though, and I told him to come up and see the
place before I reserved it for him. Since he ain’t shown, I reckon it could be
yours.”
“Good to know.” I winked.
He raised a curious brow.
I shrugged. “Just in case.”
Yes, just in case I decided to come clean. And
just in case I could figure out how this place was suitable for Rory. But even
as I thought it, I knew it wasn’t.
I nearly missed a step when I caught a glimpse of
Jake leaning against the wall, watching us.
He threw me off, and I had to order myself to
tune back into George for the remainder of the dance. My lack of focus had to
cease right now because the bottom line was that at the moment I couldn’t allow
myself to be thrown off course.
When the music ended, I stepped back and
curtsied.
“Thanks for indulging me.” George gave my hand a
squeeze. “You and the Doc are really quite a couple.”
“Thank you,” I told him, but I knew I should have
been correcting him instead. I hated the lie, but I couldn’t undo it now, nor
could I stop what he was doing. George had signaled Jake over, and he had
started to move.
All tall, dark, and handsome, he strutted my way
with a cat that ate the canary grin on his face. I wanted to wipe it away—with
my lips.
No, I
didn’t mean that.
“It’s your turn,” George told him.
“Oh, but he only likes to line dance,” I said.
George laughed like it was a joke and strode
toward his Ethel, who had started clearing the buffet table.
“May I?” Jake asked, all debonair-like.
“I don’t know, may you?”
He shook his head. “Just give me your hands, will
you? I’d hate to ruin George and Ethel’s night by admitting this was all a
ruse.”
“Grrr…You are so frustrating,” I said offering my
hands.
He laced his fingers in mine and drew me close.
“Did you just growl?”
With a frown, I placed my hands on his shoulders.
“I did no such thing.”
His hands fit my waist like they were made for
me. “Yes, you did. And smile, they’re looking at us.”
Forcing myself to keep the corners of my mouth
tilted upwards was very difficult because I could barely breathe when he slid
his thigh between mine.
The crowd surged around us, and just like that, I
forgot this wasn’t real. We were aligned thigh-to-thigh, belly-to-belly. If I
turned my head, our mouths would be close enough to kiss.
Silly
thought.
We moved together, and when my hands slid from
his shoulder to cup the back of his neck, the edges of his soft brown hair
tickled my knuckles. The heat of his skin was almost too much, as was the feel
of his body so close to mine.
When his fingers splayed against my back and
lingered there, I could have sworn the music thumped in the pit of my stomach,
my wrists, and especially between my thighs
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He moved closer to me. “I believe it’s called
dancing.”
“Are you still acting? Because if you are, George
and Ethel are no longer watching us.” I whispered this in his ear.
“Does it matter?” he answered back, and when he
did his breath caressed my ear.
“Do you want it to?”
He pulled back to look into my eyes, his smile
less bemused and his gaze bright. “Do you always answer a question with a question?”
“Only when…I’m talking to you.” My hesitation
sounded coy, but I hadn’t meant it to. Scared of something, but no idea what
of, I said, “This place isn’t that bad. It just needs some more sparkle.”
“Sparkle?”
“Yes, like crystal chandeliers hanging from the
beams.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think crystal chandeliers
are George and Ethel’s style.”
“No,” I said. “We should probably go. You were
right to begin with, this place isn’t appropriate for your sister’s wedding.”
All of a sudden, the music ended, and before I
could say another word, I was being pushed into a very grabby crowd of women.
Oh, no! The bouquet toss.
I had to get out of here. I bent down and crawled
around, through, and practically under, a number of jumping cowboy boots.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
Rushing out of the side of the crowd, I stood up,
and I could hardly believe it when the bouquet landed at my feet.
Without thinking, I picked it up to throw it back
into the crowd, but it was too late.
“Oh Jules, you caught it.” It was Ethel, and she
was escorting me to the front of the room. When I saw George leading Jake there
as well, I wanted to end this charade.
It was too much to handle.
Having him so close was too much to handle.
He was too much to handle.
George and Ethel pushed us both together, and all
of the girls started chanting, “Seal the deal. Seal the deal.”
“What are they talking about?” Jake muttered.
“Kiss her, Doc,” George clarified for me, and
before either of us could step away from each other, George and Ethel were once
again pushing us together.
I landed against Jake’s hard chest. My mouth flew
open in surprise, and a small sigh escaped. My lips were so close to his.
Tantalizingly close. I wanted to close the distance so very much.
He was breathing heavy, and I could see the
muscle twitch at his temple, witness how tight his jaw was. Everything about
him screamed he was holding himself back.
We were both losing that battle though.
Whether out of obligation, pressure, or need, his
mouth came crashing down over mine, in the hardest, heated, and most demanding
way.
Oh, God, I wanted this.
Wanted him.
Especially when his tongue pushed inward, hot and
sensual. It glided over mine as he licked at the roof of my mouth and swirled
around my tongue in the most erotic dance.
His lips were so soft.
His mouth so hot.
His possession unlike any I’d ever experienced.
I could hear the catcalls, but ignored them all because
he wasn’t simply kissing me, he wasn’t just sealing the deal, he was devouring
me.
In that moment, any other man I’d ever kissed
faded away.
No one had ever kissed me this way.
Kim Karr is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall
Street Journal Bestselling author.
She grew up in Rochester, NY and now lives in
Florida with her husband and four kids. She’s always had a love for reading
books and writing. Being an English major in college, she wanted to teach at
the college level but that was not to be. She went on to receive an MBA and
became a project manager until quitting to raise her family. Kim currently
works part-time with her husband and recently decided to embrace one of her
biggest passions–writing.
Kim wears a lot of hats! Writer, book-lover,
wife, soccer-mom, taxi driver, and the all around go-to person of her family.
However, she always finds time to read. One of her favorite family outings was
taking her kids when they were little to the bookstore or the library. Today, Kim’s
oldest child is seventeen and no longer goes with her on these, now rare and
infrequent, outings. She finds that she doesn’t need to go on them anymore
because she has the greatest device ever invented–a Kindle.
Kim likes to believe in soul mates, kindred
spirits, true friends, and Happily-Ever-Afters. She loves to drink champagne,
listen to music, and hopes to always stay young at heart.
Website: http://www.authorkimkarr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKimKarr
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorkimkarr
Instagram: https://instagram.com/authorkimkarr/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2k8QjDi
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RzcHz3
No comments:
Post a Comment