Today I’d like to welcome back my friend, author Jennifer Skully. Jennifer and I know each from our local chapter of Romance Writers of America, an organization I am truly grateful for regarding my writing career. Today, Jennifer has a first kiss excerpt from her latest novel, Pretty in Pink Slip, that is available fro preorder and what a first kiss scene it is too! Jennifer is also offering a giveaway to a random comment of the first two ebooks in this series, Desire Actually, After Office Hours, Book 1, and Love Affair to Remember, After Office Hours, Book 2. Read on for her excerpt from her latest novel and don’t forget to leave her a comment to be in the running for the giveaway. Happy Reading!

First Kiss Excerpt:

She wanted to ask so many questions, exactly when he’d gotten divorced, did he date, why he’d never remarried—though that was probably obvious, the workaholic syndrome again.

But none of it was her business. She didn’t want to get all tangled up in his life—he was the CEO after all. Besides, she didn’t need a man in her life telling her what to do or disapproving of her decisions or expecting her to wait on him or correcting her.

So why had she invited him to help her finish the leftovers? Especially now that she couldn’t get rid of him until he was ready to go.

If only it didn’t feel so right and comfortable to have him filling up her living room. If only his body so close to hers didn’t feel divine.

If only she’d woken up Joy instead of letting Brett carry her daughter to bed.

She jumped up then, almost as if she’d do something she’d regret later if she didn’t get away from him.

“More wine,” she explained as she practically ran to the kitchen. Thank God her wineglasses were small; there was just enough left in the bottle to fill them both halfway. It was a cheap brand, and she felt slightly ashamed, but whatever, he knew it now. Her whole existence was about money and how much things cost. She blushed just remembering Joy’s comment about the stuffed animal being 50 percent off, like she was teaching her daughter to be cheap. But really it was about not being wasteful.

Why did having him in her house make her feel like she needed to justify herself? Why did it make her feel like she was less than?

The onslaught of negativity had her marching back into the living room, the wine bottle in her hand. He was still sitting there, larger than life, in her living room, big, bold, and beautiful, making her breath catch. Making her want. “You know, I just have to ask this. Because I don’t understand. What do you really want from me? To promise I’m not going to sue? That I’m not going to screw up the deal with The Nelson Group? That I’ll keep everyone’s secret about how badly Rhonda treats people?”

He rose, slowly, until she felt like he towered over her, and padded across the carpet like a stealthy predator sneaking up on her, stopping only inches away so that his scent invaded her thoughts, her mind.

“What I really want,” he said so softly it was little more than a sexy whisper she felt across her skin, “is to taste every inch of your body.”

The wine bottle slipped from her numb fingers, landing unbroken on the carpet and rolling a few inches.

There wasn’t a breath left in her lungs, and she was suddenly lightheaded, swaying, drifting into him.

He reached out, so very slowly, giving her time to stop him if she wanted to, if she could. But she didn’t have the will to move a muscle.

His big hand slid beneath her hair, wrapped around her nape, pulled her close until she had to tip her head back to see him. He took her lips with a gentleness that set her blood humming in her veins and her skin buzzing. He tasted of the sweetness of wine and sizzling male. She opened her mouth to him without thought, without fight. With need and desire. With carnal loneliness.

God, he was so good. So perfect. Taking and giving, sliding his tongue over hers, setting her on fire and melting her down. There was just his hand holding her, his mouth drawing her in, and his scent draping her like a sensual curtain. He didn’t touch her anywhere else, didn’t press his hard body against hers.

Yet it was like he owned every inch of her that he’d said he wanted to taste.

When he backed off, her lips and body followed him as if they had all the will and she had none. She opened her eyes, realizing only then that she’d closed them.

He regarded her with a steel-gray gaze. “Whatever you decide to do about Rhonda isn’t going to make any difference to how much I want to drag you down onto the carpet right this very minute.” A little flame seemed to blaze in his eyes. “But I’m not going to do that no matter how badly I want it. I won’t bother you again this weekend. You need time to think. Time to separate this—” He pulled her in for one more devastating taste of his mouth. “—and work.”

He bent down, swiping the wine bottle up off the carpet and reaching around her to set it on the kitchen table. “No matter what you decide, today was the best day I’ve had in a long, long time.” He grinned suddenly, like a little boy. “Except the day my granddaughter Valerie was born.”

Then he was gone. Leaving behind only the heady scent of big, hot male.

Pretty in Pink Slip (After Office Hours, Book 3)
By Jennifer Skully

She’s a single mother. He’s a brilliant CEO. And she’s got something he wants. Badly.

Ivy Elliot dreams of being a stay-at-home mom, but in a career-oriented world, she’s reluctant to admit it. Besides, she’s a single mother and quitting work to homeschool her daughter just isn’t an option. Asking for a raise, however, is an alternative. But when she works up the nerve, disaster strikes. Instead of a raise, Ivy gets the dreaded pink slip.

But Ivy is also handed the key to making her dream come true. If she sues the company for the terrible names her boss Rhonda called her when she asked for a raise… she might very well get millions.

She gave her heart and soul to the wrong man once. Can she ever trust enough to give it all again?

Brett Baker has worked his whole life to be able to take a company of his own into the Fortune 500, and he’s sitting on the cusp of his dream. Until Ivy could potentially ruin all his plans by suing the company for discrimination and harassment. He’s got to use every weapon in his arsenal to make sure she doesn’t do that.

Even if it means falling in love with her.

 

Pretty in Pink Slip is as an exclusive preorder on iBooks and will be released on July 14.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pretty-in-pink-slip/id1238924428?mt=11

After Hours Series in Order
Desire Actually
Love Affair to Remember
Pretty in Pink Slip

Bio

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Skully is a lover of contemporary romance, bringing you poignant tales peopled with hilarious characters that will make you laugh and make you cry. Look for Jennifer’s series written with Bella Andre, starting with Breathless in Love, The Maverick Billionaires Book 1. Writing as Jasmine Haynes, Jennifer authors classy, sensual romance tales about real issues such as growing older, facing divorce, starting over. Her books have passion and heart and humor and happy endings, even if they aren’t always traditional. She also writes gritty, paranormal mysteries in the Max Starr series. Having penned stories since the moment she learned to write, Jennifer now lives in the Redwoods of Northern California with her husband and their adorable nuisance of a cat who totally runs the household. Join her newsletter for updates on contests, new releases, and freebies by going to jenniferskully.com.

Contact

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Blog: www.jasminehaynes.blogspot.com
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Skully/e/B001JRYPCM
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/332472.Jennifer_Skully
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-skully