She’d thought he’d kissed her before. She’d thought she’d felt the full force of his lust, the full impact it had on her want for him.
She’d been wrong.
This was a hundred times more. More hot. More tingling. More exciting.
More toe-curlingly fantastic. Because yes, her toes were curling beneath the thin straps of her sandals. Had that ever happened before? Delaney didn’t know. Delaney couldn’t really think. She could only feel.
Over the past few days, although he had dived into his work with relish, his thoughts had often drifted, despite himself, to the lovely Miss Atherton.
He knew he couldn’t have her. And shouldn’t want her.
But a man could look, could he not? And in her yellow summer frock, she looked as fresh and pretty as the daisies adorning the hat perched atop her reddish-brown curls.
He found himself wondering what she would look like without that summer frock. Stripped down to her corset and knickers. Her luscious hair down and long and cascading around her shoulders.
I CAN FINALLY READ THE GOVERNESS GAME AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH OH MY GOD IT’S SO CUTE!
The struggle has become “I need this book to last, so I’m making up shit to do between chapters because otherwise it will all be over by midnight.”
a strategy I can get behind…
In USA Today bestseller Christi Barth’s last Bad Boys Gone Good novel, the brother who’s always followed the rules finally gets to be a little bad.
Get a sneak peek of Kieran’s story below!
Kieran Mullaney pushed through the double glass doors of the Northwestern University Law School and sucked in a deep breath. Other people might think he was nuts, what with the exhaust fumes, pollution, general downtown stink of Chicago in the air. But Kieran only smelled freedom.
No more notes on his iPad. No more trying to hide his side-eye when that douche canoe Pietro cut off every woman in the class when they tried to answer.
Law school didn’t suck. It was sometimes interesting. It just wasn’t fun. Or rewarding. Or, you know, not even his choice. Not that he’d get pissy about that now. Nope, Kieran planned to celebrate his freedom, for the next few hours at least, by finding someone sexy and sassy and talking her into a drink. No talk about tort law. No case law. No law, period.
Flirting. That’s what was on the docket. Kieran didn’t need his four years of undergrad or three years of law school when it came to his mastery of romancing the fairer sex. He’d been charming women out of their tops, bottoms, and everything underneath since … well, since long before his brothers actually thought he’d lost his virginity.
He looked down Superior Street for a hot prospect. Pretty much any woman that he didn’t recognize from law school would do. Kieran almost jolted when his gaze connected with two blue eyes staring right at him. Very blue, long-lashed, and with a single, I’m interested raised eyebrow.
“Oh, hey there,” the woman said and then she added an upward, flirty-as-hell tilt to her mouth that sealed the deal. She had noticed him.
This was a million times better than trying to stay awake in Criminal Procedures class. Plus, she was unexpected. Kieran fucking loved surprises.
“Hi yourself, beautiful. Are you hanging around the law school because you need a lawyer? Or because smart men with enormous earning potential turn you on? Either way, I’m your man.”
Her smile flipped downward into a disapproving smirk. “Wow. Has that line ever worked? I mean, ever? There’s four huge problems with the four sentences you just smarmed at me.”
Kieran was equal parts pissed that she’d called him out on his lazy come-on … and intrigued that she’d called him out on his lazy come-on. “Smarmed isn’t a word.”
“Didn’t you hear? You can make anything a verb these days. The grammar police officially gave up when squeed got added to the OED.”
Surprise Girl was definitely around his age. Definitely his type, what with the sass and the smarts.
Definitely hot, with those wide, pink-glossed lips that begged to be kissed and thick blond hair that fell just below her shoulders. Kieran really wanted to slide his fingers through it, tug just hard enough so that her head tilted back and he could skim his lips along her throat. And he’d glimpsed one hell of a body wrapped up in a cream sweater and jeans before locking his eyes respectfully above her chin. Oh, and those knee-high brown leather boots that were the best god-damned thing about autumn in the Midwest.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “So what are your official complaints with what I said?”
A super slo-mo blink indicated that she’d expected an apology, and been surprised by his challenge. Then she shoved up the sleeves of her sweater with a determined squint. Game on.
“You can’t assume I’m ‘hanging around’ the law school. I just saw you come out the door, which means you have zero knowledge of where I’m coming from or going. And I just came from a walk on the lakeside trail, so in fact, you’re wrong.”
Feisty was more fun than overtly flirty in Kieran’s book. He shrugged, just to egg her on. “Okay, that’s one.”
She tossed her head. The motion sent her hair rippling in the late-afternoon sunlight. Exactly the way it’d ripple if Kieran flipped her on top of him in a bed. It was also the classic hair toss he’d seen a thousand times from women trying to get his attention. “If I did need a lawyer, I’d go find an actual lawyer. Not some student who may or may not pass the bar exam on the fifth try.”
He held up two fingers, spread in a wide V. “Two.” Kieran barely bit back a snort. No way would he be one of those idiots who didn’t prep enough to pass on the first try.
“As for that presumed earning potential?” She patted the bulge of her fat, pumpkin-colored purse. Geez, that thing was big enough to hold a gun. Most women he knew stuck a credit card in their iPhone case and called it a day. What could she be lugging around in there?
Kieran widened his stance and tucked his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. Arguing with the pretty stranger was a hell of a lot more fun than arguing in mock trials. “It’s a well-known fact that even the dumbest lawyer can pull in the big bucks. Why do you think so many people suffer through three years of law school hell?”
A smile slipped past her guard faster than a meteor streaking across the sky. Surprise Girl was enjoying this argument as much as he was. Looking up at him from beneath half-lidded eyes—another top-level flirt move—she asked, “What if you become a public defender?”
“If I planned to be poor and principled, I’d be a teacher already.”
A motorcycle missing its muffler roared by, and the sharp blast it made whipped her head around as fast as if she’d thought it was a sniper. Guess in today’s world you couldn’t be too careful. Just as fast, she zipped her attention back to Kieran. “Or you took out loans for all seven years of college and won’t actually turn a profit on your super fun eighty-hour work weeks until you’re pushing forty?”
“Three.” He conceded her point with a nod. And wiped a hand across his mouth to hide his grin.
Finally, the woman crossed her arms just beneath her breasts, lifting them to his attention. Not like he needed the help, but Kieran appreciated all her subtle physical indications of attraction while she tried to win the argument. “Either way, why assume that you’re the man who can meet my needs? You don’t know anything about me.”
“Four.” Kieran moved closer. So close that he smelled her perfume. Something fresh, like rain in a forest. Close enough that, yeah, he could see straight down the V of her cleavage to a thank you, God amount of creamy skin surging against the lace edge of her bra. “And now I’ve got an answer for you.”
She tilted her head up, her chin jutted forward in an ongoing challenge. Which, yeah, exposed even more cleavage. And that couldn’t be an accident. Especially not when she practically purred her next words. “Go on.”
“Yes, apparently all of that does work—because you’re still standing here arguing with me.” Kieran let his arms swing forward just enough so the backs of his hands brushed the backs of hers. A jolt—tiny, but visibly noticeable—ran through both of them at the touch. So he did it again. “Arguing invariably leads to kissing.”
Those pretty pink lips parted. Then they closed again, and she licked them. God, the woman was killing him with this non-flirting flirting. “Is that so?” It came out all husky, the way he imagined her voice sounded at midnight. In the dark. In bed.
Kieran spread his fingers to interlace, backward, with hers. Just the tips. Just to tease both of them a little. “Well, you have two choices. We could skip right to the kissing. Or we could go for a drink first. Do something old-school like—and I’m just spitballing here—learn each other’s names.”
Got it Bad is on sale September 18th, 2018, but you can preorder your copy here.
Thirsty for more? Pre-order your copy of Syrie James’ Summer of Scandal here!
Madeleine Atherton is no typical American heiress, sent to England to marry an English lord. A brilliant college graduate who secretly dreams of becoming a published author, she wants to marry for love.
Charles Grayson, the Earl of Saunders, has secrets and ambitions of his own. Although under pressure from his mother and gravely ill father to marry his cousin, Charles cannot find the words to propose. But this fascinating American visitor does not figure into his plans, either.
Thrown together unexpectedly at Trevelyan Manor, Madeleine and Charles struggle to rise above their intense attraction. But as things heat up between them over a summer that becomes increasingly scandalous, Madeleine and Charles will both be forced to make a difficult choice. Can two dreamers dare to defy convention and find their own happily ever after?
Check out a sneak peak of Summer of Scandal by Syrie James below!
The finishing governess her mother had hired to prepare her and her sisters for their London debuts had impressed upon them the importance of reticence in English society. “Never say anything,” Madame Dubois had insisted, “unless it is unfailingly prudent and polite.”
The thoughts coursing through her brain at the moment were neither prudent nor polite.
So, she merely said, “You have a reputation, Lord Saunders.”
“Do I? What kind of reputation?”
“I think you know exactly what I mean, my lord.”
His lips twitched slightly. “What have you heard? Rumors about myself and … the ladies?”It annoyed her that he seemed to find this amusing. “Yes.”
Lord Saunders leaned forward, hands clasped together, elbows resting on his knees as he studied her. “I am unmarried, Miss Atherton. Don’t you think a single man ought to sow his wild oats while he can, before he settles down for life?”
“I have no problem with that. Unless the woman with whom he’s sowing those wild oats is promised to another.”
He flinched. Madeleine felt a heat rise to her face. She hadn’t meant to be so blunt.“I presume,” he said quietly, “you are referring to my relationship with Miss Elise Townsend?”
It had not been her intention to force the issue into the open or to goad him. And yet she had. Swallowing her misgivings, she answered, “I am.”
He let go a deep sigh. “I suppose your sister told you all about that?”
“Yes, but it’s common knowledge.”
“Is it?”
“How could you do it?” she blurted. “How could you betray your best friend like that?” She knew full well what it was like to be on the receiving end of such a blatant betrayal, knew how much it hurt.
He didn’t immediately respond. “What can I say, Miss Atherton? It happened a long time ago.” Bitterness took over his face. “And it was a mistake. The biggest mistake I have ever made.”
Once again, Madeleine was sorry for bringing up a subject that appeared to cause him distress. Her feelings on the matter remained unchanged, but at least he had the decency to feel bad about the affair. That counted for something.
He turned to gaze moodily out the window at the rainy landscape as the carriage rattled along. Silence stretched between them. Well, they had a long ride ahead of them. She might as well read.
Madeleine slowly withdrew the novel she’d brought from her tapestry bag, being extra careful not to allow a glimpse of the other, more precious cargo the carryall contained. Glancing up, she noticed Lord Saunders watching her. A flush rose to her cheeks as she shut the clasp, then opened her book, and lost herself within its pages.
Thirsty for more? No worries, Summer of Scandal is on sale September 11th, 2018 and you can preorder your copy here!
Which book do you think he’s reading?
Yep👌🏼
