A sexy new standalone from USA Today bestseller Sarina Bowen.
You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You’d be wrong.
For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don’t know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard.
When Rebecca gets hurt, I step in to help. It’s what friends do. But what friends don’t do is rip off each others’ clothes for a single, wild night together.
Now she’s avoiding me. She says we’re too different, and it can never happen again. So why can’t we keep our hands off each other?
You’d think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You’d be wrong.
For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don’t know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard.
When Rebecca gets hurt, I step in to help. It’s what friends do. But what friends don’t do is rip off each others’ clothes for a single, wild night together.
Now she’s avoiding me. She says we’re too different, and it can never happen again. So why can’t we keep our hands off each other?
I grab a towel off a waiting stack of
them and toss it onto the edge. “You can sit and put your feet in.”
She’s wearing a short little knit
dress that’s been making me crazy all evening, so it would be easy enough for
her to strip off those stockings, sit on the towel, and drop both feet in.
And that’s what she does. She eases
one stocking down over a smooth knee and tugs it off.
I don’t want to stand there staring
like a middle-school boy. Okay, I do want to. But I don’t want to make her
uncomfortable. So I go over to the sound system instead, and I set my phone on
the speaker and cue up a really old playlist. One she’ll recognize.
When I turn around again, she’s seated
on the towel, both legs hanging down into the churning water. “Ah. Wow.” She
looks up at me, her eyes sparkling. “Nice place you got here.”
“Isn’t it?” I toe off my shoes and kick
them to the side.
The first song comes on, and it’s a
Macklemore tune that we used to play far too often in our first office. Rebecca
laughs immediately. “You didn’t! I haven’t heard this playlist in forever. But
I’ll bet I still know every transition. Lady Gaga is next.”
“She sure is.”
Rebecca kicks her feet, making a
splash. “I have a little confession to make.”
“What’s that?” I loosen my tie and
slide the knot out.
“Well…” She grins up at me. “I used to
have a crush on you. Back in the early days.”
My hands freeze on the tie silk. “Get
out of town. You did not.”
“No, I really did.” Her cheeks are
pink. “That first year especially. But you were taken, and you were my boss.
Those two things made it pretty easy to tamp down, when you’re a practical girl
like me.”
I walk over and drop down beside her,
my back to the water, though, because I’m still wearing trousers and socks. “So
how does that work, exactly?”
“What?” She gives me a sidelong
glance, but then looks away again and won’t meet my eyes.
“How do you stop wanting someone? I’m
a practical person, but I don’t see how that makes it any easier. Nothing seems
to mute the raging attraction I have for you.”
Her chin turns quickly toward me, and
I seize the opportunity to kiss her. And it only takes one kiss—one slide of my
lips over hers, and I’m on fire again.
We’re facing opposite directions, so
it’s awkward as hell. But I don’t even care. I take greedy sip after greedy sip
of her mouth, until she pulls back to stare at me. Her color is high and her
eyes are bright and happy. “This is like Twister.”
“It’s better,” I correct. Lady Gaga
comes on, just as Becca said she would. “Are we getting into this pool or
what?”
Becca kicks a foot in the water. “I’m
tempted. But I don’t have a bathing suit.”
“Oh, snap.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “Are
you really getting in?”
“We don’t have to.” I’m never going to
pressure her.
Her fingers trail across the surface
of the bubbling water. “But this is an adventure, right?”
“Right.” I stand up and remove my
socks. She’s watching me. And I can’t read her expression. “What?”
“Just wondering what else you’re going
to take off.” She smiles.
“Come here.” The order rolls off my
tongue.
But Rebecca doesn’t blink. She gets up
and turns toward me, curiosity in her eyes.
“You tell me. What am I taking off?”
She puts two hands tentatively on my
chest, and I make myself be patient. Everything I ever wanted is on the other
side of this moment. I just need us to break through this awkwardness—the “will
we or won’t we” tension.
Her fingers find the top button of my
shirt. “I’m not getting in the water unless you are.”
That’s a compromise I can live with. I
find my lower shirt buttons and work upwards, until we meet in the middle. She
pushes the two halves of my shirt apart and runs a hand down my bare chest.
My inner caveman
stands up and cheers.
4.5 Stars
Brooklynaire is the fourth title in the Brooklyn Bruisers series, but if you haven't read the previous books don't stress as it can easily be read as a standalone. I'd highly recommend this title to anyone who enjoys a fun, sexy, humorous office romance, or sports romance told from a dual point of view.
Sarina Bowen has crafted a pair of well developed, interesting and endearing characters with Becca and Nate.
Nate is a billionaire, the owner of the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey team. Despite his nerdy, and slightly goofy persona, and ability to get stuck in his own head, is a hot blooded alpha male with a dirty mind. He's hardworking, successful, driven, passionate, kind, sweet, generous and caring. He's incredibly swoon worthy, then you add in his devotion to Becca, and he's perfect book boyfriend material.
Rebecca, mainly known as Becca is hard working, strong, sassy, loyal and dedicated to both her work and family. Despite her independent, and fierce natures, she's suffers from vulnerabilities that make her quite relate-able and all the more endearing.
Becca and Nate share an easy, relaxed friendship and the attraction and connection they share is undeniable, yet neither is willing to declare or acknowledge their true feelings. The sexual tension just oozes from this title.
“Everything worthwhile is complicated.”
In true Sarina Bowen fashion, the conflict, ups and owns and frustrations you feel with these characters is done in a way that makes it impossible to put this book down. The banter is fun, and flirtatious, at times fueled by angst, when added with a fabulous cast of side characters it makes this book a must read.
