Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Negotiation Tactics by Lori Ryan @loriryanauthor

Chapter Two

Chad suppressed a grin as he watched Jennie. At the moment, Jennie and Chad were in the pool at Kelly and Jack’s house, where everyone had gathered for one last party before the baby arrived. Chad stood on one side of a volleyball net and Jennie stood on the other. Somewhere along the way, he’d forgotten what Jennie was arguing about, but he didn’t care. Chad loved to see her fiery eyes sparkle as she fisted small hands on her hips and lit into him. She barely reached his chest, but she should get points for trying. Jennie tossed her head, flinging her strawberry-blond curls out behind her and kept right on going.

Chad loved this side of Jennie. She was bold and brash and confident. She was feisty and fun loving and nothing seemed to frighten her. Not many women Jennie’s size – a mere 5’4” and 115 pounds – would try the irreverent things she did with Chad. At 6’4” and about 265 pounds of pure muscle, there weren’t many people who treated Chad the way Jennie did. Jennie taunted and teased Chad at every turn, as if she were two or three feet taller than him.

Chad knew why she did it. They both felt the wild attraction that sizzled between them and they both worked hard to control it. With so many mutual friends, coupled with the fact that they worked together all day during the week, they couldn’t avoid seeing one another. So Jennie seemed to deal with things by throwing her saucy, cheeky attitude at him all the time. It was almost as if she tried to keep their interactions superficial, never going deeper than the surface. If she was busy yelling at him or taunting him, there wasn’t any room for anything else.

Chad dealt with the attraction by staying in complete and utter control at all times around Jennie. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on the curve of her tiny waist or the swell of her breasts in the bikini she wore as she fought with him now. He focused on her eyes, ignoring her body. Then, he’d spend about five minutes telling himself that her eyes were nothing special. He’d tell himself her eyes weren’t warm and rich like melted caramel. That her eyes didn’t have a mysterious quality to them as if she held a world of secrets waiting for him to explore.

Shit. So much for control. 

Chad wondered if Jennie would keep up her tirade if she knew just how sexy she was when she was angry. Or if she’d keep up the nicknames if she knew just how much he liked to see what she’d call him next. Would it be ‘Tank’ today or ‘Little Bit?’

Jennie cupped her hand and splashed water across the net at Chad, pulling him from his thoughts.
Yeah, so much for maintaining control.

“Are you even listening to me, Chad?”

Chad’s grin broke through as he shook his head, willing it to clear. “Sorry, Jen. I tuned out five minutes ago.”

Chad knew that would really get her going and he’d get to watch her fume for a while longer. He loved the way her eyes sparked when she was angry and the way she pursed her lips and balled her fists at him. He could watch Jennie storm at him forever and not get tired of it.

***
NegotiationTactics
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre –  Romantic Suspense
Rating – R
More details about the author & the book
Connect with Lori Ryan on Facebook & Twitter

Bio:

Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance with a twist of suspense. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, two wonderful children, two mostly-behaved dogs, and a lone little cat in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.

Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has written three more books since then. Each of Lori’s books have made their way to the Amazon bestseller list and she quickly climbed the Amazon bestselling author list, as well. In November, 2013, Lori and a group of romantic suspense authors landed on the USA Today and NY Times bestseller lists with an anthology only eight months after the release of Lori’s first book. Lori loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog. Oh, and if you’ve read Lori’s books and loved them, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com. Writers live and die by their reviews and Lori promises to do a happy dance around her office every time you write one! a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comments:

Unknown said...

This book sounds amazing!!! Thank you for the excerpt and the giveaway!

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