First Touch
by
Laurelin Paige
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Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 29, 2015
~Synopsis ~
When Emily Wayborn
goes home to visit her mom while on hiatus from her hit TV show, she receives a
voicemail from her former best friend, Amber. Though the two were once
notorious party girls, they haven't spoken in years. Although the message might
sound benign to anyone else, Amber uses a safe word that Emily recognizes, a
word they always used to get out of sticky situations during their wild days.
And what's more chilling than the voicemail: it turns out that Amber has gone
missing.
Determined to track down her friend, Emily follows a chain of clues that lead
her to the enigmatic billionaire Reeve Sallis, a hotelier known for his shady
dealings and play boy reputation. Now, in order to find Amber, Emily must
seduce Reeve to learn his secrets and discover the whereabouts of her friend.
But as she finds herself more entangled with him, she finds she's drawn to
Reeve for more than just his connection to Amber, despite her growing fear that
he may be the enemy. When she's forced to choose where her loyalty lies, how
will she decide between saving Amber and saving her heart?
|
~ Add to Goodreads ~
~ Excerpt ~
~ Links to Buy ~
“Tell me something,” he said, overtly switching gears.
“What’s with you and Chris Blakely?”
He’d been watching me at the Expo, then. Before he’d come
outside after me.
His question about Chris was spoken casually, but it was
purposeful. A more naïve woman might have missed it, but I was too experienced
with men like him. He wanted me to know that I was in his sightline. That this
was what it meant to be part of his life. That he would monitor me, if he felt
like it; he’d rule me. And he expected me to submit.
I couldn’t decide
if that freaked me out or thrilled me.
So I played coy. “He’s an actor. We’ve worked together on
occasion. I guess we’re friends.”
I walked into the kitchen and got a glass from the
cupboard. Chewing my lip, I filled it with filtered water from the sink and
debated full disclosure regarding Chris…It was a long shot, but since I hoped
to contact Chris for more information about Missy at some point, I decided the
less I said the better.
I drank some of my water then set the glass down and
leaned across the counter to watch Reeve. His fingers trailed across the
spines. I couldn’t see the exact books, so I tried to think what was there. My
Katherine Hepburn autobiography. My copy of Rebecca.
He stopped and pulled one from the shelf then flipped
through it lazily. This one I recognized from the cover. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, one of
my coffee table books. I collected them and had so many that most lived on my
bookshelf rather than on my coffee table.
This particular book was a printing of blog posts that shared secrets
anonymously. Parts of it read like my diary, and I’d marked several pages with
Post-it notes so I could easily come back to them. Reading it had always felt
comforting.
Seeing it in Reeve’s hands, though, wasn’t comforting. He
flipped through the pages, stopping on the ones I’d tagged. Chuckling at some.
Growing somber at others. At one, he lifted his head toward me and nodded
slightly as if confirming what he’d just thought, what he’d just read.
I ran through several confessions I knew by heart, trying
to imagine which it had been—
“Again and again.
Used.”
“I’m more scared of court
than I was when he almost killed me.”
“I would do absolutely
anything in the whole world if I thought it would make her happy.”
Whichever ones he was reading, any of them—all of
them—were private. Too private for him to know spoke to me. Yet, I didn’t stop
him. I let him sink one layer deeper under my skin.
It was bad enough that he was in my apartment—in an
apartment that I paid for myself. His presence reminded me of a time when
everything I owned had been given to me by men. The things I had now, though
small in number and worth, were all mine.
Trying to distract myself from the anxiety Reeve’s
invasion caused, I asked, “Why do you want to know about Chris anyway? Do you
want me to fix you up? He’s got a fiancé, you know.”
Reeve shot me a glare. “Cute.”
He put the book back on my shelf and moved toward me. When
he reached the counter, he said, “Chris doesn’t look at you like he has a
fiancé.”
Ah. I’d forgotten Reeve was a jealous man. Or I’d
underestimated the depth of his envy. Strangely, it was a fairly common trait
of the kind of men I’d involved myself with in the past, the kind of men who
had everything. I knew how to pander to them, knew what to say to put their
insecurities to rest. No one could ever
be man enough to compare with you, I’d say. It might have been what Reeve
was looking for in regards to Chris.
But I couldn’t
bring myself to give it to him. “A lot of men don’t look at me like they have a
fiancé.”
Reeve leaned across the opposite side of the counter so we
were face-to-face. “I don’t like that.”
Jealousy was generally boring, yet, on Reeve, it was
fascinating. And, I suspected, dangerous. “You don’t? What are you going to do
about it? Lock me up and never let me out in public?”
“I have some nice secluded resorts I think you’d like. My
island properties are so beautiful you’ll forget you’re in a prison.”
He flashed his dimple. It was subtle, only noticeable when
he smiled in a certain way, the way he was smiling now. And his eyes…I’d
thought they were blue, but now I saw green flecks. They caught in the light.
They caught me in them, made me feel warm. Made me feel trapped.
I stood up straight, distancing myself without moving
away. “Look at you. Acting as if you have some claim to me. I think I already
blew you off the other night.”
“Look at you, acting as if I’m a person that you blow off.
I think I already warned you about me.” He was teasing as I’d been. But he
wasn’t all at the same time.
My heart skipped a
beat. “Another threat?”
“If you want it to be.” He looked at me like he had
earlier—that intent way that saw through me, into me. Saw all my dark parts.
In a way, he was showing me his darkness as well.
My lip quivered, but I wasn’t scared. Well, not scared
enough. “I do.”
His eyes sparked, and with that simple phrase, we entered
into an agreement. He would have me. He would fuck me. He would bring me into
his world.
And in return I’d let him break me.
He’d been watching me at the Expo, then. Before he’d come
outside after me.
His question about Chris was spoken casually, but it was
purposeful. A more naïve woman might have missed it, but I was too experienced
with men like him. He wanted me to know that I was in his sightline. That this
was what it meant to be part of his life. That he would monitor me, if he felt
like it; he’d rule me. And he expected me to submit.
I couldn’t decide
if that freaked me out or thrilled me.
So I played coy. “He’s an actor. We’ve worked together on
occasion. I guess we’re friends.”
I walked into the kitchen and got a glass from the
cupboard. Chewing my lip, I filled it with filtered water from the sink and
debated full disclosure regarding Chris…It was a long shot, but since I hoped
to contact Chris for more information about Missy at some point, I decided the
less I said the better.
I drank some of my water then set the glass down and
leaned across the counter to watch Reeve. His fingers trailed across the
spines. I couldn’t see the exact books, so I tried to think what was there. My
Katherine Hepburn autobiography. My copy of Rebecca.
He stopped and pulled one from the shelf then flipped
through it lazily. This one I recognized from the cover. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, one of
my coffee table books. I collected them and had so many that most lived on my
bookshelf rather than on my coffee table.
This particular book was a printing of blog posts that shared secrets
anonymously. Parts of it read like my diary, and I’d marked several pages with
Post-it notes so I could easily come back to them. Reading it had always felt
comforting.
Seeing it in Reeve’s hands, though, wasn’t comforting. He
flipped through the pages, stopping on the ones I’d tagged. Chuckling at some.
Growing somber at others. At one, he lifted his head toward me and nodded
slightly as if confirming what he’d just thought, what he’d just read.
I ran through several confessions I knew by heart, trying
to imagine which it had been—
“Again and again.
Used.”
“I’m more scared of court
than I was when he almost killed me.”
“I would do absolutely
anything in the whole world if I thought it would make her happy.”
Whichever ones he was reading, any of them—all of
them—were private. Too private for him to know spoke to me. Yet, I didn’t stop
him. I let him sink one layer deeper under my skin.
It was bad enough that he was in my apartment—in an
apartment that I paid for myself. His presence reminded me of a time when
everything I owned had been given to me by men. The things I had now, though
small in number and worth, were all mine.
Trying to distract myself from the anxiety Reeve’s
invasion caused, I asked, “Why do you want to know about Chris anyway? Do you
want me to fix you up? He’s got a fiancé, you know.”
Reeve shot me a glare. “Cute.”
He put the book back on my shelf and moved toward me. When
he reached the counter, he said, “Chris doesn’t look at you like he has a
fiancé.”
Ah. I’d forgotten Reeve was a jealous man. Or I’d
underestimated the depth of his envy. Strangely, it was a fairly common trait
of the kind of men I’d involved myself with in the past, the kind of men who
had everything. I knew how to pander to them, knew what to say to put their
insecurities to rest. No one could ever
be man enough to compare with you, I’d say. It might have been what Reeve
was looking for in regards to Chris.
But I couldn’t
bring myself to give it to him. “A lot of men don’t look at me like they have a
fiancé.”
Reeve leaned across the opposite side of the counter so we
were face-to-face. “I don’t like that.”
Jealousy was generally boring, yet, on Reeve, it was
fascinating. And, I suspected, dangerous. “You don’t? What are you going to do
about it? Lock me up and never let me out in public?”
“I have some nice secluded resorts I think you’d like. My
island properties are so beautiful you’ll forget you’re in a prison.”
He flashed his dimple. It was subtle, only noticeable when
he smiled in a certain way, the way he was smiling now. And his eyes…I’d
thought they were blue, but now I saw green flecks. They caught in the light.
They caught me in them, made me feel warm. Made me feel trapped.
I stood up straight, distancing myself without moving
away. “Look at you. Acting as if you have some claim to me. I think I already
blew you off the other night.”
“Look at you, acting as if I’m a person that you blow off.
I think I already warned you about me.” He was teasing as I’d been. But he
wasn’t all at the same time.
My heart skipped a
beat. “Another threat?”
“If you want it to be.” He looked at me like he had
earlier—that intent way that saw through me, into me. Saw all my dark parts.
In a way, he was showing me his darkness as well.
My lip quivered, but I wasn’t scared. Well, not scared
enough. “I do.”
His eyes sparked, and with that simple phrase, we entered
into an agreement. He would have me. He would fuck me. He would bring me into
his world.
And in return I’d let him break me.
~ Review ~
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to have a new series to read from Laurelin. I mean she gave us Hudson Pierce so I had a feeling that Reeve Sallis was going to be all sorts of enticing.
He was that and a whole lot more. Secretive, controlling, super sexy and dangerous. Well yes you have my attention. He is a man shrouded in mystery. You never quite knew which side of Reeve you would be seeing from one chapter to the next. I started to think that Reeve knew more about Emily and Amber than he let on, which could prove to be very interesting.
Emily.....so much to say about her. Her inner dialogue with Amber at times confused me. I mean it took me a bit to realize who Amber actually was. Their sisterhood was a bit outside the realm of normal friendships and at at times seemed very destructive. Money always dictating their actions. Emily's dedication to finding Amber or finding out what happened to her struck me as odd as the story unfolded.
I felt conflicted by Emily and her behavior. She seemed to need to constantly remind herself of her reasons for being with Reeve, although I think they changed as the story progressed. Please note that this book does contain some subject matter that may be triggers for some people.
Just when you think that Emily and Reeve are on even ground and that their could be a chance of happiness for them on the horizon for Laurelin drops a bombshell that will have you shaking your head. What I was left with was questions..... Lots of questions but isn't that why we have a seconds book. Get ready for Last Kiss coming June 2016.
~ Rating ~
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was to have a new series to read from Laurelin. I mean she gave us Hudson Pierce so I had a feeling that Reeve Sallis was going to be all sorts of enticing.
He was that and a whole lot more. Secretive, controlling, super sexy and dangerous. Well yes you have my attention. He is a man shrouded in mystery. You never quite knew which side of Reeve you would be seeing from one chapter to the next. I started to think that Reeve knew more about Emily and Amber than he let on, which could prove to be very interesting.
Emily.....so much to say about her. Her inner dialogue with Amber at times confused me. I mean it took me a bit to realize who Amber actually was. Their sisterhood was a bit outside the realm of normal friendships and at at times seemed very destructive. Money always dictating their actions. Emily's dedication to finding Amber or finding out what happened to her struck me as odd as the story unfolded.
I felt conflicted by Emily and her behavior. She seemed to need to constantly remind herself of her reasons for being with Reeve, although I think they changed as the story progressed. Please note that this book does contain some subject matter that may be triggers for some people.
Just when you think that Emily and Reeve are on even ground and that their could be a chance of happiness for them on the horizon for Laurelin drops a bombshell that will have you shaking your head. What I was left with was questions..... Lots of questions but isn't that why we have a seconds book. Get ready for Last Kiss coming June 2016.
~ Rating ~
Coming June 2016 ..........
Last Kiss
{A
First and Last Novel #2}
Pre-order NOW!
~ About the Author ~
Laurelin Paige is
the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a
sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the
embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain,
however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably
singing, watching Mad Men and the Walking Dead, or dreaming of Adam Levine.
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