With: Lori Foster
Title: Driven to Distraction
Author: Lori Foster
Series: Road to Love, #1
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Imprint: HQN Books
On-sale Date: November 20, 2018
Price: $7.99 USD
Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 9781335041111
Mary Daniels doesn’t let anything get in the way of her job acquiring rare artifacts for her wealthy boss. But this particular obstacle—huge, hard-muscled, unashamedly masculine—is impossible to ignore. Stuck in a cramped car with Brodie Crews for hours en route to their new assignment, Mary feels her carefully crafted persona—and her trademark self-control—is slipping, and she won’t allow it.
Brodie can’t imagine what secret in Mary’s past has left her so buttoned-up, though he’d dearly love to find out. Maybe then she’d trust him enough to explore their explosive chemistry. But he needs this job, so he’ll play by her rules and bide his time…until an enemy determined to outwit them strikes and he needs to get close—in every way—to protect her. Otherwise they could lose much more than a precious collectible. They could lose it all.
Excerpt:
Brodie spread his arms wide. “Do I pass muster? Got enough covered up to
spare your delicate sensibilities? I don’t need a hat, do I?” He ran his
fingers through his messy hair, then down over his throat. “A muffler? It’s
damn hot for a muffler but if throats shock you—”
“You’ll do,” she cut in, her tone calm and controlled. Too controlled,
damn it.
Sapphire eyes clashed with his, then she sniffed and looked away. “A
shave wouldn’t have killed you.”
“How do you know?” He scratched over his scruffy jaw, hearing the rasp
of a two-day shadow. “I shave every other week. That’s enough torture for any
man.”
Her widened gaze came back to his. “Every other?” “Week,” he filled in for
her since she seemed too appalled to manage the last word. Every muscle in his
body flexed with interest. Insane. She wasn’t wearing anything sexy—the
opposite, in fact. She didn’t make any overt gesture toward him. And her poor
hair—she’d drawn it up so tightly it made his temples sympathize.
“And in the meantime?”
He’d been so busy thinking about liberating her hair, it took him a
second to catch her meaning. “In between shaves, I have whiskers. Not a big
deal, you know. Men are hairy. People—” he silently mouthed, You “—should
learn to deal with it.”
Hostility tightened her jaw. “So you won’t have to bother grooming
yourself?”
“Hey, I’m groomed. Mostly anyway. I showered, brushed my teeth, sort of
combed my hair—”
“Sort of?”
He wiggled his fingers. “Works as well as a comb.” Before he forgot that
he was supposed to be polite and nice and all that other sugary shit, he swiped
a forearm over the narrow trunk space and the low spoiler at the back of his
Mustang to remove the dew. “Contract?”
“Oh.” As if coming out of a daze, she withdrew papers and looked toward
the office.
“Still locked up. Charlotte won’t get here till nine, Jack is gone for
the day, and we should have headed out five minutes ago.” A subtle jab while
withholding a last bathroom break. That’s what you get, Red, for your constant
criticisms.
She frowned. “I’m only a few minutes late, and only because I wasn’t
familiar with the road that came up here. Yesterday I climbed those grueling
rock stairs and I didn’t want to have to do that again.”
“I run those like Rocky, but yeah.” He dropped his gaze to her hips,
then to her ankles and those shiny little toes. “Guess I’m a little more
muscular than you.”
“A little,” she said, her tone prim.
What an understatement. At about five-two, she was at least a foot
shorter than him and no doubt a hundred pounds lighter, with most of her weight
being tits and ass. But whatever. She might’ve lacked brute strength, but she
made up for it with attitude and confidence.
At a loss as to how to reply to that, she just looked at him.
He gestured at her briefcase. “Contract?” he said again, but what he
really meant was: Check?
“Of course.” She approached the car and, with reluctance, laid her
briefcase against the trunk with the con- tract on top. She handed him a fancy
pen that probably cost more than a tankful of gas.
After quickly reading it over, he saw that it was a standard agreement
except for the amount paid and the stipulation that he had a very short time
frame to deliver. Interesting that Mary Daniels was listed as an agent to
contact for any issues and all communication related to the delivery service.
It meant he still didn’t know who he worked for, only that Red was
employed to see the job done.
He twirled the pen. “So who are we delivering to?”
“It’s not a secret, so don’t look so suspicious.”
“Time’s tickin’ away here, Red.”
“
Mary,” she corrected, going rigid as the rebar used to reinforce
concrete. “I’m employed by Therman Ritter.” Her stiff smile was more like a
baring of teeth. “If you sign the contract, you will be employed by him as
well.”
Brodie sighed. “Fine.” He scribbled his name at the appropriate place.
She handed him a check, careful not to touch him. “Half now, half once we deliver.” She folded
her hands together. “There’s one more thing.”
Before she could say something that might make him rethink the deal, he
tucked the check away in his wallet. Easiest money ever made—so far. With that
done, he looked down at her.
Even in the dim dawn, her hair shone like a
beacon, picking up each and every beam of available light. God, how he’d love to
see it down.
About the Author
Lori Foster is a New York
Times and USA TODAY bestselling author with books from a variety of publishers,
including Berkley/Jove, Kensington, St. Martin's, Harlequin and Silhouette.
Lori has been a recipient of the prestigious RT Book Reviews Career Achievement
Award for Series Romantic Fantasy, and for Contemporary Romance. For more about
Lori, visit her Web site at www.lorifoster.com.
Author
Links
Twitter: @LoriLFoster
https://twitter.com/lorilfoster
I love Lori Foster's books, can't wait to get my hands on this one!
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