Hazel finally blinked again. She swallowed. Deeply. “Are you sure?”
Kieran offered a smile that didn’t look so sweet and innocent. “Of course. You’re a friend. I’m glad to help out.”
Watching him closely, Hazel nibbled her lip, but ultimately realized she’d run out of options. Some of the color in her cheeks faded. “Thank you so much, Kieran. That’s really nice of you. I promise I won’t be there long, just until I find a new place.”
He winked at her. A devilish wink. “It’s fine, Hazel. Really. I like your company.”
Elise fought her smile as Hazel all but melted into a puddle on the floor before she found her legs and followed Kieran to the front door.
Another soft kiss on her neck had Elise turning around to face Archer. She slid her arms around his neck. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He kissed her, a long, slow kiss that left her wanting more. But he eventually broke away and smiled. “She’ll be okay with Kieran. He’s a good guy.”
“Oh, I know,” she said. “I just hope Hazel doesn’t die from lust.”
Archer chuckled. “Trust me, Kieran won’t let her die. He might get her close, but he’ll bring her back from the brink.”
She laughed, then glanced around the living room before meeting his gaze again. “Would you ever have believed when I took that case this is where we’d end up?”
“Not in a million years,” he said with a wink. “But I should have known better.”
She pressed herself into his warm strength. “Why is that?”
“Because, from the very first day I learned your name after you hacked into my security, you were unforgettable.”
“I was always a step ahead of you, and that’s what you couldn’t forget,” she said, smiling up at him.
“You were,” he said simply. “That’s exactly what made you stand out.” He lowered his arms to take her hand. “Ready to be a step ahead of me for the rest of my life?”
She laughed, free and easy, feeling her mom smiling down on her. “Definitely.”
Don’t miss the next book in Stacey Kennedy’s Phoenix series:
Can this fantasy last forever?
Reporter Hazel Rose has a new assignment: locate the masked man in a photograph taken at the Phoenix sex club and snag an interview with him. The only problem? She recognizes him as her new roommate, Kieran Black. The elusive mystery man she’s been lusting after for months. But her biggest problem is that there’s no way Hazel could ever talk to Kieran about a secret sex club. His smile alone makes her blush. And after being beaten down by an emotionally cruel ex-boyfriend, Hazel has never really regained her self-confidence.
Kieran loves his sex dirty and his relationships brief. A child of a terrible divorce, Kieran has never seen the point in commitment. But suddenly, all his best friends are getting married and he’s beginning to realize how empty his life is. As Kieran and Hazel are both forced to attend wedding celebrations, he starts to learn more about his quiet roommate. When she explains her past struggles with relationships, he offers her a trade. He’ll fulfill all of her wildest sexual fantasies if she’ll help him understand how to be the type of partner a woman wants in a relationship.
Hazel knows this sizzling fantasy with Kieran isn’t supposed to last, but she quickly finds herself falling for the sweet, caring Kieran who is much better at relationships than he believes. But when Hazel’s job invades her personal life, she’ll have to decide what’s more important. A career that hinges on revealing Kieran’s identity or a fake relationship that is starting to feel very real…
Stay in the know!
About the Author
Stacey Kennedy is a USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romances full of heat, heart, and happily ever afters. With over 50 titles published, her books have hit Amazon, B&N, and Apple Books bestseller lists.
Stacey lives with her husband and two children in southwestern Ontario—in a city that’s just as charming as any of the small towns she creates. Most days, you’ll find her enjoying the outdoors with her family or venturing into the forest with her horse, Priya. Stacey’s just as happy curled up indoors, where she writes surrounded by her lazy dogs. She believes that sexy books about hot cowboys or alpha heroes can fix any bad day. But wine and chocolate help too.
Acknowledgments
To my husband, my children, family, friends, and bestie, it’s easy to write about love when there is so much love around me. Big thanks to my readers for your understanding when this book had to be pushed back because of the loss of my father – I appreciate all your kindness more than you could ever know; my editor, Lexi, for making my stories shine and for your extra patience where it came to changing my schedule; my agent, Jessica, for always having my back; my cover artist, Regina, who never ceases to amaze me with her beautiful work; my PR company, Social Butterfly, I’d be lost without you; Shayla Black and Angel Payne, my sprinting buddies, who keep me focused and for their endless advice and support. Thank you.
Want more sexy reads? Check out the first book in Stacey Kennedy’s Kinky Spurs series:
Chapter 1
Come to Kinky Spurs, where cowboys wrangle women’s hearts . . . and rope their bodies!
Emma Monroe could picture the tagline on the poster now, even the photographs of the half-naked cowboys standing by the fence, and all the other little pieces coming together to pull off a killer campaign.
Or she could, if she’d been hired as Kinky Spurs’ Executive Creative Director.
Like a splash of cold water in the face, reality slammed into her as she shoved her hand into the beer cooler, grabbing the dark-brown bottle for the customer waiting at the bar. Her marketing days were long behind her now. With the frigid water dripping off her hand, the noise surrounding her in the bar returned to her. Voices created a hum through the crowd by the bar, while the country music band entertained the crowd on the dance floor with a Little Big Town cover song.
The bar was nestled in the heart of River Rock, Colorado, with the space being basically a large rectangle bookended by two stages. One for the country music band, the other for the mechanical bull and the mats surrounding it, with tables spread out between the two stages. From floor to ceiling, wood paneling set the western theme. Behind the bar was a bright-pink neon kinky spurs sign, large deer antlers overtop, with a shiny, reclaimed wooden slab for the bar and metal stools in front. Between the nut shells on the floor, the cowboy hats atop the heads, and the cowboy boots stomping on the dance floor in rhythm to the song, the bar couldn’t get more rustic. The greasy aroma coming from the kitchen simply added to Kinky Spurs’ charm.
Emma cracked open the beer in her hand, offering the bottle to the pretty blonde waiting at the bar. Blondie didn’t even notice Emma, smiling sensually at the cute guy next to her. “That’ll be four dollars,” Emma announced, placing her beer down in front of her.