Trailer Reveal


Before she goes after the life she’s always wanted, she’s about to find the one she needs.
Pepper has been hopelessly in love with her best friend’s brother, Hunter, for like ever. He’s the key to everything she’s always craved: security, stability, family. But she needs Hunter to notice her as more than just a friend. Even though she’s kissed exactly one guy, she has just the plan to go from novice to rock star in the bedroom—take a few pointers from someone who knows what he’s doing.
Her college roommates have the perfect teacher in mind. But bartender Reece is nothing like the player Pepper expects. Yes, he’s beyond gorgeous, but he’s also dangerous, deep—with a troubled past. Soon what started as lessons in attraction are turning both their worlds around, and showing just what can happen when you go past foreplay and get to what’s real.
About the Author

Sophie Jordan grew
up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and
princesses. A former high school English teacher, she's also the New York
Times and USA Today bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now
lives in Houston with her family. When she's not writing, she spends her time
overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking
plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her
DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances
under the name Sharie Kohler.
Trailer

Excerpt

Smoke
billowed up from beneath the hood of my car in great plumes, a gray fog on the
dark night. Slapping the steering wheel, I muttered a profanity and pulled to
the side of the road. A quick glance confirmed that the temperature gauge was
well into the red.
“Shit,
shit, shit.” I killed the engine with quick, angry movements, hoping that might
miraculously stop the vehicle from overheating further.
Grabbing
my phone from the cup holder, I hopped out of the car into the crisp autumn
night and stood well away from the vehicle. I knew nothing of engines, but I’d
seen plenty of movies where the car blew up right after it started smoking. I
wasn’t taking any chances.
I
checked the time on my phone. Eleven thirty-five. Not too late. I could call
the Campbells. They would come and get me and give me a ride back to the dorm.
But that still left my car alone out here on this road. I’d only have to deal
with that later, and I already had a ton to do tomorrow. I might as well handle
it now.
I
glanced at the quiet night around me. Crickets sang softly and wind rustled
through the branches. It wasn’t exactly hopping with traffic. The Campbells
lived on a few acres outside of town. I liked babysitting for them. It was a
nice break from the bustle of the city. The old farmhouse felt like a real
home, lived-in and cozy, very traditional with its old wood floors and stone
fireplace that was always crackling at this time of year. It was like something
out of a Norman Rockwell painting. The kind of life I craved someday.
Only
now I didn’t quite appreciate how isolated I felt on this country road. I
rubbed my arms through my long thin sleeves, wishing I had grabbed my
sweatshirt before I left tonight. Barely October and it was already getting
cold.
I
stared grimly at my smoking car. I was going to need a tow truck. Sighing, I
started scrolling through my phone, searching for tow trucks in the area. The
lights of an oncoming car flashed in the distance and I froze, debating what to
do. The sudden insane idea to hide seized me. An old instinct, but familiar.
This
had horror movie written all over it. A girl all by herself. A lonely country
road. I’d been the star of my own horror movie once upon a time. I wasn’t up
for a repeat.
I
moved off the road, situating myself behind my car. Not hiding exactly, but at
least I wasn’t standing out in the open, an obvious target. I tried to focus on
the screen of my phone and look casual standing there. Like if I ignored the
approaching car its inhabitant would somehow not notice me or the smoking pile
of metal. Without lifting my head, every part of me was tuned in to the slowing
tires and the purring engine as the vehicle stopped.
Of
course, they stopped. Sighing, I lifted my face, staring at a would-be serial
killer. Or my rescuer. I knew that the latter was much more likely, but the
whole scenario made me queasy and I could only think of worst-case
possibilities.
It
was a Jeep. The kind without a roof. Just a roll bar. The headlights gleamed
off the stretch of black asphalt.
“You
okay?” The deep voice belonged to a guy. Much of his face was in shadow. The
light from the instrument panel cast a glow onto his face. Enough that I could
determine he was youngish. Not much older than myself. Maybe mid-twenties at
the most.
Most
serial killers are young white males. The random factoid skittered across my
thoughts, only adding to my anxiety.
“I’m
fine,” I quickly said, my voice overly loud in the crisp night. I brandished my
phone as if that explained everything. “I have someone coming.” I held my
breath, waiting, hoping he would believe the lie and move on.
He
idled there in the shadows, his hand on the gear stick. He looked up ahead at
the road and then glanced behind him. Assessing just how alone we were? How
ripe his opportunity was to murder me?
I
wished I had a can of mace. A black belt in kung fu. Something. Anything. The
fingers of my left hand tightened around my keys. I thumbed the jagged tip. I
could gouge him in the face if necessary. The eyes. Yeah. I’d aim for the eyes.
He
leaned across the passenger seat, away from the glow of instrument panel,
plunging himself into even deeper shadow. “I could look under the hood,” his
deep, disembodied voice offered.
I
shook my head. “Really. It’s okay.”
Those
eyes I had just contemplated gouging with my keys glittered across the distance
at me. Their color was impossible to tell in the thick gloom, but they had to
be pale. A blue or green. “I know you’re nervous—”
“I’m
not. I’m not nervous,” I babbled quickly. Too quickly.
He
leaned back in his seat, the amber glow again lighting his features. “I don’t
feel right leaving you out here alone.” His voice shivered across my skin. “I
know you’re afraid.”
I
glanced around. The inky night pressed in thickly. “I’m not,” I denied, but my
voice rang thin, lacking all conviction.
“I
get it. I’m a stranger. I know it would make you more comfortable if I left,
but I wouldn’t want my mother out here alone at night.”
I
held his gaze for a long moment, taking his measure, attempting to see something
of his character in the shadowy lines of his face. I glanced to my still
smoking car and back at him. “Okay. Thanks.” The thanks followed slowly, a deep
breath later, full of hesitation. I only hoped I wasn’t going to end up on the
morning news.
If
he wanted to hurt me he would. Or at least he would try. Whether I invited him
to look at my engine or not. That was my logic as I watched him pull his Jeep
in front of my car. The door swung open. He unfolded his long frame and stepped
out into the night with a flashlight in his hand.
His
footsteps crunched over loose gravel, the beam of his flashlight zeroing in on
my still-smoldering vehicle. From the angle of his face, I didn’t think he even
looked my way. He went straight for my car, lifting the hood and disappearing
under it.
Arms
crossed tightly in front of me, I stepped forward cautiously, edging out into
the road so I could watch him as he studied the engine. He reached down and
touched different things. God knows what. My knowledge of auto mechanics was
right up there with my origami-making abilities.
I
went back to studying his shadowy features. Something glinted. I squinted. His
right eyebrow was pierced.
Suddenly
another beam of lights lit up the night. My would-be-mechanic straightened from
beneath the hood and stepped out, positioning himself between me and the road,
his long legs braced and hands on his hips as the car approached. I had my
first unfettered view of his face in the harsh glow of oncoming headlights, and
I sucked in a sharp breath.
The
cruel lighting might have washed him out or picked up his flaws, but no. As far
as I could see he had no physical flaws.
He
was hot. Plain and simple. Square jaw. Deep-set blue eyes beneath slashing dark
brows. The eyebrow piercing was subtle, just a glint of silver in his right
eyebrow. His hair looked like a dark blond, cut short, close to his head.
Emerson would call him lickable.
This
new vehicle halted beside my car and I snapped my attention away from him as
the window whirred down. Lickable leaned down at the waist to peer inside.
“Oh,
hey, Mr. Graham. Mrs. Graham.” He slid a hand from his jean pocket to give a
small wave.
“Car
trouble?” a middle-aged man asked. The backseat of the car was illuminated with
the low glow of an iPad. A teenager sat there, his gaze riveted to the screen,
punching buttons, seemingly oblivious that the car had even stopped.
Lickable
nodded and motioned to me. “Just stopped to help. I think I see the problem.”
The
woman in the passenger seat smiled at me. “Don’t worry, honey. You’re in good
hands.”
Eased
at the reassurance, I nodded at her. “Thank you.”
As
the car drove away, we faced each other, and I realized this was the closest I
had allowed myself to get to him. Now that some of my apprehension was put to
rest, a whole new onslaught of emotions bombarded me. Sudden, extreme
self-consciousness for starters. Well, for the most part. I tucked a strand of
my unmanageable hair behind my ear and shifted uneasily on my feet.
“Neighbors,”
he explained, motioning to the road.
“You
live out here?”
“Yeah.”
He slid one hand inside his front jean pocket. The action made his sleeve ride
up and reveal more of the tattoo that crawled from his wrist up his arm.
Unthreatening as he might be, he was definitely not your standard boy next
door.
“I
was babysitting. The Campbells. Maybe you know them.”
He
moved toward my car again. “They’re down the road from my place.”
I
followed. “So you think you can fix it?” Standing beside him, I peered down
into the engine like I knew what I was looking at. My fingers played nervously
with the edges of my sleeves. “'Cause that would be awesome. I know she’s a
jalopy, but I’ve had her a long time.” And I can’t exactly afford a new car
right now.
He
angled his head to look at me. “Jalopy?” A corner of his mouth kicked up.
I
winced. There I went again, showing off the fact that I grew up surrounded by
people born before the invention of television.
“It
means an old car.”
“I
know what it means. Just never heard anyone but my grandmother say it.”
“Yeah.
That’s where I picked it up.” From Gran and everyone else in the Chesterfield
Retirement Village.
Turning,
he moved to his Jeep. I continued to play with my sleeves, watching him return
with a bottle of water.
“Looks
like a leaky radiator hose.”
“Is
that bad?”
Unscrewing
the cap on the water, he poured it inside my engine. “This will cool it down.
Should run now. For a while at least. How far are you going?”
“About
twenty minutes.”
“It
will probably make it. Don’t go farther than that or it will overheat again.
Take it to a mechanic first thing tomorrow so he can replace the hose.”
I
breathed easier. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Shouldn’t
cost more than a couple hundred.”
I
winced. That would pretty much wipe out my account. I would have to see about
working a few extra shifts at the daycare or getting some more babysitting
gigs. At least when I babysat, I could get in some studying after the kids went
to bed.
He
slammed the hood back in place.
“Thanks
a lot.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Saved me from calling a tow truck.”
“So
no one’s coming then?” That corner of his mouth lifted back up again and I knew
I amused him.
“Yeah.”
I shrugged. “I might have made that up.”
“It’s
okay. You weren’t exactly in an ideal situation. I know I can look scary.”
My
gaze scanned his face. Scary? I knew he was probably joking, but he did have
that certain edge to him. A dangerous vibe with his tattoos and piercing. Even
if he was hot. He was like the dark vampire in movies that girls obsessed over.
The ones that were torn between eating the girl and kissing her. I always
preferred the nice mortal guy and never understood why the heroine didn’t go
after him. I didn’t do dark, dangerous, and sexy. You don’t do anyone. I shoved
the whisper back, batting it away. If the right guy—the one I wanted—noticed
me, all that would change.
“I
wouldn’t say scary … exactly.”
He
chuckled softly. “Sure you would.”
Silence
hovered between us for a moment. My gaze swept over him. The
comfortable-looking T-shirt and well-worn jeans were casual. Guys wore them
every day on campus, but he didn’t look casual. He didn’t look like any guy I
ever saw around campus. He looked like trouble. The kind that girls lost their
heads over. Suddenly my chest felt too tight.
“Well,
thanks again.” Offering up a small wave I ducked back inside my car. He watched
me turn the key. Thankfully smoke didn’t billow up from the hood.
Driving
away, I refused to risk a glance back in my rearview mirror. If Emerson had
been with me, I’m sure she wouldn’t have left without his phone number.
Eyes
on the road again, I felt perversely glad she wasn’t there.
A great trailer! I absolutely loved this book, it was amazing.
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