For the Love of English by A.M. Hargrove Release Date: September 15th, 2016
Synopsis:
Single dad, Beckley Bridges, is sexy as hell.
No, really, he’s the hottest thing since the sun was created.
Honest to God, crack an egg on him and the thing will sizzle.
So what’s the problem?
He’s also a gigantic jerk. I hate the bastard.
I try to avoid him at all costs.
But for some reason, everywhere I go he seems to show up.
Only the real issue is his daughter, English.
She’s an adorable quirky first-grader who’s the sweetest thing since iced tea.
And she’s one of my students but also the love of his life.
So I have to deal with him on a professional level.
It’s not easy. On a scale of easy to hard, dealing with Beckley Bridges is like nails screeching across a blackboard.
But when English’s mother tries to gain custody after abandoning her on Beckley’s doorstep as an infant, he’ll do anything possible to keep English under his roof.
That’s how he ends up propositioning me.
And crazy as it sounds?
I find myself considering it.
This is a full-length novel that includes mature content not suitable younger readers.
Excerpt:
I thrum my fingers
on the table. “I have to think about this. I mean, we haven’t even kissed, and
we’re discussing marriage. What if I don’t like the way you—” my eyes bulge at
the thought of what I was going to say.
A cocky
grin appears. Damn him. Why does he have to be so confident? “Like the way I
what?” he asks. He knows damn well what I was referring to.
“Never
mind.”
“No, I want
to know.”
I squiggle
around in my seat.
“Does it
have anything to do with fucking hard and fast?” he asks, emphasizing
the last words and still smiling smugly.
My jaw
nearly slams on the table.
“Sheridan,
I don’t think you have anything to worry about in that regard.”
My wine
glass beckons, so I grab it and chug down the contents.
“Care for
some more?” he asks as he waggles his brows.
I can’t
answer him, so he pours me a glass anyway. The dog. Then he leans forward and
draws a circle on the top of my hand. That circle has a direct path to my girly
bits, and it’s not fair at all because I honestly don’t like the man.
“You have
to know I like you, and that I’m attracted to you.” What? “I’ve made no
secret of it. I wouldn’t be hanging around you or spending time with you
otherwise. Even if English liked you, I would’ve steered things in a different
direction, made excuses to her, or whatever. But I didn’t. Because I like you.
I happen to think you’re gorgeous. And sexy. And funny. And I want to kiss you
and do other things, but I walk the straight and narrow because I try to be the
best dad I can and set a good example. So there you have it.”
“You think
I’m gorgeous and sexy? Why would you think that?” The question popped out
before I could stop it.
His
expression immediately changes into one of exasperation. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because.
Guys like you don’t go for girls like me.”
“Guys
like me? What’s that supposed to mean?” He not only is surprised, but
sounds borderline insulted by my statement.
“Look at
me.”
“That’s
what I’m doing.”
“No, I
mean, haven’t you seen me? And you … you’re all, well, you could have any woman
you wanted.”
“First, you
act as though I’m blind. Second, I like what I see. And third, I want what’s
right here.”
“That
doesn’t make sense.”
“Sheridan,
I’m a photographer. I have a very good eye.”
“You may,
but you haven’t seen me naked.” Then I clamp my hand over my mouth. Why the
hell do I always say shit like this? I’m forever putting my foot in my mouth.
“Is that an
offer?” he asks with an arched brow.
“What would
your guy friends say about me?”
He lets out
a derisive laugh. “Guy friends? I’m a twenty-five-year-old single dad. I was
nineteen when English pretty much fell into my life. All my guy friends were
frat rats who were more interested in fucking a different girl every weekend
and getting as drunk as possible before they did it. Do you think they were
interested in me with an infant? My guy friends dropped me like I had the
fucking plague. The closest thing I have to guy friends is my dad. Parents with
kids English’s age are usually older than me, married with a family, and don’t
want to hang out with a young single dad. So my friends are nonexistent.”
Our fingers
are touching, and his explanation suddenly makes him more appealing to me. I
want this man. In my bed. I want to find out if we’re sexually compatible. But
I’m pretty damn sure he’d be disappointed. On the other hand, what do I have to
lose? Okay, rejection is pretty hard to take, but it sounds as though he’s sort
of into me. Or at least he’s putting on a good show. At least he’s honest about
what he wants from me, and it’s all out in the open.
“Is English
coming home tonight?”
“No,” he
says, smiling. “Wanna test out my big bed and play roll ’em?”
I start
laughing so hard I can’t stop. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I have
this damn boot.”
“I have an
idea,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.
“What’s
that?”
“You can do
the rolling, and I’ll do the jumping.”
With the
most serious face I can manage, I ask, “Didn’t your mom ever teach you?”
“Teach me
what?”
“Not to
jump on the bed.”
His eyes
narrow, and he says, “Yeah, but it’s my bed, and I can do whatever I want in
it.”
“I have to
sleep on it.”
“We can do
that, too, if you want.”
I laugh.
“Not your bed. I have to sleep on the whole marriage thing. This is a lot to
take in. And as much as I’d like to play roll ’em with you, I think I need to
wait until this boot is a part of my past.”
With
half-hooded eyes, he says, “Chicken.”
He may be
right. What if we end up in the sack and I want him way more than he wants me?
Or what if he thinks I’m a huge zero? And that my thighs look like they belong
on an elephant instead of a human?
“Why don’t
we go back to my place and watch a movie or something? I have another bottle of
wine there, and we can talk about this some more.”
I shake my
head. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you come to my place instead?” He knows
very little about me, and if he truly wants to do this, he needs to find out
more about who I am.
“Okay,
let’s go.”Add to your TBR on Goodreads
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