Excerpt & Giveaway: The Trouble With Love by Lauren Layne
The
Trouble with Love
Sex, Love and Stiletto #4
Sex, Love and Stiletto #4
By:
Lauren Layne
Releasing
March 3, 2015
Loveswept
Blurb
As
Lauren Layne’s salacious Sex, Love & Stiletto series returns, a
jaded columnist discovers a steamy way to get over an old flame:
falling for him all over again.
As
Stiletto magazine’s authority on all things breakup-and-heartache,
Emma Sinclair writes from personal experience. Five years ago, Emma
was Charlotte, North Carolina’s darling debutante and a blushing
bride-to-be. Now she’s the ice queen of the Manhattan dating scene.
Emma left her sultry Southern drawl behind, but not even her closest
friends know that with it she left her heart. Now Emma’s latest
article forces her to face her demons—namely, the devilishly sexy
guy who ditched her at the altar.
After
giving up everything for a pro-soccer career, Alex Cassidy watches
his dreams crumble as a knee injury sidelines him for good. Now he’s
hanging up his cleats and giving journalism a shot. It’s just a
coincidence that he happens to pick a job in the same field, and the
same city, as his former fiancée . . . right? But when Emma moves in
next door, it’s no accident. It’s research. And Alex can’t help
wondering what might have been. Unlike the innocent girl he
remembers, this Emma is chic, sophisticated, and assertive—and she
wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has
never wanted her more.
EXCERPT
Alex
spun the conference room chair just slightly in the direction of
Stiletto’s editor in chief.
“You’ve
told them, right?” he asked.
Camille
ignored him, continuing to tap out something on her iPad with the
awkward, pointer-finger taps of someone only reluctantly familiar
with touch screen technology. And touch screen was definitely new to
her. Camille Bishop had been in the business longer than he’d been
alive and tended to cling to old school methods whenever possible.
“Told
them what?” Camille asked innocently. Too innocently.
He
gave her a look, which she returned vacantly.
She
was wearing big, oversized glasses today. Everything about Camille
seemed big. Even though she had a wiry figure, her voice was loud.
Her hair was bright. Her personality was . . . massive.
“No,
I haven’t told them,” she hissed. “That’s what this meeting
is for.”
He
groaned. “Come on, Camille. Not even a heads-up?”
She
pursed her lips and ignored him.
Shit.
As
in, shit would definitely hit the
fan when Camille dropped her little bomb on her team.
“Okay,
everyone, let’s get started,” Camille said, standing and waiting
until the small talk around the table trickled off. “You’ve
probably noticed that there’s an extra dose of testosterone in the
room today.”
At
least two dozen pairs of eyes snapped to Alex. Half of those eyes had
been staring even before Camille had mentioned him. There were nearly
thirty people in the room, and there was only one other guy besides
Alex.
And
from the way the one other guy—Oliver, if he remembered
correctly—was giving him the once-over, Alex was fairly sure he was
the only man in the room who liked women.
He
gave a weak smile at the group, wishing he could be somewhere else.
Anywhere else.
Up
on his floor, the Oxford guys
were probably discussing last night’s game. Instead of joining
them, Alex was surrounded by presentation boards covered in
everything from lingerie to perfume ads.
He
liked to think of himself as a relatively modern man. A little gruff
and stoic at times, sure.
But
he didn’t grunt and drag women around by their hair, or brand them,
or scream at them to make him homemade biscuits every morning. And he
liked his nice suits and cologne and high-thread-count sheets. He was
evolved.
But
Stiletto was too much woman.
It was like girly stuff on steroids. It made even the most modern man
long for beer and onion rings.
“As
most of you know, Alex Cassidy is the editor in chief for Oxford,
our sometimes rival, sometimes partner. He’s the man version of me,
so to speak.”
God
help him.
“Anyway,
he’s here because I have an important announcement to make.”
Camille
paused dramatically, clearly waiting for someone to beg her for more
info. She frowned when everyone merely stared at her, half-bored,
half-expectantly.
Alex
hid a smile. Clearly the Stiletto
editor in chief had cried wolf one too many times. Her team didn’t
expect this news to be earth-shattering.
And
he supposed it wasn’t. Not really. But it might be to one person in
the room.
A
person he still refused to look at.
Camille
finally snapped when the silence stretched on ten seconds past
awkward. “I’m going on a sabbatical,” she said.
“A
what now?” Riley asked.
“A
sabbatical,” a snooty-looking blond woman on Alex’s right
explained. “It’s when—”
“I
know what a sabbatical is, Kandice,” said Riley. “I just didn’t
realize Stiletto offered them.
How do I get one? Because there’s this sex camp—”
Camille
held up a hand. “No sabbaticals for you. You want one, wait until
you’re editor in chief.”
“Why
would I want to be editor in chief?” Riley asked.
“Exactly,”
Camille said, looking pleased at the lead-in. “It’s a thankless,
tiresome job, and one I didn’t want to wish on any of you while I’m
gone for three months.”
“Three
months?” Julie asked. “We’re
leaderless for three months?”
“Not
quite,” Camille said. “You need someone to steer the ship, of
course. So . . .”
She
made a dramatic flourishing gesture in Alex’s direction.
He
waited patiently for everything to register with the Stiletto
crew.
“No.
A boy?!” Riley said,
scandalized.
Author
Info
Lauren
Layne is a snarky cynic with a serious weakness for happily ever
afters.
Marrying
her high school sweetheart was a good start. *cue Disney soundtrack.*
But Lauren wanted all romance, all the time.
Now
she writes fictional happy endings, and considers her job done well
if you swoon while reading her books. Don't worry. You will.
Once
upon a time she lived in a Manhattan high-rise, but now she's on the
laid-back train in the Seattle area. If you ever find yourself in
Issaquah, she'll probably buy you a drink. Maybe.
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