New York Times bestselling author Violet Duke kicks off her sizzling-hot new Fourth Down series with a friends-to-lovers romance between a no-strings-attached sports analyst and the hottest damn tomboy he’s ever met.
It’s no secret that sports analyst Jackson Gray doesn’t do relationships. What is a secret, however, is the reason why. Jackson’s life is . . . complicated. And it doesn’t help that his current hands-off “friendship” is with the cute-as-hell new sideline reporter he’s assigned to train. Turns out, not only is the woman damn sweet, she also knows as much about football as he does. Like it or not though, Jackson has to remind himself that sex is the only thing he has to offer . . . until now.
Leila Hart’s fast-growing friendship with Jackson is something she’d never risk, no matter how unbelievably seductive the reward. Becoming an NFL sportscaster has always been the goal, and thanks to Jackson’s fierce support and mentoring, it all finally seems within reach. Problem is, a girl can only take so much of that sexy-as-sin voice whispering dirty, filthy football stats in her ear before she loses all self-control. A workplace romance with Jackson is a disaster waiting to happen, especially for someone with big dreams . . . and secrets of her own.
Slowly, so slowly she could easily walk away if she wanted to, he closed the distance be- tween them and then backed her up against the wall behind his open door, thankful that he hadn’t remembered to raise the privacy blinds on the picture windows separating his office from the main floor this morning.
His hands fell to her hips and anchored there, but he kept himself an arm’s length away. Well, half an arm’s length. He was only so strong. “Sunshine, you make me want things I shouldn’t hope for, shouldn’t even imagine I can keep.”
Eyes wide, voice barely louder than a secret, she asked, “Like what?”
He went with the answer at the very top of his list. “You.”
Her breathing hitched on a sexy-as-all-hell little gasp while her hands—which had been driving him crazy in their hovering dance barely an inch away from his obliques—eventually found a place to land. Her fingertips flexed against his muscles on contact, and bunched his shirt at his sides in a slow, curling grip.
For Jackson, it was like experiencing a tactile purr of pleasure, and good lord, it did a fantastic job of decimating his ability to think straight.
All the while, she was observing him as closely as he was watching her. From the granite-hard strain locking his forearms to the deep, heavy rise and fall of his lungs, her soft, curious glances tracked every one of his telltale responses to her.
When her eyes rose up to watch his lips part at the exact moment her palms skimmed lightly over his stomach, what was once simply a charged connection between them quickly turned into a whole-body hack on his senses. And he was defenseless to stop his response when her own lips parted in unconscious invitation.
He was a goner.
“Sweetheart, if you don’t want me to kiss you, tell me now. And use short, simple words. I’m not sure my brain can process any more than that at the moment.”
A deafeningly silent second passed before he felt her hands slide up his tensed torso and rest against his chest, fingers curling into another sexy, soundless purr.
His mouth came crashing down onto hers a heartbeat later.
The kiss began spiraling out of control from the very start, detonating as soon as her lips molded to his. His hands, still anchored on her hips, dragged her even closer until she was flush against him.
It took everything in him to keep the impulse to feel more, do more, have more in check. He drew back, breathing harshly, his heart beating at a medically alarming rate. He had every intention of stopping at that one mind-blowing kiss.
But then Leila opened her eyes and looked up at him through her lashes, in a mix of veiled hunger and unveiled wonder.
A silent curse slipped past his lips. The more he got to know her, the weaker he got when it came to Leila. And at the moment, he was wholly unapologetic about it.
NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author Violet Duke is a former professor of English Education ecstatic to now be on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romances filled with strong, unique heroines and memorably romantic heroes. With just under a million books sold to date, since becoming an author in 2013, Violet has appeared on the USA Today bestseller list thirteen times and the NYT bestseller list three times, with the additional honor of charting in the Top 10 across the major eretailers both in the U.S. and internationally. Her fans, who she just adores to pieces, affectionately call her books sweet & sexy 'laugh & cry' love stories.
When she's not feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, Violet enjoys tackling reno projects with her power tools, trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first, and cooking impossible-to-be-duplicated 'special edition' dishes that laugh in the face of recipes. A born and raised island girl, she spends her days in Hawai'i chasing after her two cute kids (daughter Violet & son Duke) and similarly adorable husband (their ringleader).
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