When college student Madi Ryan wins a contest she didn’t enter, she reluctantly accepts a weekend date with gorgeous singer/songwriter Jake Morgan. Determined to find something wrong with him, Madi sets out to prove he’s not all he appears to be.
Haunted by mistakes, Jake Morgan lives with a past that prevents him from having a future… until Madi Ryan walks into his life. As his walls and his rules slowly crumble around him, Madi makes him doubt everything he thought he knew. Her desire to find something wrong with him fuels his interest in her. It doesn’t hurt that she’s beautiful, feisty and keeps him guessing.
As the weekend turns into something more long term, Madi finds herself drawn into his world and his charm. From harmless flirting, to denied passion, no matter how much Jake tries to push her away, he ends up pulling her in. And as Madi tries to put him together, he unknowingly tears her apart.
Contests don’t always have a winner and a loser. Sometimes love takes all.
She paced the kitchen floor. Murphy looked
up at her curiously. “Murphy, why is your daddy taking Christine Paul with him
tonight? Does he like her?”
Murphy sat and stared at her, wagging his
tail. Apparently he didn’t have an answer either. When Madi had heard Jake on
the phone talking to her and laughing, she’d wanted to puke. Had she been wrong
about him? She would have gone with him if he wanted her to, but he didn’t even
ask. Against her better judgment, Madi had googled her. She was divorced and
totally available. There were rumors online that she and Jake were dating. Madi
had scoffed. He spent all his nights at work or with her. If he was dating anyone,
her name was Madi Ryan.
Jake had been a perfect gentleman since the
night of dinner with his parents. He had made no attempts to come too close and
he almost seemed to run away whenever she touched him. Maybe the other night was a mistake. Maybe she was wrong to
think things would work out between them. She could feel her blood boil when
she thought of Christine Paul with her arm wrapped around Jake. Would Jake even
come home tonight? Madi continued to pace until she heard Jake’s bedroom door
open.
Madi gaped at him. She immediately felt wet
just by looking at him. He was freaking gorgeous. He walked out of the room
fixing his cufflinks. He was wearing the double-breasted black tux with a
straight black tie and black vest underneath. It fit him like a glove. His hair
was perfectly coiffed and he had shaved, but only enough to give him a sexy,
dirty boy look. He smiled at Madi as he walked toward her and she almost passed
out.
“Well, what do you think?”
“I thought you were going to dress up,”
Madi said with a look of boredom.
Jake laughed and fiddled with his tie.
“Here, let me help you.” Madi came up to
him and started to straighten his tie when she smelled him. Dear God in heaven… It took everything
in her power to not fall at his feet, cling to his leg and beg him to stay home
with her tonight.
Jake glared at her as she fixed his tie.
“Something wrong, Madi?” he said with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes. “You know what’s
wrong.”
“No, I don’t think I do.”
Madi sighed and patted his tie into place.
“You look handsome, Jake, as usual.”
Jake furrowed his brows as he studied her
briefly before a cocky smile crossed his lips. “So you think Christine will
like it then?”
Did he really just say that to her? What
the hell? Why would Madi worry if Christine thought he looked good? Screw
Christine. She hated her. Madi put her hands on her hips as she spoke. “I don’t
really know her taste, Jake. Why don’t you ask her if she thinks you’re lickable. I really don’t give a damn.”
Jake put his hands in the air and backed away
from her. “Someone is feisty tonight!”
Madi turned away to hide her embarrassment.
She took a steadying breath. She wanted to punch him. Then she wanted to grab
him and stick her tongue down his throat. No, she wanted to kick him in the
balls.
“Maybe you should get out tonight, Madi.”
She turned to look at him. “You seem uptight, like you have a lot of built up
tension. I know I can’t wait for a
release.” Jake raised his eyebrows to her as he said it. What was he trying to
imply?
Madi glared at him. He knew she was jealous
and he was purposely rubbing it in. What a gigantic dick. She was pissed. The
words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, “Fuck you, Jake.” She
stomped off to her room and slammed the door. As she leaned against it, the regret
crept in. She almost turned to apologize but then she felt the anger rise back
to the surface. They most definitely were not
dating. Let him go with Christine Paul. If that was the kind of woman he wanted
then she hoped he screwed her until his dick fell off. Madi looked for her
phone and realized it was on the kitchen counter. She was definitely not going
back out to the kitchen with Jake still there. She leaned on the door and
scooted to the floor.
There was a small part of her that wanted
to cry, but a bigger part of her wanted to punch a hole in the wall. She looked
up from the floor and saw the teddy bear Jake had sent to her in college poking
his head out from the pillow. He was mocking her. She could hear him in his
teddy bear voice: “You got a teddy bear but Christine gets his dick.” Madi got
up and ran to the bear. She picked up the little shit and threw him up against
the wall. Then she kicked him. He was still laughing at her so she picked him
up and attempted to rip his head off. Damn her lack of strength! She opened up
a drawer and shoved him inside under her panties. “No, you little fuck! You
don’t deserve to be near my panties!” She picked him up and drop kicked him
into the back of her closet. Then she closed the door and started to half laugh,
half cry. Fuck Jake Morgan and all his
games. Fuck this stupid contest and this stupid job. Fuck LA. Fuck, fuck,
fuck!!!!
Madi heard the door close and felt relief
mixed with intense pain. She opened the door and moped her way to the kitchen.
She picked up her phone and called Kendra. No answer. She didn’t leave a
message. She looked down at her phone and contemplated who she could call. She
punched in a number.
“Hi sweetie! How are you tonight?”
“Ang, I
need someone to get me out of this place!”
What happens when you win a love you don’t think you deserve?
Long distance relationships are tough and there are two sides to every story. No one knows that better than Jake Morgan and Madi Ryan. It’s not just about falling in love; it’s about staying together when everything in the world wants to tear you apart.
When Madi’s attacker is released on bail, Jake decides he’ll to everything in his power to protect the woman he loves, even if that means keeping secrets. Strange emails and photos appear on Madi’s computer, warning her that Jake is not what he seems. Madi’s faith in him begins to waver, especially when Jake becomes linked to beautiful actress, Allison Gregory. Although he promises there is nothing between them, outside forces push Madi’s trust in him to the breaking point.
Jake is willing to move heaven and earth to prove to Madi just how much she means to him. But when everything in their lives comes crashing down, will Madi be able to trust her heart or will she lose the only man she’s ever really loved?
Can two people stay together when one of them is always waiting to lose?
A slow, devious grin crept across her lips, and Jake
desperately needed to know her thoughts. “Mads, for the love of God, you need
to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”
“Didn’t I just tell you that I wanted the steak?”
Jake’s mind raced back to Madi, standing in red garter
belts, drunk out of her mind in his apartment in L.A. He remembered her telling
him she’d always had the chicken salad because it was safe. Back then she’d
also said she wanted the steak. She said he was the steak. “Are you hungry?” he
asked, motioning toward the table.
Madi’s smile widened as she glanced over his shoulder at the
table of food. “That’s not the steak I want.”
Jake closed his eyes and smiled, shaking his head. He opened
them suddenly when he felt her fingers begin to unbutton his shirt. He followed
her trembling hands with his eyes as they deftly stripped his chest. Madi took
a deep breath, and Jake smirked as her eyes traveled the length of his torso.
She flexed her hand over his pecs before circling the nipples on his chest and
running her fingers through the small amount of hair there. She smiled and
sucked in her lip as her hand gently examined each one of his stomach muscles.
That same electricity they had between them before was present like another
force in the room. Her touch sent shivers through him, directly to his manhood.
“You are a beautiful man, Jake Morgan.” She turned behind
him, pulling his shirt down his arms. She skimmed her fingers over him, kissing
his shoulders.
“I assume you’re satisfied with the cut of your steak?” he
asked with a mischievous tone as her hand reached around him and squeezed his
stomach. Her tongue and lips kissed the area between his shoulder blades. He
could feel a smile in her kiss. Jake closed his eyes and tried to remember to
breathe. His mind went back to the morning he awoke with her hand on his
stomach. He remembered her saying how tight it felt and how she had wanted to
touch him. He also remembered her bare legs wrapped in the covers. He felt a
twitch in his pants. They were suddenly becoming a little too tight.
He almost said something, but he couldn’t focus on anything
but the way her touch made him feel. He’d denied himself her for so long. He
silently promised himself that he would never take a single kiss from her for
granted. She continued to press her lips to his back as her hands made their
way down to his belt. She quickly unfastened it, undid the button of his jeans,
and gently pulled his zipper down. Jake could feel the effect she was having on
him and wondered how long he’d be able to stand still. Her hand reached inside
his boxer briefs and found him. He couldn’t help the sharp intake of air that
left his mouth at the feel of her hands on him. She stood there for a few
moments with her lips on his back and her hands knowingly stroking him from
behind, as if she could read his inner thoughts and desires. Before he knew it,
Madi turned and was on her knees in front of him. “Jesus... Madi…” He could
barely get her name out as he panted.
“I… want… the… steak. This piece of steak.”
Dawn L. Chiletz released her debut “The Contest” in October 2014. “Waiting to Lose” is her second novel in the Contest Series. She currently resides in Illinois with her husband, two boys and two dogs.
