ABOUT THAT KISS is book 5 in the Heartbreaker
Bay series that is about an eclectic group of friends
with varied personalities. One explosive kiss that is quite
memorable left them both shook up. This is a fun to read
series with some funny characters. They may be an odd group,
but they have their own version of a family. They have each
other's back but will give you a swift kick when you need
it. Once again Jill Shalvis deals with the dynamics of what
a family life consists of -- pain, guilt, misunderstanding
and the healing effects of love. This story also deals with
PTSD and how it affects the individual as well as family
members.
Sexy, fun loving, no commitments Joe Malone didn't call
Kylie Masters after that explosive kiss, but he can't and
didn't forget it. But Joe is carrying around a boatload of
guilt from some family issues. So because of that guilt, he
feels that Kylie deserves more than he can give her. Kylie
has tried desperately to forget about that kiss. But when
she needs help in finding something that is precious to her
she goes to the one person she knows that can help her.
Working together to solve a mystery proves to be more than
either of them expected. They are both carrying around
undeserved guilt that will require help from others to shake.
Joe does whatever he needs to when it comes to family. But
because of misplaced guilt, he has always shut himself off
from any personal relationships. He has been able to
maintain that practice until he encounters Kylie and they
share that kiss. Kylie enjoys having fun with Joe until she
realizes she wants more than just fun. It was so much fun
watching these two navigate through this relationship.
When love drives you crazy . . .
When sexy Joe Malone never calls after their explosive
kiss,
Kylie shoves him out of her mind. Until she needs a favor,
and it’s a doozy. Something precious to her has been stolen
and there’s only one person with unique finder-and-fixer
skills that can help—Joe. It means swallowing her pride and
somehow trying to avoid the temptation to throttle him—or
seduce him.
the best thing to do . . .
No, Joe didn’t call after the kiss. He’s the fun time guy,
not the forever guy. And Kylie, after all she’s been
through, deserves a good man who will stay. But everything
about Kylie makes it damned hard to focus, and though his
brain knows what he has to do, his heart isn’t getting the
memo.
… is enjoy the ride.
As Kylie and Joe go on the scavenger hunt of their lives,
they discover surprising things about each other. Now, the
best way for them to get over “that kiss” might just be to
replace it with a hundred more.
Excerpt
Joe studied her. “I asked you once before, but now I’m
going to ask you again. Is there something going
on between you two?”
She tossed up her hands. “Why do you both keep asking me
that about each other?”
His eyes narrowed. “I thought nothing was going on.”
“And before today, I could’ve passed a lie detector test on
that,” she said.
“What happened today?”
She paused. Not because she had anything to be ashamed of,
but because she wasn’t quite sure what
had happened.
“Kylie.”
She sighed. “It’s nothing.”
“Try again,” Joe said and gave her the very male universal
go on gesture.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. He . . . finally made a move on
me.”
Joe didn’t budge. Not a blink, not a muscle twitch,
nothing, but she could’ve popped corn off the electric
tension coming off him.
“Describe ‘made a move,’ ” he finally said.
She crossed her arms. “And again, how is this relevant to
my case?”
He just gave her that careful stare again and she thought
wow, those eyes of his should be registered as a lethal
weapon, because she found herself opening her mouth and
spilling her guts. “He kissed me.”
“He kissed you.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Do you know that you often repeat what I
say?”
“What kind of a kiss?” he asked.
She was momentarily bewildered. “I don’t know. It was a
kiss. A normal kiss. A nice kiss.” She cocked her head at
him. “How many kinds of kisses are there?”
He just looked at her for a long moment before coming
toward her. He backed her to the wall and pressed his big
hands on either side of her head.
“There are many kinds of kisses,” he said.
Her breath had backed up in her throat, where her heart had
lodged, pounding wildly. “S-s-such as?”
“Such as this one.” And then he leaned in and covered her
mouth with his.
At the touch of Joe’s mouth, Kylie’s brain stopped being
capable of rational thought. His tongue gave a knee-
weakening stroke against hers and she let out a shockingly
needy moan as she clutched at him, fisting her hands in the
material of his shirt at his chest. Only when he’d
thoroughly plundered and pillaged and left her boneless did
he lift his head and
look into her eyes.
“Wow,” she whispered, fully aware she was still holding on
to him like he was a lifeline, but the bones in her legs
had liquefied. “I mean . . .” She shook her head. “Wow.”
He nodded. “Yeah. So to be clear, that wasn’t ‘a normal
kiss’ or even ‘a nice kiss.’ It was a ‘wow’ kiss. Any
questions?”
“Just one,” she said softly. “Can I have another?”
Joe didn’t have to be asked twice. His mouth immediately
descended again, his fingers sliding into her hair to
change the angle of the kiss to suit him. It was a
controlled, alpha thing to do, but she had only one thought
—nothing about the usually carefully, purposely leashed Joe
was in control at the moment.
And she liked it.
She had no idea how long they went at it because she was in
absolute heaven. Who knew that the man could use his
preferred silent mode to communicate in a way that she
finally approved of?
Only when she was completely breathless and about to strip
him down to his birthday suit did she manage to pull back.
“Any more questions?” he asked, also a little bit
breathless, which was more than slightly gratifying.
Dumbly, she shook her head. His eyes softened and he gently
he stroked his thumb over her bottom lip. “And FYI? Gib’s
an idiot.”
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