One And Done is releasing on July 19th (it is available for pre-order now) and I’m sharing the first two chapters of this 300 page plus contemporary erotic romance.
Read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/2016/06/06/one-and-done-first-scene/
Mr. Sheridan tucks my curves into his hard muscle, leaving no space between us, and steers me into the club. Dance music pulses, an almost frenzied beat assaulting my ears, causing my heart to pound faster. Seizure-inducing strobe lights flicker.
“Thank you for that,” I yell, seeking to be heard above the music. “I really appreciate your help getting into your club.”
“The appreciation is all mine, baby,” Mr. Sheridan pours these words into my ear, exciting my already primed-for-sex body. “Now, let’s get drunk and make some bad decisions.”
I blink, once, twice, three times. That almost sounds as though he’s hitting on me. But he can’t be. His lines are too cheesy and I’m…well…I’m plus-sized, average me. “That’s a good one.” I grin. “Or should I say a bad one?”
Lines appear between Mr. Sheridan’s black eyebrows.
“I won’t take up more of your time.” I pat his arm, ignoring the sparks skittering along my fingers. “I can find my boyfriend on my own.”
“The boyfriend must be real then.” The caramel-colored specks fade from his eyes. “Fuck. Because a sexy woman like you wouldn’t be single.”
“Right.” I laugh, enjoying his sense of humor. “My boyfriend’s name is Edward.”
Mr. Sheridan doesn’t say anything, doesn’t indicate that he knows an Edward.
I search the crowd for my man. Bodies bump and grind, the girls clad in next to nothing, the guys in mostly black. It amazes me that all of these people are here on a Thursday night. Don’t they have to work tomorrow?
“I went to his office. He’s a lawyer.” The words spill out of my mouth, unfiltered by my brain. “But he wasn’t there. The app on his phone said he was here.”
“Edward?” Mr. Sheridan’s lips brush against my earlobe and another wave of sensation flows down my spine. He smells of spicy rosemary and woodsy nutmeg, an intriguing combination of scents.
Guilt sweeps over me. I shouldn’t be sniffing a stranger. I’m in a committed relationship. “Edward Langston.” I try to draw away from Mr. Sheridan. He won’t allow me to move, tightening his clasp on my hip. “He’s a lawyer.”
“You already said that.” Mr. Sheridan’s tone is dry. “You also said he was your boyfriend. Does he know you’re here?”
“No, he doesn’t,” I admit. “I wanted to surprise him.”
“Fuck. You’ll certainly do that.”
What does that mean? We push through dual doors and enter a smaller room. The irritating music fades to a more manageable level. The dizzying strobe lighting stops. Thin, beautiful, bored-looking people stand around the space, drinks in their hands.
“Lucy, ask Eddy and his guest to join us.” Mr. Sheridan addresses a petite, redheaded beauty. “The rest of you fuck off.” He waves his hand, dismissing them.
The occupants gaze at me with wide, curiosity-filled eyes as they exit the room, not one person protesting the club owner’s highhanded treatment. It must be nice to wield that type of power.
“Edward doesn’t like to be called Eddy.” I don’t know why I’m sharing this with him. Nerves, perhaps.
“And you’re sure you know what he likes?” Mr. Sheridan says this as though it is in doubt. It isn’t. We’ve been together for four years. “Let me take your coat.” He pulls the garment from my fingers and I reluctantly release it. “You’ll want your hands to be free.” He drapes the coat over a barstool. “When you see your Edward.”
I hear the derision in the club owner’s tone. “Edward is a great lawyer.” I defend my boyfriend. “I don’t know if he’s already representing you. He can’t share that with me due to client confidentiality. But if he is, you won’t regret it. He’ll fight to the death for you.”
Mr. Sheridan tilts his head, studying me. His left collar is slightly curled, marring the perfection of his outfit. My fingers twitch, the impulse to smooth it tremendous.
The man is unaware of his dishevelment. “The average woman, when she finds out her fuckin’ boyfriend went to a club and didn’t tell her, would assume he’s cheating, not that he’s here on business.”
This brings a smile to my lips. “Edward wouldn’t cheat on me. He loves me.”
“You have faith in this love?”
“Of course, I have faith in it.” My gaze returns to his collar. Unable to resist the urge to straighten it, I reach up and run my fingers over the material, setting it to rights. “That’s what love is—believing in another person, trusting him or her with your heart, your dreams, your tomorrows.”
“And if that faith is misplaced?” The agony and loss reflecting in Mr. Sheridan’s eyes captivates me. He’s been hurt, this handsome, world-weary man. “If your love isn’t returned?”
“Then it isn’t truly love.” I curve my right palm over his left cheek, wanting to touch him, to comfort him. He flinches but doesn’t pull away. “You try again. I experienced some false starts before I met Edward.”
“You gave up on those men.” The bitterness and pain in Mr. Sheridan’s voice tugs at my heart.
“They gave up on me,” I admit.
One of my university boyfriends moved to Silicon Valley, made a gazillion dollars and married an alpaca-obsessed, blonde nymph. The other guy is saving the world in Africa. More specifically, he’s building sewage systems. I joke that he’d rather be waist-deep in shit than continue to date me.
“I’m not the best at letting go.” I send both of my exes e-Cards every Christmas. “I tend to hold on too long, trying to make relationships work.”
Mr. Sheridan isn’t my man to comfort. I shouldn’t be touching him.
I drop my hand.
The club owner catches my wrist. “Not everyone has the same faith in love as you do.”
“True.” I summon a smile, focusing on the present and not on the lonely past. “Edward has the same faith as I do. He loves me.”
“So you tell me.”
We stand a breath apart, Mr. Sheridan holding my wrist.
He rubs small circles into my skin with his thumb, round and round. I gaze up at him, enthralled. The moment stretches, stretches, stretches.
I love Edward. I do. But this is interesting, different.
Mr. Sheridan looks at the door and then at me and then back to the door. His lips move soundlessly as though he’s debating something with himself.
“Fuck.” His gaze returns to my face. “As much as I want you, baby, I can’t watch him hurt you like this.” He releases my wrist and grabs my coat. “I’ll talk to Edward, send him home to you.”
Why would Edward hurt me? “There’s no need to send him home.” I don’t want to mess up his business meeting. “I’m already here.”
“You shouldn’t be here.” Mr. Sheridan turns me toward the doors. “You have to leave.”
Voices chatter outside the room, growing louder.
“But—”
“Now.” The club owner shoves me forward.
I recognize one of those voices. “Edward is coming.”
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He wants one night. I want forever.
Hit it and quit it—that’s Smoke Sheridan’s relationship philosophy. The tall, dark, and dangerous club owner never spends more than one night with any woman. He seduces the broken-hearted, leaving them with smiles on their faces and a sexual confidence other men can’t resist.
I need his services.
My boyfriend of four years dumped me because I’m a lousy lay. Smoke can help me win him back, teach me how to make my man writhe in ecstasy. I’ll show him such bliss, he’ll bellow my name in the dark of the night, want me with an all-consuming desire.
This sounds like a great plan. Except I see the loneliness in Smoke’s eyes, feel the wistfulness in his touch, experience the wanting in his embrace. The player isn’t as shallow as he appears.
And I’ve never been good at letting go.
One And Done contains inappropriate humor, very bad pickup lines, a BBW heroine who doesn’t know what she’s doing and a player who thinks he does.
This is a standalone story.
Buy Now:
On Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/One-Done-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B01FOVMF70
On Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Done-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B01FOVMF70
On ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-oneanddone-2040641-340.html
On Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-and-done-cynthia-sax/1123809444
On Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/one-and-done-1
