 by Carly Phillips.jpg)
Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 113(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
No strings.
Things just got complicated.
Between long hours in the ER and failing to please her demanding father, Dr. Alexa Collins barely has time for a life, and the strain is starting to take its toll.
On a rare night out, she can’t resist getting a little crazy on the dance floor. Or playfully crooking her finger at the sinfully hot football player watching her every move. And when a dance leads to some hot, stress-relieving sex, she’s all in with Luke Thompson. He’s just the no-risk diversion she desperately needs.
When Luke proposes they spend some time together, Alexa can’t say no. Not when he’s so determined to show her how to have fun. Alexa figures it can’t hurt to have a few days with the irresistible Luke. After all, he’ll be gone soon, and her life will return to the daily grind.
Except this perfect stranger is more than she anticipated and when it’s time to say goodbye, he’ll be taking a big piece of her heart with him.
* Perfect Strangers was originally part of the Hot Summer Nights anthology.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Joe’s Bar. Familiar stomping grounds for Alexa Collins, yet everything about the night felt off. First, the bar’s owner and his new bride were on their honeymoon, so Joe wasn’t serving. Alexa’s normally happy friend, Cara Hartley, sat morosely stirring her drink, staring into the glass for answers, but the man who’d caused the problems was nowhere to be found. Alexa couldn’t relate to guy problems, considering she lived a hectic life, spent hours in the hospital ER, and had no time for a relationship, let alone hot, stress-relieving sex, though it was something she could definitely use. For the past couple of weeks, she’d been suffering from a definite case of the blues, the strain of her life beginning to wear on her.
No wonder she was in a funk.
The music blasting through the speakers gave her a jolt akin to a caffeine kick, and Alexa perked up at the sound. Rising from her barstool, she glanced at her friend.
“I feel like dancing,” Alexa announced.
With a disinterested sigh, Cara shook her head, but Alexa wasn’t taking no for an answer. Cara needed to have fun and forget about Mike Marsden, the man who’d broken her heart.
Alexa jerked her head toward the dance floor. “Dance. Now.”
Cara groaned but complied, standing up on command.
Alexa looked at the third woman in their trio. “Liza?” Liza and her husband, Dare Barron, had joined them for a night out along with some friends who mingled around the bar.
Liza swayed her hips in time to the beat of the music. “Why not? I could use some letting go.”
An upbeat tune reverberated as they headed to the dance floor near the jukebox and Alexa closed her eyes, allowing herself to get lost in the moment. Her body moved to the beat, her entire being consumed by the tempo and the sounds pulsing around her.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed she wasn’t the only one attracted to the upbeat music. The crowd had grown, everyone on the floor pumping their fists, swiveling their hips, and dancing.
Dare had joined Liza, wrapping himself around his wife in a heart-melting embrace. Alexa looked away to avoid the obvious intimacy between the couple, and her gaze met that of a man who sat alone at a table near the dance floor. A sinfully sexy man with shaggy-blond hair and an unwavering stare.
He watched as she moved, his heavy-lidded scrutiny focused on her as he sipped at his beer. His demeanor seemed casual, his stare anything but. Thinking of how down she’d been lately and how great this music made her feel now, she was unable to resist the impulse to crook her finger his way.
A glance told her that her best friend wasn’t watching, which was good, considering Cara wouldn’t know what had gotten into Alexa. And she would be hard-pressed to explain. All she knew, all she felt, was a bone-deep loneliness that reached into her soul, and this man’s intense and interested stare provided her heart with a jump she hadn’t felt in too long.
A slow smile lifted his lips, and her pulse skyrocketed as he stood and made his way toward her, his swagger indicating self-confidence. Alexa experienced that same kind of self-assuredness in medical settings, though she normally fell short in other areas of her life. Still, she’d called on that attitude when beckoning him over, and she was glad she hadn’t stopped to think it through.
He joined her on the wooden floor, immediately picking up the rhythm. He danced close enough for her to smell his woodsy cologne that both surrounded and aroused her. As they moved, their bodies spoke for them, their synchronicity startling for two people who’d never met. And when the music turned sultry, he was all too willing to join her for some dirty dancing. He ground his hips against hers, the swell of his erection pressing deliciously against her—too intimately for strangers, but too good to deny.
So she didn’t.
Instead, she let the heat of desire crackle and spark between them, and fire licked at her veins.
Cara eased closer and looked from Alexa to her partner, her eyebrows raised, a concerned expression on her face. Alexa ignored her. She needed this sense of freedom, the release this man provided. She hadn’t realized how badly until now.
Pure enjoyment and fun.
When was the last time she’d allowed herself the luxury?
Her dance partner’s hands slid to her waist. She’d worn black leggings and a cream cardigan, which she’d unbuttoned to show both cleavage and the barest hint of her lace cami underneath. She reaped the benefit of her clothing choice now and trembled at the rasp of his calloused palms caressing her sensitive skin.
A sexy grin lifted his lips, and he continued the dance along with the erotic assault on her senses. She could have lingered in their intimate embrace all night, but from the corner of her eye, Alexa caught sight of Cara’s ex-boyfriend, Mike.