Title: Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind
Author: Jessie Lane and Abbie Zanders
Genre: Sci/fi Romance
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Detective Ryan Winslet is a by-the-book kind of girl. The one and only time she allowed her personal feelings to cloud her judgement, the results were devastating. Now she’s getting a chance to make things right, but a certain sexy nightclub owner is muddying the waters.
Tiberius Maximus isn’t the first Aequorian prince to be exiled to Earth. Like his ancestors, he came, he saw, and he conquered. He’s vanquished his enemies, gained a fiercely loyal family, and runs an incredibly successful nightclub that might push a few legal human boundaries. The only thing he doesn’t have is the life mate he so desperately craves – until a salty blonde saunters into his club one night.
When the no-nonsense detective meets the exiled prince, their chemistry is off the intergalactic charts. Tiberius is convinced she’s the one for him, but Ryan’s not taking the bait. Sure, he’s über hot and seems like a great catch, but he’s also involved in some fishy business and thinks he’s from another planet.
Should she follow her head and throw him back? Or follow her instincts… and her heart… and jump into the deep end?
Tiberius sat back and sipped his drink, content to observe. It was amusing to watch the females compete for Donny’s attention. They flirted openly, made lewd suggestions, and sometimes even managed to grope him when he got too close. None of them realized, apparently, that Donny was in a happy, committed relationship with Jay. Donny’s flirtatious behavior was nothing more than his natural, outgoing joie de vivre. The eager females would receive nothing more than a friendly smile and excellent service in exchange for their generous tips, for it was only Jay he sought out at the end of every shift.
Tiberius was in the process of raising the glass to his lips when a voice cut through the din and rang like a crystal bell in his head. “Thanks, but no thanks. And just so you know, I’m a cop and she’s my best friend. If you so much as hurt her feelings, I will be back here, and not for a social call, get me?”
The voice set his nerves and loins tingling. He scanned the crowd, searching for the source.
“Everyone should have such fierce friends. She is in good hands with me, I assure you.” That was from Quintus.
“She’d better be.”
Tiberius stood, his heart thundering in his chest, his mind whirring at tornadic speed. There!He spotted Quintus first, tall and dark, his head bobbing above the majority of shorter humans as he moved away. And there, where he had been, a golden-haired female swathed in blue.
As if drawn by an unseen force, he moved toward her. A fierce, possessive need washed over him. He needed to get her away from the lascivious interests of the worked-up crowd.
Never before had he had such an instant and all-consuming reaction to the mere sight of a woman, in this realm or any other. Dare he hope that his prayers had been answered?
The odds were astronomical, yet his soul cared not. Neither chance nor logic entered into the equation. If the gods had decided to bless him with a mate, then they would also ensure their paths crossed at a location and timing of their choosing. Why not here? Why not now?
He stopped only a short distance away. She was looking in the other direction.
He took a moment to rake his eyes over her. Loose waves of golden silk cascaded over curves that made his mouth water. She was smaller than he had originally thought, barely reaching his neck, even in heels.
As if sensing his presence, she turned. Big, blue-green eyes, the perfect color of an Aequorian sea, widened as her gaze rose upward. He couldn’t help feeling pleased when her skin flushed a lovely shade of pink and her lips parted slightly. With his superior senses, he could hear her heart speed up and feel the heat radiating from her body.
“Oh,” she said.
Oh, indeed.
They stared at each other for a long moment, until the spell was broken when an overexuberant patron plowed into her back, pushing her forward, right into Tiberius’s waiting arms.
Energy coursed through his body, firing every nerve and lighting him up from the inside out.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, righting herself.
He wasn’t. It took every ounce of discipline he possessed not to pull her right back into his embrace.
When another surge of the crowd threatened, he placed his hand on her lower back and firmly but gently guided her out of harm’s way. “May I purchase a beverage for you?”
She blinked then shook her head slightly as if to clear it. “Thank you, but no. I was just leaving.”
Leaving? No, he couldn’t allow that. Not until he knew more about her and this inexplicable pull she seemed to have on him.
“Unacceptable.”
“Why unacceptable?”
“Because I have only just found you.”
“Does that line usually work?”
“I do not know. You are the first woman to whom I have spoken those words.”
Her eyes softened, then she cleared her throat. “Oh, you’re good.”
He grinned. “Does that mean it is working?”
She laughed, the sound filling his chest with light. “Kind of, yeah. But I really was just leaving. This”—she waved her hand around her—“isn’t really for me.”
“Then perhaps you will allow me to suggest a quieter venue, one where we may talk and get to know each other. There is a small eatery just down the street. I have been told it is quite good.”
She considered him for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, okay. Why not?”
Copyright © 2017-2018 Abbie Zanders & Jessie Lane.
All rights reserved.
Jessie Lane is a best-selling author of Paranormal and Contemporary Romance, as well as, Upper YA Paranormal Romance/Fantasy.
She lives in Kentucky with her two little Rock Chicks in-the-making and her over protective alpha husband that she’s pretty sure is a latent grizzly bear shifter. She has a passionate love for reading and writing naughty romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention, or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to them.
She’s also a proud member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA).
Abbie Zanders is a sucker for romance and promises her readers two things: happily ever afters, always, and no cliffhangers, ever. Alpha males and strong heroines are a given.
Abbie was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA. With degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics, she worked for more than twenty-five years as a software engineer, designing and writing financial applications, though she has also held second jobs as a deli clerk, pub waitress, restaurant baker, and secretary. She has been crafting stories since elementary school. She is a very busy wife and mother of three (including a set of identical twins). Besides being an avid reader and writer, she also loves animals (especially big dogs), classic muscle cars, and 80's hair bands.
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