Title: Love & Other Lies
Series: A Love and Laughs Novel
Author: Jackie Walker
Release: April 25, 2021
Genre: Romantic Comedy; Fake Marriage; Friends to Lovers; Billionaire Heroine
Cover Design: Kim Bailey at Bailey Cover Boutique
Series: A Love and Laughs Novel
Author: Jackie Walker
Release: April 25, 2021
Genre: Romantic Comedy; Fake Marriage; Friends to Lovers; Billionaire Heroine
Cover Design: Kim Bailey at Bailey Cover Boutique
It started as a little white lie.
A temporary marriage of convenience that would only last a few days — then we’d go back to just being friends.
After all, Cort Amos and I aren’t in love. We only tied the knot so I wouldn’t have to marry the greedy social climber my billionaire father had chosen as the son-in-law he wanted to inherit the company.
But then came the romantic honeymoon across Europe — my father’s apology gift to me.
Day after day. Night after night. Spent with a man I’ve been drooling over since the day we met, while we're in some of the most romantic places on the planet. So when he suggests we explore our physical attraction while on this vacation ... just for fun, I can’t help but say yes.
He’s sweet and charming, and he knows just how to make me laugh. Not to mention those shoulders and that smile and those washboard abs. I can hardly catch my breath around him.
But it’s all in fun — he doesn’t want a serious relationship any more than I do. When we get back home, it will all come to an end, just like we planned.
Simple right? We can totally pull this off without feelings getting involved. No sweat.
Gulp.
I think I’m a big fat liar.
A temporary marriage of convenience that would only last a few days — then we’d go back to just being friends.
After all, Cort Amos and I aren’t in love. We only tied the knot so I wouldn’t have to marry the greedy social climber my billionaire father had chosen as the son-in-law he wanted to inherit the company.
But then came the romantic honeymoon across Europe — my father’s apology gift to me.
Day after day. Night after night. Spent with a man I’ve been drooling over since the day we met, while we're in some of the most romantic places on the planet. So when he suggests we explore our physical attraction while on this vacation ... just for fun, I can’t help but say yes.
He’s sweet and charming, and he knows just how to make me laugh. Not to mention those shoulders and that smile and those washboard abs. I can hardly catch my breath around him.
But it’s all in fun — he doesn’t want a serious relationship any more than I do. When we get back home, it will all come to an end, just like we planned.
Simple right? We can totally pull this off without feelings getting involved. No sweat.
Gulp.
I think I’m a big fat liar.
“Actually, what are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?” she asks. I guess this is the first time she’s thought of this too.
“Well, there is a couch, but it's pretty short for me and doesn’t fold out. I can't in good conscience let you sleep on a sofa while I take the bed. Speaking of the bed, it is a king. So, I propose that we both sleep there. There is plenty of room, and we don’t even have to touch. Unless, of course, you simply can’t keep your hands off me, in which case, I doubt I’d be able to fight you off. I mean, you’re pretty buff and I’m just all flab, so you’d no doubt overpower me.” I flex my biceps giving her front row tickets to the gun show. Pow pow!
“Har dee fucking har har, Cort. You think you are soooo irresistible, don’t you?” She puts her hands on her hips and stares me down with the slightest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her cherry lips.
“Well, you are the one that said I’m cute and sexy. Plus, I seem to recall you attacking me in the courthouse when the JP said it was time to kiss the bride. I was trying to keep it clean and PG, but you just dove in there balls to the wall. So, really I’m just connecting the dots.”
She rolls her eyes and says, “I’ll have you know that I can resist you just fine. Even if we sleep in the same bed.” Standing toe to toe with me, she digs her finger into my chest as she says that — tapping me once with each word as if to physically drive her point home. I flex my pecs on reflex, giving her a nice firm target.
“Oh really? Care to put your money where your mouth is?” I’m goading her, because I’ve learned she doesn’t like to back down from a challenge. At this point, I’m fairly certain she’s going to insist I share the bed with her. From there, nature will just take over. Easy peezy, my dick she will squeezy.
“Fine. What are the stakes?”
“Alright, let me think.” I cross my arms and place my chin in my between my thumb and forefinger, pretending to be deep in thought. “So, we’ll share the bed for the duration of this so-called-honeymoon, and if you don’t stay on your side of the bed, then you’ll have to refer to me as the Lord of Your Loins for the remainder of the trip. And, if I should cross over to your side of the bed first, then I’ll only refer to you as the Lady of My Loins.”
“That’s a ridiculous bet. Those aren’t real stakes!”
“Well, I can’t compete with you financially. A hundred dollars or whatever I can afford isn’t going to make a dent in your bank account. So, all I have to play with here is abject humiliation.”
She sighs loudly, pressing out a gush of warm air in frustration. Since I’ve got a half a foot of height on her, her breath caresses my neck. She’s so close, I can feel the heat coming off her skin, scorching into mine. Fuck, I want her.
“So, all that is on the line are nicknames? Really? That hardly seems like a disincentive. Not that I need one, because I can completely resist you. I’ll resist your socks off.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that nicknames are ALL that's on the line. I mean, there are also many, many orgasms on the line, if you want to get technical about it.”
She makes a slight whimpering sound, confirming that she wants me as much as I want her. I knew it. This chemistry has never been one-sided, we’ve just been very good at ignoring it. And now, it seems nearly pointless to resist. At least temporarily. Long term, we won’t work, since I don’t do permanent, and she’s not ready for a relationship. But, why not have fun for a little while?
“Cort, we agreed to keep things platonic,” she says on a near whisper. Her hands, which were down at her sides, start to move up toward my waist. But before she touches me, she pulls them back and fists them at her side once more.
“Yes, we did. And, that doesn’t have to change just because we share a bed, right?”
“Well, there is a couch, but it's pretty short for me and doesn’t fold out. I can't in good conscience let you sleep on a sofa while I take the bed. Speaking of the bed, it is a king. So, I propose that we both sleep there. There is plenty of room, and we don’t even have to touch. Unless, of course, you simply can’t keep your hands off me, in which case, I doubt I’d be able to fight you off. I mean, you’re pretty buff and I’m just all flab, so you’d no doubt overpower me.” I flex my biceps giving her front row tickets to the gun show. Pow pow!
“Har dee fucking har har, Cort. You think you are soooo irresistible, don’t you?” She puts her hands on her hips and stares me down with the slightest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her cherry lips.
“Well, you are the one that said I’m cute and sexy. Plus, I seem to recall you attacking me in the courthouse when the JP said it was time to kiss the bride. I was trying to keep it clean and PG, but you just dove in there balls to the wall. So, really I’m just connecting the dots.”
She rolls her eyes and says, “I’ll have you know that I can resist you just fine. Even if we sleep in the same bed.” Standing toe to toe with me, she digs her finger into my chest as she says that — tapping me once with each word as if to physically drive her point home. I flex my pecs on reflex, giving her a nice firm target.
“Oh really? Care to put your money where your mouth is?” I’m goading her, because I’ve learned she doesn’t like to back down from a challenge. At this point, I’m fairly certain she’s going to insist I share the bed with her. From there, nature will just take over. Easy peezy, my dick she will squeezy.
“Fine. What are the stakes?”
“Alright, let me think.” I cross my arms and place my chin in my between my thumb and forefinger, pretending to be deep in thought. “So, we’ll share the bed for the duration of this so-called-honeymoon, and if you don’t stay on your side of the bed, then you’ll have to refer to me as the Lord of Your Loins for the remainder of the trip. And, if I should cross over to your side of the bed first, then I’ll only refer to you as the Lady of My Loins.”
“That’s a ridiculous bet. Those aren’t real stakes!”
“Well, I can’t compete with you financially. A hundred dollars or whatever I can afford isn’t going to make a dent in your bank account. So, all I have to play with here is abject humiliation.”
She sighs loudly, pressing out a gush of warm air in frustration. Since I’ve got a half a foot of height on her, her breath caresses my neck. She’s so close, I can feel the heat coming off her skin, scorching into mine. Fuck, I want her.
“So, all that is on the line are nicknames? Really? That hardly seems like a disincentive. Not that I need one, because I can completely resist you. I’ll resist your socks off.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that nicknames are ALL that's on the line. I mean, there are also many, many orgasms on the line, if you want to get technical about it.”
She makes a slight whimpering sound, confirming that she wants me as much as I want her. I knew it. This chemistry has never been one-sided, we’ve just been very good at ignoring it. And now, it seems nearly pointless to resist. At least temporarily. Long term, we won’t work, since I don’t do permanent, and she’s not ready for a relationship. But, why not have fun for a little while?
“Cort, we agreed to keep things platonic,” she says on a near whisper. Her hands, which were down at her sides, start to move up toward my waist. But before she touches me, she pulls them back and fists them at her side once more.
“Yes, we did. And, that doesn’t have to change just because we share a bed, right?”
One day during the COVID quarantine (a.k.a. the dark time), Jackie was reading yet another laugh a minute rom-com by Lucy Score or Pippa Grant, and she thought to herself - hey, I can do that. And so, she did and it turned out even better than even she thought possible.
Jackie is a fresh face on the romance author scene destined to shake things up with her signature blend of light-hearted comedy, over the top characters and romantic heartwarming moments. A voracious romance reader herself, Jackie writes stories featuring the four S's: Snark, Swoons, Steam and Sarcasm. Her heroines are bad-ass and her heroes are easy on the eyes and heavy on the charm.
When she is not writing funny stories about swoony heroes and the women who get to play with them, she is reading all types of romance novels or taking care of her army of cats and her teenage son (who also speaks fluent sarcasm).
Jackie is a fresh face on the romance author scene destined to shake things up with her signature blend of light-hearted comedy, over the top characters and romantic heartwarming moments. A voracious romance reader herself, Jackie writes stories featuring the four S's: Snark, Swoons, Steam and Sarcasm. Her heroines are bad-ass and her heroes are easy on the eyes and heavy on the charm.
When she is not writing funny stories about swoony heroes and the women who get to play with them, she is reading all types of romance novels or taking care of her army of cats and her teenage son (who also speaks fluent sarcasm).
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