Excerpt:
Maya smacked into a wall of muscle.
“Raz!” She palmed his hunky chest and pushed.
He didn’t budge. Instead, he covered her hands with his much larger ones, trapping them against his pecs while he backed her against the fridge.
“Move.” Wow, that order came out more like a question, and good grief, could her voice sound any wispier? All breathy and needy? But damn it, touching him was doing all sorts of lusty things to her insides, again, and they were not in the right place or time to be—
Wait. Hold the horniness. There was never a right time for them. Friends. Friend Zone. The platonic zone.
Raz towered over her, his pretty eyes practically searing into her soul. “Hey, you all right?” His warm, warm fingers stroked the backs of her hands while the cold metal of the fridge sent goosies down her spine.
Okay, fine, it’s his touch sending the chills cavorting all over me. “I’m great.” Liar, liar, cookies on fire.
“Sure, you are.” He narrowed his eyes, too in tune with her to believe her fib—the danger of being such close friends for so long.
“I’ll be fine.” She yanked her hands out from under his and attempted to skirt around him, but he planted his stupid big hands against the fridge on either side of her, towering over her, caging her in.
He arched one dark blond brow and waited.
Damn it, he smelled so good, like clove, pine, and citrus. Have to get out of here. “I need to check on the cookies.”
“No, you don’t. You just put in that batch.”
“Again, I ask, what do you know about baking? Zip, that’s what.”
“As much as I enjoy our banter, TT, something is up, and we’re not moving until you tell me.” His expression softened. “Let me help.”
Ugh, someone save me from heroic, soft-hearted warrior angels. “I’m not some problem you need to fix.” She ducked under his arm. This time, he let her go, much to her relief. And to no small amount of disappointment.
She busied herself arranging the cooled batch of cookies on a platter.
“Let me help,” he murmured again.
“I’ve got it.” She slid the last cookie onto the pile.
“Maya.”
Oh, man. He said her actual name instead of one of the bazillion nicknames he seemed to have for her. She nibbled on the side of her lip and tore her gaze off the cookie pile to face the source of her never-ending torment.
Brow furrowed, he stared down at her, concern clear in his eyes. They always darkened to forest green when he was upset, which was a rare occurrence for the upbeat, positive man. Except when he was in battle mode, like the time a bunch of creatures from Hell invaded Petaluma, and Raziel made his fiery sword appear out of nowhere then killed every scary monster that tried to attack her—
Raz tapped her forehead with his index finger. “You’re thinking very hard. Too hard for a party. What’s going on in that clever mind of yours?”
“Nothing.”
“Mm-hm.” He scanned her face. “You have a little something on your…” His gaze locked onto her cheek, and before she could so much as blink, he stroked his thumb over her skin, right near her lips.
Lips that wanted to be kissed sooooo damn badly. By him.
Shit. She grabbed his wrist and opened her mouth to lay into him as hard as her bantering skills would allow, to stop herself before she snaked her hands around his neck and tugged his face closer to hers to kiss—
Chimes trilled.
The air around them warmed.
Fireworks burst to life near the vaulted ceiling, and a scroll winked into existence in an explosion of pink and gold sparkles.
Holy sugar sprinkles. The cupids had crashed the party.
Thank you for hosting Maya and Raz on your blog for release day! :-)
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