The Mighty Storm (71 page)

Leaning down, I press my lips to her cheek, kissing her.

She feels amazing.

Her breathing hitches.

Good sign, Wethers.

I literally have to stop myself from punching the air like the
jerk-off
I am.

Lingering the kiss for as long as I can without it getting weird, I resist the urge to pull a move that will fuck everything up, and I move back away from her.

I need to take things slow with Tru if I
’
m going to get her to be mine.

I want her, but I want her in the right way.

I give her a warm smile. “So I
’
ll see you tonight then.” I open the door.

“
Yes, tonight. At eight.”

She walks through the door, stumbling slightly.

I hold in the laugh I feel. She
’
s so goddam cute.

“
Bye, Jake.
”

She
’
s lingering. A great sign.

“
Bye, Trudy Bennett.
”

She turns and walks down the hall. Yep, she still has an amazing ass.

I watch her walking away down the hall.

The phone in the suite rings so I reluctantly close the door.

Hearing Stuart talking, I figure the next interviewer is here. I groan inwardly.

The last thing I want to do is sit and talk to some
fucktard
.

What I really want to do is go
rub one out
and get this
‘
Tru hard-on
’
out of my system so I don
’
t try and jump her when I see her tonight.

Actually, that might take a few
dates with my hand
for that not to happen.

With a sigh, I walk back in to the living room, heading for my cigarettes, hating that she
’
s not here anymore, and wondering just what the fuck I can pull out of my sleeve to impress her tonight.

I don
’
t do romance. I do fucking.

Stuart appears in the living room.

Gay guys do romance. They
’
re the closest thing to women.

Stuart will know what romance type shit will turn her head in my direction, and away from her prick of a boyfriend.

“
Stuart…” I say raising my eyebrow. “I need your gay-pertise.”

I want to say my biggest thanks to Jenny Aspinall. I can’t say enough about how much you’ve helped me. We hit the ground running at chapter one, and you saw me through to the end. You held my hand when I went into meltdown (which was often!), you laughed with me, talked Jake and Tru every single day, and I just had an absolute blast doing this with you. You’re my rock star chica!

My next big thanks go to Sali Benbow-Powers and Lori Francis. You both came into TMS at its final stages, and rounded off what had already been an awesome experience. Sali you just absolutely crack me up! I adore your shouty caps – I know I’ve hit the mark when I get them. And Lori, your Americanising for Jake gave me the biggest laugh I have had in ages! I can’t thank you both enough. I truly heart you girls.

Thank you to Gitte Doherty and Totally Booked for all the support you have given me. You will always be my first go to for my next read. And thanks to Sarah Hansen and Samantha Baer (my Sam squared!) for those last bout of edits.

As always, humongous thanks to my amazing hubby Craig and my two beautiful children, Riley and Isabella. Writing TMS was intense and you let me be MIA in the urge to get it finished with no complaint whatsoever. I’m all yours now.

Thank you to Poppet for my beautiful cover design, and to Tattoos by Fabio for use of his amazing artwork on ‘Jake’.

Also, a huge thank you to Renae Porter for the amazingly, beautiful book trailer (I still can’t watch it without crying!) and for the added touch of ‘Jake’s’ chest tattoo – I love it!

Lastly, my heartfelt thanks goes out to you guys – my readers. Without you I’d have no one to share my imagination with. Thank you for taking a chance on me.