Beard in Mind, an all new standalone in the bestselling, romantic comedy Winston Brothers Series by Penny Reid, is available NOW!
All
is fair in love and auto maintenance.
Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world.
Usually.
Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed
life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to
leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a
replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone
to hell in a handbasket.
Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.
She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She
glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch
another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot
speaks only in curse words.
Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of
Tennessee, and out of his life.
The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of
spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking
complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might
mean losing what matters most.
Excerpt:
She’d taken the sofa, in
her own house, and given me the bed. That didn’t make a lick of sense.
I crouched next to her,
threading my fingers into the silky hair at her temples. “Honey.”
“Mmm.”
I bent to whisper,
“Shelly.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m going to carry you to
your bed. I’ll take the sofa.”
“Mmm.”
I grinned at her soft
noises, at the untroubled expression on her face, and how her brow—even in
sleep—still looked regal and stern.
Sliding my arms under her
legs and shoulder, I picked her up. And, unfortunately, that woke her up.
She jerked in my arms.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you to the
bed.”
“Don’t do that.”
“I don’t mind, I’ll take
the sofa.” Our mouths were just inches apart, and hers was distracting.
She squirmed. “Put me down.”
Sighing unhappily, I did. I
set her on her feet next to the couch. The blanket pooled at her feet and I
stepped back to give her some space. It was dark, but I could see her just
fine, and that meant I had to force my eyes to remain above her neck. The woman
was wearing two pathetic scraps of fabric as pajamas. A thin little tank top
and shorts. That’s it.
I set my jaw and turned to
the side, waiting for her to walk past.
“Where are you?”
I glanced at her and
realized she couldn’t see at all. She didn’t have a hand out, but the way her
eyes were moving about the room gave away her blindness.
“I’m here.” I didn’t touch
her, because if I did, I wouldn’t want to stop.
Shelly turned her head in
my direction and took a deep breath. Still she didn’t reach for me. I didn’t
know the specifics of what to expect after her Friday session, but I recalled
Dr. West saying something about Shelly doing self-guided ERP exercises over
this week.
“Can you see?” She licked
her lips, her voice sandpapery. “Because I can’t see at all. It’s so dark.”
“I can see.” Unbidden, my
eyes dropped to her body, to the swell of her breasts, the panel of bare
stomach, the curve of her hips. Pinpricks of heat raised over my skin and I
curled my hands into fists.
She shuffled forward and I
caught her before she bumped into me, setting my hands gently at her waist.
“Let me take you to your
room.” My voice was rough, for obvious reasons.
Saying nothing, she brought
her hand to my forearm, her body gently colliding with mine. And then her hand
on my arm slid up my bicep to my shoulder.
“Shelly.” I was running out
of breath.
“I like this.”
“What?”
“Touching you.”
Oh fuck.
I held still and endured
her hands moving over my body, down the front of my shirt, stopping at the hem,
then pushing it up.
“Take this off.”
I did. I pulled the T-shirt
over my head and let it drop to the floor.
We stood there, facing each
other in the dark, not touching. Despite the session on Friday and the progress
that had been made, I realized she wasn’t quite there yet. Dr. West was right,
Friday was just a step, the first step. Shelly wasn’t able to initiate contact.
Not yet.
Her hands balled into fists
and she swayed forward, her breath struggling little puffs.
If anything was going to
happen tonight, I had to initiate it. I had to be the one to touch first.
God, how I wanted her. How
I wanted her above me, beneath me, surrounding me. But how could I?
“I know why I hesitate,”
her voice was breathless, “but why do you hesitate?”
“Lots of reasons.”
“Give me one.”
“I don’t want to you use
you.”
“I wish you would.”
That pulled a laugh from
me, just a small relief from the mounting tension. My eyes moved over her body,
an undeniable impulse to devour the sight of her, her legs, stomach, chest,
then up her neck to her lips.
“You asked me on Saturday
if sex was a big deal for me, or if it was you. The answer is both.”
She held very still, and I
got the sense she was holding her breath, straining to listen.
“You are a big deal to me.
I don’t want a fling. I don’t want a flirtation. I want promises.”
“What can I promise you?”
That you’ll love me. That I’ll be your priority.
She shifted her weight from
foot to foot. A spike of anxiety that she might leave me like this had me
acting without forethought. I lifted my hands to her waist again and
immediately, her fingertips skimmed over skin of my lower stomach in response, making
my muscles tense in hot anticipation. She grew more assertive as she caressed
my sides, abdomen, ribs, chest, shoulders, and then back down.
Shelly stepped closer, a
hint of thrilling contact between her breasts and my torso, and all the words
and worries melted from my mind, died on my tongue, suffocated by the feel of
her body, and the possibility of this moment.
Her finger hooked in the
waistband of my jeans. “Take these off.” Her hand turned, her fingers and palm
cupping me over my zipper.
Instinctively, I pressed
myself into her touch even as I grabbed her wrist.
“Beau, I promise—”
She didn’t get to speak,
because I kissed her, hard and wild, unbuttoning and unzipping my fly with one
hand and bringing her palm inside my boxers with the other.
Beard in Mind is book four in the Winston Brothers series. It can be read as a standalone. This was the first Winston Brother book I read. Beau is a Winston brother and this one is his and Shelly's story. There are a lot of side characters and I think because I hadn't read the previous books it took me a little bit ti wrap my head around who was who.
Beau is a sweet nice guy. He owns an auto shop with his brothers. While away one of his brothers hires a new mechanic. Shelly is the new mechanic. Beau doesn't know she is the new mechanic and their first meeting is pretty funny. Shelly is strong willed. She also has her issues. I really like her and thought she was prefect for Beau. This one was the perfect mixture of funny, romance, and some serious issues.
4 Amazeballs Stars!!
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Meet Penny Reid:
Penny Reid is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. When she’s not immersed in penning smart romances, Penny works in the biotech industry as a researcher. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
Connect with Penny:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD
Twitter: @ReidRomance
Newsletter: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/
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