Showing results by author "Lauren Blakely" in All Categories

Following rules shot me to the top of my game as an all-star baseball player, and the golden rule is this - don’t hook up with your teammate’s sister. But ask her to be your fake date when you desperately need one for a family wedding? Nothing in the guy code against that. Plus, the flirty, feisty Sierra’s my friend too, so why the hell not pretend we’re madly in lust for two days in Hawaii?

In my defense, putting a fake ring on my best friend’s finger seems like a good idea at the time. My dad needs me to look like a committed guy to close a business deal, so what’s the harm in boasting to, well, everyone that I’m the marrying kind of man? Now, I just need my best friend to help me out and play my fiancée for the next week. Good thing Charlotte has her reasons for saying yes to my plan. Just as long as we agree to zero touching, and absolutely no feelings. I can do that no problem.

All I want for the holidays is the willpower to resist my brother’s sexy, charming, easy-on-the-eyes new business partner. Instead, I'm stuck planning all the holiday parties with the one guy who makes me want to break my dating diet. Who thought that was a good idea? Oh, me. Yep, brilliant, strategic me who raised her hand and said yes I’d love to hang mistletoe with that hot former sports star. (Note to self: Mistletoe leads to toe-curling, knee-weakening kisses.)

Look, it wasn’t even my idea. But that’s hardly an excuse for agreeing to teach my best friend’s little sister how to win a man. But like I was going to let some other guy in the city help the deliciously awkward and ridiculously sexy woman figure out the ways of men? My unquenchable (and very secret) desire for Harper aside, she’s my good friend too. What’s the big deal if I give her a fake (but it feels real) kiss on the street? Or if I help her learn how to dirty text?

One night only - that was the deal we made. But one fantastic night had us both changing our minds in the morning. And making plans for another. Until I walked into the office to learn he just bought my company.

Lucas Xavier is the last person I want to spend 24 hours with, let alone two minutes. Exes are exes for a reason. In his case, for a million reasons. Because he's not only an ex-lover, he's also an ex-friend. We didn't just break up - we combusted in a spectacular bonfire of barbs and doors slammed. Nothing will change that. Not his clever wit, not his ridiculous good looks, not his unfair levels of charm. And definitely not a wild dash through the city that takes us on an accidental scavenger hunt through our past, where we stop for a tango lesson, pancakes and a visit with llamas.

Dog trainer Cara Bailey wants to find “the one,” but fantasizing about her sexy-as-hell client, firefighter Travis Jansen, is getting in the way. Her only option? Get the confirmed bachelor out of her system - in every position possible - so she can settle down with Mr. Right. Starting right now. Travis doesn’t do relationships, so no matter how badly he wants the pretty little brunette, he keeps his distance. Until Cara goes and changes the game. She’ll fulfill all of his fantasies if he agrees to walk away when it’s over.

Don’t play dirty. That’s the code I live by on and off the field. The other?Don’t get distracted. Not by the media, not by hookups, and definitely not by our rival team’s ridiculously charming star player, who loves to whisper dirty nothings to me every time we play ball. And sure, his offers are tempting, but he’s the love ‘em and leave ‘em type, and I want the real thing.

I live my life by a few simple rules - let no one in, trust only my family, and don’t ever spend more than three nights with a woman. Those are easy enough to abide by when I meet gorgeous, captivating and absolutely brilliant Sophie Winston, who wants nothing more than to explore all her sinful desires with me after dark. Desires that put me firmly in control in the bedroom. That works for me - as long as I can keep the secrets I need to protect. Not only the ones about my family, but the ones about how she’s interwoven into my dangerous past.

Every man knows there are lines you don't cross. Like this one - don't bang your boss' little sister. Too bad I didn't know sexy, clever, irresistible London is related to the guy who signs my paychecks. Would have been helpful to have that intel before I took her out on that first date, before I kissed her on the beach, before I made plans to take her home that night.

My former apprentice is the last person I want to work with. Ever. She still hates me since I fired her once upon a time. So when I’m forced to pair up with the wildly sexy brunette every day on the most important custom car build of my career, we spend our days firing snark and sarcasm at each other in the garage. Too bad watching her work automotive wonders with a wrench is doing something to me.

Let me make a few things clear. I didn’t go to the wedding intending to dance with the best man, to dare him to show me a very sexy pic on his phone, or to accidentally kiss him in the hotel elevator after the reception ended. But things just happen at weddings. The next day, Crosby and I agree to put all those shenanigans behind us. The fun-loving, stupidly gorgeous, all-star baseball player might be my brother’s best friend, but he’s my good friend too and has been for years. I can't risk losing him, even though now I can't stop thinking about how I want him to be my first.

I’m a single dad raising my daughter and running a business, so it’s safe to say the last woman I should even think about is the nanny. And yet, sweet, sexy, funny Abby invades my dreams every night. She’s gorgeous, kind, and amazing with my kiddo. Oh, and she’s teaching me French to help me land my new business deal all while teaching my princess how to read. A smart man would stay far away. But every day I spend with her only makes me want her more.

But when I met the sexy, powerful older man shortly after my business school graduation, he was simply the seductive stranger I wanted to notice me, and he sure did. Fast forward a few months later, when my college ex—now a good friend—introduces me to the person he looks up to most…his father. The man I spent that one hot night with.

When you think about how easy it is to lose keys, phones, sunglasses and your dignity on social media, you might figure it'd be a cinch for me to ditch my V Card. You'd be wrong. At 25, I run a successful business, live in a fantastic apartment, and have fabulous friends to go out with any night of the week. And yet I'm still a card-carrying member of a club I don't want to belong to anymore. Good thing I know just the man for the deflowering job - my brother’s business partner and best friend.

For one fantastic evening, at a masquerade party in the heart of Manhattan, I’m not the millionaire everyone wants a piece of. Fine—multimillionaire. But who’s counting all those commas? Not me, and not the most intriguing woman I've ever met, who happens to like dancing, witty banter, and hot, passionate up-against-the-wall sex as much as I do.

I wasn't in the market for a man. I definitely wasn't looking for a man like Clay Nichols, with a dirty mind and a mouth to match. But then he walked into my life one night, and he was everything I wanted. He's also exactly what I can't have. Because there's a price tag on my head. I'm a wanted woman, and I owe debts that were never mine. The dangerous men I owe have threatened to hurt anyone in my life if I don't pay up. So I work off my debts by playing cards in an underground poker ring. One so risky I shouldn't get involved with a soul.

Snagging a date? Not a problem. But one that meets my special requirements? As the premier best-man-for hire in all of Manhattan, I promise discretion, so when I need a plus one for a couple of I dos, she needs to be A-Plus in reliability. Fortunately, I have a brilliant solution in asking my best friend's sister to go on my arm. Truly is my good friend, too, and I trust her completely.

When the invitation arrived, it detailed the rules of the masquerade -- no names, no identities. I set one more-- find a most wicked man for one night. The kind who'll bring me deliciously naughty pleasure in dark corners. But as the clock ticks to midnight, he finds me, whisks me away to a secret alcove, and delivers all that dirty bliss and then some. We make arrangements for another secret rendez vous before I rush out of the ball.

That smoking hot one-night stand with a former rock star? Turns out he’s my son’s new music teacher. The night I met Campbell all I knew was he played my body the same way he strummed a guitar — like he owned it. Now I’ve learned he’s the man coming to my house twice a week to teach my kid — the best music lessons money can buy. Time to turn down the volume on the late-night shenanigans with the sexy single dad. Only that’s easier said than done....