Book Title: In Bed with the Competition
Author: J.K. Coi
Release Date: June 30, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book Synopsis:
This rivalry is too hot for
the tropics…
Elizabeth Carlson and Ben
Harrison used to be friends, coworkers... and almost lovers.
But that was before Ben proposed mixing business with pleasure. Elizabeth
refuses to lose her heart to a hotshot tycoon with a cutthroat,
take-no-prisoners attitude. Not with the prospect of starting her own company
at stake.
Driven to succeed in all areas
of his life, Ben couldn’t resist the temptation to make Liz his.
But then she walked away, igniting a bitter rivalry. Competing for the same
contract at a Caribbean conference ignites sparks too hot to ignore, and Ben’s
determined to finish what they started, even if it’ll only last a few steamy,
tropical nights.
Elizabeth’s resolve begins to
crumble under Ben’s blatant seduction. Can she walk away from a hot island
fling with the sexiest man she’s ever known with her heart intact, or will
losing herself in Ben destroy everything she’s fought to achieve?
Buy Links
Excerpt:
Excerpt from
In Bed with the Competition
In Bed with the Competition
by J.K. Coi
Copyright © 2014
by J.K. Coi. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute,
or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary
rights, please contact the Publisher.
Chapter One
Ben Harrison had
seen his fair share of women in bikinis, but this one seemed different. For
one, she wasn’t model thin with toothpicks for limbs, but had killer curves and
legs that went for miles. His mouth went dry as he took it all in. A wide straw
hat. The thin ribbon ties of her top coming together in the middle of her back.
The ends trailing down a few inches, drawing the eye to the curve of her waist
and then lower, to bright red bottoms.
He felt guilty
for staring and averted his gaze, but Nolan’s low whistle of appreciation
reflected Ben’s sentiments exactly.
He turned to his
friend with a raised brow. “What are you looking at?”
Nolan leaned up
on one elbow and tilted his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. “The same
thing as you, I’m thinking.”
“Well, you can
just lie back down and forget about it. We might be here a couple of days
early, but there’s still a lot to do to get ready for the convention.” Ben
enjoyed the occasional break, which is why he and his business partner Steve
Nolan had come to Antigua two days before this convention was scheduled to
begin. But no matter where he went, he never left the work entirely behind,
because he still hadn’t achieved his goals.
“Not for me,”
Nolan protested with a grin. “And not for you, either. We got this nailed,
Harrison. Everyone will be lining up to hand over their money. And you have to
admit, if you look at any more reports, you’re going to go blind. Trust me,
nobody likes a squinting playboy without a tan, no matter how innovative he
is.”
Ben frowned. A
year ago he’d been a nobody, fighting tooth and nail to make his mark along
with all the rest, but after appearing at a few gala events with heiress and
model-turned-CEO Meredith Stone, someone had decided to run a story on him, and
suddenly he was considered a playboy. “It’s bad enough I get that shit from the
media. I don’t need to hear it from you, too.”
“What? You don’t
appreciate the attention?” Nolan smirked.
It was
disconcerting and inconvenient, but Nolan was of the opinion that a little
media attention of any kind was a good thing. It had the potential to translate
into the kind of corporate interest they desperately needed, and that made it
worth putting up with for a while. Both of them had sunk everything they had
into their cutting-edge software development company, but it just wasn’t
enough. They needed more capital, and they needed it now.
That’s what had
brought them to Antigua. The Artificial Intelligence world was a small one, all
the industry players would be at this convention, and they would all be looking
for the next big Internet money-maker—that’s where Optimus Inc. came in.
Nolan grinned.
“If you ask me, the fact that the media hounds have locked onto someone else’s
scent for a while is fucking fantastic.”
“Yeah, I’m sure
you’re ecstatic,” Ben answered with a shake of his head.
The reporters
might suddenly consider Ben Harrison’s life fodder for their pages, but they
practically wet themselves over any chance to photograph brilliant mathematician
and bad boy Steve Nolan, whose family had been the stuff of society legend
until it all fell apart in a public scandal a few years ago…and who was now
having too damn much fun at Ben’s expense.
Ben’s attention
shifted back to the woman on the pool deck. She faced away from them, having
arranged herself on an available deck chair in front of the sparkling pool. She
was applying lotion to her legs and thighs. Her motions were slow and smooth,
the sun bouncing off her perfect, slick skin. It didn’t take much for him to
start imagining those legs wrapped around him…
Maybe he had been
staring at reports too long. After all, he’d left New York early to scratch his
itch for adventure…and a reckless island fling could be exactly the thing he
needed.
Nolan moved to
get out of his chair. “Well, since you’re not going over there, I think I’ll
introduce myself—”
“No way.” Ben
shoved him back. He stood and grabbed his shirt, flinging it over his shoulder.
“You’ve got your wish. I’ll clock out for the rest of the day, but that means
you have to check in with Clarissa in New York.”
Nolan groaned
good-naturedly. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry
about me.” He glanced over his shoulder. “With any luck, I’ll soon be
sufficiently distracted for the rest of the night.”
Ben walked away,
but having escaped Nolan, he quickly changed his mind, deciding he was going
back to his room after all. He didn’t want to intrude on the woman’s privacy.
There was going to be a preponderance of a certain type of person at the resort
this week: execs and programmers specializing in programming initiatives, and
the marketing bottom feeders who were just looking to capitalize on someone
else’s innovation. The facilities had been completely booked by the convention,
so while he couldn’t picture many software engineers who looked like her, it
stood to reason she was another early arrival taking advantage of an
opportunity for some time to relax before the hordes descended, and he didn’t
want to encroach on that.
As he passed her
chair, though, he couldn’t help but slow. A large beach bag rested on the
ground beside her, a colorful towel spilling out of it. He wondered if she
planned to take a dip in the pool later. That was something he didn’t think
he’d want to miss out on.
Right now, she
lounged back in the reclined deck chair. Her drop dead gorgeous body was
presented to the sun like an offering, and the front of her was equally as
stunning as the rest. The round globes of her breasts teased him from behind
smallish triangles of bright red Lycra. Her skin was smooth and creamy,
gleaming with the layer of sunscreen she’d just applied, but pale, as if she
took vacation about as often as he did. Then again, after a few days in that
tiny bikini, she’d be golden in no time.
She’d taken out
a book, presumably from the depths of the large bag, but it lay closed in her
lap. He raised his brows. That was some dense, technical subject matter. His
first instinct had been correct; she was obviously here for the convention.
That put a different spin on his interest, and he stopped walking altogether,
trying to decide if he recognized her. He thought he might, but oversize dark
glasses covered her eyes.
She wore a thick
gold band on her thumb that looked better suited to a man, but no rings on any
of her other fingers, including the third finger of her left hand. Not that
such an absence meant as much these days as it used to. The band gave him
pause, though. He used to know someone who wore a thumb ring like that.
Looking closer,
he tried to see past the floppy straw hat. It covered her face and hair, with a
red ribbon that matched her bikini. Thick curls escaped from beneath it and
fell to her shoulders. He used to know someone with tight curls like that, too.
“Um, excuse me.
You’re in my sun.”
He was startled
by her relaxed, husky voice, as if she’d just been through a long night of
steamy sex, and he was the man who’d awakened her with kisses to do it all over
again. That voice was familiar, too.
Very familiar.
He cleared his
throat and inclined his head with his most approachable smile. “My apologies.
You caught me daydreaming.”
“Oh, is that
what you were doing? Not staring at my…uh…hat?” Her lips were coated with some
kind of clear gloss that made them look wet and full. A cocked eyebrow rose
above the rim of her sunglasses. The way she did that, the tilt of her head as
she looked up at him…
He laughed, but
his gut tightened. “Ah, maybe you’re right, and that’s what got me daydreaming.
You have a very lovely…hat after all.”
The hair was
different. Her body was different…or maybe he’d just never seen so much of it
before. If only he could look into her eyes to know for sure.
He readjusted
the shirt he’d thrown over his shoulder and stepped closer. “Would you and your
hat care to meet me in the bar tonight for a drink?”
That eyebrow
went up again at his boldness, and her hand clenched on the book in her lap
like a shield.
“I don’t mean to
intrude on your holiday,” he added quickly. “But if you’re here alone and you’d
like some company…”
She pressed her
lips together, and he felt the weight of her assessing gaze travelling down the
length of him, even though he couldn’t see past the barrier of her dark
sunglasses.
After a long
moment, she reached up and slid the glasses down the bridge of her nose,
revealing deep green eyes. Green like the tropical water surrounding the
island.
Her gaze was the
same as a physical touch to his skin. Hot and unexpectedly jarring. Those eyes.
Yes. He knew those
eyes.
He knew her.
In the time it
took for him to verify his suspicion about her identity, her smile turned
brittle, and her expression hardened. “It’s only been a little over a year,
Harrison. Don’t tell me I was thatforgettable.”
Chapter Two
“Beth.”
She winced. He
was the only person who’d ever gotten away with calling her that. Her brother
had tried once, and she’d nearly decked him, but for some reason she’d never
objected when Ben had done it.
He sounded so
surprised. Yes, she’d changed in the year since seeing him last. She’d let her
hair grow out and lost some weight—okay, a lot of weight—but it wasn’t like she
was a different person.
Anger flared…or
was the heat building inside her something else entirely? She couldn’t take her
eyes of those pecs, unless it was to stare at his abs.
Put your damn
shirt on,
she wanted to scream. That was the only way she’d be able to concentrate. Of
course, he hadn’t changed at all. He was still too distracting
for his own good.
You’re
concentrating just fine, Liz. Yeah, but she didn’t want to
concentrate on him. She didn’t want to concentrate on the wide
expanse of his shoulders, the bulk of his chest, and the grin still curling his
damned lips. Or the way his blue eyes glimmered like sunshine bouncing off the
water in the pool. She hated that his voice started a fluttery thing way down
in the pit of her stomach, and that she couldn’t help but notice how his black
and red swimming trunks hung low on his waist, showing off more muscle than a
man had a right to have.
She definitely
did not want to admit that her heart had leapt into her throat
when he’d stopped in front of her.
“What are you
doing here, Harrison? Aren’t you much too busy going to dinner parties with
society heiresses for a boring industry convention these days?”
He only crossed
his arms over that massive chest—which did unexpectedly exciting and traitorous
things to her insides.
She had the
sudden urge to stand up from the deck chair to give herself some height, but
since she was only five-foot-five in her short-heeled beach sandals, he would
still be looking way down at her.
“I didn’t
recognize you for a minute there,” he said, gaze dipping down again. “It’s nice
to see you.” His voice lowered.
Go figure, he
actually sounded sincere.
If he took off
his sunglasses, what would she see? Welcome or nuisance? Indifference or regret?
Had he thought about her at all? Did he think about what had happened between
them, or was it all a wash? Forgotten in the excitement of his new venture…and
dates with famous women?
“I wish I could
say the same.” She readjusted her sunglasses so he couldn’t read anything from
her eyes. He’d always said that all he had to do was look into her eyes to know
what she was thinking.
Well, he could
try to figure her out all he wanted, but the last year had been filled with
changes, and she’d learned a lot, including how to perfect her poker face.
She purposely
picked up her book, thinking he’d take the hint and go away.
Just as she
realized the book was upside down and hastened to flip it over, he came closer,
blocking out the sun with his to-die-for physique.
The sudden shade
didn’t cool her body down. As he closed the distance between them, she only got
hotter.
She held her
breath as he dragged another lounger across the pool deck until it was right
beside hers.
He repeated his
invitation. “Have a drink with me.”
Her mouth
dropped open. “Why the hell would I do that?”
“Because we
should talk.”
“I’ve been in
the same place with the same phone number. If you wanted to talk,
you knew very well how to reach me every day of the last fourteen months.” She
winced at the hint of bitterness in her voice. She couldn’t really blame him
for not keeping in touch. He’d moved across the country and started his own
company, and since she’d gone into business for herself as well, she knew what
a huge, time-consuming undertaking it must have been. Not to mention that they
hadn’t exactly gone their separate ways on the best of terms.
“Are you saying
you’re busy then? What else do you have to do tonight?”
As if she
couldn’t possibly have anything better to do on an island paradise than spend
the evening with him?
Dropping the
book to her lap, she crossed her arms in front of her, but wasn’t deluded that
she was any better protected from his piercing looks and disarmingly familiar
smile.
“Not that it’s
any of your business, but I came here for work, not to waste my time tramping
down memory lane with the likes of you.”
“Are you
pitching something?” His expression narrowed. With competitive calculation or
simply interest?
Wouldn’t you
like to know? In
college he’d been the only person to get better grades than her. The only
person to get more attention from their professors. He’d gotten a scholarship
she had applied for. A job she’d wanted. When he left for New York, she’d
thought she was done competing with him, but she’d done her research and had no
delusions. Their two companies were producing a very similar product, and being
forced to compete with Ben again had been bound to happen sooner or later,
despite the geographic distance that was now between them.
Yes, Liz knew
exactly the kind of competition she was up against at this convention and in
this industry on the whole. The same competition she’d always been up against.
Ben Harrison.
I’m not
discussing my business with you,” she said stubbornly.
“That’s fine,”
he said too easily. “We don’t have to talk business.”
“There’s nothing
else we could possibly discuss with each other.”
“Beth, we were
friends for three years, and it’s been over a year since I saw you. Is it so
difficult to believe that I just want to know how you’ve been?”
She looked away
and pretended to be captivated by the beauty of the pristine pool.
Yes, they’d been
friends, and the good-natured competitiveness between them had always been
grounded in respect and an admiration for one another’s intelligence and
abilities.
Ben had been a
good friend…a great friend…her best friend…right up until the
moment he’d suggested they go into business together, and then, just to make
matters even worse…he’d kissed her.
No matter how
hard she’d tried to get them back to their friendship place, it hadn’t been the
same after that. And when he left for New York a month later—alone—it had
almost been a relief, because she knew she’d never be able to banish the other
feelings he’d forced her to acknowledge, the ones that stripped her raw and
left her vulnerable.
How could he do
that? How could he just ruin everything? Shock and denial
had left her shaken, angry, and scared for a long time, but she’d refused to
admit she might be angry with herself, too. Because part of her had seen it coming,
part of her had wanted it so badly…but she never would have
risked it.
She dared a
glance back at him. The sight of all that sculpted male flesh and those strong,
capable hands sent shivers racing through her even now. Her mouth went dry, and
her nipples tightened.
“Eight o’clock
in the bar?” he said expectantly. He appeared calm, relaxed, and criminally good
looking.
She shouldn’t.
Corporate secrets were stolen every day in her industry. She needed to protect
herself, especially from him. She remembered well how competitive Ben could be,
and they no longer had friendship between them to protect her from his ruthless
business practices.
“All right. I’ll
have a drink with you.”
His smile was
radiant as he stood, his big body casting a shadow again. “Good. I’ll see you
tonight at the bar then?”
She nodded
slowly, transfixed by the sight of those flexing arms and rippling abs as he
pulled his T-shirt over his head and tugged it down, covering everything—and
yet not covering enough, because the shirt molded to him like a second skin.
Good God. Are
you seriously thinking what I think you’re thinking? He’s going to eat you up
and spit you out.
Watching him
walk away, she clenched her jaw and imagined exactly how the “eating up” part
might play out.
Author
Bio:
J.K. Coi is a multi-published, award winning author of
contemporary and paranormal romance and urban fantasy. She makes her home in
Ontario, Canada, with her husband and son and a feisty black cat who is the
uncontested head of the household. While she spends her days immersed in the
litigious world of insurance law, she is very happy to spend her nights writing
dark and sexy characters who leap off the page and into readers’ hearts.
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1426838.J_K_Coi
Newsletter: http://www.jkcoi.com/contact.html#newsletter
Schedule:
June 30
July 1
July 2
July 3
July 4
July 7
Book reviewed at Bookaholics
July 8
July 9
July 10
July 11
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