Blurb:
I
didn’t believe in love at first sight, until I first saw Lucas Kade.
I
was giving swimming lessons to children when I saw him. Turns out one of the
kids was Lucas’s little brother. So, I’d be seeing a lot more of Lucas. And
that was just fine with me.
I
had a lot going on—a freshman at an elite college, first time away from home,
and, oh yeah, roommates with a girl I’d been sent to spy on. I wasn’t exactly
looking for anything exclusive. Something casual, though, would be great.
But
there was nothing casual about my feelings for Lucas.
He
was a townie, hiding a secret, and I knew better than to get involved. I was
always the sensible one, the peacekeeper.
Before
I knew it…I was In Too Deep.
Excerpt:
I swam laps for an hour. It was longer than what I normally did,
and I pushed myself harder. I thought about the studying I should be doing. I
thought about my roommates and how we were—finally—starting to gel.
But my mind kept
coming back to Lucas. I knew Andy’s last name was Bell from my roster. But that
didn’t necessarily mean Lucas had the same last name. In fact, that would be
pretty rare with the kids in this program.
Bribury was an elite,
Ivy League wannabe school filled with the kids of movers and shakers who didn’t
have quite enough moves and shakes to get their kids into Harvard or Yale. It
was in a smallish town halfway between Baltimore and DC.
It was idyllic and
ivy-covered (see? they’ve got nothing on us; our ivy grows just as thick) and
small and exclusive. There was nothing but BMWs, Mercedes, and other sports
cars in the student parking lot.
But the town that
surrounded Bribury was—in my father’s words—a complete shithole.
Crime, poverty, drugs…the
Triple Crown of shitholes.
On campus, we didn’t
see it. And if our power-hungry parents had taught us anything, it was to not
see what we didn’t want to.
Unless it looked good
to do so.
After swimming laps,
I walked through the deserted locker room to the far corner and the
old-fashioned steam room. I grabbed three of the clean towels from the bench in
front, and made my way into the room I’d turned on before lessons.
I loved this steam room.
It was like something out of a movie, where, like, the Ukrainian mafia
discussed who was going to be “offed” or something.
I peeled out of my
suit, wrung it out, and laid it on the lower tile bench. I wrapped one of the
towels around me and spread another one out on the top tile bench, then sat on
it. Completing the old Ukrainian man vision in my mind, I draped the third
towel over my head, with a good third of it dangling in front, almost like a
shroud.
Instead of thinking
about who needed whacking, I thought again of Lucas. Of how his tall, muscular
body moved as he’d walked down the hall toward me. Of how his hair had been so
black and smooth once he’d gotten close. Of how I wished he’d gotten even
closer.
I wasn’t a total
whore, and had only been with one boyfriend in high school, but the sight of
Lucas’s broad shoulders in the black polo, and his tight—I mean tight—ass in those jeans… Well, that
sight would get even the goodiest goodie-goodie wondering if she could get away
with a quick, self-administered relief session right here, in a university
steam room.
I didn’t, of course,
but God, how my body wanted me to. Exhausted from the laps, further wrung out
from the heat and steam, my limbs felt languid and liquid. Like my arms and
legs might just blend into the scuzzy old tile that lined the inside of the
room.
I lifted my arms to
the towel on my head, gently squeezing across my breasts as I did. My legs
shifted. I needed to get out of here, take a cold shower. The place was always
empty this late into the evening, but still, it wouldn’t do for Lily Spaulding,
daughter of Grayson Spaulding, political consultant extraordinaire, to be
caught diddling herself in a steam room.
Hmmm…but maybe in the
shower?
I rose from the
bench, the hard tile having made little dents in my ass and thighs, even
through the towel.
I wrapped the towel
from my head—not as sweat-and steam-drenched as the towel I’d worn—around my
body. I took the other two, and my swimsuit, and left the room, careful to turn
the room off at the control panel. Nobody seemed to mind—or notice?—that I was
here this late, but leaving a steam room on all night would probably curb that.
I walked out of the
room, turned toward my locker, and froze.
Lucas was staring
straight at me. He seemed as startled as I was, but recovered faster. A slow—God,
so sexy—smile spread across his face.
“I’m here to collect
the towels,” he said. Then the smile turned just a little deadly and I wondered
if I was about to get whacked by some fictional Ukrainian mafia boss. He nodded
at my body, at my hand that clung to my barely closed towel.
“Hand it over.”
Bio:
Mara
Jacobs is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the
Worth series.
After
graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in advertising, Mara
spent several years working at daily newspapers in advertising sales and
production. This certainly prepared her for the world of deadlines!
She
writes mysteries with romance, thrillers with romance, and romances with…well,
you get it.
Forever
a Yooper (someone who hails from Michigan's glorious Upper Peninsula), Mara now
splits her time between the Copper Country, Las Vegas, and East Lansing, where
she is better able to root on her beloved Spartans.
You can
find out more about Mara’s books at
In Too Deep Buy Links
Whew! That was like the hottest excerpt I've read all month. Thanks for sharing, Diane, and happy book birthday Mara!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kristen!
DeleteNow I'm in too deep! Great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nancy.
DeleteWow...fabulous excerpt and I love the cover! I wish you all the best!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Melissa.
DeleteWow, great excerpt!!! Congrats on the release!
ReplyDeleteGreat except and steamy cover! Congratulations, Mara!!! I wish you much success. :)
ReplyDelete*Excerpt.
DeleteThe blurb is intriguing. I hope the book does well.
ReplyDeleteDiane, thanks for your words of encouragement on my blog.
Ohhh, sounds so good! Just this small sample of writing had me laughing aloud. The language was so spot on with older teens that I know. Can't wait to read the whole thing!
ReplyDelete