Her Moonlit Gamble — Emma Jay

Joslyn Alexander has done a good job at keeping herself distant--from everyone but her best friend from high school, Andrew Norris. He's been there for her since her parents died and helped her get on with her life, then went on with his.

Now he's home from the army and he wants something more. He accompanies her to her friend's wedding in Hawaii, where they zip-line, hike, and dive with sharks. But the real risk he wants to take is to make Joslyn fall in love with him.

She's so good at protecting her heart, she doesn't know how to give it. Will he be able to change her mind?

Excerpt:


“Hey! Joslyn! Where you going?”
His shout surprised her and she turned to see him waving. She was pretty sure every female in the vicinity watched as he sliced through the water toward her. She glanced over his shoulder to see the three mermaids looking disgruntled.
“To the bar.” She inclined her head toward the nearby bar, crowded.
He pulled himself out of the pool in one graceful move and trotted after her, leaving a dripping trail behind him, and she didn't mean from the pool water.
“Wait up.”
Together they joined the line, and she cursed the ball of tension forming beneath her ribs. Finally, she turned to him.
“Look, if you want to bring those girls back to the room, it's fine with me.” But wow, that tone sent a completely different message, and she winced at the snappishness of it.
He grinned. “You think that's what I do? That I fuck three women?”
Heat poured through her at his question. She'd never heard him say “fuck” when referring to the action, and hearing it now made her nipples hard.
The woman in front of them, mid-forties, maybe, turned around with a frown on her face. Her gaze dragged over Andrew's chest, then she shrugged and turned back around. Joslyn swallowed a giggle.
“I don't think about it,” she said stiffly.
“Liar. You've been thinking about it all night.”
“I have not.” She couldn't meet his gaze because she knew he'd see the lie in her eyes.
He braced his hand on the post behind her head, the one she wanted to hide behind. “I'll tell you, so you don't wonder. I like one woman, so I can concentrate on her, one inch of skin at a time, usually starting right here.”
He tapped the sensitive skin below her ear and she damn near melted into the patio. The woman in front of them started fanning herself with her hand, but didn't look back again.
“I don't care what you do,” Joslyn retorted, though every hormone in her body thrummed, insisting they would only be satisfied if she rubbed herself against him. She risked lifting her eyes to his. The heat she saw there was alien, and sent a stab of lust through her that settled between her legs. She barely trusted her voice. “I just wanted you to know it won't bother me if you want to bring someone back to the room. I know it's been awhile for you.”
“It has been.” His feet didn't move, but he eased closer, and her nipples hardened in anticipation of pressing against that hard body. “A long while.”