Read Last Call Page 12


  Mai Tai’d Up

  Lucas came in the front door of the animal hospital with a bag over his shoulder and a cup of coffee in his hand. “Hey, Chloe,” he said, smiling and stopping just a few inches from me. “Morning, Marge.”

  “Hey, Lucas, how’s your day going?” I asked, turning from Marge slightly to look at him, which meant looking up at him. Fudge, this guy was tall; it surprised me almost every time I was around him. “I see you got your scrubs washed in time for work today.”

  “I’m barely here on time; I overslept. You wore me out yesterday.” He groaned, rotating his shoulders a bit.

  “Me!” I exclaimed, massaging his left shoulder. “You’re the one that wanted to keep going; I was good after twenty minutes. Especially once I found that sweet spot.” I smiled.

  “Yeah, but admit it. You loved it.”

  “Oh, yeah. Totally worth the soreness today. But next time we should stretch afterward.”

  “Agreed. By the way, you left this in the back of my truck yesterday,” he said, pulling my bikini top out of the bag on his shoulder.

  “Oh, thanks, that was thoughtful. I wondered where that went.”

  Marge’s head exploded in a cloud of Jean Naté confetti. “What the . . . But when did . . . Now wait just a—”

  The two of us grinned at each other, perfectly aware of what we’d just said and how it sounded.

  “See you tonight?” I asked, and he gave me a slow nod.

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” he murmured, his voice low and full of promise. “You headed home now?”

  “Mm-hmm.” I nodded also, just as slowly. I pursed my lips. He licked his. Marge sighed dreamily, and I had to cough to cover up a laugh. “Walk me to my car?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Setting his bag and coffee on the front desk, he guided me out the front door with his hand in the small of my back. Not pushing, just the warmth of his skin telling me which way to go.

  “See ya, Marge,” I called over my shoulder, then rested my head on his bicep for good measure. We could hear her sputtering halfway out into the parking lot. “I think we just made her day,” I cackled, collapsing against the side of the clinic.

  “I don’t know how you kept it together. I thought for sure I was going to lose it when you started in with the sweet spot.”

  “Well, that’s typically when everyone loses it,” I quipped, and he groaned. We took a moment to compose ourselves, and then started to walk over to my car.

  “So, tonight?”

  “What about tonight?” I asked, wiping a tear from my eye, still chuckling a bit.

  “Pretty sure you just insinuated back there that we had plans for tonight.”

  “I did?”

  “You said, and I quote, ‘see you tonight,’ ” he said. “In a very Marilyn Monroe voice too, which was a nice touch, by the way,” he said.

  “Oh, yeah, I guess I did,” I mused. “Well, we don’t really have to do anything. It was mainly for effect, just to mess with her a bit.”

  “While I always love an opportunity to mess with Marge, I’d hate to make us liars. What time should I come over?”

  “Come over?”

  “You said it, sister. Now you plan it,” he replied, pointing at me. “It’ll be hard to top paddleboarding, but try.”

  There was that twinkle again. You’d think a guy that twinkles as much as he does wouldn’t get to me, but boy . . . this guy’s twinkle had some voodoo magic.

  “I can’t promise anything as elaborate as paddleboarding, but how about dinner? Should be a nice night; we could grill and sit out on the patio?”

  “Done. Six thirty?”

  “Done.”

  And with that, a plan was made. And he was keeping his promise: those nights and weekends were getting filled.

  Speaking of getting filled . . .

  No one was speaking of getting filled!

  Don't miss any of the intoxicating humor and sexy romance in the Cocktail Series by New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton!

  See how it all began for Caroline and Simon in WALLBANGER! On sale now!

  Wallbanger

  * * *

  Caroline, Simon and Clive are back! And with even more nook time!

  Rusty Nailed

  * * *

  Simon's friend Vivian is a romantic at heart, hell bent on not falling for the sexy librarian next door.

  Screwdrivered

  * * *

  Eligible bachelor Lucas Campbell is very available, but very picky. Chloe Patterson has the body of a supermodel, the mouth of a sailor, and the fashion sense of teenage guy in 1990s Seattle. Will one moonlit sail, two bottles of wine, and forty pit bulls bring these two together?

  Mai Tai'd Up

  * * *

  ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!

  PHOTO BY LISA NORDMANN

  ALICE CLAYTON worked in the cosmetics industry for over a decade before picking up a pen (read laptop). She enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up, and finally convinced her long-time boyfriend to marry her. Now, about that Bernese Mountain dog. . . .

  @Alice_Clayton

  Facebook.com/TheAliceClayton

  www.aliceclayton.com

  FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Alice-Clayton

  MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT

  SimonandSchuster.com

  Facebook.com/GalleryBooks

  @GalleryBooks

  also by Alice clayton

  The Redhead Series

  The Unidentified Redhead

  The Redhead Revealed

  The Redhead Plays Her Hand

  The Cocktail Series

  Wallbanger

  Rusty Nailed

  Screwdrivered

  Mai Tai’d Up

  We hope you enjoyed reading this Gallery Books eBook.

  * * *

  Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Gallery Books and Simon & Schuster.

  CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

  or visit us online to sign up at

  eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

  Gallery Books

  A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas

  New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Alice Clayton

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Gallery Books trade paperback edition January 2015

  GALLERY BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Cover photography by Claudio Dogar-Marinesco

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Clayton, Alice.

   Last call / Alice Clayton.—First Gallery Books trade paperback edition.

    pages ; cm.—(The cocktail series)

   I. Title.

   PS3603.L3968L37 2015

   813'.6—dc23      2014040156

  ISBN 978-1-4767-6676-8

  ISBN 978-1-4767-6677-5 (ebook)

 


 

  Alice Clayton, Last Call

  (Series: # )

 

 


 

 
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net

Share this book with friends