THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE
Sex, Love & Stiletto's #4
Lauren Layne
Loveswept
As Lauren Layne’s salacious Sex, Love & Stiletto series returns, a jaded columnist discovers a steamy way to get over an old flame: falling for him all over again.
As Stiletto magazine’s authority on all things breakup-and-heartache, Emma Sinclair writes from personal experience. Five years ago, Emma was Charlotte, North Carolina’s darling debutante and a blushing bride-to-be. Now she’s the ice queen of the Manhattan dating scene. Emma left her sultry Southern drawl behind, but not even her closest friends know that with it she left her heart. Now Emma’s latest article forces her to face her demons—namely, the devilishly sexy guy who ditched her at the altar.
After giving up everything for a pro-soccer career, Alex Cassidy watches his dreams crumble as a knee injury sidelines him for good. Now he’s hanging up his cleats and giving journalism a shot. It’s just a coincidence that he happens to pick a job in the same field, and the same city, as his former fiancée . . . right?
But when Emma moves in next door, it’s no accident. It’s research. And Alex can’t help wondering what might have been. Unlike the innocent girl he remembers, this Emma is chic, sophisticated, and assertive—and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has never wanted her more.
But when Emma moves in next door, it’s no accident. It’s research. And Alex can’t help wondering what might have been. Unlike the innocent girl he remembers, this Emma is chic, sophisticated, and assertive—and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has never wanted her more.
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The
elevator doors had just started to close when a male hand stuck
between them, activating their sensors so that the doors reopened.
Great.
Really freaking fantastic.
A
lesser woman would have groaned in dismay at the sight of the man in
front of her.
Emma
merely straightened her shoulders, ignoring Julie’s softly uttered
“Oh, dear.”
It
was him.
The
man was gorgeous in the sort of way that made women stop and stare.
The tall and lean athlete’s body was as impeccably dressed as ever
in a trim, perfectly tailored black suit. No sign of a tie today,
although there often was one.
His
dark hair was perfectly styled, the clean-shaven face showing off a
strong jaw and symmetrical lips.
And
the eyes . . . green today, although they often could burn
blue.
But
Emma didn’t have to look at the man to know all of this.
She
knew it all from her memories. Bad
memories.
He
didn’t falter at the sight of Emma and her low-cut cocktail dress
and ugly wet bun.
In
fact, he didn’t look at her at all.
Nothing—not
surprise, not even acknowledgment—fluttered across his features at
her presence.
The
man was in control.
Always.
Julie
shifted to the corner of the elevator to make room for him, and he
nodded briefly at her before turning so that he and Emma were
standing shoulder to shoulder.
The
doors closed, and Emma lifted her eyes to the little screen that
indicated the floor number.
He
mimicked her posture, his eyes also focused on the spot where the L
became 1,
then
2
as
they ascended.
“Emma,”
he said politely, not looking at her.
“Cassidy.”
“You’re
looking well.”
“And
you,” she said, her tone smooth. Monotone.
“You
didn’t get dressed up on my account, I hope.” His voice never
lost its casual politeness.
She
didn’t so much as glance at him. “Oh, do you not like it? I’ve
been so
hoping a fancy dress is all it would take for you to ask for my
number.”
The
elevator stopped on the seventh floor, and Emma and Cassidy stepped
to the side so the man in the back corner could exit. In sync, they
moved immediately back into their previous positions as the door
closed.
They
still had not looked at each other.
“You
know, it’s a little bright for my taste,” he mused, as though
they’d never been interrupted. “I like more subdued colors on a
woman. Say . . . white. I always like to see a woman in a
white dress. Do you own one?”
Julie
cleared her throat, although Emma couldn’t tell if it was a warning
or a laugh.
The
elevator stopped at 12.
Emma’s
stop. Finally.
“Excuse
me,” she murmured to Cassidy as she stepped off, her voice sugary
sweet.
Julie
followed her.
And
much to Emma’s dismay, so did Cassidy.
“Wrong
floor, Cassidy,” Julie said sweetly, with a pretty smile for the
wretched man.
Traitor.
“Not
today it’s not,” he replied.
“Ah,”
Julie said. “Got a meeting with Camille?”
“I
do.”
Camille
Bishop was the editor in chief of Stiletto
magazine, and Julie and Emma’s boss. Since Cassidy was the editor
in chief of Oxford
magazine, Stiletto’s
brother publication, it wasn’t strange that he occasionally stopped
by the twelfth floor.
Didn’t
mean Emma had to like it.
“See
you ladies around,” Cassidy said with a smile for Julie. Emma
barely warranted a glance. “Oh, and Emma, just a friendly reminder
that winter’s right around the corner. Careful you don’t catch a
cold with that wet head.”
He
moved away before Emma had a chance to respond. Or give him the
finger. Not that she would have bothered.
Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.
Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.
Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.
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