Mia and the Bad Boy (Backstage Pass #2)
Release Date: 05/19/15
Entangled Crush
Summary from Goodreads:
This good girl’s about to meet her match…
Ryder Brooks is living the dream—he’s famous, loved by millions of girls, and miserable. All he really wants is to write his own music, not Seconds to Juliet’s sugary sweet pop. In order to do that, though, the “bad boy” of the band will have to play by the rules. And that includes behaving with his new—and super cute—über-good-girl tutor.
Mia Reyes is in fangirl heaven. Tutoring her favorite member of her favorite band? It’s a dream come true…until it turns into a complete nightmare. Ryder is nothing like she thought. He’s crude, arrogant, and pretty much a total jerk. And the worst part? She’s roped into pretending to be his girlfriend so that no one finds out he’s being tutored. Fake kisses, plenty of PDA, and even sharing his hotel room…
But sometimes even the baddest of bad boys needs a little redemption.
Ryder Brooks is living the dream—he’s famous, loved by millions of girls, and miserable. All he really wants is to write his own music, not Seconds to Juliet’s sugary sweet pop. In order to do that, though, the “bad boy” of the band will have to play by the rules. And that includes behaving with his new—and super cute—über-good-girl tutor.
Mia Reyes is in fangirl heaven. Tutoring her favorite member of her favorite band? It’s a dream come true…until it turns into a complete nightmare. Ryder is nothing like she thought. He’s crude, arrogant, and pretty much a total jerk. And the worst part? She’s roped into pretending to be his girlfriend so that no one finds out he’s being tutored. Fake kisses, plenty of PDA, and even sharing his hotel room…
But sometimes even the baddest of bad boys needs a little redemption.
Excerpt;
His
hand framed her chin, tipped it up toward his lips. Just that
small touch made it hard for her to breathe. She could
feel the pulse in her neck ticking up, her heart
rate matching her excitement in a way it never had before.
“I’ve
been wanting to do this since our date in St. Louis,” he
said with a throaty whisper.
“I’ve
been wanting to do this since I taped your poster on my wall,” Mia
managed to say.
Ryder’s
hand was still on her chin. He nudged in tighter, so she
could feel his breath on the skin of her cheeks. She didn’t know
what to do with her hands. They were tight at her sides, like
she was paralyzed.
“You’re
not going to kiss me just because I’m Ryder
Brooks, though, right?” he asked with a sly smile.
“No,” Mia
said, the words coming easier. She slipped her arms around
his waist. His skin was so warm, and his jeans were damp. She felt
the muscles of his waist yield to her touch. “When
I met you, I kind of hated you, and kissing was not the
word with a K that came to mind.”
“King?”
Mia
laughed, ripples of heat dripping down her abdomen as Ryder inched
his lips closer. “You’re really using your vocabulary.”
“Flash
cards,” Ryder bantered back.
“But
now,” Mia said, her hands clasped tightly around Ryder’s bare
back, “I want to kiss you in a different way. Not because
you’re Ryder Brooks, but because you’re you.”
“That’s
why I want to kiss you, too.. His lips brushed against her
nose first, each cheek, sending bursts of pleasure into every soft
part of her.
Mia
closed her eyes and puckered her lips, puckered them so hard she
thought her face might crack.
She
heard Ryder suppress a giggle.
Mia’s
eyes popped open. “What?” Her organs turned to ice. She
wanted to crawl under the bed.
Ryder
ran his finger along her cheek. His other hand slipped up her arm,
bringing her closer. “Let me teach you for a change.”
Mia
swallowed, afraid if she spoke, this might turn to dust.
Ryder
opened his lips and brought them to hers slowly, hovering there, his
breath fanning her face. “Don’t pucker. Just do what I do, what I
cannot wait to do.”
He
pressed her lips open slightly, driving his tongue against them and
gliding it against hers until it was in her mouth, sliding against
her tongue. Tongue! She’d known this was how people kissed but had
never understood the reasoning. Tongues were for tasting, for
talking. But now she knew that really they were for this.
Having
their mouths connected, Mia mirroring each move Ryder made, created
a chemical reaction, flipped a switch. She suddenly knew
exactly what to do. Her hands were on his broad chest,
running down his tight stomach, his covetable abs. His
hands were in her hair, curving against her side. His tongue dipped
with hers; his mouth was warm and firm and perfect.
“Great
show,” she said, needing to say something. She clasped her hands in
her lap.
“The
fans seemed to like it,” Ryder said, standing just beyond the
doorway. “You didn’t have to wait up for me.”
“I
kind of did,” Mia said, indicating the couch. If she set up the
bed, that meant she was okay with this arrangement, and while her
body definitely was, it was hard to get her mind to catch up.
Never
mind catching up. Before Mia could even take another breath, Ryder
was peeling off his shirt like Mia wasn’t even there, or maybe he’d
done that because she was.
“Sorry,
I can’t wait to get out of my clothes as soon as the show is
over.”
They
both looked at his belt buckle.
Ryder
laughed. “I’ll change in the bathroom per your rule,” he said.
She
understood with more and more certainty that she was going to share a
bed with Ryder Brooks.
Would
he try to kiss her? Would he try more? Would she be able to deal with
it if he did? What if he didn’t? The questions swirled
around Mia’s brain like fireflies.
“We
don’t have to go to sleep right away,” Ryder said, maybe sensing
her fear.
“I
don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep at all,” she
admitted.
“You
don’t have to be scared,” Ryder said, the muscles in his arms
bulging as he pushed his hair back. She stared at the tribal tattoo
wrapped around one bicep, black as the darkest reaches of outer
space.
Mia’s
mouth started to water and she realized she wasn’t only scared, she
was hungry. She wanted to touch Ryder’s tattoo, taste the water and
sweat on his skin. Regrettably, the hunger scared her, too. Mia
spit-laughed to cover it up. “You think I’m scared of you? No
way.”
“Then
I guess I’ll change my pants right here,” Ryder replied, clearly
calling her bluff. He moved his fingers to his belt buckle, and her
heart seemed to fly up and beat from behind her eyes. He was taking
her right to the edge.
Mia
looked down. She needed to tell him the truth. “Considering what I
admitted last night, it shouldn’t surprise you that I’ve never
shared a bed with a boy before. I know this is an every-night thing
for you, but it’s not for me.”
Ryder’s
mouth widened into a grin that made Mia crave this being an
every-night thing for her.
“Haven’t
you ever done something your mother wouldn’t approve of?” he
asked, stepping closer to her.
“Sure,”
she said, not understanding how talking about her mother was
supposed to make her feel any calmer about sharing a bed with Ryder.
“So
tell me, then.” He stood over her, his stomach at eye level.
She
was staring at Ryder Brooks’s belly button, his chiseled
abs. How had she not died yet?
Mia
searched her brain. Was it really that her mom would freak out if she
knew she was sharing a bed with Ryder, or if she knew Mia’s
feelings for him would probably only increase once she did?
“Maybe
I should guess,” Ryder said, the muscles of his stomach
moving up and down as he spoke. “You rode a mechanical bull once,
or tied a cherry stem with your tongue.”
Mia
knew he was being a smart-ass, but she could be a smart-ass,
too.
She
looked up at him, shirtless, beautiful, wet Ryder Brooks, and said
something that no girl in her right mind would ever say. “And then
what? Will you reciprocate by telling me about this one time at band
camp?”
Ryder
burst out laughing. “I got kicked out of band camp.” He headed
toward the bathroom. “Don’t worry,” he said, peeking out from
behind the door before he closed it. “I’ll put a shirt on.”
A
thought her mother definitely wouldn’t approve of clouded her
vision, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. I
don’t want you to.
About the Author
Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.
She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.
Book Blitz Organized by:
No comments:
Post a Comment