A book in the Spice Rack series.
In
eight years of marriage, Eric Carlson has never forgotten to kiss his
wife Jessica goodbye—until this morning. As Jessica runs her errands,
all she can think about is the missing kiss. When Eric calls to tell her
he thinks he left the toaster oven on, she rushes home, annoyed and
afraid her house may be burning down. Instead of smoke and flames she
finds Eric, looking hot and sexy as hell as he prepares fresh waffles.
Eric
knows he and Jessica have been drifting apart. He’s bought the hot new
product everyone’s talking about—the Spice Rack, guaranteed to spice up
your love life. The jar he opens advises them to “Spend a decadent day
indulging all your senses.” With the whole day ahead of them, a fridge
full of tempting treats and the house to themselves for a change, that’s
exactly what Eric intends to do—in the kitchen, on the washing machine,
wherever the mood strikes. And Jessica’s got a super-steamy surprise
for him too.
A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
******** EXCERPT ********
He didn’t even kiss me goodbye. Jessica
knew it was silly to get upset over something so minor, but she
couldn’t help it. In the eight years they’d been married, she couldn’t
remember another morning when Eric had forgone the farewell kiss. Sure,
the kids were running amok, a sea of backpacks and lunchboxes, but that
was normal. Eric saying goodbye with a wave was not.
“See
you later.” He’d thrown her his trademark sexy grin. She’d stood still
for a few seconds, holding the door open as the kids piled out of the
house, waiting. And…nothing.
While
queued in the drop-off line at the elementary school, she flipped open
the vanity mirror. She didn’t look like a beauty queen but at least
she’d showered. Her skin was clear, her cheeks even a bit rosy from
gardening the day before. She grimaced. I should have brushed my hair. Dark hair, wavy and out of control, pulled into a loose ponytail paired with t-shirt and yoga pants. I look like a teenager. Not exactly sexy. Frowning at her reflection, she heard the car behind her honk.
“Mom, pull up, it’s our turn.” Timmy, though only seven, had been a backseat driver for nearly five years.
“Sorry.” She inched the car toward the orange drop-off cone and stopped. “Have a good day, guys. I love you.”
“Love you too, mom,” the chorus of three came from the backseat as they scrambled out the door.
Taking
a last quick glance in the mirror, she snapped it shut and eased back
into the parking lot. As she was about to turn onto the main road, her
cell rang. XXXXX,
Eric’s ringtone. She fumbled in her purse and slid the purple case
open. Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she pulled onto
the street, not wanting to get beeped at a second time this morning.
“Hey, sweetie,” Eric said. “Can you do me a favor?”
Sighing, Jessica shifted to keep the phone in place as she changed lanes. “What’s up?”
“I
know you said you were going to the grocery store, but I need you to
stop home first. I think I may have left the toaster oven on.”
“Can’t you go check?”
“I’ve
got a really important meeting this morning. I need you to do it.
Please?” She could hear the smile in his voice. The charming,
irresistible smile to which she’d never been able to say no.
“Fine.” Even if you didn’t bother to kiss me this morning.
“Thanks.”
Did he just chuckle?
She hung up and tossed the phone back into her purse. Great. Now I have to go all the way home, which means I won’t get to the store for another hour. Not
that it was a huge deal. With all three boys in school this year she
had her days to herself. She’d been looking forward to that for years,
but it wasn’t as fun and freeing as she’d expected. All the same
responsibilities were there. The house still needed to be cleaned,
dinner still needed to be made, laundry was always piling up. And she
always had a stack of work on her desk. Freelance graphic design was the
perfect work-from-home job and she could do it any time of day or
night, but lately she felt as though everything was getting away from
her. Somehow she’d had more structure to her days when the kids were
home than she managed to have with them in school all day.
As she turned onto her block she couldn’t help but look for signs of smoke pouring from her windows. God, I hope he didn’t really leave the toaster oven on. What the hell was he even using the toaster oven for? Eric
ate cereal for breakfast, though now that she thought about it she
hadn’t seen him pour himself a bowl this morning. She’d been too
distracted by the fact that he was wearing only pajama pants as he
plodded around the kitchen. She’d been so busy the past few weeks with
back-to-school shopping and beginning-of-term projects they’d barely
spent any time together. Seeing him bare chested, hair tousled from bed,
reminded her that it had been a while. Too long. Her stomach fluttered
from a combination of longing for Eric and fear that her house might be
burning.
Jessica
slammed the door of the minivan shut, breathing in deeply to see if she
could catch any hint of smoke in the air. Nothing. As she opened the
front door, another scent greeted her instead. The incredibly delightful
aroma of…waffles. Why does the house smell like waffles? She
rounded the corner into the kitchen and saw the waffle maker on the
counter with Eric poised before it, faded jeans slung low on his narrow
hips, a t-shirt clinging to his muscular back, dark hair still damp from
a shower hanging loosely into his eyes. A wave of heat washed over her,
settling between her legs. Her mouth watered from thoughts of more than
just a bite of the waffle Eric was lifting out of the grates.
“Perfect
timing,” he said, grinning so wide the dimples on his cheeks were
positively cavernous. Blue eyes twinkled at her, full of mischief.
“What are you doing?” She tossed her purse onto the counter, mystified.
“Celebrating
Mother’s Day.” He plucked a strawberry out of the colander in the sink,
swirled it in a bowl of what appeared to be freshly whipped cream, and
approached.
“Mother’s Day is in May. It’s October fifteenth.”
“I
know.” He held the plump red berry close enough that she felt the
gentle brush of cream melting against her lips. “I was thinking it was
something we should celebrate more than once a year.”
She curled her tongue around the cream-covered berry and gave a quick suck before biting off a piece.
The
moan Eric emitted sent a tremor rolling down her body, making her knees
weak. His lips were on hers before she finished chewing. The sweetness
of his velvety tongue blended perfectly with the fruit and cream. This
was already better than any Mother’s Day she could recall.
Karen
Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a
penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she's not
writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to
family and friends, who never seem to mind the excessive quantities she
tends to prepare. She attributes her ability to multitask to the fact
that she rarely sleeps, which gives her more hours every day. Prior to
deciding to write full time Karen worked as a hand drawn animator, a
clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from
waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and
fundraisers takes up what's left of her time and sanity.
Karen
has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so
she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and
their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the
dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic tales
filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Although she writes in three
genres (erotic romance, contemporary romance and women's fiction) all of
her stories are love stories with happily ever after endings.
Karen
has published several erotic romance novels with Ellora's Cave
including two award winning stories: Always You (published September
2011, First Place Winner of the RWA Passionate Plume Award - 2012)Marry
Me (published June 2012, First Place Winner in the NEC-RWA Bean Pot
Reader's Choice Award - 2013) and Decadence (July 2013).
Her
works of women's fiction, Meant To Be, and its sequel, Holding On,
(published by Turquoise Morning Press in August and November 2012,
respectively) both made the Best of 2012 list at Literati Literature
Lovers.
Karen's
contemporary romances Then, Again (May 2013) and Leave the Lights On
(coming November 2013) are published with Samhain publishing.
To learn more about Karen you can visit her website karenstivali.com where
she blogs original recipes, sassy commentary on The Bachelor, and
tidbits about her journey in the writing world. Karen can also be found
attempting witty banter on Twitter
http://twitter.com/karenstivali
******** GIVEAWAY *********
One randomly
chosen commenter will receive a digital copy of his/her choice from Karen's
backlist.
Please remember to leave an email address in case you are the lucky winner. For more chances to enter and win you can follow the tour HERE
.jpg)
