...............READ EXCERPT ONE FROMHOLLYWOOD BLACKMAIL by JACKIE ASHENDEN
He wore nothing but a towel around his lean hips, tawny skin sheened with moisture in a way that seemed to highlight every cut muscle of his chest and stomach. He leaned a forearm against the doorway, the flex and release of those incredible muscles mesmerizing. She couldn't seem to drag her eyes away.
At twenty he'd been pretty incredible but eleven years later… God, he was to die for. Even his tattoo looked beautiful.
Her mouth had gone completely dry, a low burn of heat in her gut.
"Hey, sugar," he said in that sexy, raspy voice of his. "I'm up here."
Lizzie jerked her gaze to his face, saw the glitter of amusement in his eyes. One corner of his mouth turned up. Damn. He'd totally caught her checking him out.
She struggled not to blush. "Oh, for God's sake. Did you practice that pose in the mirror? You're not auditioning for an aftershave commercial, you know."
"What? You caught me as I was coming out of the shower."
"There are robes for your use on the back of—"
"Seriously, do I look like a robe kind of guy to you? You're lucky I bothered with the towel."
Hell. The direction this conversation was heading was not a direction she wanted to go. "I guess I should be grateful in that case." She held up the bag. "Your clothes, as ordered."
"Excellent." He pushed himself away from the doorframe. "Bring them in."
"I'm afraid I'm a little busy this morning. So if—"
"I said, come in." It was not a request. "I want that conversation you promised me."
"But I've got a lot of work to cover and—"
"I've cleared your schedule with your boss and the doc is organizing the treatment stuff to be sent to my house this morning." He gave her a smile that had satisfied written all of it. "As from now your only job is me."
.................THE SPOTLIGHT IS ONLizzie Kent needs to forget the past. She lives in total anonymity, immersing herself in nursing to help her forget. But when a man from her previous life turns up in her clinic, the life she’s tried to create for herself may come toppling down.
Ash knows what he wants and he wants Lizzie, the girl who left him all those years ago. As Hollywood’s greatest action superstar no one says no to him, but when Lizzie refuses to acknowledge their shared past, he has to resort to a little old fashioned blackmail.
Will Lizzie revisit her past to enable her future with the man she loves, or do old wounds run too deep?
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..................READ EXCERPT TWO FROM HOLLYWOOD BLACKMAIL by JACKIE ASHENDEN
She swallowed. Dear Lord, she was a nurse. She'd seen plenty of naked men before. He was just one more to add to the list. In fact, why shouldn't she look? It would serve him damn well right.
Mentally steeling herself, Lizzie let her gaze drift down his superbly muscled body. As though she was examining a patient. Keeping it entirely impersonal. Right back at you, Ash Kincaid.
"Very impressive." She could do cool, oh yes she could. "I see those sock rumors weren't true."
He grinned. Shamelessly. "Sock rumors?"
"That you used socks to…uh…enhance your shape in the…um…trouser department."
Ash laughed, the sound low and sexy. Why did he keep having this effect on her? She'd gotten over him years ago, hadn't she?
He reached for the boxers, obviously in no hurry. "Been reading about me, have you?"
She refused to blush, flatly refused. "Bit hard not to when just about every magazine is filled with your exploits."
"But you already know those rumors aren't true."
Lizzie pulled at her uniform. "Surely you don't expect me to remember that? It was a long time ago."
That wicked glint became even wickeder. "Are you sure? I could refresh your memory if you like."
Yes, he probably could. Not that she was going to let him. "No, thank you," she said crisply. "You're my patient now. There are rules about that kind of thing."
"I've never been good at following rules, you should know that."
She did know, and part of her had always found that secretly thrilling.
What do you mean, “had”? You're still thrilled about it.
Oh, no, she wasn't. Bad boys were not part of her life. In fact boys in general weren't. She didn't have time for them. Her job was too busy and she was happy with it that way.
"Put your pants on, Ash," she said, trying to sound bored. "The view is starting to get a little old."
He just grinned, lazily pulling his boxers on. "So stop looking."
"A bit difficult when you're just about waving your butt in my face."
"A bit difficult when you can't stop yourself from looking at my butt, you mean."
With an effort she managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Are we done here yet?"
"Nope." He pulled on his jeans, his abs tensing impressively as he did up the buttons on his fly. "After I've gotten dressed, you're giving me a lift home."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You know about the file breach, I'm assuming? It means I can't stay here. And since the media presence out in front of the clinic is too big for a quiet getaway, I'm going to need to find an alternative way out of here."
She blinked, not really processing all this. "I don't understand."
"I don't want any photos of this damn scar. Which means I have to leave quietly. No one's going to be looking too closely at clinic staff leaving for the day."
"You mean you want me to drive you to your house?"
"Sure. I'll borrow some scrubs. Wear a cap. No one will spot me."
Wonderful. So she wasn't going to get any respite at all from his disturbing presence. Her day was just getting better and better. "But I'll be noticed leaving—"
"No, you won't. Once we get to my house, you'll be staying."
...................ABOUT JACKIE
Jackie Ashenden has been writing fiction since she was eleven years old. Mild mannered fantasy/SF/pseudo-literary writer by day, obsessive romance writer by night, she used to balance her writing with the more serious job of librarianship until a chance meeting with another romance writer prompted her to throw off the shackles of her day job and devote herself to the true love of her heart – writing romance. She particularly likes to write emotional stories with alpha heroes who’ve just got the world to their liking only to have it blown wide apart by their kick-ass heroines.
She lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, the inimitable Dr Jax, two kids, two cats and some guppies (possibly dead guppies by the time you read this). When she’s not torturing alpha males and their stroppy heroines, she can be found drinking chocolate martinis, reading anything she can lay her hands on, posting random crap on her blog, or being forced to go mountain biking with her husband.
Keep in touch with Jackie
...................READ EXCERPT THREE FROM HOLLYWOOD BLACKMAIL by JACKIE ASHENDEN
Ash was still sitting on the couch, leafing through that wretched nursing magazine. Black hair had fallen over his forehead and he had a bit of stubble going on. Despite the expensive clothes and the bandage on his face, he looked dark and dangerous and thoroughly disreputable.
And sexy. So sexy…
Lizzie pushed that thought out of her head and crushed it for good measure. She clasped her hands in front of her and opened her mouth to speak.
"Hang on," Ash said, holding up a finger, keeping his gaze firmly on the magazine. "I haven't finished this article."
He could not be serious. It was a nursing magazine. About nursing. Not whatever magazine big Hollywood stars liked to read. "Oh come on, you're not actually reading that, are you?"
"Of course I'm actually reading it. Now wait just a damn minute until I've finished this article."
Lizzie battled the urge to pick up a cushion and hit him with it. The arrogant bastard. "Look, just because you're a star—""Shush."
"You can't—"
"If you don't let me sit here and finish this article I'm going to come over there and kiss the life out of you."
Lizzie realized her mouth was open. Shut it. Would anyone notice if she killed him? Beat him to death slowly with a cushion? Surely they wouldn't.
Calm. Breathe deep. Do not think of kissing.
What she needed was to find a new yoga studio, get back into it again. But some idiot had told her she looked familiar in some way and she'd had to quit the studio she'd been going to, and hadn't had time to find another.
She flexed her fingers. Resisted the urge to look at her watch. Tried not to think about what would happen if she kept talking and whether he'd actually make good on the threat.
You want him to.
Ha. No. Not in the slightest.
Eventually Ash lowered the magazine and folded his arms, looked at her expectantly. "Okay, so what did you want to talk to me about?"
"You're really that interested in a nursing magazine?"
"Why shouldn't I be? I'm interested in a lot of things."
"Yes, but nursing?"
There was a glint in his eyes. "I find I'm becoming more and more interested by the second."
OKAY, my Kindle is steaming now and I'm left wondering what's next for Ash and Lizzie? Well, I'll find out as I'll be reading HOLLYWOOD BLACKMAIL. Hope you'll join me!A Pump Up Your Book Tour Stop