More Than You Know
Cerise Deland
When a va-va-voom redhead walks into Luke Hurley’s bar, he vows to
get to know her. But she escapes him every time, her family besieging her. Luke
wants to save her. Hell, he wants to savor her if he can only figure out how to
intrigue her…and nail her. Luke has his hands full of the classiest, funniest
female he’s ever met for one naughty night. But will she love him tomorrow?
Book
Information:
Genre – Erotic Romance
Series – 1Night Stand
Length – 11k
Excerpt:
“Hi, Luke Hurley.” His redhead stood right in front of him,
beaming at him so the world glowed suddenly more brightly in this dark crowded
room.
“Hi, there,” he said to her, as she inched closer to the bar. “I’m
so glad you came in.”
“Thish has got to be Rita. Right?” Teresa took a slow gander at
the woman he had told her kept him awake at night.
“Rita?” asked the lady in question, looking humored. “I’m—“
“Rita Hayworth. You bet!” Teresa clamped a hand on his lady’s arm
and peered at her like an X-ray machine. “Luke, you pegged her. That is who she
looks like. Gee. Lucky you, huh?”
Rita questioned him with a sideways grin. “Luke, I—”
“Teresa is my friend,” he explained, trying to keep Rita here
until he got her phone number and her real name.
“I’m his copyeditor!” Teresa put in. “His friend.”
“Yes, Teresa, and the lady would like to have her arm back.”
“Oh, don’t chu worry yourself none, Luke and Rita. I am leaving. I
am!”
He turned back to his redhead. “I’m glad you came in tonight. I’ve
been trying to find out your name. Went to the catering manager and asked about
the wedding here tomorrow, but she says the mother of the groom is a platinum
blonde and short.”
“She is,” Rita exclaimed, little chuckles escaping her.
Someone shouted out that he had to stop holding hands with the
bombshell and take his order. Where was his assistant bartender? He looked
around but tugged at Rita’s hand.
“Okay, okay!” Luke told him, but zeroed in on Rita. “I want to
call you. Ask you to dinner or drinks. Coffee, anything. I need your phone
number.”
“Really? Oh, Luke, please let me—”
“I’ll find a pencil and pad. And by the way, that gown is
unbelievable.” He had to tame his voice so he could speak about the
gold-sequined mermaid thing that made his cock twitch. “I think I just went
blind. Don’t move.”
He strode toward the register, found what he needed and stepped
toward her.
But her son and Blondie appeared beside her. Blondie was pouting.
The son raked his hair.
“I’m sorry. Tamara,” Rita bit off the words, never looking at her
future daughter-in-law as she took Luke’s pen and wrote on his paper. “But I am
the one who brought up Josh. And I will sit in the first pew. If you or your
parents don’t like it, too bad. And Josh, if your father or his new wife don’t like
it, tough.”
Luke watched the family drama, realizing why he hadn’t been able
to learn Rita’s name. She was the divorced wife of Mr. Silver-haired Banker.
And judging from the close ages of stepmother and son, Rita might actually be
wife numero dos.
The son cursed. “Tam, I want her to sit in the front pew. This is
my mother, and she deserves to take precedence.”
Ouch. Luke couldn’t help but look at Rita, who locked her gaze on
his and grinned.
Blondie stomped her foot. “I won’t do this to my daddy. He wants
this to look good for his friends. You know how he is about marriages made in
heaven and no divorce.”
“Well, Tam, next to golf, divorce is my father’s favorite
pastime,” Josh retorted, as Blondie huffed and made a beeline toward the door.
“Aw, hell. Mom, what can I do here?”
Before Rita could answer, he fled. To Luke’s dismay, Rita raised
her hands in frustration, threw him an apologetic look and followed her son.
Luke pounded his fist on the bar and the pad of paper jumped with
the blow. Numbers and words bounced around. He grabbed the sheet.
Room 428. Rita
