Drawn To You by Robin Shaw
Publication date: August 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary
Synopsis:
First book in the Paloma's Edge companion novel series.
Bethany Pruitt has been judged for her mother's actions ever since she could remember. When she returns from college in Miami to Frankin Parks, her hometown, for the summer, she doesn't expect to find the only home she's known to be motherless and empty. By another turn of events, she decides to accept an invitation from her uncle to stay at Paloma's Edge, Florida.
Chase Lovell lives for the present and doesn't think about much else. When he goes to see his coach for a meeting, a female standing at the end of a long bus line at his college sparks his interest and earns his respect. Intent on approaching her, he misses his chance, and assumes that he'll never see her again. When Pierce, his best friend, asks him to pick up his cousin, Bethany, from Franklin Parks and drive her to Paloma's Edge, he can't deny that she is the person he's been drawn to.
But will Chase do whatever it takes to keep the girl he's found again?
Goodreads:
Excerpt 1 (unedited):
Bethany:
I thought that I’d heard someone knocking on my door last night. When I’d finally put on my nightgown, no one had been there. I must have been disoriented from not getting a good night’s sleep for the past few days.
I jolted at the soft knock and movement the doorknob on my door. I couldn’t have been going crazy this time. When I opened the door, Chase was standing in front of me in a white t-shirt and pressed black pants and shoes. It didn’t occur to me that we should talk on more neutral ground. I already trusted him and I couldn’t explain why and it scared me a little. Anticipation coiled low in my belly.
Chase’s hands landed on my shoulders. The force of his touch made my back lean against the door, shutting it closed. A faint line marred his brows as he studied me. Greeting him with an open smile, his features smoothed out.
“I knocked on your door last night.”
At the party last night, Cassidy had asked me if I’d be fine if Rylan drove me here. Since I hadn’t wanted to ruin her night, I’d told her that it was cool.
“By the time I got up, I didn’t see anyone.”
Sighing deeply, I watched as his beautiful hazel eyes swept over my collarbone and drifted down towards my breasts and back to my face hungrily. I never wanted that look to go away.
“I knocked for twenty minutes. I didn’t know if you’d fallen asleep or if you were ignoring me.”
Shaking my head “no”, I moved away from the door and sank down on the bottom of my bed. He joined me, his arm touching mine. The scent of soap and a light aftershave washed over me.
“Did anything happen last night?”
I frowned at his question. “Not at all.”
He blew out a sigh of relief. “Take out your cell phone and put in your password.” His tone was gentle and commanding at the same time.
I retrieved my phone from the side pocket of my nightgown and handed it to him after I unlocked it.
Smiling, I watched as he entered his number into my phone. I heard chirruping and realized that he called himself from my phone.
“Nice ringtone.”
“Don’t worry. You’re gonna have a better ringtone than that.” He chuckled and stood up. “We need to be able to get ahold of each other. I forgot to exchange numbers with you yesterday. I put in Pierce’s and Nancy’s numbers too.”
I tilted my head in agreement. Being alone with Chase in my guestroom was like sampling a treat instead of consuming it in one bite. He stroked his knuckles along my jaw and his voice softened. “I gotta go to the work. I’ll see you later, though, okay?”
I shivered and he dropped his hand from my face. Chase had the firmest ass I’d ever seen. And that was the only positive about his departure. Was any part of him not firm?
Excerpt 2 (Unedited):
Chase:
We walked around for several minutes. I just held her hand with a firm grip and occasionally, I rubbed the tips of my fingers over the smooth stretch of skin over her knuckles. Knowing for sure how good she felt only made me want to disrobe her fast and seat myself inside her. Make her forget about any worries she had. She didn’t stiffen or show signs of discomfort. My intensely growing want for her and my satisfaction by just being with her was kinda tripping me up. What was it about her that made her irresistible to me?
“How was work?” The sound of her low and somewhat husky voice made the question sound less innocent than it was.
“Really good. They’re gonna be a lot of important conferences coming up. I think with the increase in guests and existing ones who are extending their stays, there won’t be an empty room at the Paloma. Except for Pierce’s penthouse.”
“I am sure Uncle Anton is excited about that.”
After we stopped holding hands, I skimmed my fingers from her shoulder to the sexy curve of her lower back.
“Yeah, I did the brochures for him when I came to visit the first time. Then, I re-did that plain looking Paloma website and the traffic to the site has tripled.”
She settled her hands on my arms and stopped moving. We were right by the area I was going to take her to. “Chase, you did all that for his business. Did he pay you for it?”
“I was compensated. The brochure I did for fun. But I gave a complete overhaul to the site. The Paloma branding is clear. No one is gonna mistake another hotel with the Paloma. It’s easy to navigate too.”
We started walking again. “Good. I didn’t see the site before, but when I did my research, I remember being impressed by the fact that it wasn’t one of those standard business template sites. The designs stand out.”
“That’s what I strived for.” I smiled at her. “Mr. Pruitt was worried about that at first.”
“Is your major Graphic Design?”
“Yeah. Yours?”
“HR.”
I drew my lips down and made my shake over my chest.
“HR gets a bad rep.”
“And I am sure you’ll improve that bad rep.”
She motioned her head. “Do you like working as a concierge?”
“Yeah. I haven’t had problems and most of the guests have been refreshingly down to earth. I’ve got a potential job lined up when I graduate for a marketing department at a firm. ” I lifted my shoulders. “Who knows what the future holds?”
We reached the shaded area near a gated exit on the beach and I watched her exhale a shaky breath. Her eyes roamed over my lips. She pulled her mouth in and she inched closer to me so that her sand covered feet were over mine. The action made her more aware of herself. Emotions that I couldn’t divine flickered across her face. Was she holding herself back from me?
Leaning my body against the gate, I lowered my head to her and lifted her hands to the sides of my face. She massaged my cheeks, stroking her thumb over my scar and then my jaw.
I brought the tip of my index finger over my mouth and then brushed it over her tempting lips. Eyes glazed over a little, she separated her mouth enough to nip on my finger a little. So the little vixen in her was out to play. She drew a little bit of my finger into her oral heat. In a matter of seconds, my cock swelled to readiness. She started panting and I withdrew my finger. She stared at my bare chest. Shutting down entirely, she stepped back, her face falling flat. I understood that look of self-judgment all too well. And as much as I’d tried to keep my mind busy in order not to think about her, and had stayed away from her for one night, it was a losing battle.
I remained where I was and sought her wandering gaze until she looked at me directly.
“I want to kiss, and lick, and suck every inch of you. Have you trembling in the palm of my hands while you surrender your body to me so I can supply you with what you’re craving. I can see it.” I flicked my eyes from her face to her erect nipples. “And I can feel it.” I brushed my fingers over her nipples, and ran circles around them for a second. Almost inaudibly, she moaned and I dropped my hand. “And when you really let go, make no mistake, you won’t want to come back from it.”
AUTHOR BIO:
Robin Shaw is an independent author who lives in NYC. She is an animal lover and a food enthusiast. After completing her undergraduate education, she entered the mental health field. She also obtained her MS degree. She is consumed by bringing her characters' stories to life. Drawn To You is the first book in the Paloma's Edge companion series.
Interview:
1. Tell me in three succinct descriptions who you are.
1) cat and dog lover, 2) daughter and twin sister 3) and as creepy as it sounds, I am a major people watcher
2. What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity?
I love to walk. Now that it’s summer and my schedule isn’t as hectic as it used to be, I walk thirty or forty blocks. And I don’t like to stop.
3. What chore do you dislike doing?
Laundry. As a kid and teenager, I’d always ended up doing everyone’s laundry.
4. What is your favorite time of the day?
I love mornings; I am more alert and energetic than any other time of the day or night.
5. What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?
Trains. It can be congested and people are at their worst when they don’t have space to move their arms and legs.
6. What sound do you love?
I love the sound of my infant cousins soundly asleep.
7. What sound do you dislike?
I dislike hearing constant blaring horns and loud arguments outside of my window.
8. Who is your favorite author or favorite book?
There are so many fantastic authors and books that I love. I repeat: so many fantastic authors and books that I love. With that stated, I LOVE J.R Ward and can’t wait to get to Lover At Last. I need a weekend away from everything so that I can devote hours to the latest Blackdagger Brotherhood novel as is required. For anyone who doesn’t like paranormal or urban fantasy like I hadn’t years ago, I really believe that her character-driven stories and swoon-worthy alpha males can make anyone at least like vamps.
9. What inspired you to write Drawn To You?
Writing Beth and Chase’s story enabled me to truly escape into their worlds
and de-stress. I hope others enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.
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