Amy Daws
London Bound (London Lovers #3)
Release Date: May 14, 2015
Blurb:
***After falling in love with "us" in the first
two installments of the London Lovers Series, now...it's Leslie's turn in this
spicy series stand alone.***
When Leslie Lincoln, a spunky, red-headed American, suffers
an awkward moment with an arousingly-sexy British man—she thinks her life can't
get any more pathetic.
She's done with men.
She doesn't need them.
She especially doesn't need their muscular thighs.
No siree, she's going to forget all about the brooding,
complicated, and seductive "Theo" who captivated her on the dance
floor of a London nightclub.
Keep telling yourself that, Lez.....
Immersing herself into a new type of romantic cleanse, Leslie
thinks she'll never lay eyes on Theo again. But somehow, he's managed to
bulldoze his way back in—her cheetah-print onesie pajamas be damned.
He wants more.
She wants to run.
But he can’t seem to let her go.
Both of them have a past—and neither want to share.
How can love possibly survive in darkness?
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24703334-london-bound
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1FekQkJ
iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/london-bound/id990700481?mt=11
Excerpts:
CHAPTER FIVE
“I think you need a spruce, Lez,” he states deadpan.
“A spruce? And what the hell does that entail?”
“Like a spa visit?” Angela asks excitedly.
“Not a spa exactly. More like…a cleanse.” Frank fixes a
salacious grin on me as he appears excited for what he has in mind. I squirm,
feeling nervous about where the hell this is going.
“I’ve done cleanses before, they are miserable,” Angela
says, dramatically raising her glass and taking a drink.
“This is a different kind of cleanse. It could be miserable
for Leslie, but I know many mates who would bloody love it.”
“What’s involved?” I ask warily. Why the hell would I agree
to something that might make me miserable?
“It’s…what I would call…a seven-step program. You have to
follow all of the steps in order to gain the maximum benefits and achieve full
happiness. Do you agree to it?”
“Agree to what? To doing this crazy cleanse that I have no
clue what’s even involved? Absolutely not! I can’t even drink black coffee,
Frank. If this cleanse drink tastes disgusting, I can’t do it.”
“Nothing will taste disgusting on this cleanse, I assure
you,” he replies cryptically.
“I don’t know.”
“You need this, Leslie. You’ve been in a funk ever since
Finley got engaged to that sex monster, Brody.”
I blanch. Frank has a huge man-crush on Brody. It all
started when he got a full-frontal Magic Mike image of Brody and Finley one
morning at the house. Brody’s a good-looking guy, don’t get me wrong. But I see
him more like a brother.
“So, this cleanse you’re suggesting will get me out of this
funk?”
“Without question,” Frank says, and turns his wide brown
eyes on me. He’s sincere. I can see it in his demeanor. He genuinely wants me
to do this.
“I’m not interested in a boyfriend, Frank. I don’t want a
relationship.”
“That’s not what this is about. I promise.”
I smirk sneakily and Frank jumps up thrusting his hands into
the air in victory, knocking his chair down in the meantime. Several people
gawk at his obnoxious display.
Holy balls. This is Frank. What have I gotten myself into?
CHAPTER TWENTY
I shake my head and turn toward the wall, feeling physically
unable to face Theo. All I can picture is his lips on that blonde bimbo, and
it’s nauseating. Not to mention, I’m certain I look like a hot mess of runny
makeup and tears.
“Leslie.” He says my name softly. I brace my fingertips on
the wall for support, just to give me something to focus on besides Theo’s
face. “Leslie,” he utters again, reverently.
I laugh pathetically. “You showed me,” I croak in a
high-pitched tight sound. “You said you’d show me ‘nice’ and boy did you.” I
sniff loudly and try to clear my gravelly voice.
“I didn’t want to show you anything!” He presses his front
to my back, mirroring my braced hands on the wall, encasing me. I can feel the
intense rise and fall of his chest and I shiver at his close proximity.
“I just wanted to wake you the fuck up!” His breath tickles
the hair on my head.
“I’m awake,” I giggle sadly, biting my lip. “Who is that
girl?”
“No one.”
“You like kissing no ones, do you?" I roll my eyes even
though he can’t see them.
“I like kissing you,”
he says, slowly. “I more than like kissing you, Leslie.” He removes his hand
from the wall and grabs my waist softly, turning me to face him. His rough
hands on my exposed torso send intimate shooters through my core. I look
sideways, unable to make eye contact.
“Can’t you see this, Leslie?” he pushes my bangs away from
my eyes. “Can’t you see this as something more? Don’t you feel it?” I shake my
head, willing my chin not to wobble. I’m scared shitless right now. Scared of
what this could be. Scared of what it could turn into. Scared of letting myself
have hope.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“You’re incredible, Leslie. You have to know that. You have
to know how special you are.”
I swallow around a hard knot forming in my throat.
“I’ve never felt that before,” I whisper softly, my voice
catching at my very raw and vulnerable admission. No hiding anymore.
“You’ll never feel anything less with me. I promise you.” He
shakes his head disbelievingly. “You shine straight through me. You’ve brought
me back.” He kisses me softly on the lips and murmurs against my mouth, “You’re
impossibly special.”
In all my life, I’ve never felt what Theo’s managed to make
me feel in a matter of seconds. Knowing my words will only pale in comparison
to his, I return his kiss passionately, whispering a simple ‘thank you’.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
I walk in and Finley is shoulders deep in their Jacuzzi tub
with earbuds in. She must hear me because her eyes flutter open and turn to
saucers as she sees me. Sitting up quickly, she splashes water all over the
floor.
“Leslie, what? Oh my God! What?”
“I’m okay, Finny…I just need you,” I cry hard and she
gestures for me to come over to the tub. I perch myself on the edge.
“I want to hug you but I don’t want to ruin your dress.”
“It’s ruined for me anyway.”
“No, Leslie! No! What happened?” She stands and grabs the
towel on the shelf nearby, then steps gently out of the tub, wet bubbles
cascading down her legs and onto the floor. Once she’s secured the towel
tightly around her chest, she perches on the side of the tub next, wrapping one
arm around me.
“I don’t even know, Fin. I just know he doesn’t want me
anymore.” I cry even harder as I say the words out loud for the first time.
“How do you know that, Leslie?”
“There’s someone else, Fin. It’s this big secret that he
won’t tell me.”
“That’s crazy. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. There is
no way he’s ever looked at anyone else like that. That’s a one-time-only kind
of love.”
“Love? Oh please, Fin. He doesn’t love me. He just liked
me—and now that’s over. There’s no way someone like him can love someone like
me.”
“Leslie,” she says, grabbing my cheeks in her hands and
pinching me until it’s painful. I gape directly into her round eyes. “You stop
that, right now! That man loves you like Brody loves me. He loves you.” She
releases her tight grip and grabs my hand in hers. The pruneyness gives me the
shivers.
“You didn’t see him tonight. He was aggressive and angry and
scary. It’s all just gotten to be too much for me, Finley. I never wanted any
of this to begin with.”
“And why is that?”
I shrug my shoulders, feeling the weight of the world
pressing down on them.
“The cracks, Leslie. You’re keeping something from me. I
know it.” I crumple over and my shoulders shake with silent sobs. “What is it,
Lez? What have you not told me?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Theo is quiet the entire drive. When we arrive at his house,
he silently takes my hand and leads me into his flat and into his master bath.
He flips on the shower and removes his glasses and all of his clothes, silently
gazing at me the entire time. He strides over to me and pulls my t-shirt over
my head and undoes the string on my cotton pants, pulling them down as he does.
We’re both standing before each other completely naked and silent, the shower
steam swirling around us.
He grasps my hand again and leads me into his glass walk-in
shower. He proceeds to tilt my head back into the water and watches me quietly.
Leaning in and pausing, he breathes heavily against my skin before dropping
feather-light kisses along my neck, collarbone, and shoulders. I bring my head
back down and stare deeply into his eyes. I’m trying to figure him out but the
raw vulnerability that stares back at me brings tears to my eyes.
He bites his tongue to the side and grabs the soap,
squirting some into a sponge. He turns me away from him and begins washing me,
reverently—gently and protectively covering every inch of me with the soapy
bubbles. It’s overwhelming. The intimacy of it all—it’s all too much. Tears
bubble up and fall down my wet cheeks.
Theo feels my shoulders shuddering beneath his hand and he
turns me around to face him again. His pale brown eyes flash quickly between my
green ones. As if consciously choosing to use actions instead of words, he
tilts my head sideways and presses his lips to mine. He moves us back so the
water is pouring down over our faces and between our mouths. It’s a waterfall
of lips, tears, tongues, and ragged breaths. Feeling everything he’s telling me
without words, I pour every single tear and ounce of angst I have into this
kiss. All my fear, anxiety, pain, grief…all of it is swirling deeply within
this soul-shattering kiss.
He pushes me back against the wall and pulls my legs up onto
his hips as our kiss grows frenzied and desperate. He slides into me in one
languid push and holds himself there, just letting our bodies connect in the
most carnal and natural way.
He stops kissing me and looks deeply into my eyes. The
vulnerability there on display for me to see—to accept—to love. I can feel it.
I can touch it. Every single part of him—physically, emotionally, he’s offering
it to me. It’s all I can do to accept it all.
Can I possibly love this man?
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“You are beautiful, Leslie.” He tucks a stray auburn lock
behind my ear tenderly and moves my bangs off to the side, like he always does.
“Your light, your smile, your playfulness.” I roll my eyes and look down,
feeling horribly uncomfortable with all these compliments. This man is
Superman, how does he even see me?
He crooks his finger under my chin forcing me to look him in
the eyes. “I mean it. I never stopped chasing you because you are the light to
my darkness. The one thing that just shines in my life. You make it all less
horrible, Leslie. You…are worth every single millimeter I ran to catch you.” He
swallows hard, glancing out the window briefly and then swings his gaze back to
me, his expression turns urgent. “I said last night that it was all too much,
that I was overwhelmed. I need you to know that I am overwhelmed—but only
because I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now, but I didn’t
want to scare you.”
About Author
Amy Daws is a goof of epic proportions. She enjoys making
dumb videos and laughing at herself...a lot. It gets awkward. She thinks she
should have tried her hand at improv theater but figured she'd learn how life
looks behind the lens of a camera first.
She also thinks talking about herself in the third person
isn't awkward at all.
Amy lives in South Dakota with her husband, Kevin, and their
miracle daughter, Lorelei. The long-awaited birth of Lorelei is what inspired
Amy’s first book, Chasing Hope, and her passion for writing.
Amy's contemporary romance books are a part of the The
London Lovers Series and currently have two installments out with more to come.
Her writing style is emotional and self-deprecating with awkward humor
sprinkled in. Basically, if she makes you cry happy and sad tears...she's
achieved her goal. Extra points if you have to blow your nose.
Amy's inspiration for writing is and always will be her six
precious angel babies and her daughter, Lorelei. On most nights, you can find Amy
and her family dancing to Strawberry Shortcake’s theme song or stuffing
themselves inside children’s-sized playhouses because there is nothing they
wouldn’t do for their little miracle.
Website: http://amydawsauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amydawsauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amydawsauthor
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8193655.Amy_Daws
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