by Marie Harte
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tonight, she plans to let go.
Dressed up and anonymous, Sadie Liberato feels powerful, sexy and free. Where better to lose herself than a masked party?
Gear Blackstone's cheating ex and scheming best friend have managed to spin his life into a serious downward spiral. At least with a mask on he can cut loose for one night. And cut loose he does―with the sexiest, snarkiest chick he's ever met.
After a scorching-hot encounter, Sadie and Gear are desperate to find each other in real life. But can the heat last when the masks come off?
“Harte pens a sizzlingly sexy romance that is both playful and meaningful, exploring real and metaphorical masks, perception, and reality.” KIRKUS
She nodded. “Totally weird.” She poured them both some cider, than added the molasses and cream cupcakes she’d brought home for him. Working at Sofa’s was both good and bad. Good, because she got to take home a lot of their creations, sampling new ideas to see what worked and didn’t. Bad, because if she didn’t constantly work out, she’d weigh a bazillion pounds.
Not that Sadie cared so much about her looks, but twenty pounds over her fighting weight turned her into a slug and made it difficult to sleep. And Sadie prized her ability to sleep anywhere, in any condition.
She led Gear to sit with her at her dining table just off the kitchen. “So give me the details.”
He sat without protest and sipped from his mug. “That is damn good. Tell Elliot he’s a master.”
“He knows he’s good. Adding to his colossal ego gives me nothing but headaches when he starts bragging.” She nudged him to eat a cupcake. “Tell me if you like it.”
“What’s in it?”
“Imagine a soft Mary Jane rolled around cream and touched with caramel.”
He nodded, looking hungrily at the treat. “So like Bit-O-Honey and a Cow Tales?
“No. I said Mary Jane.” She looked down her nose at him. “Quit acting like you know your Halloween candy to impress me and take a bite.”
He did and moaned, and his food-gasm was as sexy as Gear wearing no shirt. Yum.
“Can I have yours too?” he asked as he licked his fingers.
She blinked. “Did you even chew? It’s like watching a dog gobble down a treat.”
“Gimme.”
She slid the cupcake his way and watched him down it with pleasure. Sadie had always liked watching people eat her creations, but seeing Gear enjoy them made it even more satisfying.
“Last bite’s for you.” He held out a small piece. “And trust me, I’m not really wanting to share. Hurry before I change my mind.”
She ate it off his fingers, licking one clean of the creamy frosting.
His gaze darkened, but he merely wiped his hands on a napkin.
“It’s good,” she agreed.
“It’s delicious. But you need better decorations. That’s too plain to add to Sofa’s Halloween treats.”
“I’m going to make spiders out of them. Or big ghosts with lots of cream cheese frosting.”
“Nice.”
She sat sipping her cider, waiting for Gear to talk. They watched each other in silence, each starting to smile more, until they both started laughing.
“I like our staring contests,” he teased. “But I won that one.”
“Like hell you did.”
“You blinked.”
“I did not.”
“Yep, you did.”
“So is this your way of avoiding talking about the fight?”
He groaned. “No. But it’s more fun staring at your face then taking a fist to mine.”
“Man. Who’d you let hit you?”
He laughed. “I totally did. I took a page from your book. If it was self-defense, they can’t come after me later. Except it turned into an all-comers brawl. I went to pick up the box Smoke told me about. I had a few things left I wanted. A cup Iris gave me, some papers of my brother’s he wanted back. Nothing major. Stuff I could have let go, to be honest.”
“But you wanted to see the shop,” she said for him.
He nodded, his look one of grim satisfaction. “It looks terrible. All the girlie posters are down. They have Honda posters up. That’s sell-out material right there.”
Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way. She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit Marie's website and fall in love.
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