A former Navy SEAL and current bad boy bar owner learns to trust a free spirit in this steamy novel of unexpected romance from the bestselling author of Body Shot and the Heller Brothers series.
Marco Solis knows that if he gets too close to people they disappear. His parents were deported back to Mexico when he was fourteen, his fiancée married someone else while he was in the military, and now his business partner’s spending more time with his girl than with Marco. For better or worse, that’s how Marco meets Carrie Garner. She’s legitimately model-hot. She’s also a nut—a wild, artsy, unapproachable nut. So why is Marco so interested in cracking her shell?
Although Carrie Garner is a natural in front of the camera, her dream is to make it as a photographer. Soon she’ll be heading to Spain for design school, and she’ll miss her best friend, Hayden, like crazy. She’ll even miss Hayden’s boyfriend, Beck—but she won’t miss Beck’s partner, Marco. Bossy, brooding, and annoyingly sexy, Marco really pushes her buttons, though he obviously wouldn’t mind pushing her buttons in an up-against-the-wall, hard-and-fast kind of way. The craziest part is, if Carrie lets him do that, well . . . she may never want to leave. Kelly Jamieson’s USA Today bestselling Aces Hockey series can be read together or separately: MAJOR MISCONDUCT OFF LIMITS ICING TOP SHELF BACK CHECK SLAP SHOT PLAYING HURT BIG STICK
Don’t miss any of Kelly’s alluring reads: The Bayard Hockey series: SHUT OUT | CROSS CHECK The Last Shot series: BODY SHOT | HOT SHOT | LONG SHOT The standalone novel: DANCING IN THE RAIN
Praise for Hot Shot
“Two beautiful, insecure, artistic protagonists resist their obvious attraction to each other . . . The lovers are likeable and their chemistry is strong. . . . Anticipatory tension [and] steamy sexual encounters.”—Publishers Weekly
“Hot Shot is a charming, sexy frenemies-to-lovers story—don’t miss it!”—USA Today bestselling author Serena Bell
“A great read. Sometimes love grabs us when we least expect it, and we found what we never realized we were looking for—a place, a person to belong to.”—New York Times bestselling author Melanie Moreland
“Hot, sexy and so much fun! Kelly Jamieson heroes sure know how to show a girl a good time!”—New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff
“I loved the ending of Hot Shot. Marco finally stole my heart.”—Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
“I really enjoyed the writing. . . . It was a really good book and if you love romances you should definitely read this one.”—The Girl Who Read Too Much
Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Release date:
May 16, 2017
Publisher:
Loveswept
Print pages:
241
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“Okay, why did you make me come to the bar at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning?” Carrie demanded of Marco.
The handsome Latino man scowled, sitting on a tall stool at the bar at Conquistadors Tequila Bar. The bar he owned, which was closed and empty at this hour. He wore a pair of well-worn jeans that sat low on his hips and a blue plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a cup of coffee sat near his elbow. “It’s a secret. We needed to do this when Beck’s not around.”
This was about Beck?
Carrie frowned at the mention of Marco’s friend and business partner, who was now engaged to her best friend, Hayden. Hayden and Beck had met here at Conquistadors the night Carrie and Hayden had come to a tequila-tasting event. That had also been the night Carrie met Marco. Unfortunately. The man was so annoying. “Secret.” She pursed her lips. “Do you plan to enlighten me?”
He paused, his eyes moving over her face.
What? Did she have something gross hanging out of her nose? She resisted the urge to lift a hand and check. “Of course,” he finally said, gesturing to the stool next to him. “Have a seat.”
“How long is this going to take?”
His jaw tightened.
She climbed onto the stool with a huff and set her purse on the bar. “You know, there’s this thing called email. Or a phone, which you can use to text or call. If you wanted to tell me about something, all of those communication methods are quick and private, and I could have gotten another hour of sleep.”
Marco sighed. “Would you stop being such a pain in the butt? We’re trying to do something nice here.”
Carrie clenched her teeth. “Pain in the butt? Really? Well, you can just kiss my butt.”
“It would be my pleasure, belleza, as you have a very fine tush.” He gave her a brief wink along with that smile that popped cute dimples into his cheeks. Ugh.
“You’ve never seen my butt. And you never will.”
“I’ve never seen your naked butt,” he corrected. “I have seen you wearing tight jeans, however. And I did see a picture of it—in a tiny bikini bottom—and I maintain my claim that it is fine.”
Oh yeah. That would be one of the ads she’d done for OC Swimsuits. Carrie repressed a growl of frustration. “Oh my God. I can’t believe we’re talking about my rear.”
“You’re the one who invited me to kiss it, Supermodel.”
“I’m not a supermodel,” she muttered.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?”
She’d kill for caffeine. Her teeth ground even more. “Sure. Thanks,” she said grudgingly.
He slid off the stool and strolled around behind the bar, his stride long legged and confident, his shoulders broad, hips narrow. She couldn’t stop her gaze from dropping to his backside, which was . . . she closed her eyes. No. She was not checking out his butt.
He reached for a mug under the bar, and the muscles and tendons in his lean forearm flexed as he poured from the pot of coffee. He pushed it across the bar toward her. “Cream? Milk? Sugar?”
“A little milk, please.”
He surprised her by opening a fridge and removing a carton, rather than giving her a little plastic container. He did a quick pour. “White enough?”
“Yes.” It was perfect. She picked up the spoon he laid beside the mug and gave it a stir. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He returned to the stool next to her, sitting with one foot on a rung, knee bent, the other foot on the floor in a relaxed, masculine pose. “Now . . . the reason I asked you to come here is to see if you’ll help plan an engagement party for Hayden and Beck.”
Carrie blinked at him. “An engagement party?”
“Yes.” He reached out and swiveled a laptop computer on the polished wood bar. “I found this site called The Knot. They tell you everything about weddings and engagements.”
“That’s where you got the idea to host an engagement party for Hayden and Beck?”
“Yeah. See, it says here usually engagement parties are hosted by the bride’s parents. But Hayden’s parents are gone, and I don’t think her aunt Gina and uncle Colin are up to it since Gina had her fall. Apparently she still isn’t as mobile as she used to be.”
Carrie’s heart thawed minutely. “True.”
“The groom’s parents could also do it, but, well, Beck and his folks aren’t exactly close.”
She nodded, sadly aware of that fact too.
“So I thought their closest friends should do it. Namely, us.”
She sensed the distaste in his tone of voice. Too bad we hate each other.
Okay, that wasn’t strictly true. Marco annoyed her. He more often than not wore a brooding scowl, although he managed to turn on the charm around customers in the bar. He clearly regarded her as an airheaded blond bimbo, flirting with her but also mansplaining things to her that made her grit her teeth. Lately he’d seemed even moodier than usual.
Plan a party with him? God, she’d rather pose naked for a billboard on the 405.
But Hayden was her best friend. And Beck made Hayden happy. And, dammit, it was kind of cute how Marco had looked up this wedding website, and it was actually sort of thoughtful that he wanted to plan a party to help their friends celebrate their engagement. Actually, it was something she should have thought of.
“We’re thinking of Sunday, August 6,” he continued. “We can do it here. Close down the bar for the evening.”
That did sound like a fun idea.
“We need some help from you to plan the guest list,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll invite Hayden’s aunt and uncle. But who else? Some of her coworkers? Other friends?”
Carrie bit her lip. “Yes, I know who to invite.” She paused. “What about invitations?”
“Yeah, we’d need those. And maybe you can handle the decorations? Cade and I will look after the food and drinks.”
Cade was his other business partner at Conquistadors.
“Decorations?” She bit her lip and peered at the computer screen. “How do you decorate for an engagement party?”
“It says to plan a theme that’s different from the wedding.”
She shot him a smirk. “You’re really into this, aren’t you? Doesn’t this go against your man card, or something?”
“My man card is secure,” he said, his face impassive. “But I’m willing to prove it to you anytime you want.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, thanks, but no.” She read the text on the website. “Okay, well, Hayden and Beck haven’t even started planning their wedding yet, so who knows what style it will be. If it’s up to Hayden, they’ll get married at city hall one day on her lunch break.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Marco said. “She deserves to be a beautiful bride for one special day.”
She turned her head and gave him a long look. “You sure about that man card, Mr. Romance?”
He gave a tiny movement of his lips and chin, a nod and a smile that were so subtle yet oozed confidence and masculinity. “Keep questioning me and I’ll think you really do want me to prove it to you.”
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