Gracelynn is drowning in an existence that fails to fulfill her. A ballerina by trade, she’s devoted her life to the stage, sacrificing adventure for discipline. When her boyfriend gives her permission to want what she’s not supposed to want, can she walk away? Or will she leap?
Jasper isn’t a man with many boundaries, and “sharing” a woman with his best friend is hardly a new endeavor. But the moment he meets Gracelynn he realizes she’s different. She leaves him feeling alive in a way he’s not used to, and for the first time in his life, he understands what it means to be wanted… Cherished… And he needs more…
But there are rules—rules that forbid Jasper from truly having her. As forbidden desire spirals out of control, Jasper has to decide if he’s willing to fight for something that doesn’t truly belong to him? His best friend doesn’t deserve her, but is Jasper strong enough to believe he does?
Wow what can I say about this book but wow, I was so caught up in this book that I couldn't put it down. Gray was the girl that was shy and only dated a couple of guys. She thought she meet the perfect guy in Ian and that his friend Jasper was the ass but turned out it was the opposite way. Gray decided to do something that she has never done before and what was a first experience for her was also a first for Jas. I loved the way that the story built and the fact that each character took over the story and drew you in. This was my first book by Ms Finn and it will not be my last.
Rating
She followed the maître d’ to the back of the restaurant,
and when he opened a door into a small private dining room, she took a deep
breath and followed him. But that deep breath didn’t help her a bit when her
eyes met Jasper’s as he looked up to her. She gasped, and his eyes popped open
wide in shock. Ian’s back was to her, but as Ian clearly caught the shocked
expression on Jasper’s face, he turned toward her, smiling broadly.
“I was starting to think you were standing me up,” Ian
commented casually.
“What…?” She shook her head.
Jas stood at that moment, glaring angrily down at Ian.
“You just don’t know when to leave well enough alone do you?” And then he
looked to her, his face softening visibly. “I didn’t know you were going to be
here.”
“Wait!” Ian cried, but there was a smirk on his lips. He
stood then, holding his hands up to both of them. “It isn’t about that. I know
you’re both pissed at me for that suggestion. Apparently the topic of sharing
my girlfriend with my best friend isn’t one I can just throw out there off the
cuff. I just wanted to make amends. You’re my best friend, Jasper, and Gray,
you’re my girlfriend. I need things to be okay—”
“You need to get your head examined,” Jasper muttered as
he stalked out of the room, breezing by her on the way.
She glared at Ian for a moment as he watched her, and then
she shook her head. She followed Jasper’s lead, walking quickly from the room.
She had no idea if she was trying to catch up to him or if she was just plain
fleeing, and she was leaving it entirely up to whether he was still in the
parking lot when she reached it. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she
started quickly down the aisle, and then she stopped walking altogether.
He was there. Not even attempting to leave—just leaning up
against the hood of his car, watching her as though he’d been waiting for her
to find him. She slowed her gait as she closed the space between them, and he
studied every step she took.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here either.” She
wasn’t really sure what else to say.
“That was quite clear given the expression on your face.
I’m sorry.” His ankles were crossed as he leaned casually against the hood of
his car, but however casual his posture might be, his intense eyes were boring
holes into her skull and sending an invisible shudder through her body.
“Jas … I’m really sorry about what I said to you last week
after you left my place.” She swallowed painfully as he watched her.
He shook his head. “Don’t be. I respect your need to put
some space between us. You were right to do that—especially after my behavior
when I was at your loft. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He was studying her
eyes closely. “In fact, I owe you an apology for that little outburst of mine.”
He smirked.
She nodded slowly for a moment. “Well regardless, I’ve
regretted those words from the moment they came out of my mouth. They felt
wrong.”
When she managed to glance back at him, his jaw was tight
and rigid, and his nostrils were flaring as he inhaled slowly.
“You know…” He glanced away for a moment. “…beyond the
completely inappropriate things I admitted to you the other night, I actually
do just like hanging out with you. I think I was more upset that I couldn’t do
that anymore than anything else. But I do understand. And I don’t want you to
feel guilty about putting barriers in place between us.”
She nodded. “I like hanging out with you too.” She looked
down at the ground between them. “And I don’t need barriers.”
He watched her for a moment. “Okay,” he said quietly. “You
hungry?”
She smiled. “Yeah, actually.”
He pushed off the car then, offering her his arm. “Shall
we go deal with your ridiculous boyfriend?”
She laughed and took his arm. “He’s your best friend.”
“Yes.” He looked down at her as they walked slowly back
toward the restaurant. “You look nice. I like this dress, and I like your hair
down.”
She thanked him as warmth settled into her cheeks, and she
avoided looking at him lest it intensify into a full on blush. When they
reached the front door of the restaurant, his hand met her lower back—not low
enough to be inappropriate, but not high enough to be completely platonic, and
he didn’t remove it until they were walking back into the private dining room.
Ian was sitting at the table patiently with his fingers
steepled against his chin. He’d moved to the side of the table, so he was
facing the door now, and as they entered, he smirked. “Glad I won’t be eating
alone,” he commented.
She took the spot Ian had abandoned, and Jasper scooted
her chair in before he rounded the table and took the place across from her.
Jasper’s focus settled on Ian. “You owe us both an
apology.”
Ian glanced between the two of them for a moment, and then
he rolled his eyes. “Okay.” He studied them some more, and then he cleared his
throat. “You are both beyond fortunate to have me in your lives.” He paused
smirking at them.
Jas looked at her, shaking his head in amusement. “Is this
supposed to be an apology?”
She laughed shaking her own head too.
“Yes. Now shut up. As I was saying, however fortunate you
both are, I do realize that, on occasion, I get…” He shrugged his shoulders.
“…well, what I would consider a pretty damn good idea.”
Jas rolled his eyes, studying her some more.
“But!” Ian stuck his finger up in the air, standing from
his chair. “The world apparently doesn’t revolve around me and my notions.
Can’t imagine why not,” he muttered. “What I’m trying to say—”
“Yes. Get on with it already!” Jas cried as she laughed.
“I’m sorry.” Ian looked between the two of them. His
expression was sincere without the slightest hint of his normal sarcasm or
smirk. “My suggestion… Well it put you both in an awkward position, and that
was wrong. And I’m sorry.” He sat down then as the waiter entered with a couple
bottles of red wine. Ian glanced at her. “I know it’s red, but I couldn’t
remember what—”
“Malbec you dick,” Jasper commented, but his eyes were on
her, and she smiled.
“Well, fuck both of you. You’re both going to have to live
with a Cab and a Pinot.”
Dinner was great, the conversation was even better. They
laughed and joked around, and she listened intently as they rehashed their
youth for her. Ian was clearly a latchkey kid with little supervision, and that
didn’t surprise her in the least. Jas was the outsider who most kids were more
fearful of than genuinely interested in knowing, and even though that came with
a number of amusing stories related to school pranks and fights, it was still
sad to hear in a way. But she soaked it up.
“You remember that day your dad showed up at school and
pulled you out in the middle of football practice?” Ian glanced at Jas, but Jas
remained silent, nodding subtly. “He rolls up in this old Ford Mustang. It was
rough, but it was so cool.” Ian chuckled. “He was a big man, your dad. Comes
strolling up with that cool-cat swagger of his, and you just took off with
him.”
Jasper’s eyes met hers, but he looked away quickly. She
wasn’t sure what to make of his disposition at the moment.
“We took bets whether we’d ever see you again.” Ian was
silent then.
She looked between them, feeling more tension than
anything else. Jasper was staring at the table, but it wasn’t irritation. He
just seemed to be somewhere else.
“Well, clearly he came back,” she tried for no other
reason than to cut through the thick air that hung around them.
Ian glanced at her. “Yeah, he did. A week later, black
eye, scuffs all over his face and limping. He looked cool as hell actually.”
Her eyes snapped to Jas as he looked up to her. His brow
flinched, and all she could seem to manage was to stare wide eyed back at him.
“We didn’t get along so well that week,” Jasper commented
with little inflection.
Ian chimed in quickly though. “You were a big kid. I bet
you left him looking just as bad.” In Ian’s own way, he was trying to support
his friend.
Jasper shook his head subtly. “No.” He said nothing else,
and he stared at the table for a moment before blowing out a deep breath of
air. When he looked back up to Ian, he smirked. “Way to suck the life out of
the party, Ian.” He clapped his hand on Ian’s shoulder, smiling and laughing,
and then his focus shifted to Gray, and he studied her for a moment as she took
a drink of wine.
“How about you, Gray?” Jasper lifted his own glass to his
lips.
She shrugged. “I danced. Not much more to say.” She knew
she sounded lame.
“There’s always more to say,” he responded.
“No, in her case there really isn’t,” Ian tossed out. “If
you can believe it, I’m only the second man she’s ever slept with. Still can’t
believe all the shit she’s let me do to her,” he commented as an aside.
Jasper’s eyes remained on her, but she glanced down at the
table, feeling the hot tendrils of embarrassment coursing through her.
“To take a note from Gray’s book, I’m sure she would have
told me that herself if she’d wanted me to know.” Jasper’s voice was warm, and
when she glanced up, he was looking directly at her rather than Ian. “That
doesn’t mean I don’t think there’s more to say. So spill it, Gray.” He demanded
with a gentle smile.
She smiled. “Okay. I came from a great family with loving
parents who supported me perfectly. I started dance when I was young, and … I
was good at it.” She thought about what she wanted to say then. “It was all I
did. I knew early on that I wanted to make a career of it, and you don’t do
that without giving yourself over to it completely. It was my life. I didn’t go
out, have fun, do all those normal kid things. I was in a studio practicing.”
She shrugged. Yeah, it was more than lame.
“Nothing wrong with being disciplined,” Jas offered.
“No…” She thought about that for a moment. “But I missed
out on life. While other people were out having adventures—”
“And fucking,” Ian threw out.
She rolled her eyes. “I was keeping a strict rehearsal
schedule.” Her lips pursed, and her brow flinched as she stared at the table.
But Jaspers warm voice pulled her back to him. “You’re
young. You have plenty of time for adventures.”
She glanced at him. “Do I?”
Ian was looking between the two of them but not
interrupting.
“I don’t know,” she mused. “Even at my age I feel like
I’ve lost part of my life to my career. It’s funny how life feels like it slips
away from you without you even knowing it sometimes.” She watched Jasper’s eyes
as she spoke.
“Yeah.” He nodded focusing on her intently.
The waiter suddenly appeared in the doorway with their
check in his hand. Ian took it, and as the waiter left, it was silent. No one
said a word, and her brain swam with a sea of possibilities that were so much
bigger than her small little boring world. It was a heady feeling, and she took
a deep breath, soaking in the intoxication of it. And then she said it. It
wasn’t her desire nor her intention when she walked in, but… She said it.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
He stared at her, stunned into silence. His groin was
throbbing, his skin was flushing, and breathing had become a nonessential
afterthought.
“Well, that settles that,” quipped Ian from beside him.
But Gray’s face remained impassive—much as it had been
when she made the comment.
“No, it doesn’t,” Jasper cut in quickly. He turned his
focus to Ian. “I need to speak with Gray alone for a moment.” He stared at Ian,
refusing to look away.
Ian held the check up. “Why don’t I take care of this, and
I’ll meet you both in the parking lot. Perhaps a nightcap at my place?”
Jasper didn’t respond to him, and he waited for Ian to
leave before he bothered trying to speak again. But the moment the door closed
and he was alone with Gray, he opened his mouth. “Why are you doing this?”
She watched him for a moment, and she swallowed harshly
over a lump in her throat. “I guess… I want to do something I’m not supposed to
do. I want to want something I’m not supposed to want. I want to make the
mistake I’m not supposed to make.” She took a deep breath again.
He nodded but said nothing.
“Are you agreeing?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” he said quietly.
“Why?”
Every muscle in his body tightened into hardened strands
of tension. “Because I want to fuck the hell out of the mistake until I can get
her out of my system.”
Elizabeth Finn is a multi-published contemporary romance author. Her passion is creating stories packed full of believable conflicts, characters who leave you rooting for them, and romance that might just short-circuit your e-reader. She likes her characters flawed, but they always find the best part of themselves on their journey. And her readers find themselves devoted to her honest and heartfelt voice.
October 6
Cruising Susan Book Reviews | Mad Love Book Blog | The Book Enthusiast |Book Vigilante Reviews | K.C. Stewart | Foxy Blogs | Breezy Book Blog
October 7
Author Sandra Love | Bits of Books by Monica | Underneath the Covers | Crazy Cajun book addicts | Reading Drinking and Relaxing | Blimey! I Fancy Reading | Book Groupies | Tammy's Tea Time | The Book Bellas
October 8
Rustys Reading | Bottles & Books Reviews | Romance readoholic | What Shall We Blog About Today? | Kris & Vik Book Therapy Cafe | StarAngels Reviews | Read more-sleep less
October 9
Crystal's Sweet Reads and Reviews | Sarah Aisling | Coffee Talk Writers | A One-click Addict's Book Blog | True Story Book Blog | Read It Woman | Watz Books and Teasers
October 10
No comments:
Post a Comment