While watching her brothers find their happily ever afters, Abbey dreams of falling in love. Smart, fun, and sexy, Abbey is also independent and works hard alongside her brother, Kyle. When Kyle joins his business ventures with his wife’s cousins, Jason and Damon, Abbey struggles with keeping things professional.
Jason is instantly enamored with Abbey, and he becomes determined to win her over. Although she does not want to mix business with pleasure, he works his way into her heart with his good looks and sweet charm.
All the while, Abbey begins building a friendship with a lonely neighborhood child, Pearl. Abbey’s heart warms to Pearl, and their friendship quickly blossoms into a loving relationship.
Can Abbey find a way to balance her growing feelings for Jason with her need to take care of Pearl? Or will Abbey need to sacrifice one relationship for the sake of the other?
**Book Contains Mature Content**
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***Enjoy an Excerpt***
Beautiful Ties Excerpt
Once we arrived at the office building, my mood started to lighten. Working side-by-side with Jason made physical labor so much easier to endure. We even had a radio blaring in the background.
By eleven o’clock, he had taken off his shirt during a break from tearing out the old carpet. My eyes would sneak quick glances at him here and there, wanting to memorize every fine detail of his bare upper physique. With every yank on the Berber, his muscles rippled from his arms all the way up to the wide expansion of his sculptured shoulders. His body was in prime condition. Watching him was way more intriguing than wetting the wallpaper and scraping it off with an oversized razor blade. I vowed to myself right then and there that I would never own a house with wallpaper, no matter how cute of a design it had.
After finishing lunch, Jason tipped his head back to chug his bottled water. My gaze lingered on his exposed stomach, and suddenly, I started counting. He didn’t have a six-pack. He had an eight-pack. I recounted to make sure my eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on me. His body started vibrating when I reached the number seven this time, so I glanced up at him. He was looking at me with a mixture of heat and amusement.
My mouth parted. I was uncertain what to say at being caught gawking at his strikingly attractive body.
“Cat got your tongue?” he teased with a wicked glint in his eyes.
I struggled to find words, racking my brain for a quick denial. At the last second, I noticed the radio behind him. An idea popped in my head, and I pointed toward the music. “Nope. I was just trying to read the display behind you to see what station this is.” I felt guilty for lying, but I could not give him the satisfaction of knowing he had been right.
He actually turned to look at the radio, and then he turned back to me. His mouth lifted with a mischievous grin. “Nice try.” He winked.
I rolled my eyes at his confidence. He was probably one of those men who knew he was hot and flaunted it. I was the innocent moth, and he was the flame. I spontaneously decided to live in the moment and play with fire. My breathing paused while I slowly walked toward him. His eyes watched me curiously as he tried to figure out what I was up to.
Winging it, I kept my voice as even as possible as I said, “Seriously, this station stinks. Can we change it?”
I could tell from the look he was giving me that he knew I was bullshitting.
He humored me anyway. “You don’t like Third Eye Blind?” he questioned with a lively spirit evident in his tone.
“I do,” I drawled, deliberating on my next thought. “But I’m in the mood for something more…upbeat.”
His brows rose as he observed my every move while I continued to stroll over to the radio.
“Upbeat? Is that code for chick music?” he asked.
“No.” I laughed.
Jason moved to stand at my right as my hand changed the station. I stopped on one of my favorite stations. Lady Antebellum’s “Just a Kiss” poured from the speakers. The alluring slow-paced song instantly transpired the air in the room. Of all the songs that could have been playing on this station, it was this one—romantic and about the beginning phase of falling in love.
Tilting his head at me, his gaze bore into mine as we both absorbed the words.
“This is the kind of music you listen to?” he asked in a soft and heartfelt tone.
I saw a certain softness in his eyes that I had never seen before. The way they pulled me in deeper each time made it seem as if time was standing still. The effect intrigued and terrified me at the same time. My chest tightened, taking all of the air from my lungs, and my blood thundered ferociously in my veins. I knew I needed to look away, but I couldn’t. He was so close to me, and I felt hypnotized by him. The strong attraction brewing between us was becoming harder and harder to deny. Every minute I spent with him made me feel a little more and fall a little deeper, and I was beginning to forget all the reasons why I was supposed to stay away.
Jason wordlessly outstretched his right arm, hooking it around my lower back, and he tugged me closer while never breaking eye contact. His hard body pressed along my softer one. The sensations of his hands on me caused a warm spark to ignite within me. My breathing accelerated—or maybe it was his. I was not sure whose it was because all my concentration was on those sky-blue eyes burning into me. I lifted my hands to his chest for balance. I splayed my fingers outward to feel his toned curves, and I felt his heartbeat increasing beneath my palms.
The familiar energy between us blossomed to new heights.
“How long are we going to ignore this between us?” he finally questioned in a low, husky tone, dropping his gaze down to linger on my mouth. Then, he glanced back up at me. “Because I don’t believe your reasons for staying away,” he added.
Alicia Rae Bio:
Alicia Rae is a Contemporary Romance Author who lives in Dekalb, Illinois, with her husband and three beautiful boys. Alicia has a passion for reading all types of romance, writing to bring a story to life, and photography.
Thank you to my dear sister, Kels, who showed me a few years ago how much I truly missed reading. And to my loving husband, for not throwing away my Nook, and planting the seed of writing in my mind. I am forever grateful. Xo
Readers, words cannot thank you enough for supporting me along this incredible journey. I hope you enjoy my novels as much as I do writing them. I thank each and every one of you.
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