by: Kadie Scott and Nicole Flockton
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 4, 2022
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All it takes is one weekend…
Everyone knows that the biggest risk you can take with your best friend is to cross a certain line.
When it comes to relationships, Hunter Lancing is not a risk taker. Between his parents’ terrible divorce and his own bad decisions, he’s been burned. Computers make more sense to him. Everything has a rule. Everything is defined. Like his computers, his best friend is defined, constant, and comes with rules he won’t break.
Part-time children’s party princess Natalie Morgan dances to the beat of a drum no one else can hear. The only person who truly gets her and is never scared off by her sometimes zany ideas is Hunter. But she has a big problem. Natalie keeps having all these…feelings…for her bestie.
But on a weekend getaway, a game of risky dares and one-upmanship that was supposed to just be for laughs may end up with both of them crossing the friend zone line.
She pointed at the Congress Street bridge that spanned the river. “See that?”
He turned his head. “What?”
“The bridge.”
“Hard to miss it.”
She rolled her eyes. “That is the home to the largest urban bat colony in the world.”
“Okay.”
“The Travel Channel named Austin the second scariest place in the world behind Transylvania. Not because of the ghosts, though they do have a lot here. I have a ghost tour scheduled tomorrow, but because of…”
“The bats,” he supplied dryly.
She waved her arms in the air in ta-da motion. “The bats! At dusk they fly out from under the bridge. It’s supposed to be really cool.” Natalie gave a little bounce.
Finding local things to do was her favorite part of traveling.
“You’re going to get me bitten by a bat and I’m going to turn into Dracula. I can already see it coming.” Hunter was still grumbling, but the tone had changed, and she knew she had him hooked. No way would his geeky mind not enjoy bats.
“You’d be cute as a vampire.”
Hunter leaned back on his hands. “I’d like to be Batman instead.”
“You have the money for the Bruce Wayne part.” And the muscles appropriate for the Dark Knight, she had to admit.
He harrumphed, which was Hunter for amused.
Confident she had him wrapped around her little finger, Natalie scooted over so she could sort of lean against him. “Of course,” she pondered. “You could get rabies instead.”
The low rumble of his chuckle vibrated against her shoulder, and she couldn’t tell if the pleasure she got from making him laugh was what warmed her, or the heat of his body along her side. The night had turned chilly, not quite what she’d been expecting in Texas despite the time of year. Wasn’t it supposed to be hot here all the time? She’d heard the joke about there being two seasons in Texas—summer and one week in January.
Either way, the delicious sensation spread through her, loosening up muscles she hadn’t even realized were tight. Maybe simply being around him again was helping. He’d always been her bolt hole. Her port in any storm. Her rock. Or any other cliché that fit.
Given the apparition of lust that had struck at his place the other night, affection was definitely the better option. The more likely option.
Except, if that were true, she would have been flirting with Colt today. And she hadn’t.
Because of Hunter? Because I’m feeling…things?
No. Hunter was her friend, and she’d stick to that.
“That would be just your luck,” he said.
It took her a second to refocus. Right. Bats. Rabies. “Don’t you mean your luck instead of mine?”
“Nope. My getting rabies on our trip would only happen around you, Nat.”
“Hey! I resent the implication.”
“You resemble it more like, and it’s not an implication, it’s a fact. I have evidence.” She bet if she craned her neck to look up, she’d find Hunter grinning.
“Hey…that time with the escaped Nile monitor lizard was not my fault.” An old argument. The six-foot, extremely dangerous mini dinosaur had belonged to the neighbor and climbed over the fence into her backyard birthday party. Hunter had run right at it to save her dog—a terrier mix who was too old to be fast, and too dumb to run, and one of Natalie’s most precious things. He’d barely avoided losing an arm.
Happy sweet sixteen, indeed.
She wiggled around, trying to get enough of her shoulder on him to lean more. This berm was not exactly comfy.
“Come here.” An arm looped around her waist, and he suddenly scooped her up, big skirt and all, and deposited her between his bent knees. “Might as well both be comfortable,” he murmured.
With a sigh, she settled back, propping her elbows on his knees like armrests. “Yup.”
She felt him shake his head, and opened her mouth with another comment, only the first bat fluttered out of the shadowy underside of the bridge, flitting its way, seemingly in a haphazard fashion, right over their heads.
“Did you see that?” she gasped.
He turned his head. “What?”
“The bridge.”
“Hard to miss it.”
She rolled her eyes. “That is the home to the largest urban bat colony in the world.”
“Okay.”
“The Travel Channel named Austin the second scariest place in the world behind Transylvania. Not because of the ghosts, though they do have a lot here. I have a ghost tour scheduled tomorrow, but because of…”
“The bats,” he supplied dryly.
She waved her arms in the air in ta-da motion. “The bats! At dusk they fly out from under the bridge. It’s supposed to be really cool.” Natalie gave a little bounce.
Finding local things to do was her favorite part of traveling.
“You’re going to get me bitten by a bat and I’m going to turn into Dracula. I can already see it coming.” Hunter was still grumbling, but the tone had changed, and she knew she had him hooked. No way would his geeky mind not enjoy bats.
“You’d be cute as a vampire.”
Hunter leaned back on his hands. “I’d like to be Batman instead.”
“You have the money for the Bruce Wayne part.” And the muscles appropriate for the Dark Knight, she had to admit.
He harrumphed, which was Hunter for amused.
Confident she had him wrapped around her little finger, Natalie scooted over so she could sort of lean against him. “Of course,” she pondered. “You could get rabies instead.”
The low rumble of his chuckle vibrated against her shoulder, and she couldn’t tell if the pleasure she got from making him laugh was what warmed her, or the heat of his body along her side. The night had turned chilly, not quite what she’d been expecting in Texas despite the time of year. Wasn’t it supposed to be hot here all the time? She’d heard the joke about there being two seasons in Texas—summer and one week in January.
Either way, the delicious sensation spread through her, loosening up muscles she hadn’t even realized were tight. Maybe simply being around him again was helping. He’d always been her bolt hole. Her port in any storm. Her rock. Or any other cliché that fit.
Given the apparition of lust that had struck at his place the other night, affection was definitely the better option. The more likely option.
Except, if that were true, she would have been flirting with Colt today. And she hadn’t.
Because of Hunter? Because I’m feeling…things?
No. Hunter was her friend, and she’d stick to that.
“That would be just your luck,” he said.
It took her a second to refocus. Right. Bats. Rabies. “Don’t you mean your luck instead of mine?”
“Nope. My getting rabies on our trip would only happen around you, Nat.”
“Hey! I resent the implication.”
“You resemble it more like, and it’s not an implication, it’s a fact. I have evidence.” She bet if she craned her neck to look up, she’d find Hunter grinning.
“Hey…that time with the escaped Nile monitor lizard was not my fault.” An old argument. The six-foot, extremely dangerous mini dinosaur had belonged to the neighbor and climbed over the fence into her backyard birthday party. Hunter had run right at it to save her dog—a terrier mix who was too old to be fast, and too dumb to run, and one of Natalie’s most precious things. He’d barely avoided losing an arm.
Happy sweet sixteen, indeed.
She wiggled around, trying to get enough of her shoulder on him to lean more. This berm was not exactly comfy.
“Come here.” An arm looped around her waist, and he suddenly scooped her up, big skirt and all, and deposited her between his bent knees. “Might as well both be comfortable,” he murmured.
With a sigh, she settled back, propping her elbows on his knees like armrests. “Yup.”
She felt him shake his head, and opened her mouth with another comment, only the first bat fluttered out of the shadowy underside of the bridge, flitting its way, seemingly in a haphazard fashion, right over their heads.
“Did you see that?” she gasped.
Purchase The Best Friend’s Guide to Taking Risks from:
Places to find Kadie Scott:
On her first school report her teacher noted “Nicole likes to tell her own stories”. It wasn’t until after the birth of her first child and after having fun on a romance community forum that she finally decided to take the plunge and write a book.
Apart from writing Nicole is busy looking after her very own hero – her wonderfully supportive husband, and two fabulous kids. She also enjoys watching sports and, of course, reading.
Places to find Nicole Flockton:
This book sounds like so much fun.
ReplyDeleteI like the cover and excerpt. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleted