by: Christi Barth
Series: One Weekend
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Comedy
Release Date: May 24, 2024
Cady Staunton and Jasper Holt have been best friends forever–and only friends, aside from one unexpected kiss in Vegas eight years ago. But everything changes during a destination wedding in Venice.
Their rock band may or may not be breaking up. Jasper is definitely hiding a secret from her. Actually, they’ve both always hidden their true desires for each other. They intended to keep it that way until circumstances–and another accidental kiss–lead them to take a leap.
They’ll use this weekend in Venice to test shifting from friendship to something…more. If it doesn’t work? They’ll go back to being best friends. Except…that never works. And there’s still the problem of Jasper’s big secret and what to do about their band. Will their friendship, let alone their attempt at love, even survive the weekend?
“Didn’t that kiss mean anything to you?”
“Yes.” She wouldn’t lie to him. Which was why she kept going. “I assumed that it didn’t mean anything to you.”
“I’m not sure which one of us that insults more.”
“Sometimes being honest is more important than being polite.”
Jasper backed her against the wall until the chair rail bumped against her butt. One hand planted high above her head, caging her in.
Awareness of his masculinity assailed all of Cady’s senses. The touch of his muscular thigh in between hers, the piney scent of his cologne, and the navy-blue vein pulsing at his temple. That usually only happened when he argued with the twins about the direction of a new song. Only when he was completely riled up.
Had she done that to him?
In a deep, raspy rumble, he said, “All the whys come down to two basic facts. I missed you. A lot. And I realized when I finally saw you again today that I wanted to kiss you.” Jasper tilted his head to speak the rest with his breath, fanning warmth across her ear. “You, Cady. That’s it.”
That was…an escalation on the level of an eye dropper of water turning into the entire freaking Pacific Ocean.
Or was it a challenge? What was she supposed to do next? That type of question was the thing she always ran past her best friend. AKA, the confounding man causing this question. But hey, why ruin a solid track record out of potential humiliation?
“Not so sure how to interpret that little disclosure. Since you just said that you don’t want a hook-up with me.”
“Because you’re better than that. Because our friendship deserves better than that. I don’t want a hook-up. I want to go out with you.”
When she fell asleep last night over a plastic cup of Pinot Grigio with the guy in the seat next to her snoring almost as loudly as the plane’s engines? She would’ve laid down a bet of everything in her bank account that Jasper had an allergy to commitment that even an EpiPen couldn’t cure. “A date? According to the dictionary definition?”
“Yeah. A no-strings-attached date. For the safety of the friendship.”
Cady’s head—no, her whole world—was reeling. “No strings? Is that man-code for no sex?”
“It’s whatever you want, Cady. I’m trying to be smart. Listen to my brain and my heart for once, instead of only my dick.”
“You’ll probably need a translator for that. Or a feather duster to sweep off all the cobwebs from those two parts of your body.”
“Very not funny.” Jasper put a minute amount of space between them. “Look, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t know how to do it. We should try, though.”
“Should we, though? Or should we maybe not risk ruining our friendship?”
“See, that’s the beauty of this plan. Remember? Everything that happens in Venice stays in Venice. One weekend. No strings. No expectations. And if it doesn’t work? No fault.”
It was tempting. The same way that doing an eating challenge consisting of nine ice cream scoops was tempting. You knew you’d be miserable when it was over, but the doing of it would be glorious.
After all, then she’d know. She’d know the answers to all the secret questions she’d amassed over the years.
What were Jasper’s magic moves?
What did the skin on his inner thigh feel like beneath all that golden hair?
Was it possible to literally combust from the heat of him sliding inside her?
Blissful ignorance was overrated. She could go into this with her eyes wide open. Knowing that it’d never work, and so the only rule was to enjoy this one weekend with him.
And when it did fail, maybe there’d be a big fight, giving her the strength to reveal her secret project to him. It wasn’t good to hide things from your best friend.
Aside from how much she’d always lusted after him. That was fine to keep hiding.
So she stared into those blissfully blue eyes and said, “You forgot one rule. No regrets.”
“Yes.” She wouldn’t lie to him. Which was why she kept going. “I assumed that it didn’t mean anything to you.”
“I’m not sure which one of us that insults more.”
“Sometimes being honest is more important than being polite.”
Jasper backed her against the wall until the chair rail bumped against her butt. One hand planted high above her head, caging her in.
Awareness of his masculinity assailed all of Cady’s senses. The touch of his muscular thigh in between hers, the piney scent of his cologne, and the navy-blue vein pulsing at his temple. That usually only happened when he argued with the twins about the direction of a new song. Only when he was completely riled up.
Had she done that to him?
In a deep, raspy rumble, he said, “All the whys come down to two basic facts. I missed you. A lot. And I realized when I finally saw you again today that I wanted to kiss you.” Jasper tilted his head to speak the rest with his breath, fanning warmth across her ear. “You, Cady. That’s it.”
That was…an escalation on the level of an eye dropper of water turning into the entire freaking Pacific Ocean.
Or was it a challenge? What was she supposed to do next? That type of question was the thing she always ran past her best friend. AKA, the confounding man causing this question. But hey, why ruin a solid track record out of potential humiliation?
“Not so sure how to interpret that little disclosure. Since you just said that you don’t want a hook-up with me.”
“Because you’re better than that. Because our friendship deserves better than that. I don’t want a hook-up. I want to go out with you.”
When she fell asleep last night over a plastic cup of Pinot Grigio with the guy in the seat next to her snoring almost as loudly as the plane’s engines? She would’ve laid down a bet of everything in her bank account that Jasper had an allergy to commitment that even an EpiPen couldn’t cure. “A date? According to the dictionary definition?”
“Yeah. A no-strings-attached date. For the safety of the friendship.”
Cady’s head—no, her whole world—was reeling. “No strings? Is that man-code for no sex?”
“It’s whatever you want, Cady. I’m trying to be smart. Listen to my brain and my heart for once, instead of only my dick.”
“You’ll probably need a translator for that. Or a feather duster to sweep off all the cobwebs from those two parts of your body.”
“Very not funny.” Jasper put a minute amount of space between them. “Look, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t know how to do it. We should try, though.”
“Should we, though? Or should we maybe not risk ruining our friendship?”
“See, that’s the beauty of this plan. Remember? Everything that happens in Venice stays in Venice. One weekend. No strings. No expectations. And if it doesn’t work? No fault.”
It was tempting. The same way that doing an eating challenge consisting of nine ice cream scoops was tempting. You knew you’d be miserable when it was over, but the doing of it would be glorious.
After all, then she’d know. She’d know the answers to all the secret questions she’d amassed over the years.
What were Jasper’s magic moves?
What did the skin on his inner thigh feel like beneath all that golden hair?
Was it possible to literally combust from the heat of him sliding inside her?
Blissful ignorance was overrated. She could go into this with her eyes wide open. Knowing that it’d never work, and so the only rule was to enjoy this one weekend with him.
And when it did fail, maybe there’d be a big fight, giving her the strength to reveal her secret project to him. It wasn’t good to hide things from your best friend.
Aside from how much she’d always lusted after him. That was fine to keep hiding.
So she stared into those blissfully blue eyes and said, “You forgot one rule. No regrets.”
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I love a good friends to lovers story. This one sounds really good. I enjoyed the excerpt and idea of a "what happens in Venice, stays in Venice". Sounds fun.
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great contemporary romance/romantic comedy.I like the cover and excerpt.
ReplyDeletethis sounds like a fun read!
ReplyDeleteA romance and a comedy read - love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this.
Venice! Oh the splendor, the history and the food! Love it.
ReplyDeleteI like the excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great beach read. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book!
ReplyDeleteHope it does awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover
ReplyDeleteabfantom at yahoo dot com
Very romantic, Great excerpt!
ReplyDeleteHello, I am listed as one of the winners of this giveaway, but I haven't received an email about winning. I was wondering if you could check on this for me. thanks, Shelly
ReplyDelete