Today is the day!!!!
November 13, 2017
The cover reveal for A Little Harmless Faith is finally here! I am so excited to share the gorgeous cover that Scott Carpenter did for me. Follow me after the jump for the cover AND an excerpt from the first chapter.
A Little Harmless Faith
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Nicola stepped off the last stair from the private jet and cursed her life. Okay, she sounded like a bitch, even to herself…in her own head. She had flown from LA to Honolulu on a private jet, and she was cursing her life. Rich people problems, indeed.
She slipped on her sunglasses and ignored the bead of sweat that had already formed on her back and was now rolling down her spine. She was not a woman made for tropical beaches or humidity. Before she was eighteen, she had spent most of her life on an ice rink. She longed for a day in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, and riding a sled.
“Move it along, Nic,” Jensen said from behind her, irritation easy to hear in his voice.
He didn’t like being here any more than she did. Hawaii was gorgeous, but she had a feeling Jensen’s irritation arose from the laidback style of Hawaii. He had a lot of time on his hands when he was here, and he knew that’s when he made mistakes. That’s what they called it the one time he had gone on a bender since that fateful day four years ago. Idle hands and all of that.
She stepped aside and waited for him to take the lead. She followed behind him, not out of duty, but it was the easiest way to get things done. Nicola gave up duty a long time ago.
“Did you contact Micah Ross?” he asked.
“Yes. He knows you are on the island today.”
One way to make sure that he kept himself occupied was through the BDSM club, Rough ‘n Ready. If he could find a sub or two to play with while on his business trip, Jensen would keep his nose and arm clean. She wasn’t sure if that made her a pimp, but she was fairly certain it didn’t. Jensen didn’t have to pay for subs. They clamored for him. And lately, for some unknown reason, she’d started to get pissed about it.
“Good. I guess you can drop me off there on the way to the house.”
She blinked. “What?”
He glanced back at her. “I want you to drop me off.”
They’d just arrived on the island and it was the middle of the day. “Jensen, they’re not open this early.”
He blinked as if just realizing it was sunny out. “Oh.”
“Let’s go to the house, check in, you can clean up, change and head out.”
He didn’t look happy about the situation, but he nodded and slid into the sedan.
She shook her head and walked around to the other side of the car. This was probably not going to be a good trip. Lately, a lot of their trips had been uncomfortable. There was something off about Jensen, and she didn’t know what it was.
Her old sober companion instincts had reared their ugly head, but Jensen was going to meetings. A lot of meetings, but he was going. In fact, he had insisted that he make sure the listed times they had from their last visit to the islands was correct.
She slipped into the backseat of the limo and looked over her schedule.
“Remember, day after tomorrow, you are going to Maui for a meeting with the Johnson family.”
He grunted, which meant he was at least listening to her. “Johnson? Doesn’t sound very Hawaiian.”
He’d already remarked on that—several times.
“No Hawaiian family can claim one hundred percent Hawaiian blood. At least not many.”
“I thought these wankers were fighting us because we aren’t Hawaiian?”
“They are, in a way. They are trying to preserve the beauty of Hawaii.”
He shot her a dirty look. “You’ve been against this development from the beginning.”
She nodded. “I think there is no reason for it and I agree with the locals.”
He snorted and looked out the window.
“And what was that for?”
“It seems to me to be hypocritical.”
“Why?”
“You make a living being my assistant. Therefore, you would stand to gain from the deal.”
“First, I only get paid my salary.”
“Which is insanely high.”
She was getting sick of this argument. “And, if you sign a deal with the Johnson family, that doesn’t make me any richer. Also, I can disagree with what you do and still work for you.”
“Is that a fact?”’
She didn’t like his tone. She called it his royal we voice. He always used it when he thought he was above everyone else. Dismissing him, she tried her best to concentrate on the work at hand. She had a billion emails to answer, but Nicola ignored them. Instead, she texted her best friend Serenity to tell her she had arrived.
On island.
About damned time. When will I see you?
As soon as his lord Wulf leaves for the club tonight.
Good. Mick said he will make your favorite shrimp.
One of these days, I will steal that big hunk of man from you.
Good luck, loser. You have to fight Adam and me for him.
Nicola smiled. Her friend had found her soulmates just a year earlier and Nicola was so happy for her. Still, she was a little envious. Both of them had forever wondered if they would find even one man to trust. Serenity found two.
“What?”
She glanced up at Jensen, who was watching her intently.
“What, what?”
“Why are you smiling?” he asked.
“Nothing. Just Serenity.”
“Ah. So, you’re going to go over there tonight.” He sounded like he was accusing her.
“And? You don’t need me. You’re going to the club.”
He mumbled something under his breath as he turned to look out the window.
“You’re mumbling again.”
“I said that you spend a lot of time with them.”
It was her turn to blink.
“What do you mean by that?”
He turned back to her. “You just seem to spend a lot of time with that threesome.”
“I get to see Serenity very seldom, so when we are here, I spend as much time as I can with her.”
“And them.”
“Excuse me?”
He rolled his eyes. “And them. Those men.”
“You liked them before.”
“That was different.”
“Jensen, are you sure you haven’t scored recently? Have you started using again?”
“That’s not funny.”
“What am I supposed to think? You’re saying insane things.”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut.
“Exactly. Serenity is in a committed relationship with two men. They are not swingers. But, I have been promised my favorite dish when I come to the islands.”
“Shrimp truck shrimp.”
“Yes,” she said, a little surprised that he knew.
“What? I pay attention. Besides, you’re out at Giovanni’s constantly. And you got Freddy to learn the recipe just how you like it.”
She smiled and then started going through her emails. She didn’t want him to know exactly how stupid happy that made her.
“Dinner with the trio, then?”
“Yes. Serenity did ask if we were all going out while we were here.”
“Sure.”
But that meant nothing. Lately, Jensen had been acting oddly. More than odd. He had been avoiding her. And, since he had a past and was a recovering addict, she had worried. Still, it was the only sign, so she had reserved judgment.
She glanced at him once more. He was looking out the window again, ignoring her. It was hard to believe that they were four years down the road. She had taken the job at the pleading of his mother. It was one she hadn’t wanted since Jensen had a reputation of being a bad boy. Being a blood relative of the Windsors did not help. People loved to do things for and to him. She had avoided working with those kinds of addicts. Still, it was hard to ignore a plea from a mother who loved her son so much. Little did she know, it would be the last work she did in the field.
“I take it you don’t need me next week, do you?”
He shrugged. Good God, she was not in the mood for this. She could push him, but it would just make him react more like an ass. So, she followed his lead and looked out the window. The midday traffic wasn’t heavy. Late October wasn’t a big tourist time for Hawaii. The landscape flew past her as they drove down H-1. They’d bought a house on Portlock Rd. House? More like compound. She was just a girl who grew up in a small Colorado town in a two-bedroom home. The Wulf’s would have no idea what that was like. Ever.
“You like these men?”
She turned her head. He wasn’t looking at her, but had laid his head against the back of the seat and had his eyes closed. “What?”
“You like Adam and Mick?”
“I like that they make my friend happy. She’s had enough bad times to last a lifetime. That the two of them see it as their mission in life to keep her happy make them gods in my opinion.”
“Hmm.”
Then, silence again. She knew this was a tactic he used in business. Jensen lulled people into thinking he was a bad boy without any brains. The proverbial rich boy who cared more about his money than people. They would be wrong. As much as she hated to admit it, there was a world-class brain in that beautiful head of his, and he did care about people. Like the rest of the family, his English upbringing sometimes got in the way of showing it, but it was there.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“Just that they are all members of Rough ‘n Ready.”
“And?”
“You seem to look down on me for being a member.”
“I do not.”
He opened an eye. “Really?”
His tone told her he didn’t believe her.
“No. If you remember, I suggested that you look into BDSM as an outlet.”
He sat up and opened both eyes. “So, why the judgment in your voice?”
“I’m not judging you. I worry about you. That’s all.”
The leather creaked as he moved closer. He was so close she could feel his body heat. The scent of his aftershave filled her senses and left her a little lightheaded. She had to fight off the shiver. “That’s it?”
She nodded. “I’ve heard that the club is one of the best in the world. I have never, and will never, judge you for your need for Domination. I promise.”
He stayed close a moment longer, then sighed. “Good. Because I would blame it all on you,” he said, but this time his voice was lighter, less sarcastic. He leaned back again and she breathed a sigh of relief.
If he ever figured out she was a member, he would never let her hear the end of it.
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