Book & Author details:
Push by Claire Wallis
(Push #1)
Published by: Harlequin MIRA
Publication date: May 1st 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
I feel like I am wrapped in a cyclone. Everything is whirling around me, drawing the air out of my lungs and filling me with the best kind of turmoil. Every time his tongue slides against mine, a prickle in my gut tells me how right we are together. How much I need David. How much I need us.
I hope the cyclone never stops.
Emma Searfoss has spent a lifetime trying to escape her abusive stepfather. It’s why she moved far away from home. It’s why she’s kept no ties with her remaining family. And it’s why she’s got a major rage problem. When her neighbor shows up to fix the kitchen in her new apartment, his enigmatic charm calms the fire in her. David is cool and collected, and he makes Emma feel safe for the first time ever. But David has his own chilling past—his six previous girlfriends have all disappeared without a trace. Emma’s walking a dangerous line, but David’s pull is intoxicating. And impossible to resist…
This is a new adult romance with mature content for readers 17 and up.
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Excerpt:
As I
look at his arms, I almost feel guilty. Like I have seen something that was
supposed to be private. Intimate even. I only see them for a few brief moments,
but they tell me more about David than I suspect he wants me to know. Anyone
can see his arms of course, but I feel like I have exposed him somehow. Like my
looking at them might make him embarrassed. Vulnerable even. But I know
thousands of people have probably seen his tattoos and didn't think twice about
it.
Maybe
it's me that feels embarrassed.
The
two of us together in my very small, and very demolished, kitchen is suddenly
awkward, and I want to get out. I have to pass him sideways to fit between his
body and the wall, and I take care not to touch him as I go by. I put the rest
of the food on the table and divvy it all up. He comes around the corner drying
his hands with a paper towel.
"How
long ago did you move in?" he asks. "I haven't really seen you around
so it must have been pretty recently." I want to make a smart aleck
comment about all the moving boxes sitting around, but I decide that I'd better
not.
"I've
only been here a few days," I answer as we both sit down. "I start my
new job on Monday."
"Oh
yeah?" he asks with what might be a hint of pride in his voice. "Good
for you. What's the job?"
"It's
for the FBI," I say. "I'm going to be investigating a con-man who
swindles women into paying for remodeling projects they didn't ask for."
And
there it is. His smile. It's not big, and he doesn't show his teeth, but still,
it's a smile. And I smile back.
"Wow.
Now that sounds like an interesting case, Emma," he says. "I bet he's
a good- looking bastard."
"They
say he's a conceited son-of-a-bitch, too," I add.
"Don't worry. You won't be paying for a single penny of your
new kitchen." "How do you know that?"
"Because
I play poker with Carl every Tuesday night, and I have already won you your new
kitchen. You want a new bathroom too? I can have that for you by Wednesday
morning."
"Ahhh.
It appears that the con-man is indeed a conceited son-of-a-bitch," I say.
"But I'm glad he's spending his winnings so smartly. I didn't know
philanthropic con-men even existed. How unexpected."
"Con-men
are notorious for the unexpected," he says, and I feel a lump in my
throat. The whole time we have been talking I have been watching the birds on
his arms in my peripheral vision. I suddenly feel remorseful for taking what
could have been a normal conversation and turning it into a series of jokes. He
is still smiling, though, which tells me he likes it.
"Unexpected
is nice," I say. Nice? That's the best I can do? The word seems wrong.
We
sit there eating without saying another word. I am looking at my food and not
at him. When I glance up a few minutes later, he is looking right at me, and
he's still smiling, even as he eats.
"What?"
I ask.
"Are you going to tell me what your new
job really is?"
"I'm
going to work for a company that designs telecommunication systems for office
buildings. I'm an electrical engineer." He actually looks pleased, and it
surprises the hell out of me. "Welcome to Geek-ville," I add as I
shrug my shoulders. Oh God.
"Geek-ville?"
he asks, half laughing. "I think that shit is awesome." I must look
shocked at his reply because he shrugs his shoulders too.
"And
how long have you worked for Carl?"
"Almost
two years. He owns a couple of apartment buildings, and I do all the
maintenance for them in exchange for my rent." Oh. David lives here? In
this building? "It's a pretty good deal. I just do some odd side jobs to
pay for food and stuff, and I usually end up kicking ass on poker night so I'm
good. I'm really a carpenter, but I'll do whatever the hell he needs just so I
don't have to get some nine to five shit union job."
"I'm
not looking forward to nine to five myself, but I think it will treat me pretty
well."
"I'm
sure it will," he says as he gets up from the table. "I'm going to
get a few more things done in here, and then I'll get going."
He
goes back into the kitchen, and I follow behind him carrying our plates. As I
drop them into the sink, he hooks his tool belt around his waist and nestles it
down onto his hips. I glance at the birds again, knowing that his eyes are on
the belt clip and not me. They are breathtaking.
"Do
you live in this building?" Really, Emma? Do you really want to go there?
I curse my curiosity and tell it to go fuck itself.
"Yes,"
he says. "Right above you, but two floors up." That explains how he
knew which apartment was mine and exactly where the kitchen was. It doesn't
explain why he used the door buzzer.
"Oh.
Then why did you use the door buzzer this morning?" I ask.
"Because
intercom introductions are my thing." He holds his arms out in front of
him and adds, "If you saw me through the peephole in your door, would you
open it?"
"Yes...but
only because of the tool belt." I mean it as a joke, but I'm not sure he's
going to take it that way.
He
chuckles and says, "Works every time."
AUTHOR BIO:
Claire Wallis has penned hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles over the last ten years, with science playing the lead role in almost all of them. Though non-fiction writing will forever be her first love, fiction has unexpectedly swooped in, hooked her by the soul, and become her true love. As a result of this coup d’état, Claire’s writing career has made a complete U-turn, and instead of rocks, plants, insects, and microbes, she is now putting human characters in the lead.
Claire’s previous jobs include working at a limestone quarry, hawking vegetables at a farmer’s market, clerking at the dollar store, and convincing new mothers that they need to renew their subscription to that parenting magazine in order for their child to survive. She lives in Pennsylvania with her amazingly awesome husband and son.
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