SASSE Sheets: Shades of Desire 2: Enticed by Chanta Jefferson Rand (Contest)

Action star, Lucas Stone isn’t afraid of anything—except commitment. When he butts heads with photographer, Nyla Maxwell, he thinks he may have finally found his real-life leading lady. Too bad she can’t stand his guts.

EXCERPT

“Hold that cab!”

Nyla turned to see Lucas Stone sprinting toward her. He looked like he was enacting a scene from his latest series, Omega, about a bounty hunter in space. A pack of screeching females dogged his heels.

She stared, open-mouth as he approached. His muscular thighs visibly flexed against his designer pants with each step he took. Within seconds, he’d reached the curb where her taxi sat.

He dove through the open door of the cab, landing in the back seat.

Her jaw dropped. “Wait a minute. You can’t—”

“Get in!” He tugged her arm, pulling her through the door. “Hurry, before they catch up.” The pack had almost reached the taxi. “Go! Go!” he shouted to the cabbie.

The driver peeled away from the curb just as Nyla wedged herself inside and slammed the door shut. “Where to?” the driver asked.

Lucas tossed his leather duffle bag to the cab’s floor. “Drop me at the ferry. I’m going to Martinique.”

Nyla scowled. “Excuse you. This is my cab.” Then she turned to the driver. “Take me downtown.”

“Oh, no,” Lucas informed her. “That’s the opposite direction of where I’m headed.”

“Sounds like a personal problem to me.”

“Listen lady, you don’t have to be such a ball buster.”

“What?”

I said you don’t have to be such—”

She formed a stop sign with her palm and thrust it in his face. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath. The last man to give her that label walked out on her a year ago. He’d accused her of being too uptight and putting too many expectations on him. Now, this braggart was here making the same accusation, dredging up painful memories.

“Woman, what are you doing?”

Her eyes snapped open, pinning Lucas Stone with a look of annoyance. “I’m visualizing duct tape over your mouth.”

He plastered on a fake smile. “You need to give all that hostility a one-way ticket back to where it came from.”

“I’ll try being nicer if you try being smarter.”

The cab curved sharply, flinging her from her side of the backseat to Lucas’s. She collided with the action star’s solid chest. She didn’t know which was worse. Being shoved against him or practically going deaf from the cabbie’s loud horn blast.

The cabbie shouted a string of expletives that would’ve made a sailor blush. Seconds later, he resumed his breakneck speed—barreling down the left side of the road.

“Oh, my God!” Nyla yelled. “You’re on the wrong side of the road.”

Both the cabdriver and Lucas cracked up laughing. “Calm down,” Lucas told her. “They drive on the opposite side over here. Like the Brits.”

“I’m not trying to die in St Lucia,” she declared.

“What’s with the negativity, lady? You’re not gonna die. Don’t get your panties in a knot.”

She scooted back to her side of the cab, furiously searching for her seatbelt. “My luggage is lost. My camera equipment is missing. And my cab has been hijacked by a conceited jerk who thinks he’s acting out a scene from his next movie. I think I have a right to have a negative attitude. Also, seeing as how all my panties are in my lost luggage, I highly doubt they will be tied in knots—unless the person who finds them does it.”

He winked. “I meant the panties you have on.”

She cut her eyes at him. “The ones I have on are none of your business.”

“Yep. Sounds like I’m too late. They’re already in a knot.”

“Listen, I’m sure you’re a nice guy—well, not really—but we’re turning this cab around. I need to buy new clothes. So, if you don’t mind…” She didn’t finish her thought. She didn’t have to explain herself to him. She was tired of kowtowing to everyone else while her needs languished on the side. She’d be damned if she was going to do it on her vacation. “Driver, I want to go downtown!”

“Okay,” he answered.

He made a quick U-turn, this time flinging Lucas against her. Suddenly, the superstar was too close for comfort. The woodsy smell of his cologne teased her nostrils. Despite the warmth of his firm physique pressed against her, shivers of excitement puckered her skin. She huffed loudly, exasperated by her reaction to him. Lucas chuckled as he slid back to his side of the cab. Nyla shot a glare at the cabbie.

“You said you wanted to go downtown,” the cabbie replied. “I had to make the turn before the last exit.”

She could have sworn she saw a slight smile creep across his lips.

Lucas pulled a crisp one hundred dollar bill from his eel-skin wallet and thrust the money toward the driver. “I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you turn around and head for the ferry.”

“Okay.”

“Hey!” Nyla shot toward the edge of her seat. “What about me? I need to get downtown.”

“Can you beat one hundred dollars?” the cab driver asked.

No, she couldn’t. Even if she could, Lucas would no doubt pull ten times that amount from his wallet.

*PRIZE*- Action star, Lucas Stone meets his match in photographer, Nyla Maxwell. In honor of their love-hate relationship, one lucky reader will win this 12 oz. stainless steel thermos designed in the shape of a camera lens! Wouldn’t you love to curl up with your favorite flavored coffee or tea while reading ENTICED?

In order to win, you need to post a screen shot of your Shades of Desire 2 box set purchase on my author face book page. https://www.facebook.com/ChantaRand Good luck!

Learn more about Chanta

BIO

Chanta Rand has been a matchmaker since she found a boyfriend for her best friend in the seventh grade. Today, she’s putting that talent to use every time she brings an alpha hero and a headstrong heroine together in one of her many steamy novels.

Chanta is a multi-published author of contemporary and historical romances, and the former host of The Chanta Rand Show. After obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, she finally felt free to pursue her passion for writing. She made her publishing debut in 2010, with her first historical romance, Pharaoh's Desire. In 2012, she won the Emma Award for Debut Author of the Year for her contemporary romance, The Highest Bidder.

Chanta lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband. She’s a history junkie, a Walking Dead fan, and a recovering shoe addict. She never met a stiletto she didn't like! If you still want more, check her out at www.ChantaRand.com or email her at Chanta@chantarand.com.

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