The Revenge Pact (Kings of Football #1) - Ilsa Madden-Mills Page 0,119
by Adriana Locke
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This excerpt is included with permission from the copyright holder
Larissa
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I reach for the chair in front of me. Instead of finding leather, my fingers brush against something else. Something warmer. Something smoother and rougher all at the same time.
My heart jumps in my chest at the same moment that my head snaps to the side.
Oh. Shit.
The most beautiful set of hazel eyes I’ve ever seen traps my gaze. The warmth of the chocolate brown is cooled by the spring green embedded in the orbs. Gold flecks twinkle as the man slowly withdraws his palm away from mine.
I open my mouth, but I’ve somehow forgotten how to speak.
“Hey,” he says, his southern drawl rippling across my ears. “You can have it.”
I shake my head to try to jolt myself out of the haze I’m in. “I … I can have what?”
His full, pouty lips split into a sexy smirk. “I meant the chair, but if there’s something else on your mind, just let me know.”
My heart flutters in my chest as a wave of heat courses through my body from head to toe.
A couple of days’ scruff peppers a sharp, chiseled jaw. His skin is sun-kissed and imperfect and there’s the slightest mole beneath his left eye that gives a bit of softness to his appearance. His body is long, well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a thick chest.
It’s one heck of a picture.
Slowly, oh-so-slowly, the fog in my brain lifts.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he asks.
A crazy idea pops into my brain. The longer that I watch the stranger peer at me from under his thick lashes, the more it seems possible.
Crazy, yes, but possible.
“Want to do me a favor instead?” I ask before I can talk myself out of it.
My chest rises and falls in quick succession as he, and I, ponder my question. He narrows his eyes as he undoubtedly considers why a woman he just met might need his help.
His heavy brows tug together. “That depends on what it is.”
Blood pours through my ears as I realize I’m teetering on the edge of something impetuous. Again. I’m about to do the one thing I told myself I wouldn’t do.
Wasn’t I going to put the brakes on this kind of thing? Didn’t I swear that I was not going to tangle myself up with men? Wasn’t I going to save myself time and energy until good men come back into the universe?
I look up and down his long, muscled body.
I bet he’s a damn good man.
“Are you going to ask or not?” he asks, killing me softly with a playful quirk of his brow.
Screw it.
I take a quick lungful of air and commit to this insanity. “I’m going to need an answer to two questions.”
“Shoot.”
“Quickly.”
He grins. “I can’t answer them if you don’t ask them, beautiful.”
I steady myself against the term of endearment and stay focused.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” I ask.
His eyes sparkle with mischief. “I like where this is going.”
“That’s not an answer and we’re running out of time.”
“No,” he says hurriedly. “Hard no. Definitely not. No girlfriend.”
“Second question …” I take another deep breath and then go in for the kill. “Will you be my fake boyfriend for five minutes?”
His grin knocks the breath I’m holding right out of me. “When do we start?”
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For Hollis and Larissa, starting is the easy part. It’s ending their fake relationship that’s hard. Fall in love with them here: https://geni.us/Hq6TNb
Also by Ilsa Madden-Mills
All books are standalone stories with brand new couples and are currently FREE in Kindle Unlimited.
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Briarwood Academy Series
Very Bad Things
Very Wicked Beginnings
Very Wicked Things
Very Twisted Things
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British Bad Boys Series
Dirty English
Filthy English
Spider
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Fake Fiancée
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I Dare You
I Bet You
I Hate You
I Promise You
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The Revenge Pact
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Boyfriend Bargain
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Dear Ava
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Not My Romeo
Not My Match (Coming 2021)
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The Last Guy (w/Tia Louise)
The Right Stud (w/Tia Louise)
About the Author
#1 Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills pens angsty new adult and contemporary romances.
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A former high school English teacher and librarian, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.
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She's addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online. ☺
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*Please join her FB readers group, Unicorn Girls, to get the latest scoop as well as talk about books, wine, and Netflix: