Title: Whiskey & Honey
Series: Country Road #1
Author: Andrea Johnston
Release Date: July 21, 2016
Synopsis:
Guys have rules. Rule #1: You don't date your sister’s best friend.
Bentley Sullivan hasn't found the one. He's always been the good guy - the
gentleman. With one quick, and possibly irrational, decision everything changes.
After a case of mistaken identity and a drunken kiss, Ben is convinced that the one is
finally right in front of him. Only, she's untouchable.
Girls have rules. Rule #1: You don't date your best friend’s brother.
Piper Lawrence has not been successful in love. Almost as quickly as she swears off
men, he comes into her life. Her childhood crush and the man who has set the
standards for every man she’s ever dated, he is also the one man she can’t have.
A single kiss changes it all.
Buy Link:
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Excerpt:
Chapter 1
Ben
I felt it deep in my bones the minute she walked through the door.
What “it” is, I’m not quite sure. When the door opened I felt a shift in the
atmosphere. As if someone lit a fire that burned only in my soul. My attention
caught, I was bamboozled. This girl, no more than five feet tall, managed to drown
out the sounds around me without even noticing I was in the same establishment.
Handling the large wooden door of Country Road as if it weighed no more than a
feather, she seemed both determined and frightened as she walked through. Tossing
her hair, the color of the most violent fire, over her shoulder, straightening her back
and tilting her chin up in determination, I enjoyed the view as her hips swayed in
perfect tempo to the drum solo coming from the speakers and she walked across the
room. The way her jeans complement every curve, she not only has my mouth
feeling like the Sahara Desert but my dick has suddenly awoken from its recent
hibernation.
It isn’t either of those things that have me ignoring my friends though. No, it’s
something about the fierce way she has made her entrance yet not made eye contact
or smiled at a single person as she made her way to the bar. Even from here, without
so much as speaking a word, I can tell that she is something special. A woman made
up of layers and layers of intrigue. Someone who I have to know.
“Dude, are you even listening?”
“I don’t think he’s heard a single word any of us said since she walked in. His dick is
obviously in charge tonight.”
I hear those assholes; I just don’t have anything to contribute to whatever debate
they’re having. Besides, Owen is right. Somehow my normal level-headed self seems
to have left the room and my previously mentioned dick is in charge tonight.
All of our lives I’ve been the logical and straight-laced one in this group. Suddenly a
sassy redhead has taken all of my logic and tossed it aside. I’m acting like a
pubescent teen. The problem is, I’m quite a few years from being a teen, and even
when I was, I never had this reaction to a woman.
Nope. I, Bentley James Sullivan, am the good guy. The guy who approaches life with
a plan and never does a single thing without one. Hell, I even plan spontaneity. Yeah,
I teeter on the edge of boring.
I take another drink of my beer as I turn to Owen. “Kiss my ass. I heard you, and for
your information, Iron Man always wins.”
Without a second thought I return my attention to the beauty who has garnered all
of my interest. She’s made her way to a stool at the bar and is waiving her arms
around as if she’s the conductor of an orchestra. I can tell from the expression of the
bartender, also my sister Ashton, that whoever has her this fired up should stay
clear of her.
The only time her hands still is when she grabs the shot glass my sister has placed in
front of her. From where I’m sitting I can see that she doesn’t even shudder as she
takes the shot of dark and beautiful whiskey. I don’t care what anyone says, there’s
something fascinating about a woman who drinks whiskey. Just the thought makes
me smile.
“Why don’t you just go over and talk to her, Ben?”
I shoot a look at Jameson over my beer bottle as I drain it. My best friend since, well
forever, he knows I’m not the “hook up in a bar” kind of guy. But, I won’t deny this
girl has sparked a little something. Something familiar tugs at me, but I can’t place it.
“Nah, I’ll pass,” I say unconvincingly. I really want to go over to this girl and tell her
the fucker who made her this upset isn’t worth it.
I’m not psychic, but honestly what else could have her this upset?
The reality is, guys are dicks and the only person who could make a woman this
upset.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re not all assholes, but the reality of it all is we screw up.
All the fucking time.
I sit here with three variations of the asshole to good guy makeup in front of me. The
four of us have been best friends since high school, more like brothers than anything
else. When I accepted a college scholarship that took me more than three hundred
miles away from home, I assumed we’d grow apart, that I would grow apart from
the four of them. I was wrong.
Owen Butler and Landon Montgomery are two of the coolest and most loyal friends
a guy could ask for. We’ve had each other’s backs through a lot of dumb shit, and not
only managed to stay friends but we’ve never screwed each other over either.
Jameson Strauss is like a brother to me. When we were kids we were convinced we
were some sort of dynamic duo considering my middle name was close to his first
name. Only the reality is that my middle name is a family name and he was named
after his dad’s favorite whiskey. Regardless, we didn’t care and thought it made us
pretty bad ass.
Jameson is the best person I know and gives to others without a second thought. I
would trust him with my life. Of course, he’s also a bit of a slut and has probably
screwed half the women in this town, but he’s not a bad guy. Sure, a few have
declared their undying love and begged him to do the same. For the most part he’s
managed to come out of each encounter unscathed and unattached.
Then there’s me. The relationship guy. I’ve had two girlfriends in my twenty-nine
years. Well, two real girlfriends. Stolen kisses on the playground and the occasional
hand-holding in middle school don’t count.
“Ben, why are you staring at…”
Before Owen can finish his sentence, Jameson spills his beer.
“What’s your problem, J? That was a rookie move,” Landon says as he starts wiping
at the spilled beer with his hand.
“Sorry, I thought there was a bee or something. I just jumped.”
All three of us look at Jameson like he’s crazy. Unfazed by our confusion, he signals
for a waitress to come over to our table with a towel.
“Hey, Beth, sorry about the mess,” Jameson says, offering this poor girl a smile that is
a little predatory. I can tell from her reaction to him that there’s a little history there
but not in a bad way.
“Beth, this is Ben. Ben, this is Beth.”
“Hey there, Ben. You look familiar, have I served you before?”
“Nah, Bethy, Ben’s been gone from home for a hundred years. I think the last time he
was in here we had fake IDs. He probably looks familiar because he’s Ashton’s
brother.”
Bethy? Good God, he’s laying it on thick.
“Oh, Bentley. Ashton was just telling me that you were moving back. Does she know
you’re here? You should go say hi to her; she’s just at the bar talking to…”
“So anyway, thanks for cleaning up. Looks like you’re busy. We don’t want to keep
you.”
This poor girl, Jameson doesn’t even let her finish a sentence before he’s sending her
off.
“Hey, Ben, why don’t you just take that twenty and go grab us another round? I’ve
got a little spill here in my lap or I’d do it myself.”
I don’t need to be told twice. I grab the money and head to the bar. I already know
I’m screwed.
Author Bio:
Andrea Johnston spent her childhood with her nose in a book and a pen to paper. An
avid people watcher, her mind is full of stories that yearn to be told. A fan of angsty
romance with a happy ending, super sexy erotica and a good mystery, Andrea can
always be found with her Kindle nearby fully charged.
Andrea lives in Idaho with her family and two dogs. When she isn’t spending time
with her partner in crime aka her husband, she can be found binge watching all
things Bravo and enjoying a cocktail. Nothing makes her happier than the laughter
of her children, a good book, her feet in the water, and cocktail in hand all at the
same time.
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