Sexy football player, smoking hot body, AND a loving father … sign me up!

*****

On the Line

A Milwaukee Dragons Novel

by Liz Lincoln

Blurb:

Is this man: A) a super-hot NFL player, B) the guy you’re sexting, or C) your new boss?
 
If you’re Carrie Herron, the answer is: D) all of the above. First, Carrie starts exchanging steamy text messages with the sexy single dad she meets in line at the grocery store. Then she lands a job as the live-in nanny for the daughter of the Milwaukee Dragons’ newest star. With any luck, she’ll be back on her financial feet before the next cosplay convention rolls around. But when Carrie shows up for work and realizes that her new boss is the guilty pleasure in her phone, she has no choice but to try to keep things professional. Oh, how would Poison Ivy handle a temptation like Seth Chamberlain?

After getting traded from Houston to Milwaukee, Seth’s having a tough time keeping his head in the game, let alone making sure that his daughter is fitting in. So if the only nanny that Madison will tolerate is a grown woman who likes comic books even more than she does . . . well, so be it. Too bad the nanny is also the gorgeous redhead Seth’s been flirting with all this time. But with Carrie’s knowing glances and kissable lips driving him wild, Seth must decide whether he’s ready to put everything on the line.

*****

Excerpt:

She took several long, slow breaths with her eyes closed, trying to ground herself and remember all the reasons she couldn’t throw herself at Seth and kiss him right that instant. When she finally got her pulse back in the vicinity of normal, she opened her eyes, scanning the lot for a trash can. She didn’t want her mostly empty cup to drip in Seth’s car.

She spotted one near the building and pushed off the hood to walk away. “I’m going to—”

The rest of the words died on her tongue when Seth’s hand wrapped around her upper arm and turned her back toward him. She looked up, taking in the six feet four inches—yeah, she’d looked up his stats—of broad, delicious man filling her vision.

She didn’t breathe as she watched him rake his gaze over her. The hunger she felt in it made her nipples harden to the point of visibility, but she was too turned on to care. As if he didn’t already know what he did to her.

Huffing out a breath, he took the step into her space. Another step forward and her back pressed against the SUV’s hood, his hand slid into her hair, and his lips descended on hers.

It all happened so fast, she didn’t have a chance to process everything. Her body simply reacted, her mouth moving under his as her arms slid around his large body. She clutched his back, pulling him closer; they both moaned.

With her lips parted, Seth’s tongue slid into her mouth and began a wild exploration. She stroked her own tongue against his and elicited another moan. All the while, the coarse hairs of his beard scraped at her skin, adding to the myriad of sensations vying for her attention.

But overshadowing them all was the feel of his body pressed to hers. He slid one arm around her, the other tangled in her hair as his thumb caressed her cheek. His arm held her tightly against him, his hand splayed low on her back.

Such a bad idea. But so, so good.

Restless and reckless, she needed to touch more of him. She wanted to feel all those muscles, feel the power coiled up in his athlete’s body. She slid her hands up his arms and he shuddered against her.

“Carrie,” he groaned, then gave her lower lip a little nip before sinking in deep once again. Lights burst behind her eyelids and she dug her nails into his biceps, drawing a moan that vibrated from him into her.

A domino effect of sensation and reaction, sensation and reaction.

What would be his reaction to the sensation of her running her hands over his shoulders until they met at the nape of his neck?

He deepened the angle of their kiss and traced his tongue along the edges of her teeth. She nipped playfully at his tongue, and he chuckled and pressed tighter to her.

Pressed his solid erection against her, a little higher than where she wanted it most. But she didn’t chase after it. Not in a public parking lot, no matter how much she wanted to.

“You are too fucking sexy,” he bit out, his voice a rough rasp over her ear.

And his kiss was too good. Too much from just a little kiss. Her muscles twitched as heat coursed through her. She couldn’t take it. They needed to stop.

Before she could say something, he drew his face back enough to look into her eyes. His own were dark blue and stormy, the lines of his face tense.

“Seth.” She mouthed it more than spoke, barely a whisper escaping. She didn’t have enough breath for more.

“Jesus, Carrie. I don’t . . .” He searched her face for another hot moment. “You are so sexy.”

He made her sexy. She’d never felt this wild with a man before, this uninhibited. No other man could have inspired her to make out against the hood of a car. But Seth connected with something hidden deep inside her, a woman unafraid to grab what she wanted and take it.

Except she couldn’t take it. Not now. Maybe not ever.

He huffed out a frustrated sound, his breath hot over her lips.

A new wave of desire rolled through her and it took all her restraint not to pull him back down to her and again get lost in his kiss.

“I think I finally understand what singers mean when they say they’re drunk on a woman.” His voice was raw and thick.

She trembled inside at his words, unsure what to think of them, unsure how to respond.

So she said, “We can’t do this.” Her voice came out breathy, but with his chest still pressed to hers, her nipples hard, her breasts heavy and aching, she couldn’t pull in enough air. “But I still . . .” She lifted her lashes and made herself look directly into his eyes.

This close, they were impossibly, intensely blue. Something softened in her chest, leaving a hot, melted ache she didn’t understand.

He felt drunk from kissing her. Holy swoon. No man had ever said something so bluntly honest to her. And she felt it too, a dizzying high buzzing through her simply from having his mouth pressed to hers.

Sex with him would probably be better than the highest-quality narcotic. All the fun, none of the illegality or addicting side effects.

Too bad she needed a job and a house more than she needed great sex.

*****

Review:

Seth is trying his hardest to be a good dad.  Unfortunately that means uprooting his daughter from their home in Houston and moving to Milwaukee.  At 12, she’s at a difficult age already so it is even rougher to have to start all over.  But he’s a good man and he’s doing the best he can.  Running into a sexy redhead at the grocery story, and one who is willing to give him feminine hygiene help, has things looking up.

Carrie is having a rough time after losing her job as a teach and not getting any bites on a new one.  She’s starting to really stress when she’s rescued by a hottie in the checkout lane.  Being able to help him return leads to some sexy flirting.  When a possible job lands in her lap, things are definitely looking up … until she discovers her potential new boss is the guy she’s been sexting.  Yikes!  You have to admire how well she handles it 🙂

I think these two were hotter NOT having sex than most couples are when they do!  I loved their first meeting and then the inevitable struggle as Carrie becomes the nanny for Seth’s preteen daughter.  It’s not easy for them to ignore their attraction but they do try … and although they don’t necessarily succeed, I have to like that it is pretty drama free between them.  They understand why that it is best to keep things professional and they try their hardest to keep it that way.

I am pretty surprised at how many 3 star or less reviews there are for this one.  I’m actually mostly amused by how many of them are based solely on the fact that this is in third person.  That never bothers me and I didn’t have any difficulty following along here so I guess it’s just a personal preference thing.  There were also some complaints that the ending was too rushed but I thought it worked.  It may not have been as emotion-driven as some but I think that it worked well with the flow of the rest of the story.

Overall, I found On the Line to be amusing, flirty, sexy, and full of heart.  It was entertaining watching the two of them fight their feelings for Madison’s sake … and, of course, fail!  Is it predictable?  Probably, but it is enjoyable regardless.  Bringing light-hearted fun with enough feels to keep you turning pages, Lincoln delivers a winner in my opinion.

*****

Author Info:

Liz has been concocting stories as long as she can remember, and from the beginning they involved two people falling in love.

When she’s not writing, she spends her time rooting for the UW Badgers and the Green Bay Packers (or yearning for the return of football season), cross-stitching and embroidering sassy sayings or nerdy characters (Wonder Woman is her favorite), and drinking too much Diet Coke.

She lives in Milwaukee, WI, with her husband, two kids, two cats, and a turtle.

Website:  https://lizlincoln.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TheLizLincoln

*****