Laid Out
Worth the Fight # 4
Worth the Fight # 4
By: Sidney Halston
Released August 18, 2015
Loveswept
Blurb
Perfect
for fans of Monica Murphy and Cecy Robson, Sidney Halston’s scorching new MMA
romance proves there are no holds barred when it comes to seduction.
Growing up
an Army brat, Violet Channing could never meet her dad’s high expectations. But
in the eyes of her best friend, she could do no wrong. He even insisted that he
should be her first kiss. Now Cain Sorensen is all grown up, hardened by years
in special ops and always looking for a good fight. Tall, with striking blue
eyes and impossibly blond hair, he’s a modern-day Viking warrior. Of course,
Violet’s all grown up, too, and she’s ready to surrender to his every command.
Cain knows
he’s bad for Violet. His work is dangerous, and his hobbies are downright
deadly. As a private mercenary and a mixed martial arts fighter, he could never
let such an innocent soul into his world. And yet his most grueling combat
training is no match for Violet’s killer curves, hot touch, and suggestive
glances. Now all of Cain’s most explosive fantasies are coming true—but once
they cross the line between friends and lovers, there’s no turning back.
Excerpt:
Cain
hadn’t left Tarpon Springs, Florida, for this long since he’d moved there four
years ago. He’d grown up on an army base, then served in the military for eight
years before retiring, and this was the first time in his adult life that he
felt he had a home. After one too many fights in school, his father had forced
him to enlist, to follow the path of his father and his father’s father. The
Sorensons bred military men. Then his second tour ended and he didn’t want the
army to be a career, so he’d gotten out, much to his father’s dismay. Right
now, if someone asked him why he had signed up with IMC, International Military
Coalition, as a contractor, he couldn’t answer. At the time he’d only seen the
dollar bills. The pay was amazing compared to what the U.S. government had paid
him for risking his life for years as an Army Ranger, and signing up to make
four times the amount with a private company seemed like the obvious next step.
As
soon as Cain walked out of the airport, he hailed a taxi to take him straight
to the Pier. It was Friday night, and his friends would undoubtedly be there.
Plus, he needed a beer . . . or seven. On the ride over, he received a text
from Iggy Mitchell, another mercenary he’d met overseas. Iggy had lost a leg in
a tour in Iraq a couple of years ago, and when he wasn’t on a mission for IMC,
he worked as a consultant in Tampa specializing in testing firewalls and other
online security threats. In other words, he was a professional hacker. The two
men had quickly hit it off and sparred together during their free time. Iggy’s
hard work and zest for life made the prosthetic leg a nonissue. One evening
Iggy had mentioned how he loved to gamble on a series of underground fights put
together by some Russians. The text Cain was currently reading was the address
of a fight happening in a few days. But Cain wasn’t a gambling man, so he
wasn’t interested. He slid the phone back into his pocket and settled in for
the forty-five-minute cab ride to the Pier.
It
was raining when the taxi arrived. He swung the big duffle bag over his
shoulder and looked around the familiar town before he reached to open the
front door. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. “Hey, man! You’re back.” It was
Tony, his friend, sparring partner, and professional mixed martial arts
fighter, whom he had helped train a few months ago.
“Cain,
honey, so glad you’re home!” Tony’s wife, Francesca, threw her arms around him
for a big hug. He wasn’t big on contact, and he awkwardly put his arm around
her waist and patted her back.
“Come
on, let’s go inside,” Tony said. “The rest of the guys are on their way. Do
they know you’re back? Where were you, by the way?”
“Libya.
Just arrived. No one knows,” Cain replied.
Francesca
hissed. “Libya. Fuck. That’s not safe.”
“No.”
“Still
quite the conversationalist, I see.” Tony patted Cain roughly on the back.
“Leave
the man alone. He just came back from hell, he doesn’t need that attitude
tonight. By the way . . .” She poked Cain in the shoulder. “Don’t you ever
fuckin’ leave again without letting us know you’re leaving or where you’re
going. We were worried.” She reached in and hugged him again.
“Violet?”
Cain asked when she released him.
“What
about her?” Francesca asked.
“She
okay?”
“Ask
her yourself—she’s here.”
Cain
tried not to smile, but his lips seemed to curl upward all on their own. He
hadn’t seen Violet for years until a few months ago, when she’d moved to town.
He was happy he’d get to see her tonight. As had always been the case, her warm
smile was the perfect salve for his shitty mood.
Cain
put a hand on Francesca’s upper arm. “Wait—before we go in, are there any
fights coming up? Sign me up for something. Soon.” Francesca was co-owner of
Worth the Fight Academy, a mixed martial arts gym that trained professional
cage fighters, which was what Cain had been doing before heading off a few months
earlier.
“You
just got into town. You need to take a breather. We can talk about it when
you’re settled back.”
“I’m
settled. I’m back. Sign me up.”
“Fine.
But tonight, relax, at least for a few hours. Come have a drink and say hello
to everyone. We’ll find you something tomorrow,” Francesca said.
As
soon as he opened the door to the familiar laughter and smell he started to
feel better.
Goodreads Series Link:
ON SALE ONLY $0.99
Buy Links:
Author Info
Sidney Halston lives her life by one
simple rule: “Just do it.” And that’s exactly what she did. At the age of
thirty, having never written anything other than a legal brief, she picked up a
pen for the first time to pursue her dream of becoming an author. That first
stroke sealed the deal, and she fell in love with writing. Halston lives in
South Florida with her husband and children.
Author Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment