Blog Tour ~ THE CEO, THE PUPPY AND ME by Jennifer Faye… #giveaway #excerpt #books #readers #IslandRomance #BeachRead #amreading #NewRelease

EXCERPT:

He stared over at the park. The woman had her back to him, but it sure looked like her. And then his gaze lowered to the puppy with the plastic cone around his neck. It was definitely her.

Honk! Honk!

The angry horn blast reminded Ric that traffic was stacking up behind him. He proceeded through the intersection. He found a safe place to turn around, and then he backtracked to the park.

He told himself it was the luggage that had him seeking Gia. It couldn’t be anything else. After all, her problems were just that—her problems. And he had enough of his own problems at the moment.

He climbed out of his car and headed for Gia, who was talking to an older woman. He found that odd, considering she said she was from the mainland. And she’d acted as though she hadn’t been to Lapri before now. Perhaps she hadn’t been telling him the truth. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had lied to him.

He cleared his throat. “Excuse me. Gia?”

Both women turned to him. The older woman with short, silver hair smiled at him. A big bright smile lit up her eyes. She adjusted her black-rimmed glasses as though to get a better look. “Aren’t you?” She snapped her fingers as though she couldn’t quite place the face with a name. “You know, the guy in the movie.” Color rushed to her cheeks. “The one who walks out of the ocean with all of that water rushing down over that muscular chest?”

The woman certainly didn’t shy away from matters. He could respect that. However, he didn’t return the woman’s smile. “That would be me.”

“Oh, my! Wait until the women in my apartment building hear about this. I’ll be the most popular person today.”

Hmm…so he was only good for one day’s worth of popularity. He stifled a laugh. If he’d have known the notoriety that movie clip would have given him, he never would have agreed to it. Still, this woman looked mighty pleased with herself—as though she’d discovered him.

Gia tilted her chin upward. There was no sign of a smile on her face. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to let you know your luggage has been delivered.”

“Oh.”

That was it? He stopped to let her know—to let her retrieve her things from his place. “I’m headed to the office, but I can let you in the apartment to get your stuff.”

The older woman lightly elbowed Gia. “If I was you, I’d definitely stay.” She glanced at Ric and waggled her brows before turning back to Gia. “You’ll be okay with this one?”

“I will.”

“Then I’ll be going. I can’t wait to tell Josephine about this. She’s always bragging about her nephew’s celebrity friends. This will get her.” Then a worried look came over the older woman’s face, and she turned to Ric. “You don’t know Josephine, do you?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know any Josephine.”

“Good. Good.” She turned back to Gia. “I’ll see you tomorrow, if you decide to stay.” Then she gave the leash in her hand a gentle tug. “Come on, Princess. It’s time to go home.”

And then they were alone, except for the dozen or so other people in the park. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, not sure what to say. Still, he couldn’t stand here all day. Even the dog agreed as he sat down in front of them and stared up as though asking what they were going to do now.

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