{"id":1931,"date":"2010-01-28T08:35:06","date_gmt":"2010-01-28T15:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alannacoca.com\/?p=1931"},"modified":"2014-08-01T02:38:25","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T08:38:25","slug":"start-the-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/2010\/01\/start-the-countdown","title":{"rendered":"Start the Countdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" <\/a>Fine Print releases 2\/1\/2010! To celebrate, I’m having a little giveaway. All you have to do is comment on this post. I don’t care what, even just a smiley face, to get your name in the hat. I’ll notify the winner, who will have his\/her choice of an electronic copy of any of my backlist books.<\/p>\n

Contest ends on 1\/31, and I’ll announce the winner here on the first of February.<\/p>\n

Also, don’t forget my Print Book Reader Appreciation Giveaway<\/a>, there is still some time to participate. Buy a print copy, and get an ebook free!<\/p>\n

Now, to whet your appetite, here is a short excerpt from Fine Print:<\/p>\n

She peeled off the outfit that a few hours ago was crisp, but now looked worn and wilted. The swimming pool would feel heavenly against her overheated skin. She stood naked for a moment, letting the air conditioner soothe her fevered chest. She had her bikini and sheer robe on in record time.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> If she didn\u2019t get the hell out of this hotel suite, Kara Sorrento would end up doing something completely out of character. She bit her lip, but she could still taste him there from the kiss on the dance floor. It tasted so good, she swiped her tongue all along her lips, and her insides hummed with desire. She grabbed the first two towels that she saw, glad to have something to hold with her shaky hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> He wasn\u2019t in the kitchen when she emerged. Nor was he in the living area, or the balcony. \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u201cDerek?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> \u201cYeah.\u201d His voice came from the direction of his bedroom. The door was open; she saw the light spilling into the hallway, so she walked toward it.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> \u201cI\u2019ve got some towels, did you want to…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> She couldn\u2019t continue. Derek lay on the end of the wide bed, arms over his head, feet planted on the ground. He wore his blue swim trunks, but nothing else. The position of his body called attention to his muscular frame. The white bedcover emphasized his brown skin. The air conditioner was blasting frigid air through the room, and it looked as though he stretched out to cool off his body, and hadn\u2019t moved since.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>His legs were the same toasty color as the rest of him, except for the very bottom rim of his feet. Even his toes looked perfect, the way they all lined up neatly together. Her eyes traveled back up his body, until she saw that he had now propped himself on his elbows, and gave her a curious gaze.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>She nodded, knowing her eyes were wide, and her face had flushed.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>He shifted that sinewy body. \u201cI\u2019m ready whenever you are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>He\u2019s ready, Kara<\/span><\/em>. Her eyes dropped to his lap, then to the carpet by her feet. She swallowed hard. \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll meet you in the kitchen.\u201d She took a step back.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cWait.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Wait. <\/span><\/em>That one word froze her in place, almost like he had some strange power over her. Her heart pounded, and she clutched the towels against her chest to hide her misbehaving nipples.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>\u201cCome here.\u201d His words were husky, spoken to travel across the room on the lowest of frequencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, she followed his direction, without any thought to the contrary. When she stood before him, he sat upright, took the towels from her, and laid them aside<\/span>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

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Fine Print releases 2\/1\/2010! To celebrate, I’m having a little giveaway. All you have to do is comment on this post. I don’t care what, even just a smiley face, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":""},"categories":[3,6,11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3WdCY-v9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}