Callie

Callie

Book 1 in the ‘Stoking the Fire’ Series

Monogamy – that’s a wonderful chance for somebody, anybody, but not me!

Callie Stokes will not be tied down!

Don’t get me wrong, I love men, especially when they can throw me around the bedroom. But anything beyond that isn’t something I’m prepared to sign up to.

Do I want to wake up to listen to a guy using my bathroom?

Do I want to have to submit to the daily grind of asking the same person how their day was?

Do I really want to reduce my sex life to a once-a-week chore that consists of the same tired routine?

Hell, no!

And this has worked for me. I’ve rarely had any issues with my choice to abstain from relationships.

Until now.

In the space of one day, I’m now having to deal with a guy with a bruised ego, a leaked sex tape, an enforced ‘break’ from work, and Ben-irritatingly-gorgeous-airline-pilot-Summers threatening to walk out of my life for good.

And do you know what else sucks? That same Ben-irritatingly-gorgeous-airline-pilot-Summers is also refusing to remove himself from my head.

So, I’ve made a decision: Callie Stokes is taking a sabbatical from men!

Such a feat is going to be tough…really tough. I’m going to need a distraction. But it just so happens, I’ve been given a pretty huge one. One that will take me to Europe, and back to my roots.

And I will not – I repeat – I will NOT be thinking about Ben Summers!

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Sample:

“You know how I feel about you, Cal, and I think you might be starting to feel the same way, but you shut it down before you even give us a try,” I say, hating the words as soon as they come out of my mouth. I sound so damn needy and a little selfish, given everything she’s facing at the moment.

“Ben, I’m not starting anything; I’ve felt things for you since the start, but—”

“Wait, what?!” I gasp, throwing myself back against the chair and placing my hands on my head in complete shock. “Then why are you always turning me down?”

“Because, dumbass, I like you so much that I don’t want to risk you hating me like every other guy does.”

“Jesus, I think my hangover is already starting,” I sigh with a tense frown on my face. I can’t help it; she’s not making any sense. “Cal, as much as I hate to say this, men freaking love you. You’re a man-magnet – which makes me want to beat my head against a wall, by the way.”

“No. No, they don’t,” she says, leaning back herself while shaking her head.

“Yeah, they do, Cal,” I argue, sounding like she’s lost her mind.

“Hear me out, oh, ‘bear’ of the woods,” she begins, which only confuses me more.

“Bear?” I question her.

“Oh, come on, Ben,” she sighs, “everyone knows about the world choosing a bear over a man in the woods.”

“Right, but why are you calling me a bear?”

“Because you’re a bear kind of a man,” she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I’m a bear kind of a man?” I ask slowly, to which she rolls her eyes.

“Yeah. You’re big, hairy in a good way, utterly gorgeous to look at, and someone any woman would choose over your standard guy on the street.”

“I’m not sure that makes sense,” I laugh, “particularly when you refuse to choose me over any dude in the street.”

“Look, just listen,” she tuts, her flustering arms growing more and more erratic by the second. “Men lust after me; they want to conquer me, but they do not like me. Men who like me, are my friends. As soon as sex comes into it, I become a challenge they want to conquer.”

“What about Nate?”

“Nate doesn’t count, he’s an idiot like me,” she says, and I have to nod in agreement. “Even my baby brother has decided I’m the enemy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing, just a teenage tantrum before I came out here,” she replies, flapping her hand in front of her face.

“Ok, well, parking your brother to one side, because that’s obviously a different matter entirely, what if you’ve got it wrong? What if it’s you who hates men?”

“I don’t hate men! I give them the best night of their lives!”

“Hmm, and why is that?” I counter, enjoying myself if I’m being honest. It takes a lot to fluster Callie Stokes, and I’m achieving a nice, sexy glow that’s spreading all over her cheeks.

“Because I enjoy sex!” she gasps, grabbing a few people’s attention. Not that she cares; neither do I. I only care about the woman in front of me.

“With assholes?” I counter.

“Ben, if you want to discuss my sexual preferences, then just come out and ask me,” she teases.

“Don’t do that, don’t deflect,” I reply, turning serious as I lean in to look her in the eye.

“I’m not,” she whispers, getting lost in our staring at one another.

“You are because you know I’m right, Cal. You know the men you sleep with won’t give you anything other than a physical connection. But let me tell you, if you were to sleep with me, you’d feel things you’d never felt before. It would be the best fucking night of your life because you know we share something beyond the physical, and that damn well scares you.”

“Bullshit,” she says, still locked on my eyes, but with her voice remaining low and less confident than usual. I’ve got her right where I want her.

“Oh, yeah, prove it!”

“Prove it how?”

“Sleep with me tonight,” I challenge her, glancing at her lips that are now trembling with need. “Let me fuck you like it’s your first time. Your first time with a man you actually give a shit about.”

“Fine,” she just about manages to say out loud.

“Fine,” I repeat, swinging my arm out toward the door. “Ladies first, Miss Stokes.”