"Romancing the Holiday with Jodi Redford {The Naughty List}, Guest Post, Excerpt & Giveaway Entry

Please welcome Jodi Redford to the Romancing the Holiday event!

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 ~ The Best Gift of All ~

First of all, thanks to Tanya for having me as part of the Romancing the Holiday event, and happy Thanksgiving, everyone! My newest release, The Naughty List, is coming out next Tuesday, so I thought I’d talk today about Christmas wish lists. Or more specifically, those certain naughty somethings that we perhaps wish we were brave enough to ask for. My heroine, Lacey, is a good girl at heart. But more than anything, she longs to be the uninhibited, adventurous woman who inhabits her fantasies. When her two best friends—who happen to be the leading stars of her sexy daydreams—accidentally receive her naughty wish list, she never expects them to offer to make all of her wildest fantasies come true, and in the process, give her the best gift of all. The courage to love again.

Excerpt

Lacey, we need to talk.

Her heart sank as Ry’s tense demand spun in her mind.

They’d read the email. She couldn’t fool herself into believing otherwise. Just like she couldn’t fool herself into thinking she’d get out of the conversation waiting for her on the other side of the bathroom door. Sucking in a deep, fortifying breath, she pushed away from the wall and prepared to face her best friends.

Two men who now—without a question of a doubt—knew she wanted a kinky threesome.

Yeah, this wouldn’t be awkward. At all.

The desire to race back inside the restroom stall and have a mental breakdown—or throw up—was overwhelming. Somehow she found the fortitude to take a shaky step toward the door. Then another. You can do this, damn it. She stepped out into the back hallway. The restaurant was eerily quiet. It was easy to pretend that she was the only one in the entire building.

If only.

Shoving her hands into her coat pockets to hide their trembling, she walked into the main bar area. Ry and Bram hadn’t moved an inch from their posts. They both watched her as she approached, their expressions unreadable. That, more than anything, disturbed her. She’d half hoped Bram would be grinning and cracking lewd comments about how she’d pulled the world’s biggest prank on them.

Prank…

Wait, maybe that’s how she could get out of this—by convincing them it’d merely been a bad joke. It was a long shot, considering the incredibly personal stuff she’d included on the list, but maybe they’d take pity on her and let it go.

She offered the guys a tentative smile. “Sorry about that. You know us women and our tiny bladders.” She winced at her overly cheery tone. Why am I talking about bladders? Trying not to feel like the biggest moron on the planet, she cleared her throat. “Anyway, you wanted to speak to me about something?”

Ry stared at her for a long moment, his eyes dark and intense. She couldn’t remember ever having been under the full power of his focus like that. It took every ounce of her willpower not to shiver. Or duck and hide behind the bar. “Why didn’t you tell us, Lace?”

Although it was pathetic and ridiculous, she decided to play dumb. “Tell you what?”

Of course Ry wouldn’t let her off that easy. “You know damn well what I’m talking about. Your threesome fantasy.”

She forced a laugh. “Oh. That. I thought you guys would get a chuckle over it. I only wish I could have seen your faces when you read the email.” Not that she’d needed to be there. It wasn’t exactly difficult to conjure twin expressions of stupefied shock.

Actually, the shock she could handle. It was the inevitable pity concerning her delusional fantasy land that had her stomach in knots.

Bram sidled up next to Ry. A frown marred his features. “It was a…joke?”

“Well, duh. Of course.” She rolled her eyes for good measure. “I can’t believe you both fell for it.”

For a brief moment she swore Bram looked disappointed. Ry, on the other hand, just leveled her with his patented let’s-cut-through-the-bullshit stare. “It wasn’t a joke. I know it and you know it.”

“Don’t be silly. Do you think I’d tell you all of that embarrassing stuff if it was real?”

The rugged planes of Ry’s face softened, but the heat in his gaze didn’t abate. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I—I didn’t say I was embarrassed.” Oh crap. Yes, she did. She really needed to learn how to choose her damn words better. She cleared her throat, figuring it was past time for a fast recovery. “Why would I be embarrassed over a joke?”

“Because it isn’t one. But judging from how flustered you’re acting, I’d say it’s a safe bet you didn’t intend for Bram and me to ever know about any of it. And that’s really unfair of you, Lace.”

The accusation in Ry’s stare was almost unbearable. A thick ball of shame wedged in her throat. She’d always been brutally honest with him and Bram before, hadn’t hidden anything from either of them up until now. But there were some things you didn’t go blabbing to your business partners, for God’s sake—like the desire to be tied up and blindfolded for a night of raunchy sex. “C-could we just forget any of this happened?”

“It’s too late for that, Lace. You can’t expect us to pretend we don’t know. To not wonder.” Ry stepped closer, his gaze drifting to her mouth. Hunger burned in his eyes.

Her heart thumped in response. She’d imagined that particular look on his face countless times, never believing she’d see it in actuality. This had to be a dream. Or another of her fantasies. The last part of his statement registered and she blinked. “W-wonder? About what?”

“You. Us.” His knuckles brushed the underside of her jaw, tipping it ever so slightly upwards as his head descended. “This.” The husky word feathered her lips, a prelude to the lush pressure of his mouth upon hers.

Disbelief and pure giddiness combated inside her while one startling thought spun through her brain in a ceaseless loop. RyiskissingmeRyiskissingmeRyiskissingme. His tongue coaxed past her lips and glided over hers, the sensation drowning out the delirious chorus in her head. He tasted of coffee and aroused male. It was the most delicious combination of all time. Even as she was reveling in that fact, a pair of hands slid around her hips from behind. Bram’s heat blanketed her back. There was no mistaking the hard ridge of his erection nudging her tailbone.

This can’t be happening. But even as she was trying to assure herself of that, Ry reluctantly broke their kiss and leaned back. Their gazes crashed into each other for a moment before he glanced over her head at Bram. Some unspoken communication passed between the two men. Still dizzy from Ry’s kiss and confused as hell, she craned her neck to look up at Bram. Without warning, his mouth staked its own claim, taking over where Ry’s had left off.

Her senses reeled from the unexpected double whammy. Getting the daylights kissed out of her by Ry was incredible enough, adding Bram to the mix…it was a damn miracle she was still standing upright. As if her body was looking to change that status quo, she swayed, her knees threatening to buckle. Bram freed one hand from her waist and tunneled his fingers through her hair, managing to hold her steady and at the same time tilt her head for better access to her mouth. His tongue was just as insistent as Ry’s and possibly twice as bold.

A gruff, slightly irritated cough issued from Ry. Bram released her, his tongue taking its time to depart her mouth. Dazzled, she licked her lips and attempted to form a coherent thought. “I—I don’t understand. What’s going on here?” She’d been certain they’d be freaked out by the email. Having them all but devour her was the last reaction she’d been expecting, for damn sure.

Bram caressed her hip. “We want to give you that threesome, Lace. Along with everything else on your list.”

Giveaway Details:

• Leave a comment on the post, share something that's on your Christmas list (naughty or nice *g*),or a question for Jodi, to have your name thrown in the magical random.org hat, for a chance to win one of three books featured throughout the mini-event week. (Winner will receive their book of choice and it will either be shipped via the Book Depository, All Romance ebooks, or Amazon.)

• Extra Entry Options (Please leave in a separate comment):

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• Contest is open Internationally.

• Contest will run until 11/28 11:59 PM EST

• Winner will be randomly selected and notified via email.