Title: The Predicament Author: Katie Ashley
Series: The Proposition #3.5
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 30, 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotic Romance
More Info: Goodreads
Unlike her best friend Emma Fitzgerald, Casey Rossi had never been overly maternal. She much preferred parties with Patron to Pampers and pacifiers. Most of all, she enjoyed a healthy sex life with her husband, Nate. But all that changed with the birth of their daughter. While motherhood is a thrilling, new adventure and her love for Nate grows even stronger seeing him be a wonderful father, Casey can’t ignore how stagnant things have become between her once steamy sheets. Between her exhaustion and Nate’s schedule at the hospital, there’s little time or energy for sex. She can deal with sporting spit-up stained clothes and a few sleepless nights, but she can’t abide losing the white-hot connection with her hubs.
No matter what it takes, Casey is determined to resuscitate her flat lining sex life. She starts out seeking the advice of her friends, Emma and Megan. But she’s desperate enough to try anything that she even solicits the advice of reformed manwhore, Aidan Fitzgerald, which turns into a fiasco of epic proportions.
Will any of Casey’s intentions be successful at reigniting her lost bedroom heat, or will they fail and cause matters to fizzle even worse? It’s one hell of a predicament.
Excerpt
After careening into the driveway on two wheels, Casey screeched her SUV to a halt just before dinging the garage door. Not even bothering with her phone or purse, she flung open the car door and sprinted up the familiar front walk. She gathered up the hem of her bathrobe to pound up the porch steps.
Just as she reached for the doorbell, she quickly recoiled her hand. Considering how late it was, she didn’t dare ring it for fear of waking Noah and Caroline. Instead, she started banging out a steady rhythm like Morse code on the wood. It took a few moments before the porch light flicked on, and the door swung open.
Standing before her with a bewildered expression etched on his handsome face was Aidan Fitzgerald. Barefoot and shirtless, he sported a pair of orange and green checked boxers—a subtle nod to his Irish heritage. In one hand was a longneck Corona and in the other was a baby monitor.
His blue eyes widened as he took in her disheveled appearance. When he opened his mouth, she held up a hand. “Out of my way, douchenozzle. I need to talk to Em.”
Aidan didn’t protest as she blew past him through the front door. Nor did he give her any grief about calling him “douchenozzle”. While she had first used it as a derogatory term against him, it was now a more endearing nickname between the two.
Craning her neck down the hall, Casey questioned, “Em?”
“She’s not here.”
Casey whirled around. Placing her hands on her hips, she demanded, “Where the hell is she?”
“Down the street at Becky’s for Book Club.”
Casey grimaced. In her turmoil, she had completely forgotten that Wednesday night was Book Club. More accurately it was “a kid free night hanging out with the girls while the wine freely flowed”. Casey would have been there herself, but Wednesday was Nate’s early night from the hospital.
At the prospect of not getting to unload her traumatic troubles on her bestie, Casey stomped her house-shoed foot like a petulant toddler. “Motherfuckingshitdamnhell!” she screeched.
Aidan snorted in amusement at her cursing. After crossing his arms over his chest, he asked, “What could have possibly happened that warranted a ‘motherfuckingshitdamnhell’ situation?”
Gazing into his amused blue eyes, Casey did something she rarely, if ever did—she burst into tears.
Through her blurry vision, she almost laughed at the look of horror that stretched across Aidan’s face. As he shifted on his feet, it looked like he was debating tearing out of the room and sprinting down the street for Emma. That was something the Old Aidan from three years ago would have done—the one who broke out in a nervous sweat at the sight of any expression of female emotion. But thankfully, Emma had changed all that.
The New Aidan gave her the sweetest, sympathetic look. “Oh hell, Case, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you. It’s obvious from your…” He motioned at her attire. “look that something is wrong.”
“No. It’s okay,” she reassured, as she swiped the mascara stained tears from her cheeks.
Placing a hand on her back, Aidan instructed, “Come over here and sit down.” With expert precision, he guided her through the maze of baby paraphernalia littering the living room floor.
When Casey sank down onto the couch, her ass emitted a high pitched squeak. She quickly reached under her to jerk out a fluffy pink toy. A smile played at her lips because her Olivia had one just like it. In spite of it being annoying as hell, it was the four month old’s favorite.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Aidan asked, as he sat down beside her.
Groaning, Casey tossed the bunny to the side. “It’s too mortifying.”
Aidan nudged her knee. “Come on. Nothing can be that bad.”
Oh fuck yes it can. Staring down at her hands, Casey decided to bite the bullet and tell Aidan the truth. As the flashback played in her mind, she pinched her eyes shut. “I kinda dozed off…” She swallowed hard. For a moment, she felt as bashful as Emma was when it came to talking about sex. “I dozed off for just a second while doing a…job.”
When she dared to look at Aidan, his blond brows were scrunched in confusion. “You fell asleep at work?”
Rolling her eyes, Casey then grunted in frustration. “No. Not at work.”
“Then what—”
“I fell asleep while blowing Nate, okay!” she blurted.
Her words had the same effect on Aidan as if she had slapped him. He shook his head back and forth like he was trying to wake himself out of a daze. For the next few seconds, he just stared ahead without blinking.
Throwing up her hands, Casey demanded, “Well say something, dammit!”
“Motherfuckingshitdamnhell,” Aidan muttered.
The Party
(The Proposition, #0.5)
Amazon US
Coming off a break-up with his latest “friend with benefits”, the last thing Aidan Fitzgerald needs is a family hassle about his bachelor status. But after standing up as godfather for his great-nephew, Mason, that’s just what he gets at the Christening Party. Escaping the wrath of his father and sisters, he wants nothing more than to get to the company Christmas party. There he knows he can knock back a few stiff drinks and find some new no-strings-attached girl to take home for the night.
The last thing Emma Harrison wants is to attend another party—least of all one at work. After throwing the annual life celebration (for the anniversary of her fiancée’s death) with close friends, she’s finally gotten the courage to take matters into her own hands and become a mother. Convincing her slightly inebriated best-friend, Connor, to be her sperm donor was a lot easier than she thought, and all that’s left now is to start the process. But at her best friend and work colleague, Casey’s, insistence, she decides to make an appearance at the company Christmas party for her new boss’s sake.
Neither Aidan nor Emma could imagine what fate had in store for them at the party.
The Proposition
(The Proposition, #1)
Amazon US
With her thirtieth birthday looming, Emma Harrison finds her biological clock clanging and the elusive knight in shining armor yet to appear. She’s running out of options, especially after her gay best friend backs out from being her sperm donor. Of course, there’s always a sperm bank, but Emma fears a donor mix-up might impregnate her with the spawn of Satan.
Resident company womanizer, Aidan Fitzgerald, is used to always getting what he wants, especially in the bedroom. When Emma spurns his advances at the company Christmas party, he’s determined to have her no matter what it takes. After Aidan learns of Emma’s predicament, he is quick to offer a proposition that will benefit them both. He will father Emma’s child, but she must conceive it with him naturally. Not one for hook-ups or casual sex, Emma is reluctant to take him up on his offer, but his charm, coupled with her intense desire for motherhood, wins out.
Soon their baby-making sessions become more than just physical. Aidan can’t seem to walk away from her while Emma begins to wonder if Aidan could be the one. But can Aidan leave his past behind to become the man Emma needs him to be?
The Proposal
(The Proposition, #2)
Amazon US
In the weeks following Aidan’s betrayal, Emma has tried her best to move on. Ignoring his countless texts, voice mails, and flowers, she isn’t sure she wants to be won back by him. But Aidan isn’t going down without a fight—especially not until Emma lets him reveal the secret of his past that caused him to be so commitment phobic.
But fate intervenes when premature labor forces Emma on strict bed rest for two weeks. Aidan steps forward with a shocking proposal. To prove his love and commitment for her and their unborn son, he will take a leave of absence from work to care for her around the clock. Vowing to guard her heart, Emma reluctantly agrees.
While she is touched by Aidan’s attentiveness and tender loving care, Emma is thrown for a loop by the amorous attentions of ER doctor, Alpesh “Pesh” Nadeen. Pesh is everything Emma could ever want—successful, stable, and ready to settle down and be a husband and father. Pesh wants nothing more than to win Emma’s heart, but she is not sure she’s able to give it.
Her heart may still belong to the very man who broke it—the one who is so desperately trying to win her back.
The Pairing
(The Proposition, #3)
Amazon US
After her former boyfriend left her pregnant and alone, Megan McKenzie swore off men. She spent the last eighteen months focused solely on her son, Mason, along with finishing nursing school at the top of her class. Although she’s not ready to complicate her life with a long-term relationship, a nice no-strings attached hook-up is just what she needs. At her godson, Noah’s, baptism, she finds the perfect candidate in the soft-spoken godfather, Pesh Nadeen. After all, the widower could use a good time too. But after drinking too much, the night doesn’t end the way she thought it would. Forced to leave Pesh’s house through a walk of shame, Megan hopes to never, ever see him again.
For Pesh Nadeen, the very sight of Megan sends him into an emotional tailspin. Since she reminds him too much of what he has lost, he wants to be out of her sight…at first. But the more he gets to know her, there’s something about the diminutive blonde that causes his protective side to go into overdrive, and he finds himself wanting more. When Megan is assigned to work in his ER to complete her nursing clinicals, he sees it as fate, but she’s having no part of it. She only wants a physical relationship while he wants far more.
What happens next is a sexy game of cat and mouse to see who will break first or if both of them will eventually get more than they ever bargained for.
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