The Deception Incident by Marla Holt
Series: The Incident #2
Publication date: July 21st, 2020
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
Her life is stabilizing and his is spiraling while they both keep secrets.
Minnie Halvarson moved to Kansasto start over. She wanted to be anonymous, live a simple life, and heal from her past. When Bryant Wilder walks into her bookstore, she thinks she's hit the boyfriend jackpot. What more could she want than a tall, bookish man who worships her?
Until Minnie finds out he's dating mega pop star, Van Birch and cuts all ties with him.
Bryant Wilder is a humble Kansas contractor by day and Van Birch's fake boyfriend whenever she needs him to be. At first Bryant is happy to do it, but after five years, he is tired of dodging paparazzi and keeping his hookups on the down low.
Bryant wants more.
Who he wants is Minnie. But she won't even look at him.
Now Van is back in Wellville, and has adopted Minnie into their friend group, Bryant is just as smitten with her as ever. Maybe if she hadn't just had a baby, he'd actually have a chance.
The Deception Incident is the second book in the Incident Series. Dig into this steamy, instalove, secret baby romance with a guaranteed happily ever after by Marla Holt.
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Excerpt
Bryant knew he should be more careful, otherwise some photographer was going to snap him coming out of Minnie's building with bedhead one of these mornings, but he didn't care. He couldn't bring himself to stop. Better than them photographing her coming out of his house. He couldn't bring her there until he'd had a chance to talk to Van. That wouldn't be until after Valentine's Day, but that was fine. He could wait. Minnie would probably be too busy opening her store to notice that they only ever stayed at her place and never went anywhere.
It was just too risky.
He'd been anxious as hell for the last two weeks that someone had taken a picture of them making out at Tessa's and had been waiting for it to pop up on Twitter. He'd tamped down the fear of waking up to a string of nasty messages from Phoenix because, so far, that hadn't happened. But Bryant knew it was only a matter of time.
Why couldn't he have fallen in love with Cole--the subcontractor who'd been flirting with him mercilessly for the past year? Cole was cute with dark hair, a scruffy beard, and strong shoulders from hanging drywall all the time. Cole had sensed Bryant's bisexuality the moment hey'd met, but Bryant had never been interested. If he had been, he could have hung out with Cole for months before anyone would have guessed that their relationship was sexual.
But with Minnie? A pretty blonde with killer curves? There wouldn't be any claiming "we're just friends." One photo of them standing on the same block together and Bryant would be accused of ruining Van Birch's life from the first blurry image. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad? Bryant hated himself for thinking that way, and he regretted the risk he'd taken in bringing Minnie to Tessa's that night. It's why he hadn't taken her anywhere since. He just needed to man up and tell Van he wanted to be done, because God, Bryant didn't really want to want anybody else. He chafed to be done with his work day so he could go back to Minnie's place and help her shelve books or clean the kitchen or just make her a drink and force her to relax after she'd pushed herself too hard all day.
Last night he'd cooked her the one pasta dish he'd taught himself to make and kept her wine glass topped off. When they'd been reading together on the sofa, finishing off the wine after dinner, Minnie had lain snuggled into his side the whole time. Then, after the wine was gone, she'd unzipped his jeans and wrapped her mouth around his cock, then had gone down on him while she'd touched herself.
He'd let her come that way, but he'd fought his own release until he was inside her. He'd pulled out one of the condoms he'd stashed in the end table next to the sofa and unrolled it over himself while Minnie watched, biting her lip. Then Bryant had pulled her onto his lap and almost expired from ecstasy as she rode him. He'd come with her that time, his orgasm ripping out of him so completely that he would have promised her the moon if only she'd stay with him.
Yes, they had a lot of sex, but Bryant didn't care what they did together; he just wanted to be in her company all the time. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He was obsessed with her. When he imagined going to L.A. next month for the filming he had to do, he imagined himself stepping off the plane, kissing Van for the cameras, then telling her how Minnie was the one. It had taken Bryant only two hours of being in Minnie's bed to decide that he didn't want anyone else ever. She was it for him. No one else would ever satisfy him or beguile him the way she did.
Now he just had to tread carefully so as not to expose Minnie to any of the wrong things before he had a chance to talk to Van. He thought about calling her every day, about picking up his phone and texting her, I met someone, but then Van would have a million questions, and Bryant wouldn't be able to keep a hold of the conversation. In person, he could place a finger over Van's lips and tell her to shut up until he was finished.
It was just too risky.
He'd been anxious as hell for the last two weeks that someone had taken a picture of them making out at Tessa's and had been waiting for it to pop up on Twitter. He'd tamped down the fear of waking up to a string of nasty messages from Phoenix because, so far, that hadn't happened. But Bryant knew it was only a matter of time.
Why couldn't he have fallen in love with Cole--the subcontractor who'd been flirting with him mercilessly for the past year? Cole was cute with dark hair, a scruffy beard, and strong shoulders from hanging drywall all the time. Cole had sensed Bryant's bisexuality the moment hey'd met, but Bryant had never been interested. If he had been, he could have hung out with Cole for months before anyone would have guessed that their relationship was sexual.
But with Minnie? A pretty blonde with killer curves? There wouldn't be any claiming "we're just friends." One photo of them standing on the same block together and Bryant would be accused of ruining Van Birch's life from the first blurry image. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad? Bryant hated himself for thinking that way, and he regretted the risk he'd taken in bringing Minnie to Tessa's that night. It's why he hadn't taken her anywhere since. He just needed to man up and tell Van he wanted to be done, because God, Bryant didn't really want to want anybody else. He chafed to be done with his work day so he could go back to Minnie's place and help her shelve books or clean the kitchen or just make her a drink and force her to relax after she'd pushed herself too hard all day.
Last night he'd cooked her the one pasta dish he'd taught himself to make and kept her wine glass topped off. When they'd been reading together on the sofa, finishing off the wine after dinner, Minnie had lain snuggled into his side the whole time. Then, after the wine was gone, she'd unzipped his jeans and wrapped her mouth around his cock, then had gone down on him while she'd touched herself.
He'd let her come that way, but he'd fought his own release until he was inside her. He'd pulled out one of the condoms he'd stashed in the end table next to the sofa and unrolled it over himself while Minnie watched, biting her lip. Then Bryant had pulled her onto his lap and almost expired from ecstasy as she rode him. He'd come with her that time, his orgasm ripping out of him so completely that he would have promised her the moon if only she'd stay with him.
Yes, they had a lot of sex, but Bryant didn't care what they did together; he just wanted to be in her company all the time. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He was obsessed with her. When he imagined going to L.A. next month for the filming he had to do, he imagined himself stepping off the plane, kissing Van for the cameras, then telling her how Minnie was the one. It had taken Bryant only two hours of being in Minnie's bed to decide that he didn't want anyone else ever. She was it for him. No one else would ever satisfy him or beguile him the way she did.
Now he just had to tread carefully so as not to expose Minnie to any of the wrong things before he had a chance to talk to Van. He thought about calling her every day, about picking up his phone and texting her, I met someone, but then Van would have a million questions, and Bryant wouldn't be able to keep a hold of the conversation. In person, he could place a finger over Van's lips and tell her to shut up until he was finished.
About the Author:
Marla Holt believes in second chances, romance, and the radical notion that everyone deserves a happily ever after. She's living her own fairy tale, writing contemporary romance novels in her Kansas farmhouse with her husband, three boys, three cats, and flock of imaginary sheep. Follow her on her website or on Instagram.
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