Kayley Loring

What’s the actual last thing you’d ever want your executive assistant to see you doing the morning after you had hot, drunk, angry sex with her in a terrible hotel room? Dancing around your terrible hotel room to “Come and Get Your Love” like Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy—naked? Yeah. Me too. And yet, here we are. This isn’t even the most unprofessional thing that’s happened between us in the past couple of weeks. The first was when I agreed to let her have Christmas Day off, but only if she goes with me to three family gatherings as my fake girlfriend. The second was when she caught me belting out a Christmas song on stage in the awful hotel bar. The third was the hot, drunk, angry sex that followed, but I do not regret it. And she hasn’t even found out the real reason I need her by my side this holiday season. I need to pull it together before I do the dumbest, most unprofessional thing of all—fall head over heels in love with the only assistant who’s lasted more than a month at the job and claims to hate me and my moods more than she hates eggnog. And I’ve seen how much she hates eggnog.

A Very Bossy Christmas

Shane, a former child star turned comedy actor who cannot seem to get any sleep. He's got twin 5-year-olds from his failed marriage to a costar, a nanny who just quit, and an ex-wife who is out of town so she can't pick up any of the slack. Sleep deprived and exhausted, he hires his best friend's little sister as a temporary nanny. Shane and Willa only met once during the height of Shane's teen stardom, and it left Willa with a crush that would just not quit. Now that they're spending time together, sharing a home, and helping to raise two kids... everything feels way too easy and natural. Shane's too good of a guy to start something with his best friend's little sister, and Willa knows better than to open her heart to the guy with the power to crush it.

Sleeper

EDDIE: Cancel your dinky little roomette on the train. I’m booking us two of the big bedroom suites. 

BIRDIE: I’ll cancel it AFTER you’ve booked the other sleeper rooms. And reimburse you.

EDDIE: Don’t worry about it. Just cancel your tickets. I got this. Round trip. I’m on the Amtrak website right now.

BIRDIE: You don’t have to leave NYC when I do! You’ll hardly be able to spend any time with your Instagram girlfriend that you've never met!

EDDIE: It’s fine. She’ll be fine with it. Cancel your tickets.

BIRDIE: You aren’t going to stop texting me until I’ve canceled them, are you?

EDDIE: Damn right I’m not. Just do it. You can thank me later.

***

EDDIE: Um. Did you cancel your tickets?

BIRDIE: Yes, Edward. I canceled them.

EDDIE: Okay, because it turns out they only had one Family Bedroom from LA to Chicago. But the good news is I booked it for us. It’s the biggest room they had. The bad news is I booked it for us. And it’s the only sleeper room they have left now.

EDDIE: In related news, there was also only one room left from Chicago to New York. 

EDDIE: Hands up if you’re excited! *man raising hand emoji*

BIRDIE: I am so mad at you right now.

***

BIRDIE: I’ve compiled a list of ground rules re shared train bedroom. Check your email, please read carefully, and refer to it again on the ninth of February. Thank you.

EDDIE: *nerd face emoji* Received. I have some notes. 




***This is a 55,000 word very low angst friends to lovers standalone novel***

A Very Friendly Valentine's Day

Dear grouchy neighbor: I'm considering your offer and need clarification before proceeding. Despite being an artist, I think you know that as a busy New Yorker, I am also practical and straightforward. That said, I need to make sure you know that this could never turn into anything serious. I don't care if you're trying to get over your ex-girlfriend or hoping she'll eventually want to get back together with you--just don't project your messy feelings about her onto me. Because, despite your resemblance to an underwear model, I won't be falling for you. Ever. Yours, with clear boundaries, Bernadette p.s. I'd like to be very clear that regardless of whether or not we do this, nothing will change my feelings for your dog (and we both know she loves me too). Dear nutty neighbor: As a lawyer, I must clarify that I never made an offer. It was a suggestion regarding the possibility of a non-permanent, no-strings-attached arrangement between two consenting adults whose beds are separated by a wall. As a man who shares your disdain for messy feelings, I applaud your confidence in your ability to not fall for me. Hold onto that. I'd also like to make it clear that I don't care if you want to get over your crush on your boss or if you still hope he'll realize you're the woman of his dreams. That said, I definitely wasn't thinking about my ex-girlfriend when I kissed you in the laundry room, and I'm quite sure you weren't thinking about your boss. As a dog daddy, I'm glad you're so taken with my girl. But if you try to steal her I will get all Liam Neeson up in your pretty face. As a busy New Yorker, I think clear boundaries are hot. I have one hour free to blow your mind tonight. So turn off Netflix, put down that glass of wine, and let's do this. Yours for now, Matt

Come Back to Bed

Troublemaker

Attachment Theory

Funny Business

Connor Crais

DECKER: Changing the Play

There Is Also a Dog

A Very Vegas St. Patrick's Day

Rebound With Me

Charmer

WES When I was a kid, my dad was the gardener for the richest man in town. His daughter, Lily Barnes, told me she could never like a guy like me. Then she kissed me and told me it would never happen again. When it happened again, she told me she could never love me because she was going to leave this place, and I would never leave my dad. We were never quite friends, not exactly enemies, and we could never quite stop secretly kissing each other.She never said goodbye before running off to try to make it as an actress. That was her dream, and I wanted her to chase it. Okay, maybe I hated her for it, just a little. Now she's back, with no money and even more sass. A lot has changed around here ... except for my hidden feelings about Lily Barnes. LILY So, it turns out I'm a terrible actress and now I'm back! When my father offers me a job at his company, I actually think he's finally decided I'm worthy of one day taking over the family business. Imagine my surprise when I find out that the gardener's son is the one who's being groomed to take over, and I've been assigned to work for him. Wes Carver has always been rich in confidence and abs, but now he's rich in everything, including disdain for yours truly. If he thinks I'm not built to work, he's wrong.If he thinks he can boss me around just because he's my boss, he's delusional. If he thinks I'm still the girl who could never love him ... I may be a better actress than anyone thought.

Back for More

Not gonna lie to you.When he walked into my restaurant, I thought he was the hottest man I'd ever seen in person.And then he spoke.And I realized who he was.The world now knows him as John Brandt--ridiculously wealthy handsome genius workaholic startup founder and tech entrepreneur. I will always think of him as the annoying geek who was my brother's best friend. He yanked my pigtails and called me Tiny Dancer. I put rubber snakes in his sleeping bag and called him Johnny B. Nerdballs.Market research has told him that he needs a girlfriend for an important business trip and gala event. He says he doesn't want to bring someone that he has to impress or make an effort with, so he thought of me and figures I could use a nice vacation from my life right now.He is one cocky nerd. Even if he's right.I need the money and he can actually help me with my career, but I think he needs to be schooled in the art of treating a lady right. Lucky for him, I am just the woman to finally teach him...Turns out his total lack of social skills does not correspond to a lack of skills in the bedroom. At all. He even teaches me a few new tricks.Every time he opens his obnoxious mouth, I can't believe this guy's for real. Every time he touches me, every time he reminds me of who I was before I started to lose myself in the big city, I can't believe that what we have right now is fake.I'm afraid that by the end of the month, either I will have punched him in the face or the last man on earth that I ever thought I'd fall in love with will have broken my heart. Or both.***please note that Sexy Nerd was originally published as Cocky Nerd. Only the title has changed. The content is the same.

Sexy Nerd

One Caribbean couples-only resort. Six friends who want to escape Brooklyn in the dead of winter. Two married couples. Two single fakers who hate each other’s freaking guts even though they accidentally made out once a million years ago, and now they have to share a freaking bed.

Love changes people.
I’ve seen what true love has done for my friends, and I want it for myself.
Somehow, I’m the only single guy left in our circle.
Somehow, Roxy Freaking Carter is the only single girl.

It’s the dead of winter.
Our best friends are planning a getaway at a couples-only resort in the Caribbean, and I refuse to be left out in the cold.
All Roxy and I have to do is pretend we don’t despise each other for one week, in a room with only one bed, so we can spend some much-needed time with our favorite people.
We’ve been pretending we didn’t make out that one time at a wedding, so we both know how good we are at pretending.
All I have to do is convince Roxy that I’m not dying to kiss her again.

Kayley Loring

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