๐๐ผ๐โ๐ผโโ๐ โ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐
Check out this sneak peek for ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ (๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐) by Ruth Stilling, releasing on July 7th!
๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐/ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!

What to expect:
๐ Hockey Romance
๐ Accidental Pregnancy
๐ Secret Relationship
๐ He Falls First & He Falls Hard
๐ Brotherโs Best Friend
๐ Boy Obsessed
๐ Reformed Playboy
๐ Coachโs Step-daughter
๐ Possessive MMC
๐ Look at Her & ๐
Excerpt:
โWhere did you get this?โ I ask, trying not to sound like a suspicious douchebag. Iโm a possessive one instead.
Darcy rolls her lips together, shifting to face me. โOh, this?โ She lifts the bracelet between us. โThis is from Emmett Richards, the hot-as-fuck defenseman on your team. I woke up with him yesterday, and he gave it to me as a birthday gift.โ
โDonโt fuck with me, Darcy.โ
Sheโs on her back in seconds, and Iโm hovering over her, a caveman growl Iโve been fighting to suppress escaping my chest. Iโm tempted to slide inside her right now and demonstrate how Iโm the only man she needs.
Small hands rest on my shoulders as the bracelet slips down her arm.
โDid your dad get it for you?โ I ask softly. I know from Jack that she doesnโt have a relationship with him anymore. That doesnโt stop me from hoping the guy didnโt miss his daughterโs birthday.
โNo.โ She shakes her head, a subtle sadness dulling her eyes. โI havenโt spoken to him in months. The bracelet is from my mom. She bought it for my twenty-first birthday, and I wear it on special occasions.โ
Although I wouldnโt describe us as estranged, Iโm not especially close to my dad. Darcy might be right to keep Elliott out of her lifeโjust like Jack cut him out completely tooโbut that doesnโt mean there isnโt residual hurt.
โDo you miss him?โ I ask cautiously.
She peers up at me like she hasnโt been asked that in a while.
โThatโs a complicated question, Archer.โ
I settle down between her parted thighs. I know she can feel my hard cock as it presses into her. Casually, I run my fingers down her stomach, holding myself up with an elbow braced next to her shoulder. Weโre both completely naked, but that isnโt the most intimate part of this moment. I want to explore every part of Darcy, well beyond the conversations weโve previously shared.
โWeโve got the time.โ
She clears her throat and shifts beneath me. โMy dad is one of those people who always has an agenda with everything he does. When I was younger, I couldnโt see the games he played or the way he would emotionally attack Mum, not until I got older. Then, when Jack joined the Blades and met Kendra, Dad tried to come back into his life after he learned what my brother was earning and how much his girlfriendโs family was worth. Kendra told me all about it when I moved to Brooklyn, but Iโd already hated his guts anyway.โ She pokes her tongue into her cheek. โAnd I donโt hate anyone. Ever.โ
My blood boils on behalf of Jack and Darcy, two of the kindest people Iโve ever met. If they despise this guy, I can only hope we never cross paths.
โDid he hurt you?โ
Shaking her head again, she presses her lips into a thin line. โNo, never physically. Dad doesnโt need to get physical to cause hurt. He likes to weigh and measure people, and when he has a drink, the venom really starts spouting. He once told me Iโd walked away from a good relationship with Liam because of my ego.โ
โBut he cheated on you,โ I immediately fire back, my rage simmering.
โHe did, although Dad never saw it that way. He said Liam was going to have a great career in finance.โ She laughs darkly. โFunny, because thatโs what my dad doesโheโs a stockbroker in London.โ
I remember Jack telling me his dad worked in Canary Wharf. A place where some of my own investments are run. Heโd better not manage any of my offshore accounts.
โAfter Liam and I split, Jack admitted he could see more and more of Dad in Liamโs behaviors. Mum spent a lot of time detangling herself from Dadโs grasp, and Jack was afraid Iโd go down the same route. I once failed a test at universityโโ
I release a mock gasp, and she swats me on the chest, giggling.
โYes, Archer. Believe it or not, I did. Anyway, do you know what Liamโs reaction was?โ
I shake my head, already convinced Iโm not going to like it.
โHe told me not to worry because a womanโs place is really in the home and with the kids, not out earning money because he could take care of that. It was a carbon copy of what Dad used to say to Mum.โ
I canโt imagine Darcy ever accepting something like that from a guy. They do say love is blind.
When she looks up at me for a reaction, I know my jaw is clenched, molars grinding hard.
โThere were plenty of red flags I chose to ignore because Iโd invested so much time into the wrong person, but I didnโt want to feel like all of it was wasted, so I kept plowing ahead with him. I guess thatโs why now Iโm not keen to get into anything heavy. The next person I date, I want to be sure they wonโt screw me over.โ
My tongue burns with the need to tell her that Iโd never let her down. Then I consider the evidence of my past and what she has to go on.
โA womanโs place is wherever she wants to be.โ Theyโre the only words I can find in a sea of confessions I desperately want to profess. โNo one owns you or gets to tell you what to do with your life, Darcy. When a real man says, Youโre mine, itโs because he canโt stand the thought of living a day without you in his life. Not because youโre a possession he can show off to his friends. Youโre a treasure, not an accessory.โ
ADD TO YOUR TBR:
More books by Ruth Stilling: https://amzn.to/48gcbjZ
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