Excerpts from Duty Bound
Excerpt 1:
On my way out of the building with Maria, the friend who’d given me a ride, I glanced down at my phone, on the off-chance that Levi had tried to call back.
I’m not sure what he would have said if he called. After all, I couldn’t imagine him meekly saying he was sorry for his bad behavior.
I couldn’t imagine him being meek—in any circumstance, ever.
“Oh my God, that guy is hot,” Maria murmured excitedly, grabbing my arm as we walked down the four steps from the front entrance of the rec center.
This wasn’t unusual behavior for Maria. She found guys hot all the time and was never loath to share her feelings with me.
I glanced over with only half-hearted interest and immediately stiffened when my eyes landed on a tall, well-built man with dark hair and worn jeans, who was listening to something on his phone and leaning against a car in the parking lot.
My car. The one I thought was still in the shop.
Levi. Naturally.
“Oh my God,” Maria said, her hand still gripping my arm. “He’s smiling at you. Do you know him?”
“Yes, I know him,” I gritted out through my teeth. He was indeed smiling, but it wasn’t a friendly, welcoming smile.
It was a superior smile of amusement, as if he was laughing at me.
I’d seen that look on his face before. I’d seen it for years and years, when we’d been growing up and he was hanging out with Gavin. My brother used to get annoyed when I pestered them, but Levi had always just laughed.
Nothing had changed. I might be an adult, a professional, and completely his equal, but he was still laughing at me.
I took a shaky breath and tried to control the wave of anger.
“Is that your car?” Maria asked.
“Yeah. He must have gotten it from the shop.”
“Ooh! Why didn’t you tell me there was a guy in your life?” Maria looked like she might jump up and down with excitement over news of potential romance for me.
“He’s not in—“
“No, don’t try to hide it. I can tell by the way he’s looking at you that he’s crazy about you. Plus, he got your car for you! You go on over, but you better call me first thing tomorrow and tell me all about him.”
I groaned and tried to object again, but she skittered off before I could. Rolling my eyes, I made my way over to Levi, who was still half-smiling with that superior amusement that I hated.
“Did you just tell me to take my overbearing, obnoxious meddling and shove it up my arrogant ass?” he asked, lowering the phone from his ear.
For no reason—for absolutely no good reason—I felt the urge to snicker, partly at his expression and partly at the way he’d repeated my words back to me in that dry tone. Snickering would hardly be an appropriate response, though, so I gave him what I hoped was a cool look of disinterest. “You should check your messages more frequently. I left that over two hours ago.”
His smile broadened into a grin, making him so attractive that I lost my breath. Seriously. I literally lost my breath, gazing up at him and his warm expression and his gorgeous dark eyes.
Excerpt 2:
I glanced around the parking lot for his truck and didn’t see it. “So you drove my car over here? How did you expect to get home?”
“I figured you could drop me off. I’m on the way.”
I smothered a groan and nodded toward the passenger seat. “Get in.”
He handed me the keys, and we got in the car. I had to admit it was nice to have my car back, although I would have preferred to enjoy it without Levi’s presence.
I managed to ask him, fairly politely, where he lived and then backed out of the parking place without saying anything rude.
We rode in silence for a few minutes. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I was trying very hard not to scream at him.
“How did you even know where I was?” I finally asked, starting up when a light turned green.
“I called your folks and they told me. So you do kickboxing?”
“Yes, I do kickboxing.”
“How long have you done that?”
“Over a year now.”
“Are you any good?”
I could hear the smile in his voice, and it made me mad. “I’m pretty good, for my level. What exactly are you laughing at?”
“I’m not laughing.” His eyes were wide with ostensible innocence when I turned to glare at him.
“You’re secretly laughing at me. You’ve always done that, and I’ve always hated it.”
“What’s wrong with you making me laugh?”
“Because you’re laughing at me, as if I’m a pet or a child. I’m neither of those things, and I really don’t appreciate you acting like I am.”
He sighed and said in a different voice. “I know you’re not a pet or a child.”
I turned my head again to check his expression, since he’d sounded so different. “So why do you feel compelled to control me?”
“I don’t want to control you. I just want you to be safe.”
“Keeping me safe is not your responsibility. I can take care of myself.” We’d reached his apartment building, and I pulled the car into a convenient parking space.
“With your kickboxing?”
“I meant by being an adult who can handle herself, but I might be better at kickboxing than you think.”
He was grinning again as he opened the passenger side door. “So show me.”
“Show you what?”
“Kickboxing. Show me what you’ve got.”
“I’m not a circus performer for your entertainment.”
“I’m not looking to be entertained. If you want me not to worry about you, then show me you can protect yourself. Show me what you’ve got.”
“I’m not going to do kickboxing moves in the middle of a parking lot.”
“Why not? No one is around.”
With a groan, I got out of the car, feeling yet again the need to prove myself to this man who insisted I shouldn’t be taken seriously.
He walked around the car so he was standing a couple of feet away from me. “So someone comes at you. What do you do?”
I moved automatically into my stance as he made a move toward me. I fired off a quick jab, aiming upward, right toward his face. I pulled the punch before it hit, but I would have gotten a really good blow in if I hadn’t.
He looked surprised and pleased. “Good,” he said, sounding sincere for once. “What else?”
He made another move toward me, and I aimed a hook. He blocked it easily but I followed it quickly with an undercut, which might have done some damage. “Nice,” he murmured, the expression in his eyes changing. Instead of laughter there was something else.
It wasn’t respect. But it was warm. Very warm. It was hot.
It made my cheeks flush, so I covered it by another jab, which he blocked without really trying.
The easy way he blocked it riled me up, so I twisted to throw out a sidekick.
It obviously took him by surprise, and he grabbed at my leg with what was probably an automatic reflex. It threw me off balance, though. He released my leg immediately, but I still ended up in a heap on the ground.
About Samantha Chase
New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan's Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40's to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
When she's not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing way too many games of Scrabble on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina. For more information visit her website at www.chasing-romance.com.
When she's not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing way too many games of Scrabble on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina. For more information visit her website at www.chasing-romance.com.
About Noelle Adams
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.
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