A Crashing Love

By Yvette Hines

Jaide Cranston, a marketing lead at a successful company, finds herself bumper to bumper with a handsome stranger. The take-charge man, arrives at her house the next day attempting to make amends and ask her out. She can’t deny her attraction to him. The days that follow deliver a passion she has never imagined, and she begins to believe that fate brought them together. A new man in her life and a promotion within her grasp, Jaide’s world is right and filled with promise. 

The shock of reality catches her off-guard the day she’s at a meeting for work and discovers the position she covets is in jeopardy, to none other than Ace McAlister, the new man in her life. Was their whirlwind affair just the designs of a scheming opportunistic outsider who was trying to take her job? Can she handle the pressure of beating him and claiming the position she’s worked for years on. Jaide fears in the end she may have to choose between the man who worked his way into her heart and her dream career. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Romance Management, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524237141

Yvette Hines

USA Today Bestselling Author, Emma Award winning "Author of the Year" 2013. I’m just Yvette Hines. An erotica author who loves pleasurable hours between the sheets, whether it is a blended tale of interracial lovers, the clandestine bite and wicked passion of a paranormal lover or the sting of a commanding whip against tender flesh. Even better, make my day and toss in two gorgeously decadent men who only want to pleasure their woman. Oooh, yeah, now we’re talking. I write erotica because I love it. I’m a Scorpio, so I’m sensual by nature and that just makes me naughty. I’ve been penning erotic tales, on the hedonistic side of romance genre, since 2007. I’m married to my best friend. A guy who makes me laugh ‘til I can’t breathe. A man who steals my breath every time he walks into a room. I enjoy long walks on the beach... Well, I do, but really I love meeting readers, going to conferences, writing with my fellow authors in a coffee shop, attending BDSM events and Christmas. What do I write? Short and Sexy, Sensual Erotica. Yup, that’s me, SASSE Yvette Hines.

Book preview

A Crashing Love

––––––––

Yvette Hines

––––––––

Jaide Cranston, a marketing lead at a successful company, finds herself bumper to bumper with a handsome stranger. The take-charge man, arrives at her house the next day attempting to make amends and ask her out. She can’t deny her attraction to him. The days that follow deliver a passion she has never imagined, and she begins to believe that fate brought them together. A new man in her life and a promotion within her grasp, Jaide’s world is right and filled with promise.

The shock of reality catches her off-guard the day she’s at a meeting for work and discovers the position she covets is in jeopardy, to none other than Ace McAlister, the new man in her life. Was their whirlwind affair just the designs of a scheming opportunistic outsider who was trying to take her job? Can she handle the pressure of beating him and claiming the position she’s worked for years on. Jaide fears in the end she may have to choose between the man who worked his way into her heart and her dream career.

Chapter One

Jaide always loved summer rainstorms. However, normally she found herself sitting on her back porch feeling the wind on her face, smelling the pungent scent of wet flowers and watching the heavy rain come down. Driving in it was a different matter entirely. She hated driving in rain, period, and a storm just made everything worse.

Thank goodness, I’m almost home. Gripping the wheel, she stared through the front window as the rapid wiper blades lost a battle with the torrential rain, obscuring her vision of I-77. She’d just crossed into Charlotte from South Carolina and was so close to home now, she could practically feel her Egyptian cotton sheets on her skin. With all the water coming from Heaven, the only reason she knew she was close was because she made out the shadowy image of the Intimidator roller coaster arching high above Carowinds. She considered pulling off the road and heading to her office to wait out the downpour, but it was late—she’d been on the road for four hours and was more than ready to climb in bed.

She’d had a great time in Savannah for her parents’ golden wedding anniversary; being around her sisters always made her happy. Charles and Gloria Cranston, her parents, belonged together. They had a love that stood the test of time, with all the ups and downs over the years. She loved her parents, but celebrating their anniversary just brought a lot of things home to her, like the fact she’d turned thirty this year and was unmarried with no children. Her parents had made finding the love of your life seem easy. They married straight out of high school, attended college together and raised a family with three girls. As a child she’d always dreamed of going to college, having a great career, finding the man who loved her and being pregnant with her first child by twenty-seven.

At least my career is about to soar, she sighed. Yes, that was the highlight of her life. The old director in her marketing division, Eun Mi, had left a few months ago, and the CEO was hinting toward hiring from within the company. Everyone knew that she was Eun Mi’s right hand and was damn good at the job. Hell, she’d been practically handling the department since the older woman returned to Korea to take care of her parents. Jaide was just waiting for the moment Mr. Sylvester appointed her to the position.

Her youngest sister, Sasha, had tried to convince her to wait until morning to leave. However, once the three of them, along with their family and friends, gathered outside the old plantation house and saw the last flicker of the limo lights with her parents disappear down the long driveway, Jaide gave hugs and left. She, Sasha and Raina, their older sister, had already met with the estate manager, caterers and cleanup staff. There would have been nothing more to do tonight, so heading home had been Jaide’s main focus.

Now, looking at the clock, she saw it was past midnight. She was tired from being so tense while driving in the storm for the last hour and a half. It had seemed to follow her up the highway from I-26 to 77. Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax, knowing she’d almost made it and would be home in another thirty minutes.

The thought had barely cleared her mind as an impact from the back sent her slipping, sliding and skidding toward the right shoulder. Sending up a quick prayer, she held on for dear life as her car moved from the road to wet gravel and into grass, stopping short of slamming into the embankment.

Her mind was in a tailspin. Her heart raced so fast that the blood pounding in her ears was so loud she couldn’t hear the rain outside. The pounding started sounding more like banging, and she tried to block out all the noise as she concentrated on being thankful she wasn’t dead.

The hammering sound persisted. Ma’am!  Ma’am!

Hearing the yelling outside of her head made Jaide realize the pounding wasn’t only her heart, but someone knocking on her driver’s side window. With the water pouring down the side, she could barely make out anything, only an odd shape in the night. Peeling her left hand from the wheel, she activated the button for the window.

Ma’am, are you all right? the man asked her. The rain had plastered his dark hair to his head, drenched his shirt and was dribbling from his ears, nose and chin. Are you okay? He was waving his hand in her face.

Being in need of help wasn’t at all bad if she was rescued by a guardian such as the attractive specimen before her. With dark, straight hair that curled a little at the ends and looked like wet silk, intense, warm, caring eyes, and a body that appeared fit and trim, the man was gorgeous. The hand that he placed on her door was wide with thick, blunt-tipped fingers. The kind that in any other circumstance would have had her moaning and wondering about the strength of his touch.

I... Her voice faltered. She cleared her throat and tried again. Yes, I believe so. She mentally took stock of her body as the rain bounced off the edge of her window and splashed onto her.

You sure? You’re crying. Concern tightened his features as he looked from her face and peered into the dark, attempting to assess her upper body, and then returned back to her face.

Lifting a hand, she touched her face; sure enough, it was wet with warm tears. She assumed that the fear of nearly dying would cause most people to weep. What happened? Did you see what happened?

A chagrined look crossed his features as he confessed, It was my fault. He lifted a hand and pressed it to his chest, a sign of apology. I must have winged the right side of your tail. I thought I’d cleared you to take the exit—

Clarity came to her in that moment. She had thought maybe she hit something or rolled over something in the road or even that the blasted wind had knock her for a loop, but not that someone run into her. You hit me? She’d never been in an accident before. She was always a cautious driver, making sure that she gave plenty of room to other drivers or road hogs. Now this guy shoves her off the road. It’s raining out! What were you doing speeding? Were you in that much of a hurry? She was mad that this guy would be so reckless in a storm.

Like I said, I thought I’d cleared you, but evidently not. One of your back lights is out. His hand on the top of her window flicked, and the corners of his mouth twitched inward as if he were attempting to control himself.

Oh my God, I can’t believe this. You’re trying to make your reckless driving my fault. She dropped her head back against the seat’s headrest.

No, I’m not, he growled low. He stepped back a little, rain soaking his clothing even more. I take full responsibility for my action—

You bet you’re taking responsibility. I hope you have insurance. Nowadays you never knew. She couldn’t be sure with the rain obscuring his features, but she saw his jaw flex.

I do, he confirmed.

Good. I need you to step away so I can back up, she told him as she looked into her side mirror, glancing at the light from his car on the road, and tried to gauge the best way to back out of the ditch.

I don’t think you’re going to be able to drive out.

Why, is my car wrecked that bad? she groaned, swiveling around in the seat to get a look at the back of her car. From what she could see in the dark, which was very little, everything still appeared intact. Her trunk wasn’t standing open or bent at an odd angle. Thank God—she adored her midnight-blue Volt. It