Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Mick
The first time I meet Mia Wells, the sizzling chemistry between us is immediate, and impossible to ignore. Mia draws me in with a quiet confidence that both unnerves and enthralls me. But she makes one thing clear: she isn’t looking for a relationship.
I try to respect her boundaries and bury my feelings deep. Then I spot Mia on a date with someone else, and every carefully guarded line I’ve been skating along shatters. The careful control I’ve been maintaining evaporates and I realize I’m done playing it safe. Done pretending I don’t want her with every fiber of my being.
Now I’m ready to pull out all the stops to convince Mia that these feelings brewing between us are worth taking a chance on. It’s time to move this relationship out of the neutral zone.
Mia
One look at Mick McLinden, captain of the Seattle Knights, and I know I’m in big freaking trouble. He turns my heart inside out and upside down. But I resist the pull because he’s everything I should avoid. So I do the only sensible thing and tell him I’m not looking for a relationship.
I try to convince myself I mean it. I focus on my nursing shifts, my friends, and building a life that doesn’t revolve around a man who looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters. I even agree to a blind date, determined to prove to myself that I can move on from feelings I’m not supposed to have.
But when Mick shows up on my doorstep after seeing me with someone else, every wall I’ve built comes crashing down. He’s done fighting his feelings, and suddenly, so am I. The careful distance I’ve maintained shatters under the heat of his touch, and I realize I’ve been lying to myself all along. The feelings between us are too powerful to keep in the friend zone.
Neutral Zone Kisses is an addictive, fast-burning insta-love hockey romance where sometimes the best defense is complete surrender
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
MIA
This is the best freaking champagne I’ve ever tasted. Jaxson didn’t spare any expense planning his proposal to my bestie, Harper. I’m three glasses deep and working on my fourth, the stem of the flute cool against my palm. The only person more buzzed than me is Harper, who’s holding out her hand and making sparkly jazz hands every time someone glances at her new ring.
Jaxson is sitting next to her, stoic as a mountain, looking at her like she personally invented the concept of happiness. They’re not even pretending to play it cool.
The table is crowded with empty dessert plates, coffee cups, and the casualties of several toasts. I’m busy cataloguing the disaster zone when the chair to my right pulls out, scraping over the stone floor, and Mick slides in without warning or apology. I don’t need to look up to know it’s him. The size, the quiet, the way the air shifts to accommodate someone who always moves like he owns the perimeter.
He doesn’t say anything at first. Just picks up the bottle and tops off my glass, steady and precise. Our hands brush on the stem. Two seconds, maybe less, but it’s long enough to make me forget the punchline of whatever snarky comment I was about to deliver. I freeze. So does he. The contact is nothing. It is accidental and circumstantial, static in the system. But my heart spikes like I’ve been handed a live wire, and from the way Mick’s jaw tightens, I’m not the only one pretending it’s no big deal.
“Thank you.” I manage to breathe as he lets go. His arm comes to rest on the back of my chair but not touching. Just there, marking territory. I can feel the heat of him even through the layers of my dress and cardigan, which is honestly unfair.
“You’re welcome, baby” Mick breathes, low and under his breath. The sound is oddly intimate, and I look up at him and immediately regret it. He’s staring right at me, head tilted, like he’s trying to read the fine print of my soul.
I take a gulp of the champagne hoping to cool some of the electricity flowing through me.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Mick says, voice pitched for just the two of us. His mouth is so close I can smell the faint trace of whiskey.
“I don’t have anything to say,” I say, side-eyeing him. God. I need to get out of here before I embarrass myself.
He nods and sits quietly beside me. There’s a lull, a beat where neither of us speaks. I’m too aware of how our knees are almost touching under the table. I bounce mine once, then force it flat, crossing my ankles.
Mick shifts, facing me more directly, his shoulder crowding into my space. The cuff of his sleeve is unbuttoned and there’s a fresh scrape on his knuckle. His jaw flexes when he speaks again, and the light from the fireplace throws a thin, pale scar along his chin into relief.