Sky High by C.J. Lake 
(The Attraction #3) 
Publication date: May 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:
**All books in C.J. Lake’s Attraction Series are standalone novels with NO cliffhangers.**

First she stole my parking spot.  Then we became friends.  Then I fell completely, mind-torturingly in love with her.  Oh, wait—I think that happened first.

“Hmm, is there a deep-seated reason for your pessimism about guys?”

“No comment.”

“Ah, so there is a reason,” Jamie said.

“It’s a long story,” Sky said with finality, effectively shutting down the topic.

“I see,” Jamie commented, nodding.

“You couldn’t possibly,” she challenged.

“Okay, I don’t see everything,” he admitted casually, “but I get the general picture. You’re the girl your friends are always trying to set up—but you hate every guy, right?”

“No, not at all,” Sky insisted. How did he know? “Though my friends do claim that I’m too picky. But really, I’m not!”

“Ah, so you’re one of those too-picky girls.”

“I’m not!” she yelped, a grin fighting to break through. “The thing is, I know what I want and I don’t want to settle.”

“So, what do you want then?” he asked her pointedly.

“I’d just like someone normal and appealing and fun,” Sky said. “But, you know, smart and interesting and actually honest. He has to be employed,” she continued, thinking about it, “and preferably not a felon.”

“So is that it?” Jamie said, as he chomped on a steak fry. “Is that the whole list? Or is there more?”

“Um…yes, I’m sure there’s more.”

“Of course there is!”

Giggling, Sky said, “Hey, I like to be thorough. Did I mention employed?”

“Yes.”

“Intelligent?”

“Yes, you said that one, too.”

“Oh! I know. Insightful. Considerate. Funny without being a clown, and ambitious without being a showoff. I’d also like him not to be a total horndog.”

At that, Jamie froze. “Excuse me?”

Sky’s eyes roamed around Jamie’s kitchen in a way that was deliberately casual, as she explained, “I just don’t want someone who is totally obsessed with sex, that’s all.”

He set down his steak fry, assessing her. “Just to clarify here…you are looking for a guy, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

He shrugged. “Just checking. Wasn’t sure there for a second.”

“See, but that’s the whole problem,” Sky blurted, thinking about the past—even though she really, truly, deeply did not want to, “guys can fool you.”

“How?” Jamie asked curiously.

“They…they can have a dark side,” was all she said. “Of course they don’t show it until it’s too late. You know, sometimes I just don’t feel like putting in the effort to meet a new guy, because how can I know he’s not really a total A-hole?”

“You can’t,” Jamie admitted. “At first. But I could help you with that.”

Sky’s brows pinched as she studied him. “Help me how?”

“All right, Sky,” Jamie said, sounding confident, and pushed aside his plate. “I’m going to do you a personal favor. You can thank me later. Or now—your call.”

Squinting at him, Sky said, “What are you talking about?”

“I’ll help you filter out the losers right away.”

“How?”

“Simple. I’m a guy myself. I know what other guys are about. Just the way you girls all understand each other—but guys don’t understand girls very well at all. Am I right?”

“Yes,” she agreed. “But…how would this work?”

“How about this? If I run into you while you’re out on one of your blind dates, I’ll let you know my read on the guy. Right then and there. We’ll need some sort of signal, of course.”

“Hmm…I’m tempted to go along with this,” Sky said thoughtfully. “But I’m skeptical.”

“Of course you are,” Jamie said, nonplussed. “You’re a cynic. Let me help you.”

She gave a laugh and rolled her eyes. “Fine, so is this a pass/fail type of thing?”

“Pass/fail, yes, that’s a good idea,” Jamie agreed.

“And what kind of signal should we use? It would have to be really subtle, of course.”

“Let’s keep it simple,” Jamie suggested. “Thumbs down means dump him. Thumbs up means hump him.”

“That’s disgusting.”

Jamie laughed out loud. “I’m kidding.”

Shaking her head, Sky laughed, too. Then said: “Why would you even want to help me with my dating life anyway?”

“Why not?” Jamie replied. “You’re helping me, right?” he said, motioning to the plant on the windowsill. “We’ll call it even.”

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24514174-sky-high?ac=1

Purchase:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sky-High-Attraction-Book-3-ebook/dp/B00X1MYSP2/ref=la_B00LYVFAKE_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1430611295&sr=1-5

C.J. Lake is a storyteller who is passionate about art, surfing, and skiing/snowboarding. Residing near the coast of Massachusetts, C.J. is currently working on a new book. Readers can get in touch via email (writercjlake@gmail.com) or follow C.J. on Twitter @brightbluesurf.

opportunity.  He slid a hand into her hair and angled her head toward him, urging her to turn around. 

“Matt, please…” she implored, half-turned, her greenish eyes looking almost troubled as she gazed up into his face. 

Pausing, he tried to regain his sanity.  Obviously he’d never want to push Emma into something she didn’t want.  “Are you saying you don’t want me to kiss you right now?” he asked.

“What I want doesn’t matter.”

“Like hell it doesn’t,” he nearly snapped.  Why was she making this so complicated?

“It’s part of being an adult,” Emma said, casting her eyes down, her voice faint.  “We can’t always have what we want.  That’s life.”

“Believe me, I know that,” Matt told her.  “If I could have what I want, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation--I would’ve been kissing you all this time.  I would be doing the crossword puzzle with you every morning.  I would be fixing that screwed-up weather-stripping, just so you’d be warm.  I would grab you and pull you onto my lap…”  With her eyes widening, Emma’s mouth fell open, as Matt dipped his head lower and finished, “If I could have what I want, then I’d already be running my hands inside your panties right now.”

“Matt…” she whispered helplessly, wetting her lips as her face rose to meet his. 

 

 

Excerpt:

 

Wordlessly, she handed him the check.  Folding it, he shook his head.  “Man, I’m so glad nothing happened between us last night,” he muttered as he stuck the check in his pocket.

Emma’s face crumpled.  “What?” she said, feeling insulted and hurt (even though she’d basically given him the longer version of the same sentiment).

With a short, humorless laugh, Matt said, “I don’t need this drama.”

“No one has ever accused me of being overdramatic.”

“If you give me this big of a hassle over a bill, God knows what you’d do to me in bed,” he said. 

“I wouldn’t do anything to you!  Wait--I didn’t mean it the way it sounded…” she fumbled.

“You’d probably tell me I’m doing it wrong.”

Rage boiled inside her, as she struggled for a comeback.  “I’d only tell you that if you were.”

With a cocky laugh, Matt leaned his face toward hers and said, “I do it just fine.”

She pasted on a patronizing smile.  “Well good for you.”

“It could have been good for you, too,” he remarked plainly.  “But that ship has sailed.”

At first, Emma’s mouth dropped open.  Then she let out a shocked sort of laugh.  “Oh my God!  I hope you’re not seriously trying to use reverse psychology to get me to sleep with you?”

Impatiently, Matt said, “Emma, aren’t you listening?  I don’t even want to sleep with you anymore.”

With her fists balling at her sides, she said, “Good.  Actually, that works out well, because I really don’t want to sleep with you.”

“Uh-huh, sure, okay,” Matt said briskly.  “Well, I’m glad we’ve cleared that up now.”  He turned toward the door, adding, “Now it won’t have to be unclear when I cross paths with you again someday.”

“Don’t worry, you probably won’t cross paths with me anyway,” she called after him.  “I’m leaving remember?”

At that, Matt paused, looked back at her.  His expression seemed more solemn.  “Right, I forgot, well…good bye, Emma.”

“Wait.”

With his hand on the doorknob, Matt turned. 

Impulsively, Emma reached for the stack of envelopes that was sitting on hutch by the stairs.  She flipped through it and pulled out the one with Matt’s name on it.  “Here,” she said, walking toward him.  At first he just eyed the envelope, confused.  “It’s a Christmas card,” Emma explained offhandedly.  “You might as well take it now.” 

Wordlessly, Matt shifted his gaze from the envelope to Emma’s face.  His dark eyes burned into her.  She swallowed feebly, still holding the card out for him.  “To hell with this,” he uttered gruffly, and slid a hand around her neck, pulled her to him and kissed her.