New Release Review and Giveaway! THE LAST RULE OF MAKEUPS by Nina Crespo

Grey walked in wearing a rose-colored towel around his waist. A sheen of dampness trailed down between his pecs to his abs. The scent of her lemon body wash wafted from his skin. On him, the feminine fragrance transformed into something wholly masculine and potently sexual.

He came up beside her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and kissed her temple. “I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t take a shower with me.”

“Because you’re too distracting.” She grazed her fingertip over his slightly damp chest.

“And the problem with that is?” He rested his hands on her hip.

“We both have places to go and people to see. And I need to eat something before I pass out.”

He glanced at the eggs and bowl on the counter. “Yeah, I could eat a whole plate of scrambled eggs right now. Do you want me to cook?”

He was offering to cook? When they were together, he was the Microwave King, and breakfast Hot Pockets and Toaster Strudel had ruled his kingdom. Starvation must have messed with her hearing.

“You mean like actually crack the eggs open and cook them, in a pan, on the stove?”

“Yes, I can scramble eggs and actually cook a few other things.” He lifted her chin to shut her mouth, sealing her lips with his. “Stop looking at me like I just grew another head.”

“You kinda did. The Grey I knew owned exactly one flimsy pot that he never used.”

“No, I owned two, but yeah, that was me. But now I’ve got skills. I can even handle toast and coffee to go with it.”

“Oh my gosh.” She exaggerated her surprise. “You’re practically a certified chef. I must partake of this goodness.”

“Uh-huh. I can’t believe you doubt my skills.” He tightened the towel.

Her gaze dropped to where he tucked the ends around his waist.

One light tug… The prospect of what would happen if that barrier was taken away was exciting as well as slightly unnerving. She’d never been this needy for a man. She’d only been in a sexual drought for a few months, not years. What was wrong with her?

She turned her attention to the counter and took another egg from the carton. “Do you want coffee?”

“I’d love some.” He went over to the Keurig plugged in on the counter behind her. She was about to ask if he knew how to use it when he turned it on, snagged a white mug from the drying rack, and stuck it on the drip tray. He looked through the K-cup pods in the small wire basket next to the coffee machine. “What kind do you want?”

“The Green Mountain Breakfast Blend. I think I used the last one yesterday. Can you grab a new box from the pantry?” She pointed to the half-closed door near the corner of the kitchen.

“Sure. Which shelf?” He flipped on the light switch on the wall and went into the walk-in space.

“On the back wall. Third one down.” Without him as a distraction, she expertly cracked the egg on the side of the bowl with one hand and dropped the contents into the bowl.

“Found it?”

“No,” he called out. “I don’t see it.”

“It’s there.”

“Are you sure it’s on the third shelf?”

“Positive.”

“Maybe you should take a look.”

She rinsed and dried her hands. “You’re not looking hard enough.”

But he’d certainly been hard enough earlier. The play on words made her smile as she walked to the doorway of the pantry closet.

Grey faced away from her, searching through the built-in shelf on the back wall. “What does the package look like?”

It’s six foot one with a towel molded to its grabbable butt. Her gaze strayed to his ass and lingered. It was solid with muscle, just like the rest of him. He’d definitely been working out a lot more since she’d last seen him.

“Cori…” Grey looked over his shoulder at her. “If you keep staring at me like that, there will be consequences.”

Consequences… “Like what?”

He turned and faced her. The tenting of his towel became more prominent before her eyes.

A small smile tipped up his mouth, but his gaze, as it roamed over her, was intense with need. “Like finding out just how sturdy these shelves are.”