The
rules were simple. Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble.
But now I’m stuck with her. There’s only one bed. And well, rules are made
to be broken.
I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was,
until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image,
so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my
“full-time supervision.”
But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter, especially one with skin-tight jeans, a
sexy smirk, and a mouth she can’t stop running.
A mouth I can’t stop thinking about.
Because Summer isn’t just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask,
and she doesn’t run—she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.
She says this means nothing.
I say this means everything.
She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross. That my reputation can’t take
any more hits—and neither can her damaged heart.
I say I’m going to steal it anyway.
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1
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“I don’t think I can lift my arm to put the cream on my shoulder.”
She freezes, skirt swishing against her knees. On a heavy sigh, she turns back to me with an expression I can’t quite place on her face. Some cross between annoyance and sadness. And then she’s kicking her boots off and padding across the room in socked feet, swiping both creams off the desk, and then crawling up on the bed until she’s kneeling behind me.
“Which shoulder?” Her voice is tight as her breath dances across my bare back.
“The right one.”
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Jesus, Rhett,” she breathes.
“Getting hung up tonight didn’t help.” Nothing worse either because you can see the disaster coming in slow motion. This sense of panic settles into your gut that your hand is really fucking stuck in there.
“Okay, before tonight, where did it hurt?”
“Under the shoulder blade.”
The tips of her fingers land gently right where the plate of my shoulder blade rests over my ribs, and I shiver. “Here?”
“Jesus, why are your hands so cold?”
“Because it’s freezing outside, and I walked to get you all this, dumbass.” Her fingers prod along the line of the blade, and I wince.
“Careful. Your dad told me to keep my hands off you.”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t tell me to keep my hands off you.”
A quiet, strangled noise lodges in my throat as her hands flutter over my skin. Somehow, that one sentence from her lips has all my blood rushing in a singular direction. And suddenly, things feel awkward. Altogether too quiet. Too personal.
“Thank you,” I mutter, it’s so much easier to say without looking her in the eye.
She rests her hand flat against my back for a few beats and quietly replies with, “You’re welcome.”
I can hear her squeeze the cream out into her palm next, the sound of her hands rubbing together as she warms the ointment between them. And then she’s slathering it over my shoulder, hands gliding against my skin with such tenderness that it doesn’t even hurt. She massages gently, and I let my eyes fall shut, my shoulders drooping when I didn’t even realize I had them tensed up.
Her fingers press and slide down every line of muscle, down into my mid-back, toward my spine and over the top of my shoulder.
“These muscles are hard as rocks,” she mutters with a thread of annoyance in her voice.
Yeah, and so is something else.
When her fingertips push up the line from the top of my shoulder into my neck, I groan.
“Is your neck sore too?”
“I told you everything is sore.”
She sighs and reaches for the other tube. I can smell the minty medicated scent the minute she squeezes it out. “Your neck is sore because all the muscles beneath it are so fucked.”
“Is that the medical diagnosis? Fucked muscles?” I ask as she brushes my hair aside.
Her responding laugh is quiet, but then her hands are on my neck, digits digging in at the base of my skull and pulling down, thumbs working hard. And when I groan this time, it’s in pleasure, not pain. I lean into her touch like a dog getting a scratch behind the ear.
I hate seeing the tour doctor on the best of days, but after The Summer Treatment, I will definitely dread his thick, rough hands when I could have her careful, soft ones instead.
My cock throbs between my legs, and I’m momentarily grateful for my loose sweatpants.
At least she’ll never know.
She spreads the muscle balm over my shoulders, covering areas she’s already soothed. And for a moment, I let myself imagine that she really likes this. Doting on me. Caring for me. Putting her hands on me. That it’s not just a job. That she isn’t just trying to prove herself in what I’m assuming is a brutally cutthroat industry.
When she pulls away, I bite my tongue to stop myself from asking her to keep going.
She swallows audibly before she crawls off the bed and straightens herself beside me. “Just make sure you cover that cream up with a shirt, so it gets nice and hot.”
“Okay. Yeah.” My eyes shift over to my luggage, wondering if I’ll be able to lift my arms comfortably enough to pull a shirt on.
Summer must catch the look on my face because she sighs deeply and moves over to my open bag while shaking her head. “Is this t-shirt okay?” She turns, holding up a well-worn gray shirt.
“Yeah.” I scrub at my beard, feeling a little embarrassed by her involvement here, but also relieved. Because I’m tired. Tired of hurting. Tired of knowing my body isn’t keeping up but pretending it’s fine. It’s nice not having to pretend in front of someone.
She saunters back toward me, gathering the body of the shirt up and holding the right side arm hole out to me first as she comes to stand between my knees. I silently put my arm through, lifting it as little as possible, and inhale her scent. She even smells like cherries. Once both arms are through, she steps even closer, legs brushing against my inner thigh as she lifts the neck hole over my head and pulls it down.
All I can hear is the brush of fabric over my ears and the sound of us breathing the same air.
The t-shirt falls over my body, and she gives me a forced closed-lip smile. She brushes my shoulder, as though there’s something there, and then quickly turns away. Almost like she can’t get away from me fast enough.
And who could blame her? I’m sure dressing a grown-ass man wasn’t what she imagined for herself when she went through law school.
“Thank you, Summer.” My voice comes out gravelly in my dry throat.
“Of course. Just doing my job,” she replies, pulling her boots up over toned calves. “You were incredible tonight. You should be very proud of yourself.”
She says it as she walks out, not looking me in the eye. Which is fine, because she’d see how much it bothers me that she’s just doing her job.
Because it does bother me, and I can’t put my finger on why.
The worst part is, it doesn’t bother me enough to stop me from limping over to the bathroom and fucking my hand while thinking about her cherry lips the minute she shuts the door.
Reviews by the
Wicked Reads Review Team
Shannan
– ☆☆☆☆☆
Flawless is the first book in the Chestnut Springs series. It can be
read as a complete standalone.
First let me say, this is the first time I have read anything by Elsie
Silver, and I am not disappointed at all.
Rhett is nearing the end of his bull riding career. Is he ready for that career
to end? Absolutely not. It's all he knows. He loves the attention being the
best brings him and he's not ready to give that up. When he unknowingly upsets
one of his main sponsors, his reputation takes a nosedive. His agent, Kip, is
beyond livid. He knows Rhett has always been a wild child but ending his career
this way isn't acceptable, so Kip sends his daughter to be the bull rider's
babysitter until the end of the season.
Summer has always been one of Rhett's biggest fans since she was a teen. The
last thing she expects to do is to have to be stuck like glue to the man, so he
doesn't ruin his career. Summer needs to prove to her dad she can do the job.
She will be capable to take over his company one day. Every day with Rhett she
lets down that guard just a little more. She can't be involved with him, it
would ruin everything.
I loved the chemistry with Rhett and Summer. Her past with men had her walls
almost unbreakable but Rhett finds a way to break them down brick by brick.
Their story is an emotional rollercoaster that had me in tears at one point.
The connections they develop are deep and exciting to watch.
I can't wait to see what is next for this series. Now that I've read Elsie
Silver, I'm excited to read more from her!
Mary
– ☆☆☆☆☆
You know the old saying, opposites attract? Well, Rhett and Summer are total
opposites. He is the golden boy of professional bull riding, and she is the
daughter of his agent. She is sent to help him clean up his image. When he
first looks at Summer, he sees a princess, but she will put him through his
paces, make him believe in himself, and see that she is more than just a
princess.
Summer can't believe she has been sent to help Rhett clean up his image. She
had posters of him on her teenage bedroom walls, so now she gets to look at him
in person. And he looks so much better in person.
Rhett and Summer were drawn together from that first meeting in the conference
room. Their chemistry was off the charts hot. He is a dirty-talking, protective
cowboy needing the love Summer can give him. Summer is strong, independent,
caring, and wants to help others before herself. His father and brothers are
great, and I cannot wait for their stories. I also hope there is a story on
Theo, Rhett's bull riding buddy.
This story is built on trust, a perfect enemies-to-lovers tale that is
fast-paced and will have you laughing one minute and crying the next. This
story can be read as a standalone and I hope you love it as much as I have.
Ruthie
– ☆☆☆☆
As a big fan of the Gold Rush Ranch series, I was delighted to get this first
book in a new series, with a link to that one – however, other than Rhett
mentioning his sister, Violet, by name, we get no discernible overlap.
I found this to be a fun read, particularly the text exchanges which set up
many of the inevitable events along the way. Rhett is a curious character who
holds a lot inside, and having got fed up of being teased for what he does and
most especially what he did as a younger, cockier bull rider. He is now
definitely at the end of his career, aching, somewhat jaded, and unfortunately,
has just revealed his hatred of milk on air! I am guessing that the rest of the
men in his family will feature in future installments, but it will take a bit
for me to warm to them after their attitude to Rhett! Even if it was meant in
love.
Summer has an interesting past, to say the least, and the most amazingly
supportive dad in the face of a glacial stepmother and half-sister – they were
a little cartoonish in character. The revelations about Rob were hugely
distasteful, and only added to the unpleasant home life that they must all have
suffered. I did enjoy how the layers were pulled back though, each slightly
more unexpected than the last!
I enjoyed the buildup between the two of them, although Summer's naivety made
her seem even younger than she was. Together they were going to be combustible,
and the adrenaline created from the 8 seconds bull ride was clearly potent for
both Rhett and Summer when they finally gave up resisting. That Kip was good
with it was slightly disturbing, but really also a relief. He did turn out to
be a bit of the hero of the book, which was a surprise given the beginning!
ELSIE
SILVER is a Canadian author of
sassy, sexy, small-town romance who loves a good book boyfriend and the strong
heroines who bring them to their knees. She lives just outside of Vancouver,
British Columbia with her husband, son, and three dogs and has been voraciously
reading romance books since before she was probably supposed to.
She loves cooking and trying new foods, traveling, and spending time with her
boys–especially outdoors. Elsie has also become a big fan of her quiet five am
mornings, which is when most of her writing happens. It’s during this time that
she can sip a cup of hot coffee and dream up a fictional world full of romantic
stories to share with her readers.
Connect with
Elsie Silver
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Group: The Silver Society
Hosted by
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of Flawless (Chestnut Springs #1) by Elsie Silver to read and
review.