The Risk
Xtreme Heroes – Book 1
By Skye Jordan
Release Date: March 16, 2015
Synopsis
From New York Times bestselling author Skye Jordan, Xtreme Heroes is a brand new series starring super-hot extreme athletes and their adventures.
Former Olympian turned physical therapist to the elite Julia Bailey knows all about pushing the limits. But when a sexual harassment suit costs her a dream job—not to mention her reputation—she takes on the biggest risk of her life. Rehabilitating the X Games’ most notorious bad boy might be just what she needs to secure the funds for her own treatment center. Problem is, the only kind of recovery her new client is interested in is under-the-covers freestyle—gear optional.
Daredevil snowboarder Noah Hunt is a rock star—on and off the slopes. A recent accident might have him down, but he’s far from out. He doesn’t care what the sexy therapist with the sweet curves says. He’s got sponsors to impress and trophies to collect, and taking things slow and steady just ain’t his style. A little dirty talk and a sizzling night later, Julia learns just how fast and hard he likes to play. Too bad for him, his heart goes all in, and one wrong move could cost him more than just his career.
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Exceprt
He hobbled to the double doors, then followed the hallway of heated slate to the kitchen, where the mystery noises had originated. And, yep, there was definitely another female standing behind the open refrigerator door—the slim, pretty bare feet and fire-engine-red toenails confirmed it.
But the ménage idea slid further out of the picture when he focused on the trashcan sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor.
What the hell? He rubbed his face, trying to force himself more awake, then pressed a hand against the nearest wall, drew a breath, and said, “Hello?”
“Oh, you’re awake.” Her voice was as pretty as her feet. Already an improvement over the woman on his couch. Maybe his standards hadn’t fallen all that far after all. But her voice was also extremely clear and perky, which was highly annoying under the circumstances. “Sorry, I was trying to be quiet, but it’s getting late, and there’s a lot to do.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He rubbed his eyes again and focused on the counters, which were covered with crap from the cupboards. Another flash of annoyance singed his skin. “Who are you? And what the hell are you doing?”
She peeked her head around the fridge. “It’s me, Julia— Oh. Wow. Nice look.” Her gaze took a quick scan of his body before she disappeared behind the fridge door again. “You’re taller than I expected. Aren’t most snowboarders smallish? Bet you have to compensate for a higher-than-average center of gravity. You’ll have to explain all that to me. But go ahead and get dressed first. I’ve got my work cut out for me here anyway.” She paused only a second before muttering, “Talk about toxic…”
Noah’s mind was spinning into one hellacious knot. He’d barely caught more than a glimpse of dark hair and a slim face, one he didn’t recognize any more than that of the woman in his theater.
Thud, thud, thud. Yogurt cups flew into the trashcan.
“Expired,” she muttered. “It’s a miracle you haven’t gotten E. coli from all the crap in here.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Christ, he didn’t want to deal with this now—but there was a stranger in his house, tearing apart his kitchen, and another barely dressed in his theater. And Noah didn’t know what the hell was happening.
He limped into the kitchen and leaned against the counter opposite the refrigerator. With his hands braced on the granite, he took all pressure off his bad foot. But it was too late. The damn thing throbbed as if it were inhabited by an alien. Looked a lot like something off an alien too, puffy and discolored.
This was seriously screwed. His body was a complete pile of shit. It had been almost four goddamned months since the accident, and he was done with this injury. He’d worked his ass off to heal, had made real strides. Now this?
He pried his gaze from his foot and focused on strange woman number two. She was dressed in a blue-and-purple sport tank top and black, shin-length workout pants that hugged a sleekly curved backside. His gaze traveled over her tight ass, up to her sculpted shoulders, and paused on her dark ponytail. Noah immediately reassessed the ménage theory. This was a sporty chick, the kind Noah never chose to share his bed—or sofa, in this situation. He got enough of the athletic type on the slopes. The woman in his theater, he understood bringing home. This one was—no..
He thought back to the night before. Maybe she was a new member of the US Snowboarding team he didn’t know. Maybe she was some crazy-ass fangirl or groupie who’d tagged along last night.
This Julia chick pulled Styrofoam cartons filled with leftovers from various restaurants and tossed them into the trash—most of which contained steak, lobster, or shrimp.
“Whoa,” he said. “That’s all still good—”
“You’re going to have to stop eating out.” She cut him off, her voice matter-of-fact but resolute. “Almost all restaurants cook with lousy oils. You’re getting way too many trans-fatty Omega 6s. We’ll have to beef up your Omega 3s. You’ll see a difference in a week from that change alone.”
“What in the hell…?” he murmured, his mind beginning to open to the idea that she was a nut job on the loose. “How did you get into my house?”
“Your garage door is open. I just came through there.” She pulled out the vegetable drawer and made a low, ugly sound in her throat, then proceeded to pull out plastic bags filled with produce and drop them in the trash as if they might contaminate her. “I figured you were still sleeping since you were out last night when Drake and I talked to you.”
“Drake?” That was the key to this problem—Noah’s meddling agent. “I should have known. Are you his new girlfriend or something?”
She cut Noah a glare. “As if.”
Her attitude annoyed him. This was his house, dammit. “Answer me, or I’m calling the police.”
She turned to face him with two jars of jam, one in each hand, and her front view was as impressive as her backside. Full, high breasts filling the Lycra fabric of her workout tank, a flat belly showing between the hem of her top and the low waistband of her pants, and smooth thighs filling the black tights.
She was pretty too. A few years younger than him, she had a pixie-sweet face with smooth skin, high cheekbones and wide eyes. The kind of face that didn’t need makeup to look great. Maybe there was something to the athletic type after all.
“I was sitting in Drake’s office when you were on speaker with him last night,” she said, “so don’t try to pretend you don’t know anything about me.”
He put a palm to one eye and rubbed at the pain throbbing there. “Yeah, well…last night is still a little blurry.” He dropped his hand with frustrating scenarios popping to mind. “Shit, please tell me Drake didn’t send you to teach me yoga or something equally stupid.”
With heavy lids and an expression of disgust, she tossed both jars of perfectly good jam into the trash. “Yoga my ass.”
“What the…?” He fished the jam out of the trash and set it on the counter next to all the other food she’d pulled from his cabinets. “Would you knock that shit off? Look, I don’t know what Drake said, but—”
“Are you still drunk?”
“No,” he said, then closed his eyes, searching for patience. “I just don’t remember the conversation.”
“Un-freaking-believable.” She let the fridge door close, turned, and yanked open a cabinet, then grabbed his Lucky Charms in one hand, his Cocoa Puffs in the other.
“Uh-uh,” he said. “No way.”
“Noah, baby…” The female voice coming from the opposite direction stopped him from grabbing his treasured boxes of cereal. He’d completely forgotten about the fling chick.
He turned as she walked into the kitchen in exactly what she’d been wearing on the sofa, nothing but bra and panties.
Fuuuuuuuck. He certainly wasn’t a prude, but he wasn’t interested in flaunting his poor judgment either.
But there she was, standing in his kitchen, blurry eyed, big tits, curvy ass, long legs, bottle-blonde hair, and heavy makeup. She might look smeared and smudged now, but he was sure she’d looked damn flashy last night. At least that was what his morning-after brain was telling him. Now, though, there was no denying she looked about as good as Noah felt. Which reminded him he couldn’t look much better.
He dropped his head and rubbed his eyes on a heavy exhale of defeat.
What a clusterfuck.
Michel’s Review
Skye Jordan has another hit on her list. The Risk is the debut book in her new series, Xtreme Heroes. This series is going to feature professional athletes in Xtreme sports. First up on the roster is gold medalist and professional snowboarder Noah Hunt.
Noah Hunt is the top competitor in his sport. He has won gold medals and topped all the records in snowboarding. When he takes a fall that results in a broken ankle, it could be the end of his snowboarding career. He has gone months without professional therapy. He has been trying to rehabilitate himself, without much success. His agent and sponsors are concerned with his healing process and fear that he is not going to make the X Games. This could be a career ender. They step in and hire one of the best physical therapists in the sports medicine industry. They want results. The want Noah back on the board and back in competition.
Noah Hunt is stubborn. He has enough of physical therapists. He has gone through several in the last few months. Each therapist has set him back further. When he is told that his sponsors have hired a new physical therapist, he is waiting for the moment he can run her off so that he can get back to his own therapy and back on the snow. What he didn’t anticipate was Julia Bailey. She is tough, determined, professional, and knowledgeable. She changes his diet, his schedule, his workouts, and his therapy. When he sees the immediate results in just one day, he realizes that she is what he may need to get back on the board. It doesn’t hurt that she is smoking hot and one of the sexiest women he has ever met. This may a win win situation for him.
Julia Bailey is one the best physical therapist in the sports medicine industry. Her career was tanked when she had problems with a former athlete. Her company fired her and left her out to dry. She is now working in a facility for senior citizens. When she gets the offer to rehabilitate another hot shot athlete, her first reaction is to say absolutely not. She is not going to risk her job or what little bit of professional reputation she still has. Especially with an airhead snowboarder. But the offer is too sweet. The money is too good to turn down. It may be the right kind of job to get her back into the sports medicine world with high profile clients. She will have to put her personal feelings aside, let go of her fears about her career, bury the past where it belongs, and move forward. She is the best in the business and she has a top notch athlete that needs her expertise. It doesn’t matter if he is an airhead with the “dude” vocabulary or the womanizer reputation. What she gets is not what she was expecting. Noah Hunt is not your run of the mill snowboarder. Not only is he sex on a stick, he is a dedicated athlete, compassionate man, and has intelligence.
Julia and Noah are insanely attracted to one another. Julia has strict rules about relationships with her clients. The more they get to know one another the attraction is impossible to deny. Not only will they have to struggle with their attraction, Noah’s injuries and previous treatments are much more complex than they both anticipated.
Together they will find out what are the most important things in life. Gold medals are great but they won’t always be there. Professional athletes are on a time clock that ticks very fast. Athletic glory will not last a lifetime. They will have to find what really does last a lifetime. Noah will have to look past his immediate future as a competitor to new goals that will fulfill his life. The one thing that seems to stand out is his new found love for Julia. Is he brave enough to reach out and take it?
Skye Jordan is a fabulous writer. She weaves a tale that keeps readers glued to the pages. Not only are her books sizzling hot and loaded with sexual tension, they are also entertaining, and educational. She researches her subject with great depth and gives her characters and their story credibility. Her characters are full of life, realistic, and loaded with personality. Between the dialogue, the pacing of story, and plot the reader is captivated until the last word.
I highly recommend The Risk by Skye Jordan. It is a 5 Star book that has an Xtreme dose of red hot romance.
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Author Bio
Sometimes fun. Sometimes naughty. Always romantic.
I am a New York Times Bestselling Author writing under the pseudonym Skye Jordan for my more … sexually heated … works.
My Skye Jordan novels are all about enjoying that little wild streak we all have, but probably don’t let out often enough. About those fantasies we usually don’t get the opportunity to indulge. About stretching limits, checking out the dark side, playing naughty and maybe even acting a little wicked. They’re about escape and fun and pleasure and romance.
And, yes, even love. Because even as Skye Jordan I’m just a happily ever after kinda gal. Thanks for reading!
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Skye Jordan is a pseudonym for New York Times bestselling romantic suspense author Joan Swan. Skye’s novels are about enjoying that little wild streak we don’t let out often enough. About those fantasies we rarely get the opportunity to indulge. About stretching limits, checking out the dark side, and maybe even acting a little naughty. They’re about escape and fun and pleasure and romance. And, yes, even love, because while wicked-great sex is good, happily ever after with wicked-great sex is even better.
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