Today's #ThrowbackThursday has an excerpt from Joelle Lynne's Nerdy Talk. Nerdy Talk is currently on promotion for just 99 cents on Amazon until Friday 2/17/23!
From the Blurb:
Two nerds - One Lab
Who will come out on top!
Micah
For
the last several years I haven’t felt very confident, my ex made sure
of that. Working in a medical lab can make it easy to hide. When my
flirty new coworker bursts onto the scene, he's the distraction I don't
need. I'm content to come in and do my job, but he's determined to
insert himself into my life. He’s exhausting, yet funny, and makes me
feel wanted. Am I ready to feel attractive again?
Lucas
I
moved here for my sister and my family. When Thalia got sick, she
became my world. I knew I’d do anything to take care of her, even taking
a job outside of my comfort zone. When I meet Micah and we almost share
a night of passion, I’m convinced meaningless hookups are no longer
what I want. The problem is convincing him to want the same. There’s
something about him that I want to protect. My dirty lab puns and nerdy
talk might drive him a little crazy, but I’m determined to win him over.
Nerdy Talk is an Opposites Attract, Nerd/Playboy romance with lots of
laboratory references and a nosy well-meaning best friend. It’s Nerdy,
it’s deep, it’s sexy and extra sweet.
Excerpt:
The knocking at my door was confusing. I wasn’t expecting anything or anyone. Hell, not many people even knew I lived here, and I kept it that way for a reason. I liked the privacy, and I didn’t want to make it easy for Mark to track me down.
When I saw Lucas’s unmistakable face through the peephole, I was beyond confused. How had he known where to find me?
“What the hell?” I opened the door, and he looked like he was going to pass out.
“Are you okay?” I asked. He nodded slowly, motioning at me.
“Are you?” he asked in return.
This was probably the weirdest conversation I’d ever had in my doorway. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him inside. I needed to find out how he got this address.
Once the door was closed, I dropped his arm and I leaned against the door. I twisted the lock and stared at him. I noted his nose ring was back in place, and I wondered if he’d put it in on the way over here.
“How do you know where I live?” I asked, because it was going to drive me crazy until I figured it out.
He held up a pink sticky note that I’d recognize anywhere as one of the trademark ones Lilly always stuffed in her lab coat. I was back to wanting to throttle my friend for sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Even if she thought she had good intentions, she’d created quite the mess today.
Messy… so so messy.
“Lilly could tell you were upset earlier. Hell, we both kind of were. She figured this was the only way we were ever going to talk it out,” he explained. He folded the note up and shoved it into his pocket. I stared at where it vanished into his pants and mentally tried to wrap my head around the fact that he had access to this information. That he knew where I lived.
“How did you get inside the building?” Things weren’t adding up.
“Some nice lady with a tiny dog. Might want to talk to someone about blindly trusting people in scrubs.” He motioned to his attire and then to his face.
I laughed at that. The piercing didn’t exactly add up to a totally professional image, yet some tenant let him in on the premise that he didn’t look threatening.
“Yeah, I’ll post something on the community board,” I sighed before motioning over to the couch. I guess we needed to talk. At least this time, he wasn’t running away from me because I said something stupid.
Lucas dropped onto the couch and looked up at me. I debated what I wanted to do. Did I want to sit next to him? Did I stand and say what I wanted to say? He patted the spot next to him and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not going to bite, Micah. Not unless you want me to.”
It was the remarks like that, that had me leery about getting too close or even trying to start something with him. I raised an eyebrow, and he slouched back and took a deep breath.
“Look, Micah, I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Sometimes I can’t turn it off.”
I nodded. I guess I could understand where he was coming from. He was a natural flirt, especially when the situation was awkward. It was probably easiest to fall back on it.
“I get it. It’s fine.” I looked around and decided that sitting next to him was going to be the best option. I landed next to him on the couch, and he turned to face me.
“So… are we going to talk about it?” he asked.
“I tried to talk about it earlier and you walked away,” I answered defensively. I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned back. He raised his eyebrows again after I expressed my displeasure.
“You called me a mistake,” he snapped.
I sat up and blinked. He couldn’t be serious.
“It was a mistake, Lucas. We shouldn’t have done that. Especially at work!“ I felt angry. My heart rate was picking up, and I could feel my face heating.
“Workplace aside, why shouldn’t it happen? We’re clearly attracted to each other. Fuck, Micah. I’ve made my interest in you known since day one, and you’ve done nothing but push me away.” He pressed his hand against his chest as he explained his side of things.
“I can’t do it again. You don’t understand.” My anger was turning into panic. We were crossing over into dangerous territory.
“Can’t what? Help me understand. If this has anything to do with this Mark and why you freak out any time he gets brought up, you need to fill me in. I want to help you, but you have to let me,” he softened as he spoke, reaching out to grab for my hand.
Nerdy Talk is available on Amazon and as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription. It will be on sale for 99c until Friday 2/17/23!
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