Title: Cover Me
Author: Carrie Elliott
Release date: June 23rd, 2014
About Cover Me:
Derek Bast, always has the final say. In business and in his personal life, things are done his
way, or not at all. So when a scathing review of his new band is published in The Scene and
has his record producer second guessing his artistic choices, his band mate trying to call the
shots, and Bast’s manager convinced he’s impossible to work with, it’s time to hunt down the
source of his problems: Bess Halprin, reviewer for The Scene, the girl next door growing up,
and his ex-best friend since senior year when she decided to hate him for no reason.
The last person Bess Halprin wants to see standing in the lobby of The Scene is Derek Bast.
Unfortunately, she can’t deny that the last nine years look damn good on him. She expected to
hate him. She didn’t expect the way he can still tug at her emotions, or the way his kiss—and
his hands—set her on fire. Bess should’ve kept her distance, because Bast was right when he
guessed her review was written for revenge. The problem is, to this day he has no idea what
he did—how he screwed her over their senior year. The bigger problem? She’s giving him the
opportunity to do it again, because she never could resist him.
When circumstances bring them both home to Santa Cruz, Bast earns his way into the heart of
the girl next door, but when they return to L.A. and real life rushes in, will he be able to keep
her this time or are the mistakes in their past destined to be repeated?
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Excerpt:
It had to be early, too early to be awake. The sun was barely up, but my arm was
asleep, wedged under Derek’s chest.
He rolled over sometime during the night and I’d tossed a leg over his and snuggled
against his side. We’d kissed for a long time. It didn’t go past that, then we fell asleep. I didn’t
think a night spent with him could be so innocent. It was unexpected.
It was nice.
It was like finding my best friend again after all this time.
I eased my arm out from under him and scooted up to lean against the headboard and
shake out the pins and needles. He sighed and shifted closer, reaching out to rest his arm
across my waist. Even in his sleep, he knew I was there beside him.
I eased my fingers through his dark hair, moving the silky strands back off his
forehead. The shape of his face always fascinated me. It was like he was made from a male
supermodel mold with high, prominent cheekbones, chiseled, square jaw, long, almond-
shaped eyes with a mass of thick black lashes, and full, wide lips that brought to mind the
word sinful.
I placed the tip of my pinkie finger over the round chickenpox scar above his eye.
When we were teens, he got the occasional pimple or two, but puberty passed over him with
grace and broad strokes that created an almost flawless man. Tall, lean and muscled with a
cocky confidence and a disposition of equal parts seriousness and humor. I knew he had a
temper and sometimes a short fuse. He could be arrogant and impulsive. He could also be
funny and self-deprecating, kind and brave, loyal and big-hearted.
Even though nine years had passed apart, it didn’t seem like I’d missed a minute. I
could be waking up outside in a tent in his backyard and be nine-years-old again. He was Derek—my Derek—and I wouldn’t lose him again.
I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. We all had imperfections and regrets from our
past. The wound he inflicted was still sore inside me, but he didn’t intend it and in time I’d
find a way to get past it. I wasn’t even sure he had to know. I only hoped he’d grown up and
wouldn’t hurt me again.
“See anything you like?” he asked, his eyes still closed, but a grin spreading on his lips.
“Not without my glasses,” I teased and dove in to pepper his face with kisses.
Laughing, he grabbed me and rolled onto his back pulling me on top of him. “Good
morning.” He ran his hands down my back onto my butt and pressed me against his hard
cock. “I was dreaming about you. Naked. With my guitar.”
