I’m excited as well as on pins and needles about my second release, The Game of Seduction. I truly had fun writing this book except the times I had writer’s block and had to close my laptop.  If you remember Rasheed Vincent, Justin’s best friend from Cooking Up Love, then you know I had a lot of fun writing this book. At times, Rasheed was telling me what to write or what he wasn’t going to say or do. He’s such a character and a truly fun guy, a little on the arrogant side and definitely a ladies’ man.  I kept his personality the same as it was in Cooking Up Love. I tried to soften it some, but he simply wouldn’t let me.

The Game of Seduction will be released on August 30^th.  Its Bria and Rasheed’s love story or just “Rasheed’s book” as my critique partners have been saying for the past year. I keep reminding them that Bria is in the book, and she’s the Arrrington. They fell in love with him while critiquing Shelbi and Justin’s book and suggested I write a book for Rasheed. I honestly hadn’t thought about writing a book for him anytime soon, so I introduced him to Bria, and The Game of Seduction was created.  The book is dedicated to my girls, authors Delaney Diamond and Sharon C. Cooper! Thank you so much. Love you!

Check out another excerpt from The Game of Seduction below!

*****

 “Yes!” Bria jumped up and down followed by the Reebok dance from the 1990s. “Another strike. I’m the bomb. And you said I would only hit a few pins.” Bria glanced up at the computer screen above their lane as her name flashed like a lightning bolt for her second strike.

“Yes, another strike for someone who can’t bowl, pushes the ball down the lane, and then talks to it.” Rasheed said through gritted teeth as he picked up his own personal black bowling ball, got into position, and glanced back at Bria.

“Yet for some reason, you can’t even make one strike tonight, and you usually can do at least six in a row.” She shrugged and gave him a wink.

He chuckled. “Watch your boy in action.” He rolled the ball which hit only half of the pins.

Bria laughed. “You were saying, Mr. Vincent?”

She had been trying to remain composed the entire evening. Rasheed looked particularly fine in a pair of jeans, a red sweater, and a black newsboy cap—which added to his already sexy persona. She couldn’t jerk her eyes away from how his butt fit in the jeans, enhancing his muscles. She imagined clenching her fingers on his bare bottom as he thrust in and out her as she pulled him deeper into her. The image she’d conjured up was making her want to forget their truce and satisfy her longing for him.

“You’re a distraction, Bree,” he said through clinched teeth as he waited for his ball to return.

No, you’re the distraction. She twitched her mouth to the side and approached him. “How am I a distraction?”

“You can’t possibly expect me to concentrate when your hair is curly and bouncy down your back and you’re wearing a sexy little black sweater dress with thigh high boots—well bowling shoes at the moment—but you’re still sexy. If you’re going to hang with me, you need to not look so hot.” He grabbed his ball and bowled a spare.

Bria sat back on the bench even though it was her turn.

He joined her a few feet down and stretched one arm across the back of the bench, his hand almost reached her shoulder. He shook his glass of rum and Coke. “I do believe it’s your turn, or are you ready to throw in the towel?”

Throw in the towel? Bria was ready to throw in the towel but not for bowling. She was ready to throw off her sweater dress and beg Rasheed to do her and do her good. Who was she kidding? How did she possibly think she could just forget about his lips caressing hers, his hands on her bottom, or the deep groans that ignited from his throat, all of which sent a tidal wave of fire through her at the mere thought?

To avoid being next to him, she went ahead and bowled. She bent over, set the ball on the line and pushed it down the lane. It slowly rolled while she yelled “go, go.” The ball hit all but two pins. She rejoined Rasheed on the bench while she waited for her ball to return.

“Damn, girl,” he chuckled. “You keep bending over like that, and I’m going to forget the deal we made the other night and seduce you right here in this bowling alley.”

A heat wave washed over her at his words. She’d had another sleepless night last night pretending her hands were his massaging her breasts and in between her thighs. She shuddered and squirmed in her seat at the possibility of that becoming a reality but with more than just his hand between her thighs.

Rasheed was jokester, but when she looked at him, she couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Even though he was laughing, his expression and tone had been serious. She decided to find out.

“Boy, stop playing. However, I was just talking to Taylor the other day about having a sex buddy.”

“A sex buddy?” He scooted closer to her on the bench and relaxed his arm behind her. “I’m intrigued. Explain more, please.” A wicked grin crossed his handsome face and the beats of her heart sped up.

“It’s really just a joke between Taylor and me but …” she looked away from him to hide her embarrassment.

“Um … as in you and Taylor being sex buddies.” He downed the rest of his drink and set the empty glass on the other side of him on the bench. “Okay, now I’m really intrigued. Please continue.”

She playfully punched Rasheed in the arm. “Get your mind out of the gutter. No, not me and Taylor. Me and a guy.”

He looked stunned for a moment. He cleared his throat and a serious expression formed on his face.

“Wait, you’re serious, Bree?”

“Sure, why not? I wouldn’t mind having someone I can have sex with but no strings attached. Just sex. That’s it. No emotions. No relationship. Kind of like how you’ve been doing but only with one person, not a Mac truck load.”

His stare was intense and his pupils turned darker than she had ever seen them. “I’m available, Bree,” he said in a sexy tone. He moved closer with his lips less than an inch from hers, sending tingles through her body. “You already know what it’s like to kiss me. Imagine if you had a chance to experience more than that.”

Copyrighted by Candace Shaw, August 2012

I tend to listen to music for inspiration when writing as well as other aspects in my life. There are about twenty songs that helped me to write this book. I could do a soundtrack (making a mental note). Anyway, I was driving in the car one day last winter thinking of titles for “Rasheed’s book.” There Goes My Baby by Usher was playing on my iPod, and it hit me that should be the title which it was until I changed it this past May. I decided to change the title because there was a lot of games of seduction in the book, and it made better sense to me. However, I will always think of There Goes My Baby as Bria and Rasheed’s song. Check out the video below.