Apparently, I have a food fetish. I didn’t realize it until my editor pointed it out to me. We’d worked on three books together before she clued me in to the fact that I write some kind of sex/food combo in nearly every book.

Okay, every book.

What can I say? I like sex almost as much as I like food.

Wait.

Strike that. Reverse it.

Let’s face it, a body needs to be refueled at some point in the festivities. If the lucky couple happens to have some leftovers on hand, I say, good for them!

Looking back, I think I’ve covered a nice variety. I’ve written more than one scene involving pastries. I’ve had them tuck into pasta, pizza, Thai noodles, birthday cake, and yes, Easy Cheese.

In FLIP THIS LOVE, Harley and Delaney fall back on a tried and true favorite—Chinese take-out. Here’s a little taste:

****

He leaned against the high footboard of the antique bedstead and watched as she cracked open a fortune cookie and extracted the tiny slip of paper from the crisp folds. She popped a hunk of cookie into her mouth and crunched down as she scanned the blurry print. Her forehead crinkled and her chewing slowed, something he wanted to protest, because really, watching the woman’s mouth when she ate was better than porn. She looked up at him, accusation flashing in her eyes, and thrust the paper at him.

“This is a crappy fortune. Gimme another one.”

He blinked and took the banished paper from her. “But that’s not how it works,” he murmured, squinting to make out the itty-bitty type.

Embracing adversity will give you strength.

Laney snapped her fingers then gave the brown paper bag a nudge with her foot. “It’s not even a fortune. It’s a slogan off one of those inspirational posters with the legless mountain climbers. Gimme another. You ordered enough food to feed an army. I know they didn’t give you only two.”

He turned to look at her, torn between laughing at her audacity and snickering at the pure ridiculousness of her statement. He chose what he was sure Confucius would say was the wiser course and did neither.

Keeping his expression as straight as a naked man faced with an indignant, nearly-naked woman could, he asked, “Legless mountain climbers?”

She waved one elegant hand and he almost gave up another cookie for the pleasure of letting her think she could order him about. “You know, the ones people put in offices. The ‘keep striving,’ ‘determination wins the day’ kind of crap those guys who do the corporate lecture circuit spew like hydrants.”

“I know. I have one.”

His admission gave her a moment’s pause. Blinking those big black eyes, she cocked her head and studied him as if he’d announced a fetish for farm animals. “You do? Really?”

Thoroughly amused by her consternation, he reached into the bag and pulled out another cellophane-wrapped cookie. Grinning, he extended his hand palm-up. The second she reached for the cookie, he closed his fingers around hers and held tight. “A picture of a wrecking ball and it says, ‘If someone gets in your way, show ’em your great big balls.”

Her laugh bounced off the walls like a champagne cork. Pleasure fizzed down his spine and pooled right in his groin. He held her hand until the last tinkling notes of her joy faded into awareness and her gaze dropped to his crotch.

Unlike Laney, he made no attempt to cover his rapidly intensifying arousal. There was no point. He wanted her to know exactly what she did to him. She ran her pink tongue over her bottom lip, and he released her hand abruptly. She let her gaze roam all over him and took her time meeting his eyes again. He made no apologies. Anything he might say to be polite would be little more than an outright lie, and they both knew it.

“Open your cookie, Delaney.”

She did as she was told, but this time she tossed the wrapper and cookie onto the nightstand, then uncurled the tiny slip of paper. Dark lashes fluttered and her gaze flew to his.

“Better?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, a coy smile curved her lips as she tucked the slip of paper under her pillow. His curiosity almost outweighed his desire for her. But, frankly, he didn’t give a rat’s ass what the fortune cookie said as long as she kept looking at him the way she was. Expectant. Impatient. Unmistakably interested in her view. Moving with purpose, he gathered the cartons propped along the length of his leg and dumped them back into the bag. He wasn’t above twisting and flexing a bit here and there, seeing as how she seemed to like it when he did. His pride also didn’t stop him from giving her the same ass shot she’d given him when he bent to drop the sack full of food to the floor.

The instant he righted himself, he had a lap full of Laney.

FLIP THIS LOVE by Maggie Wells

Available now from Kensington/Lyrical Shine

ISBN: 9781601838018

Nothing draws a magnate like a steel magnolia…

Harley Cade is back in town—and the former bad boy is downright irresistible now that he’s donned a hard hat and set to work restoring the South’s finest homes to their former grandeur. While wealth may have gained Harley entry into high society, it’s going to take a lot more than a fat bank account to win the lovely Laney Tarrington.

Laney isn’t open to giving the self-made magnate a second chance—no matter how much she needs him. With her family fortune gone, Laney finally has to stand on her own two feet. The last person she’d ever lean on is Harley, the man who left her behind with nothing more than memories of the passion they once shared….

With the attraction still burning hot between them, Harley isn’t above seduction—or secretly buying Laney’s bankrupted family’s estate. After all, he no longer has to prove himself to anyone, least of all the daughter of Mobile, Alabama’s most prestigious family. But will pride keep Harley from gaining the biggest prize of all—a place in Laney’s heart?

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About Maggie Wells:

Maggie Wells is a deep-down dirty girl with a weakness for hot heroes and happy endings. By day she is buried in spreadsheets, but at night she pens tales of people tangling up the sheets. The product of a charming rogue and a shameless flirt, this mild-mannered married lady has a naughty streak a mile wide.

Fueled by supertankers of Diet Coke, Maggie juggles fictional romance and the real deal by keeping her slow-talking Southern gentleman constantly amused and their two grown children mildly embarrassed.