A Mess of a Man

A Mess of A Man

by A.M. Hargrove & Terri E. Laine

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From USA TODAY BESTSELLING authors of Cruel and Beautiful, A.M. Hargrove and Terri E. Laine bring a new full-length standalone New Adult Contemporary Romance. This novel includes mature content, not suitable for younger readers. 
(Rated R)

Womanizer, Man Whore, Player, Heartbreaker are all familiar names Ben Rhoades has been called. He prefers the nicknames Money Man or Sex God, but he doesn’t let other people’s opinions rule him. And he’s only gotten worse without his compass, his best friend, whose devastating death at a young age has taught him a valuable lesson about not getting too close to anyone… ever. Until one smart and stubborn woman with eye-catching curves throws him for a loop and refuses to be tamed. 

Samantha Calhoun has her life on track even after the shattering break up with the guy she’d thought she’d wanted to marry. With her chin held high, she focuses on her career, building her business and making a success of it all. Until a chance meeting has her falling into a set of alluring steel gray eyes that make her steps falter and her heart leap out her chest. Forewarned by numerous not so flattering rumors of him around town, not to mention his no holds barred rules, she tries desperately to play his game while guarding her heart.

Only they have no idea of the journey they’re about to undertake when their lives collide. Ultimately, they’ll tackle the biggest test of their lives because she is his game changer—his life altering one. The one, who through the ensuing wreckage, can tame the mess of a man that he is.

There is finality to the sound of the door closing behind her. A sort of tormenting peace knowing the end has come. It’s not like I should have expected things to go on this way for long. How could they?

I stare holes in the walls as if I can still see her, the one woman I let in.

Sweeter than peach cobbler, she hardly has a bad thing to say about anybody—until now. Her parting description of me, beginning with ass and ending with hole, reverberates through my hollow heart, as I stand here rooted to my spot. I’m not even shocked, as this isn’t the first time I’ve been on the receiving end of that sentiment. I’m only surprised because I don’t think I’ve ever heard her so much as mutter a single curse word before. And the first time I do, it’s aimed squarely at me.

My hands tighten around a tumbler filled with amber liquid before I toss back its contents hoping for oblivion or something close to it. This road is so familiar. Only this time is different. I never cared like I do now. She means more to me than a quick fuck. Hadn’t I been about to tell her just that? How could things have gone wrong so fast?

Don’t be a dumbass. You can still fix this.

Instead, I stubbornly stay embedded to my spot because nothing can change the outcome. It’s a truth she and I know will haunt me until my last breath. And it’s created a wall between us I’m unable to climb … even if you gave me a damn ladder.

I’ve never been much of a risk-taker when it comes to matters of the heart. I can fill a bank account with a number having many zeros behind it from my astute choices in the market. But I can’t be a man a woman stays with. Hadn’t I warned her about that too?

Unable to see past my own shitty existence, I long for her to come back. I want to believe it’s all been some kind of mistake and I can forget what I know to be true. As the seconds continue to tick by, the inevitability that things are really over sinks in. My window of opportunity quickly closes as fast as her car door slams and the engine fires to life.

She’s so close, yet miles away. The longer I let the minutes expand between us I know distance won’t make the heart grow fonder. But maybe it’s for the best. Love, or whatever masquerades as it, just isn’t enough for the dirty, fucked up truth. Right when things were better than I ever expected, facts messed it up.

Groaning, I launch the crystal glass worth a small fortune at the door I can’t seem to force myself towards. A beautiful show of light plays off the shards as they cascade down in an explosion of fireworks. Visually, it’s what I feel inside as desolation constricts and then obliterates my chest because the best thing I ever had is gone … leaving me with only the certainty I’m meant to be with her.

I love you, I whisper for the first time and in place of goodbye. She left me and will never hear it. I can only pray we both survive what’s to come.

One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, USA Today bestselling author, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn’t do something soon, it would be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So she rolled down the passenger window of her fabulous (not) company car and tossed out her leather briefcase. Luckily, the pedestrian in the direct line of fire was a dodge ball pro and had super quick reflexes enabling him to avoid getting bashed in the head. Feeling a tad guilty about the near miss, A. M. made a speedy turn down a deserted side street before tossing her crummy, outdated piece-of-you-know-what laptop out the window. She breathed a liberating sigh of relief, picked up her cell phone, called her boss, and quit her job. Grinning, she made another call to her husband and told him of her new adventure (after making sure his heart was still beating).

Other than loving writing about romance, she loves chocolate, ice cream, and coffee and swears they should be added as part of the USDA food groups

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I am the co-author of USA Today bestseller, Cruel and Beautiful. I write romance with heart and heat. Wife and mother of three, I’ve always been an avid reader. In my early years, my best friend and I would tell each other stories over the phone when we were bored. We called them our “soap operas” and generally revolved around whatever boy we liked at the time.

Over five years ago, I got this crazy idea to write a novel and try to publish it. And the rest is history. This journey has been a blessing, and a dream realized. I look forward to many more memories to come.

I write under several pen names with over a dozen titles under my various names. I have a few more up my sleeves to be revealed soon.