Excerpt: 'Deep' by Kylie Scott

HEA shares an excerpt from Deep, book four in Kylie Scott's Stage Dive Series. It's out this week!

Here's the blurb about the book (courtesy of St. Martin's Griffin):

Positive. With two little lines on a pregnancy test, everything in Lizzy Rollins' ordinary life is about to change forever. And all because of one big mistake in Vegas with Ben Nicholson, the irresistibly sexy bass player for Stage Dive. So what if Ben's the only man she's ever met who can make her feel completely safe, cherished, and out of control with desire at the same time? Lizzy knows the gorgeous rock star isn't looking for anything more permanent than a good time, no matter how much she wishes differently.

Ben knows Lizzy is off limits. Completely and utterly. She's his best friend's little sister now, and no matter how hot the chemistry is between them, no matter how sweet and sexy she is, he's not going to go there. But when Ben is forced to keep the one girl he's always had a weakness for out of trouble in Sin City, he quickly learns that what happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay there. Now he and Lizzie are connected in the deepest way possible...but will it lead to a connection of the heart?

EXCERPT

She leaned in and whisper-hissed theatrically, "Ben brought a date."

Everything stopped. And I do mean everything. My lungs, my feet ... everything.

A flicker of a frown crossed Anne's face. "Liz?"

I blinked, slowly coming back to life. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Sure. So, um, Ben brought a date?"

"Can you believe it?"

"No." I really couldn't. My brain had stalled, same as everything else. There'd been no date in my plans for speaking with Ben tonight.

"I know. First time for everything I guess. Everyone's slightly weirded out, though she seems nice enough."

"But Ben doesn't date," I said, my voice sounding hollow somehow, as if it were an echo coming from far away. "He doesn't even believe in relationships."

Anne cocked her head, smiling ever so slightly. "Lizzy, you don't still have a crush on him, do you?"

"No." I barked out a laugh. As if. He'd disabused me of such idiotic notions, in Vegas. "So much no my cup is overflowing and the no is spilling onto the floor."

Those dark eyes ... I immediately looked down. He didn't affect me. He didn't. I just wasn't ready to face up to this. Wherein this equaled him and me and that room and Vegas and the consequences that were currently growing in my belly.

I couldn't do it, not yet.

"Hey, Liz," he said, deep voice calm, casual.

"Hey."

Yeah. I was so over him. The date thing had thrown me, but now I was back on track. I just had to compartmentalize any unhelpful lingering feelings, file them away for never.

I took a step closer, daring a peek only to find him watching me warily. He threw back some beer then set the bottle down, swiping his thumb across his mouth to catch a stray drop. In Vegas, he'd first tasted of beer, lust, and need. The most dizzying mix. He had beautiful lips, perfectly framed by his short beard. His hair had grown out of the shaved on the sides and longish on top cool hipster cut, and honestly, he looked kind of shaggy, wild.

And big, though he always looked big.

A silver ring pierced one side of his nose and he had on a green plaid shirt, top button open to showcase his thick neck and the edge of a black rose tattoo. Any money blue jeans and black boots were below. Apart from in Vegas at the wedding, and then later that night in my room, I'd never seen him out of jeans. Let me assure you, there's nothing bad about the man naked. Everything was as it should be and then some. In fact, he'd looked a lot like a dream come true.

My dream.

I swallowed hard, while firmly pushing the memory back down where it belonged. Buried among the Hannah Montana song lyrics, Vampire Diaries character histories, and other useless and potentially damaging information collected over the years. None of it mattered anymore.

I half raised a hand in greeting. "Hi, everyone."

Heys and hi's and variations of both floated back.

"How have you been, Liz?" asked Ev, from farther down the table. She was seated beside her husband, David Ferris, Stage Dive's lead guitarist and songwriter.

"Great." Crap. "You?"

"Good."

I sucked in a deep breath and smiled. "Excellent."

"You been busy with school?" She pulled out a hair tie and bundled her blond hair up into a rough ponytail. God bless the girl. At least it wasn't just me keeping it casual. "We haven't seen you since Christmas."

"Yeah, busy." Puking and sleeping mostly. Gestating. "School and stuff, you know."

Normally I'd have an interesting story to tell from my psych studies. Today, nada.

My throat closed tight. I couldn't do it. Not here and now in front of everyone. I should have fled for the Yukon rather than come here to night. No way was I ready for this.

"Liz?"

"No, I'm fine," I wheezed. "All good."

"Um, hello," said Anne. "You said you'd been nauseous for the last few weeks. If I hadn't been away I'd have dragged you to the doctor's way back."

And thank god she'd been on her second honeymoon with Mal in Hawaii. To have found out about the bean with Anne in attendance would have been up there with watching the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding into town. Terror, tears, chaos— all of these things and more. Definitely not my idea of a good time.

My heartbeat raced. Mine and the bean's both.

"Lizzy?"

Also, wow, if this was the result of having great sex then I was so never going there again. Not even for mediocre sex. Nothing. I might even rule out masturbation, just in case. You couldn't be too careful. Random attack sperm could be anywhere, just waiting to get a girl into trouble.

I stumbled to my feet, sweaty hands on the table to steady myself.

"I should go."

"Hey." A big hand cupped my chin. Lines had appeared between Ben's brows, beside his mouth. But you could only see the hint of them behind his beard, the implication. The man was not happy, and fair enough. "It's okay, Liz. We'll get this sorted—"

"I'm pregnant."

A pause. "What?"

"I'm pregnant, Ben."

The ensuing silence echoed in my ears, an endless gray noise like something out of a horror movie.

Ben stood bent over the table, breathing heavy. I guess I'd looked to him for strength, but now he seemed every bit as strung out as me.

"You're pregnant?" Anne's voice cut the silence. "Lizzy, look at me."

I did, though it wasn't easy. My chin didn't seem inclined to go in the desired direction, and who could blame it?

"Yes," I said. "I am."

She went horribly still.

"I'm sorry."

"How could you? Oh god." For a moment she squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. "And why were you telling him?"

"Good question." Ever so slowly, Mal rose from his seat and started walking down the other side of the table. "Why'd she tell you, Benny?"

Find out more about Kylie and her books at kylie-scott.com.