Excerpt: 'The Things You Do to Me' by Sydney Holmes

Sydney Holmes shares a scene from her new release, The Things You Do to Me, book one in her Knight Skies series.

First, here's the blurb about the book:

Kiera Rockwell has everything she has ever wanted in life: a great job selling luxury real estate, a cottage by the ocean, and a sports car just for fun – but somehow her life just doesn't hold the same allure as it once did on paper.

AJ Knight has poured his heart and soul into his construction business, earning him a top spot in the Steamy Falls building boom. No one in the business would guess that the uber-sexy contractor spent the last few years nursing a broken heart.

When Kiera decides to expand her real estate career by purchasing a spec home, she hires Knight Development and Construction to remodel it for her. Not only is Knight Development the hottest construction company in town, but AJ is one sexy contractor. As hard as she tries, she can't seem to get over her crush and act like her normal, smart, articulate, competent self around him.

On the outside, Kiera represents everything AJ has been trying to avoid since his break-up two years ago, but the longer they work together, the more AJ learns that Kiera may not be the woman he thinks she is. Sparks start to fly, but can they get past their own insecurities and stubborn perceptions to see each other for who they really are?

Sydney sets the scene for us …

Sydney: Sparks have been flying between AJ and Kiera, but sadly not sexy sparks! This is the first time that they genuinely talk to each other and discover that maybe, just maybe, they have developed the wrong impression of each other.

EXCERPT

She pulled up to a two-story wood cabin and parked in the empty spot just off to the left of the front porch. The house looked like it was from a storybook — beautiful wood covered the house, with large windows overlooking the front. She couldn't wait to see the inside.

"Wow, AJ. This looks amazing."

He smiled before opening the door. "Thanks for the ride. You want to come in for a tour? I know how you real estate types are, and I can see you drooling from here."

"Yes!" Kiera was out of the car in no time, and could hear AJ chuckling as they walked up to the front door.

Glancing around, she couldn't help but notice his strong hands as he worked the lock and opened the door. Get a grip! No giggling, breathe. She slowly exhaled before stepping over the threshold.

Walking in, she took in the space. It was majestic. There was no other word for it. The large room was open, with a huge two-story window overlooking something outside — some kind of great view, she supposed. There was a large fireplace in one corner, with a couch and two large chairs centered on it.

Spinning slowly in place, she could see an open kitchen off the far side of the living room and stairs leading to a second story. Taking a few steps further, she noticed that the second story was only half the width of the room, leaving the majority of the room open and airy.

"Wow," she whispered, all nerves washing away as she viewed the house. "This is stunning."

"Thanks," AJ swallowed loudly before moving into the far side of the house and disappearing off the kitchen.

Kiera slowly followed him, taking in the décor — definitely masculine, but nothing dead hanging from the walls. The kitchen wasn't nearly as immaculate as the rest of the house; there was a coffee cup and a bowl in the sink, as well as a blender with water in it, sitting on the counter. The rest of the room was clean and tidy, with pots and pans hanging above the sink and spices lining the tile near the stove.

She heard him behind her, and turned to see another room off the kitchen. Without waiting for an invitation, she walked in to find his office. AJ was in a closet, obviously searching for something, leaving her to admire the large computer screens set up side-by-side, and what looked like gaming consoles lying on the desk, along with papers and files.

"You a gamer?" she asked him as he backed out of the closet, new phone battery in hand.

"Busted." He smirked at her.

"Your brothers get you into that?"

"We all play. It's war and, if I don't keep up, I would never hear the end of it, so I keep this set up for practice. Sadly, I mostly use all those screens for email, budgets, and proposals. I like it, though; it looks bad-ass," AJ winked at her, and gave her a killer smile.

Desperately trying to maintain equilibrium as he flirted with her, she shook her head and thought it was best to separate herself from him.

"You mind if I check out upstairs?"

"Not at all; check out anything you like."

Kiera didn't wait to see if he knew how that sounded. That smile nearly did her in, and thank God she was sober, 'cause if he had flashed that smile at her with a few vodkas in her system, there was no telling what embarrassing thing she might do to get his attention.

Upstairs was just a stunning as below. The master suite was sparse but open. One large four-poster, king-size bed sat underneath a large picture window, with an even larger window on the far wall offering an unknown view. Kiera really wanted to come back and see what these windows were framing. She imagined what it would be like to wake up in that large comfortable bed and see what was outside.

Snapping her head back to reality, she took a peek into the master bath and was delighted to see a large bathtub, more picture windows, double sinks, and an open shower stall. Walking back into the master bedroom, she saw AJ was waiting for her.

"Please accept my peace offering. Thanks for coming to my rescue tonight." He handed her a glass with ice and clear liquid in it.

Thoroughly confused, she took the glass and sipped: a vodka tonic; her favorite.

"Thanks," she smiled.

He paused and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck before looking back at her. "After this last week, I'm sort of surprised you did."

"AJ, I get that you don't like me — and I'm okay with that." She sucked in a breath — it was hard lying to his face like that. She wasn't okay with it, but she had to be. "I'm just glad to see that we can work together when we need to. That's really the most important thing."

Find out more about Sydney and her books at www.SydneyHolmes.com.