I’m excited to welcome Jayce Ellis on Queer Books Unbound. She’s brought an exclusive excerpt of her new release André with her. This is the second book in her High Rise series and definitely should be on your tbr!

After a week filled with nonstop work, André Ellison heads to the club to blow off some steam. One night off is the perfect distraction from the project that’s about to make his career—or tank it completely. A few drinks in and he leaves with a smoking-hot stranger for some scorching, burn-the-sheets-up sex.

Marcus Thompson is going places, so he can’t think of a bigger waste of time than being put on loan to a two-bit firm to prepare some small-time report. The last thing he wants—or needs—is his impeccably dressed, hot-as-hell one-night stand as his boss.

As they work side by side, their attraction grows to a fever pitch, but there will be no kissing, no touching and absolutely no sex until the project is over—if they can wait that long.

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Release Date: July 13th

Thank you so much for having me today! I’m excited to share this snippet of André with you, which comes from Marcus’ perspective. As you know, André is a one-night-stand turned employer/intern turned more than they thought, and after tearing my hair out more than a few times, I’m thrilled with the finished product. Below, we’re the scene after Marcus and André have reconnected—as boss and intern rather than as lovers—and Marcus is both apologizing and drawing a line. It’s just not where André expects. Enjoy!

André went stone-cold serious and stared at me. “I don’t have a big business. And I probably should have done more about that before now. But I am the best person for this project, and you’re here to help me prove it.”

This André made me want to fuck, and that was a problem. “I’m down. We got this.”

He sighed and sat back, like being that open had taken it out of him. I guess it was my turn to step up to the plate.

“So about the rest,” I started. “I know I said it, but I really am sorry for making assumptions about…” I wasn’t sure how to finish that. I shrugged. “You. This. Whatever. I shouldn’t have gone off, is what I’m saying.”

André leaned back and ran a thumb over his bottom lip, and damn but that was unfairly sexy. “You know I won’t say or do anything, or come on to you in any way during this project. You have to know that.”

More’s the pity. Maybe if I hadn’t been such a tool, but no. André would’ve kept it professional regardless. Me, though? Now that I was over my initial stupefaction? Now all I could see was him writhing under me like he had before, his body twitching under my touch and that hole squeezing my fingers in a vise grip. Shit. I wanted nothing more than for him to come on to me. My brain, clearly still in full-on ho mode, twisted that thought and pushed memories of coming on each other, me because he was just that good and him because he wanted to see his come on me. I needed more.

“What about after the internship ends?” I blurted out.

André raised a brow. “What about it?” His voice held nothing. No curiosity. No anticipation. Nothing. I ain’t like it.

“What if we want to see each other then?”

“I think that ship has sailed, don’t you?”

I paused before answering, taking the time to drink him in. That smooth skin, that goatee with just a hint of stubble that felt like fire licking across my body, that mouth that had sought out every inch of me, taking and relinquishing control in turn.

When I got back to his eyes, they’d gone dark on me. That same look when I’d told him what I wanted to do to him.

I leaned forward. “Nah, boss, that ship is still in port. It’s just waiting for all the passengers to climb on board.”

André let out a noisy breath but didn’t say anything else, and after a few moments, I left the room. My dick was stone and I had another six hours of work to get through. If all three weeks were like this, I was in trouble.

Jayce Ellis has three loves: her husband and her two turtles. Hubby loves her back. The turtles she’s not so sure about, but they do love their sports (Bay Area teams FTW!). She still hasn’t figured out why she lives in Northern Virginia, where there’s weather, instead of California, where she’s from, and where it’s just…pretty. Jayce spends her days divorcing happily-married couples (or so she’s been told), and her nights talking maniacally to herself. Thankfully the recorder catches her rumblings and magically turns them into words on a screen. Painting nails is way easier when you don’t actually have to type, and with well over 600 polishes to get through, there’s a lot of painting going on.

Notwithstanding her no-good, very bad, horrible day job, Jayce seriously believes that true love conquers all. Even Malificent said it. Sure, she was having an epic Mean Girls moment, but points were made. The only thing Jayce loves more than writing about true love conquering all, is hearing from readers who feel the same way.

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Genre: Contemporary Genre: Romance Orientation: Gay Pairing: M/M Publisher: Carina Press Tag: Guest Post Tag: Office Romance Tag: Own-Voices Tag: Part of a series Tag: PoC André High Rise series Jayce Ellis