Read an exclusive excerpt.
This business arrangement is meant to benefit both parties.
Rachel Lynn Solomon is back with another sex-positivefriends with benefitsrom-com that is as swoon-worthy as it is spicy.
Rachel Lynn Solomon and ‘Business or Pleasure’.Sabreen Lakhani
Nothing screams success like being ignored.
But her evening improves when she meets an attractive, charming stranger at a bar.
The sparks are instant and the chemistry is undeniable.
But the sexy stranger isreallybadin bed.
Like, the worst non-orgasm she’s ever experiencedbad.
Now a C-list actor, his full-time job involves appearing at fan conventions across the country.
What better way to kick start his career than with a memoir?
All he needs is a great ghostwriter.
Chandler can’t pass up this opportunity and resolves to remain as professional as possible.
How hard can it be?
But Finn is shocked and distraught.
“I have plenty of awkwardness in my past, too.
And the fact that you’re not making this about your fragile wounded masculinity is a huge plus.”
“I want my partners to have a good time.
Or at least, for us to be able to talk honestly about why someone isn’t.”
“A solid place to start.”
I lean back against the railing, draping my arms over it.
“Women can just be .
a little harder to kindly, and it’s not always easy to express that.
I watch him swallow hard as he dips his head, inching closer.
The wind twirls his hair across his forehead, nudges fire up the collar of his flannel shirt.
“How would I do it, then?”
he asks, curling a hand over the railing next to me.
I can practically feel the vibrations along my skin.
“How would I make you come?”
My throat instantly goes dry.
All the water in the Willamette couldn’t rehydrate me at this point.”
This feels like the opposite of what we were saying last night."
I attempt to laugh, but there isn’t enoug hair in my lungs.
Maybe even in the whole state of Oregon.
“I want to learn.”
He pushes a wayward strand of hair back into place, but it’s no match for the wind.
“I was up half the night googling, but it all started to blur together after a while.
And I’m only a little scared of the targeted ads I’m going to get now.”
I let out a deep, shaky breath, my heart turning wild in my chest.
Because maybe the scariest thing about this conversation is that I want to tell him.
The thrill racing up my spine is a foreign, delicious thing, impossible to ignore.
Maybe it’s the fact that we’ve already seen each other naked that make stalking about this easier.
Whatever it is, I run right toward it.
you’d want to start slowly."
“The more aroused she gets, the more likely she is to orgasm.
It’s crucial to spend time building up that tension, figuring out what she likes.
She might prefer your hands, or your mouth.
She might have a specific way she likes being touched.
Or, even betterhave her show you.”
At that, his mouth slides open, accompanied by the smallest hitch in his breath.
“You’ve done that?”
“Shown someone?”
“Yes,” I say, as calmly as I can.
“Masturbation doesn’t always have to be a solo act.
What about you?”
He shakes his head, that pesky lock of hair falling back across his forehead.
“I’m usually fairly easy.”
“I got that.”
This earns me a soft jab of his elbow against my shoulder.
Although I wouldn’t hate his physical elbow touching my physical shoulder again.
“you could’t expect that what works for one person will work for everyone.”
“I’m not asking about everyone.”
His gaze clings to mine.
“I’m asking about you.”
I have to break eye contact, or else I’ll incinerate.
His eyes follow the movement.
The places where I might be tighter, and the places where I open up."
Another step closer, a few inches separating his chest from mine.
“And I love when it’s obvious that he’s enjoying what he’s doing to me.
When getting me closer also gets him closerthere’s something so incredibly sexy about that.”
My pulse is roaring in my ears, louder than the rush of the river.
the better it feels when I finally go over the edge."
I watch the rise and fall of his chest, unsure how we got here.
My own inhales are sharper, heavier.
“God,” he breathes out.
On the railing, his hand is an exhale away from mine.
I’m not sure what would happen if we touched right now.
If we’d cross a line that started wavering the night we met.
“I wish”
He cuts himself off, and I don’t dare say anything.
I’d do unforgivable things to know what’s on the other side of that sentence.
Instead of finishing it, he straightens his posture, drops his hand, backs up a few steps.
I can breathe a little easierbut not better.
Reprinted fromBusiness or Pleasure, published by arrangement with Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Copyright 2023 by Rachel Lynn Solomon.
