Growing up, the three of us were friends.
He was the nerd.
I was the playboy.
She was the beauty.
Deep down, I only ever wanted her. I kept it inside because Rory and I made a pact that our friend, Amber, was off-limits.
He lied.
I went off to college, and he got the girl.
Amber never knew how I felt.
They were together for years—before he broke her heart.
Through it all and across the miles, she and I casually stayed in touch.
When my job sent me to Boston for a three-month contract position, Amber let me stay in her spare room.
Still reeling from her breakup, she’d sworn off men.
One night, I opened her computer to find the shock of my life. She’d hesitantly contacted a male escort company. Afraid to date and get her heart broken again, she was looking for sex with no strings.
Every emotion imaginable ran through me: protectiveness, jealousy—curiosity.
Amber had chosen Gentleman Number Nine and sent him a message.
She opened up to him, confessing, among other things, her physical attraction to her friend—me. But she considered me off-limits—and she thought I was a manwhore. (Ironic, considering the circumstances.)
Eventually, she set up a date to meet Gentleman Nine at a hotel.
When she showed up several nights later to meet him, she was stunned to see me standing there—with an offer I hoped she wouldn’t refuse.
Channing is the stereo-typical womanizer. Or at least Amber thought he was. Their past had a lot of feelings, emotions and "pacts" that neither seemed to know about. Whether it was one was totally oblivious or the other tried so hard to hide their feelings, they both wanted each other, but neither never knew it.
I wasn't sure how Rory played in to this little "friendship" until I read the entire backstory. Penelope did a great job of having the characters discussing the past or having a flashback, while maintaining my interest. I didn't become bored and each look in to the characters's past had to do with their future or possible future.
I give major props to Amber for even thinking of meeting with Gentleman number nine. I completely understood her inner turmoil, but hey! A woman has needs too. I mean what's the motto? Get over a man by getting under another, right? Just sucks that she had to tip-toe around that with a man she had wanted since she was younger, but was always "off-limits."
The twists of this story are things I definitely didn't see coming. While Channing called one of them, the reason behind it shocked me. The other, well I had hoped for some type of clarity of Amber, but I didn't want her getting hurt to have it.
I'm doing my best to not include spoilers, because I want you to read it and have the same surprises I did. Gentleman Nine was well written and had developed characters with content that hits you right in the feels. As well as some super sexy and hot sex scenes. Wow. Definitely one-click worthy.
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