My Nerdy Valentine - Softcover

Thompson, Vicki Lewis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312939094 ISBN 13: 9780312939090

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007

Synopsis

Aspiring psychologist Amanda Rykowsky's schedule is certifiable. Between study, bartending, and an internship with a sex therapist whose techniques would make a Playboy bunny blush, there's zero time for romance. Still, Amanda is flattered to receive an anonymous Valentine…until the messages take a sinister turn.

Stockbroker William Sloan swears he's not the one sending Amanda cards, but he suspects the culprit's intentions are more dubious than sharing a box of Godiva. Something about gorgeous, determined Amanda brings out the usually reserved William's inner he-man, and he insists on acting as a decoy boyfriend.

With a fake relationship masking some very real lust, it's only a matter of time before William and Amanda give in to the sweetest of temptation­s. And once he's dealt with her secret stalker, William's next mission is to strike Amanda with Cupid's arrow….

About this title

About the Author

VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON's been crazy about nerds all her life, but it was always a private passion. Then, in the summer of 2003, she went public with her romantic comedy Nerd in Shining Armor. Turns out Kelly Ripa also likes nerds and chose the book as her Reading with Ripa Book Club pick of the summer. In no time, the book hit all the major lists: New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly. Understandably, Vicki's passion for nerds has increased tenfold. She lives in Arizona with her husband, who insists he's not a nerd but who does, in fact, wear glasses and is very good at math.
Visit her Web site at:  www.vickilewisthompson.com

From the Back Cover

Vicki Lewis Thompson continues her blockbuster Nerds series with the delectable tale of a psychology student who finds herself crazy in love--and lust--with a smart, sexy businessman who wants to be her very personal bodyguard…
 
When a nerdy beauty…
Aspiring psychologist Amanda Rykowsky's schedule is certifiable. Between study, bartending, and an internship with a sex therapist whose techniques would make a Playboy bunny blush, there's zero time for romance. Still, Amanda is flattered to receive an anonymous Valentine…until the messages take a sinister turn.
 
Meets her sexy soulmate…Stockbroker William Sloan swears he's not the one sending Amanda cards, but he suspects the culprit's intentions are more dubious than sharing a box of Godiva. Something about gorgeous, determined Amanda brings out the usually reserved William's inner he-man, and he insists on acting as a decoy boyfriend.
 
They'll make this Valentine's day the hottest on record…With a fake relationship masking some very real lust, it's only a matter of time before William and Amanda give in to the sweetest of temptation­s. And once he's dealt with her secret stalker, William's next mission is to strike Amanda with Cupid's arrow….
 
 
 "A riotous cast of colorful characters…fill the pages with hilarious situations,
and hot, creative sex."--Booklist on Nerd Gone Wild 

 

"Extremely sexy…over-the-top...sparkling."
--Rendezvous on The Nerd Who Loved Me
 

Reviews

What do you get when you throw together a sexually repressed college student, a narcissistic sex therapist, a handsome stockbroker and a bevy of sex-crazed therapy patients? Answer: This absurd romantic comedy, which substitutes puerile sex puns for emotional heft. Thompson stretches her "nerd" premise thin, forcing the label on stockbroker William Sloan simply because he wears a winter hat with earflaps. However, William's nerd status doesn't keep him from being pursued by therapist Gloria, who besieges him with double entendres ("I'm glad to have a young and virile man handling my... assets"), glow-in-the-dark condoms and a flash of her breasts. Meanwhile, the object of William's affection, Gloria's studious intern, Amanda, refuses to work him into her busy schedule and accuses him of sending her crude, anonymous Valentines. Thompson throws in a hokey plot involving the true Valentine sender and his plan to kidnap Amanda, but this merely serves as a flimsy tool to push William and Amanda together. All in all, Thompson's newest romance (following Nerds Like It Hot) possesses as much substance as cotton candy with less satisfaction. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Amanda Rykowsky, psychology student, bartender, and intern to a sex therapist, meets nerdy stockbroker William Sloan when the bag of sex toys she has picked up for the therapist breaks and scatters embarrassing items all over the stairs. With no time for dating, Amanda has sworn off relationships. When she starts receiving progressively more alarming valentines from an unknown admirer, Will worries that a dangerous stalker is the culprit. He offers to pretend to be Amanda's boyfriend, but they can't keep their hands off each other and experience blazing sex. Delightfully busybody neighbors and kinky patients with hilarious peccadilloes add to the entertainment. The seventh entry in Thompson's best-selling Nerds series may be the best one yet, with endearingly quirky characters, hot sex, and a suspenseful plot. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

MY NERDY VALENTINE

ONE

The paper bag crammed with sex toys began to rip as Amanda Rykowsky trudged up the marble staircase to her boss's second-floor office. Clamping her gloved hand over the tear, she shoved the protruding red vibrator out of sight. The cold drizzle falling outside must have weakened the bag.

She should have asked for plastic instead, but paper concealed the contents better. She was always afraid she'd run into someone she knew on the way back to the office, and her reputation as the Girl Who Doesn't Date would be shot if anyone caught her with these goodies. How ironic that she was constantly surrounded by sex at a time when she'd sworn off the activity completely.

"Need some help with that?"

She glanced over her shoulder. Coming up the steps behind her was a tall guy wearing a tan trench coat and a hat with earflaps. Those earflaps would stand straight out from his head if he discovered what she had in the bag.

"Thanks. I've got it." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the bag self-destructed. Various colors and models of vibrators clattered down the marble steps, along with an array of X-rated videos. The feathers, velvet ropes, and soft handcuffs made less noise, but no less of an impression.

At least, Amanda assumed it was shock and awe widening the guy's green eyes to the approximate size of a trafficlight. His mouth opened, closed, opened again. He stared at the items scattered around him. The fire-engine red, penis-sized vibrator lay across the laces of his brown oxfords. "Um ... I ..."

Amanda's cheeks grew hot. She shouldn't care what this guy thought, but she did, anyway. Her explanation came out in a rush. "My boss is Gloria Tredway and she's a sex therapist and she asked me to buy these on my lunch break."

"Uh, that ... that makes sense. I guess."

"I'll just gather up everything and be on my way." She'd pretend the sex toys were groceries she'd dropped. And she wouldn't look at him while she did that. With a decent dose of luck, she'd never see him again. She reached for a space-age silver vibrator that gleamed in contrast to the worn marble steps.

"I'll help." He pulled a pair of horn-rimmed glasses out of his coat pocket and put them on.

"That's okay. No problem." Unzipping her parka partway, she tucked the vibrator inside. Then she grabbed feathers and velvet handcuffs, stuffing them into her small shoulder purse.

They didn't quite fit, but maybe they'd stay long enough for her to escape up the stairs and duck into Gloria's office. She moved down a step and snatched up two videos--Bareback and Bare: Lady Godiva Fantasies and Hotter than a Pistol-Packin' Momma.

About the time she put those inside her parka, the vibrator fell out of the bottom. The elasticized hem used to fit tighter around her hips, but lately she'd been working hard and skipping meals. Apparently she'd lost weight.

"You definitely need help taking all this upstairs." He picked up the red vibrator lying on his shoe.

"I can make two trips." She could not have this stranger gathering sex toys and carrying them to Gloria's office. No telling how Gloria, she of the supersized libido, would react.She might decide to educate him. Amanda reached out with her free hand. "I'll take that ... that red doohinkus and get the rest on my second trip."

"I wouldn't advise leaving this stuff lying around." He put the vibrator in his coat pocket and leaned down to snag a couple of videos. "There's a fourth-grade field trip from one of Chicago's magnet schools headed for the offices of Cooper and Scott. I've been asked to give them the grand tour."

"Oh, sh--sugar." Visions of little girls in pigtails getting a glimpse of the X-rated videos lying on the steps turned her blood cold. "Then I accept your help, at least to the door of the office." So he was a stockbroker who worked for Cooper and Scott, the company with offices down the hall.

This close to him, she could smell damp cotton, cold air, and his aftershave. No designer, musk-enhanced fragrance for this guy. Old Spice, if her nostrils weren't mistaken. She'd always liked Old Spice.

"And then we will permanently erase this moment from our memory banks," she said.

"Are you planning to give me a Men in Black memory flash?" A smile played over his mouth as he picked up a video and a fingertip vibrator. "This is one of those times that will live in infamy."

"I'm afraid you're right."

He had a nice smile, and she truly appreciated his stab at making this incident funny. Maybe in a while, like ten or fifteen years, it would be funny. On this particular February day she couldn't think of anything more humiliating than spilling a bag full of sex toys in front of a complete stranger.

Scooping up the last of the feathers and handcuffs, she snatched the ripped bag and gave the stairway a quick once-over. "That does it. Let's get out of here before the munchkins show up."

"William Sloan, by the way," he said as they hurried up the steps with the goods.

"Amanda Rykowsky. Thanks for making the stairway safe for nine-year-olds."

"Glad to help out. It must be an unusual kind of job, working for a sex therapist."

Especially this one. "It's temporary. I needed to intern with a local therapist this semester as part of a new course requirement at DePaul, and Dr. Tredway had an opening for a gal Friday."

"You're studying to be a sex therapist?"

"Nope. Just happened to land this internship. I haven't chosen a specialty yet. I'll narrow down my options while I'm in grad school, but I'm leaning toward adolescent psychology."

"You sound very focused, Amanda Rykowsky."

"I am."

"Too focused to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Oh. She hadn't seen that coming. Usually she was prepared for such invitations, but having a guy help her carry X-rated gizmos up the stairs had thrown off her timing.

"I could give you some hot stock tips," he said.

"I, uh, don't have any money to invest." She hoped that wasn't some sort of double entendre about the hot tips.

"I was kidding. Stockbroker humor. I just thought, since you made your sex-toy run today, you might want to have a more normal lunch hour tomorrow. I know a sandwich place that's not too far from--"

"Thank you, William." She finally had the presence of mind to dial in her standard response. "But I'm determined to become a therapist, and I'm putting myself through school. Between work and studying, I have absolutely no free time."

"None?"

"Not even an hour for lunch." She gave him a smile to soften the blow. "It's a nice offer, and you've been terrific to help me today, but I'll have to say no."

"It was just a thought." He sounded sad, though, as if he'd really hoped she'd take him up on his invitation.

"I wish I could go." Now she was feeling like an ingrate. He'd come to her rescue and saved her from potentially traumatizing an entire class of Chicago fourth-graders, and yet she'd refused to spend an hour in his company eating lunch. She should probably offer to buy him a meal for being so gallant.

No, bad idea. She couldn't take the chance that he'd see the lunch date as the beginning of something. And it couldn't be, not with her schedule. Besides, she'd been doing without a guy for so long, she might be tricked into thinking this guy was sexy. A love affair gone wrong had nearly trashed her GPA a year ago, so no more guys, no more sex, until she'd reached her goal of graduate school at Harvard.

"I wish you could go, too." William walked beside her down the hall toward Gloria's office. "But I don't want to muck up your routine."

And didn't that make her sound prissy? Like one lunch date would destroy her entire program. It probably wouldn't, especially if he wore the hat with the earflaps. But there was that smile to consider ... nope, lunch was out.

"Here we are." She paused in front of the heavy oak door with its frosted-glass upper panel. GLORIA TREDWAY, PH.D. was lettered in gold on the glass. The door looked so professional and imposing that no one would guess what sort of gonzo activities took place behind it.

Amanda clutched her armload of toys to her chest and wiggled her arm until her sleeve edged up and she could see her watch. Ten minutes past one, which meant the Ord-wells would be in Gloria's office for their regular Tuesday appointment. She needed to get William in and out very fast.

As she juggled her purchases, trying to free up a hand to open the door, William stuck two videos under his chin and reached out with one long arm. "Let me." Twisting the brass doorknob, he opened the door and stood back. "After you."

"Just dump everything on my desk," she said. "I'm sure your fourth-graders will be here any--"

"Lookee there!" Elmer Ordwell's voice blasted through Gloria's closed office door. "Just from watching you do that, Dr. Tredway, I'm stiff as the tailpipe on my Chevy truck!"

"That's a real breakthrough, Elmer." Gloria was no slouch in the voice-projection department, either. "Now, Gertrude, I want you to try what I was just doing. Yes, use your hand, and let Elmer watch. I'll be right back. I'm expecting some supplies that we'll need for the last half of our session."

Amanda avoided looking at William. "You can just drop everything and go." She tried to sound nonchalant. "I appreciate your help in getting it this far. I'll be fine, now."

But William didn't show any signs of leaving. Instead he stared in fascination at Gloria's office door. "I had no idea."

"Dr. Tredway's not the norm." Amanda deposited her loot on the desk and reached for the stuff William was holding. "Most sex therapists don't operate the way ...

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312939094
• ISBN 13: 9780312939090
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 352