He wants to be alone to think about his life…and ends up saving hers!
Depressed by injuries that have sidelined his career and pretty sure he’ll never find love, Heathcliffe goes to his cousin Peyton's Dude Ranch in Southern Indiana for some "alone" time. His plan is to contemplate the direction his life is taking and figure out how to get back on track.
But he didn’t count on Nita Harley, the ranch's newly hired activity director. Nita's an attractive, young widow who's trying to make sense of her life too, but her problems are much more urgent and dangerous than Heathcliffe's. Someone is killing everyone Nita connects with and, as their feelings for each other grow, she's pretty sure Heathcliffe will be next.
~~*~~
The snow started to fall harder, faster, in supersized
flakes. It was beautiful. Bouncing along in front of him, Nita pulled her thigh
length sweater closer and inhaled deeply. “It’s a gorgeous night. Great night
for a naked ride, eh?”
Heathcliffe tripped and fell forward, barely keeping himself
upright by grabbing hold of a thick tree branch intruding on the narrow
pathway. Snow dumped on his head when he shook the branch. “Huh? What?”
Muted by the falling snow, Nita’s hearty laugh didn’t lose
any of its power. It throbbed against Heathcliffe’s senses, sending a jolt of
interest thrumming through his system.
He shook his head. “Are you gonna keep tweaking me, firecracker?
‘Cause I have seven brothers you know. Payback’s worse than a bitch in our
house…she’s bitch’s terrorist cousin.”
Nita started running. “Bring it, Honeybun. I’m not afraid of
you or your seven brothers.”
He caught up to her as she was unlocking the door to his
cabin. Her fingers were so cold she couldn’t get the key to turn in the lock.
“Here, give me that. Why didn’t you put on some clothes before we left?”
She huddled in her sweater and waggled her eyebrows at him
until he laughed. “You’re incorrigible.” Heathcliffe pushed the door open and
tried to usher her inside.
She resisted. “My muffins, remember? I need to get back.”
“You shouldn’t be out here alone in the dark. I’ll walk you
back.”
“Then I’ll have to walk you back here, and then you’ll have
to walk me back there. Then I’ll…”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Just…” Heathcliffe reached to swipe a
snowflake off her nose. “Be careful, okay?”
Another snowflake landed on her lush bottom lip and her
tongue came out, sweeping it away. “You’re thinking, what? A mad omelet maker
might sneak up on me and whisk me into senselessness. Or wait, a crazy sous
chef might decide I’d be better with drawn butter…”
Heathcliffe lowered his head and did the only thing he could
think of to stop her from talking. He touched his lips to hers.
Big mistake.
Earth shattering, world changing, catastrophic mistake.
As soon as their lips touched, Heathcliffe’s mind shut down
and his body exploded with sensation. Before he realized what he was doing,
he’d pulled her into his arms and was wrapped around her so tightly she had no
chance of escaping unless he wanted to let her go.
Though she shivered in his arms, the heat they created
together was more than enough to melt the snow around them. Her lips were as
soft as he’d imagined. Her sweet breath fluttered against his face in heated
puffs. Heathcliffe inhaled her exquisite essence and it made him light headed.
And when she twined her tiny hands in his shirt and pulled him more deeply into
the kiss, Heathcliffe knew he was lost. He didn’t have the strength to break
the kiss, didn’t want to. He wanted more of the tiny little spitfire in his
arms. Right at that moment, in fact, he wanted all of her—needed—everything she
had to offer him.
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