How the man could look so yummy so early in the morning was a mystery. Hair ruffled from the air and a chill on his skin that swept over her from two feet away. The faded jeans and checkered shirt hanging open over a gray tee added to the scruffy, just-out-of-bed look that never failed to make her jaw drop.

She ended the visual tour with a practiced frown. “You can’t possibly expect a warm welcome at this time in the morning.”

“It’s seven.”

“Your point?”

He executed the perfect eye roll. “I’ve been up for two hours.”

“You’re not normal.”

“What every man wants to hear.”

Her gaze bounced down to his hands and she wondered how she’d missed the two cups of what looked like coffee and a white bag of something in the carrier. The man knew how to get to her. She’d once joked about how a woman could forgive a lot for a man who brought her breakfast. She was trying to weasel a coffee run out of him at the time. “You haven’t explained how you found me.”

“We come from a town of, like, ten people. They lined up to tell me how to find you.”

Traitors. “So, Mitch squealed. That would explain why he won’t answer my calls.”

“Your brother has to work with me.” When she snorted, Austin talked louder. “Then there’s the part where I threatened to kill him if he didn’t spill.”

“I’m going to smack the crap out of him when I see him again.” She stood back and opened her arm to usher Austin out of the hallway. “Come in before we give the neighbors a show that will get me evicted.”

“In that robe? I’d be willing.”

Her skin warmed everywhere his gaze touched. She grabbed her lapels and gathered them in her clenched fist to stop that sort of thing. “I wasn’t expecting company.”

“I’m not complaining.”

Her all but naked and his gaze traveling down her front spelled disaster. “I’ll go get dressed.”

Before she could shuffle off to the bedroom and lock the door behind her, he raised his hands. The move put the goodies he brought at eye level. “Are you sure you don’t want to try these first?”

The smell of deep roast filled her senses. Hot man and hot coffee. Who could resist that combination? “What’s in the bag?”

“A cinnamon-swirl pound cake to go with your grande nonfat vanilla latte.” He shook the bag as he spoke.

The evil coffee pimp remembered her usual order. “Lucky guess.”

He walked into her kitchen and went to the silverware drawer as if he’d been in the apartment a hundred times. “You tricked me into a caffeine run almost every morning in Holloway once that joint opened the next town over.”

“Tricked?”

“Maybe I should say bribed with sex and the promise of football tickets.”

She leaned in the doorway and fell into the gentle rhythm of their comfortable conversation. “A gentleman wouldn’t mention my methods.”

“A gentleman wouldn’t have jumped on the deal, but I did. On the deal. On you. All of it.”

She eased up on the grip on her robe as she watched his lean fingers work on the lid and empty what looked like three pink packets into his coffee. And people accused her of having a sugar addiction.

“Those were good times,” she said as the pictures played in her mind.

“But your mother’s cinnamon rolls are better than anything I’ve been able to get in a store.” He opened the bag and peeked inside.

“And more fattening.”

He frowned. “Not a big concern for you.”

Sweet talker. Carrie wasn’t the weight-obsessed type but a healthy weight in Holloway was a good ten pounds heavier than an expected weight for the high-heeled, big checkbook crowd she moved with at work.

“Every woman worries about her weight. Mine leveled out when I left Mom’s kitchen.” The daily hour on the treadmill also helped.

He dropped a slab of cake on the piece of wax paper stuck underneath it and slid it to the edge of the counter closest to her. “You have to miss those special meals. That woman can cook.”

A skill she did not pass on to her daughter, not that Austin ever complained. Carrie had loved him for many things. His willingness to put up with her crappy meatloaf without gagging was one of them. He’d insisted she was getting better with each meal she made. She was just grateful she hadn’t accidentally poisoned them.

“When are you coming home to visit your family?” He took a sip of coffee and eyed her over the cup.

Carrie threw the cake on the counter as the acid in her stomach bubbled. “Don’t do that. Don’t use family guilt to lure me back to Holloway.”

“Fine.” He pushed off from where he leaned against her stove and started toward her. “How about this? I miss you.”

The words she’d longed to hear. The same ones that cut through her, bringing both pain and joy. Her heart spun but the knot in her stomach tightened.

“Austin…” She held up both hands in a half-hearted attempt to fend him off.

When he wrapped his fingers around her wrists and carried her wrists to the back of his neck, she didn’t fight him. His scent washed over her senses, lighting every cell on fire. She smelled the cool outdoors on his skin, that subtle mix of pine and soap with a touch of fresh firewood.

The soft strands of his fine hair slid through her fingers as her body melted into his. His mouth danced in a trail from her ear and down her throat and her heartbeat spiked in response.

“Am I supposed to pretend like I don’t miss you? No way could I pull a lie that big off.” His husky voice rumbled against her bare skin.

“You’re not even supposed to be here.”

“But I am.” He blew the words across her lips.

____________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Shiloh Walker
Lauren Dane

I’m also at Romance Reviews Today talking heroes and giving away a book.

Also, know that while you’re enjoying a lovely spring where you are, in my head I’m writing about Christmas and snow and…well, that’s not easy when you’re sitting in the sunshine, sipping an iced coffee. Just saying.

The steady buzz of conversation and bustle of people walking up and down the wide aisles of Thomas Nurseries ceased when Cassidy Clarke walked through the door.

She stopped after a few steps, waiting for her hair to frizz to ten times its normal size thanks to the shift from the dry, cool October air outside to the humid air inside the greenhouse. To keep from running her hands through it a thousand or so times, she slipped in front of the display of heirloom roses and pretended she couldn’t feel the strands swelling to fill a helmet.

She also did the I-can’t-see-you-or-hear-you thing she’d perfected over the last year. She assumed that’s what the folks from her hometown wanted since half of the customers spoke in pseudo-whispers that sounded more like yelling as they talked about her. The other half openly stared. She’d heard people mumble her name and The Fall about ten times. She could only guess that referred to the end of her career…though it also applied to the complete implosion of her self-esteem.

Ah, it was good to be back.

She didn’t really blame them. It was her fault. Well, partly the reporter’s fault, but mostly hers. It had been almost three years since the stupid article came out, since she offended every single one of the 941 residents of Holloway, West Virginia. After all this time she still got scolding emails from people who knew her when she was a “nice girl” which she’d been informed, sometimes in colorful language, she no longer was.

She drummed her fingers against the wooden table and wondered for the hundredth time why she thought returning home was such a great idea. She didn’t have a place to stay or money or a climbing career anymore. If she gave herself a second, she could probably work up a pretty good pity party, maybe even crawl under the table and hide. That would give the residents the kind of show they craved.

“Cassidy?”

She turned, ready to bat away any flying tomatoes that might come her way, and stared into a dark gray t-shirt straining against a firm, broad chest. Her gaze wandered up and over an open plaid shirt and a set of impressive shoulders underneath. Then she got to the face and the smile with the sexy dimple in the guy’s cheek.

Sweet lord.

This guy could throw anything at her and she’d be fine so long as she got to stare at him for a few more seconds. Maybe run her fingers over the dark stubble over his chin and cheeks. He had a five-o’clock shadow at two in the afternoon, and boy wasn’t that the sexiest thing ever.

Nice to know her girl parts still worked fine even on an unwanted limited calorie diet. “Yes, may I help you with something?”

“When did you get back into town?”

Figured he’d have one of those deep, husky voices that vibrated right down to her…yeah, she wasn’t letting her mind wander there. “Yesterday.”

He put his hands on his lean hips. “Are you staying at the house?”

“I’m sorry.” Boy was she sorry. “But do we know each other?”

“We dated in high school.”

Her brain clicked off for a second. When it flickered back to life an error message flashed. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, we would have if you had shown up as promised.”

She could see every person in the room lean in closer. Even the soft music pumping through the speakers faded into the background. “Uh…”

His smile grew wider. “You don’t remember?”

Because it never happened. “No.”

“I’m heartbroken.”

“But, I…wait. When…?” She closed her mouth to stop the strings of silliness.

His eyebrow lifted as he put a finger behind his ear. “I didn’t catch all of that.”

No way would she have left this guy stranded at a movie or anywhere else. Brown hair, sky blue eyes and a flirty charm that started her knees shaking. Yeah, he fell into the unforgettable category. Even a woman facing the wrong side of luck could see that.

____________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
Shiloh Walker>
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane

Richmond Tobin, Jonas’ first friend in Aberdeen and a fellow police officer, walked in. He stood six-feet and wrestled in college. Six years out he looked like he could battle a train and come out ahead.

“You’re supposed to be lying down. You know, resting,” he said.

“Tell me about it.” Jonas rolled his shoulders and had to fight back the wave of nausea that hit him right behind the pain.

“Brought a change of clothes and your cell, just as you requested.” Rich dumped a gym bag next to Jonas’ thigh and held up a gun. “Also managed to liberate your weapon.”

Jonas took it, ran his finger across the side before checking it and slipping it and his holster on his belt. “Bet the nurses loved that.”

“I flashed my badge and reminded them you were in charge since the police chief retired, so it was all your responsibility.”

Jonas saw mounds of paperwork and a meeting with the town council in his future. “Thanks for that.”

“While you’re at it, care to tell me how you got stuck in the middle of the forest with dead body next to you.” Rich fell into the seat across from Jonas. “Someone I have to identify, I might add.”

“Long story.”

“Then there’s the woman who isn’t elderly or in need of a wellness check.”

“Yeah, Courtney.”

Rich’s eyes widened. “You’re on a first-name basis?”

“Almost getting killed will do that to a relationship. Speeds things up.” For some messed up reason, she was now Courtney in his head. Jonas knew the informal reference bordered on inappropriate but he’d worry about that later when he sorted out everything else that had happened that day.

“Uh-huh. And how did all of this happen again?”

Jonas tried to rub the crick out his neck. “You asked about fifty questions in the last two minutes.”

“Okay, how about this one?” Rich leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and smiled at his boss. “How did a hundred pound woman get the drop on you?”

“You’re light on the weight, and I threatened him with my gun,” Courtney shouted from behind the curtain and over the protests of the nurse who was taking her vital signs.

Rich whistled. “Interesting.”

Jonas bit back a groan. He’d hear about this for months. Cops loved this crap. Being the new officer on the squad and the one with the highest rank, the target on his back grew bigger each day. His four months of a perfect record blown with one comment from Courtney.

“The dead guy tried to kill her,” he said.

Rich pulled his chair closer to the exam table as he lowered his voice. “Any chance we know who or why?”

“Not yet.” But Jonas was about to get some of those answers. He hated when people lied to him. Not having all the facts didn’t sit any better.

____________
Remember to check out the other authors’ snippets:

Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Eliza Gayle
Jody Wallace
Mandy M Roth
Lissa Matthews
Leah Braemel
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
Shiloh Walker
Shelli Stevens
Zoë Archer
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane

Books-n-Kisses – I’m talking about why this book is special to me.

Romance Novel News – I’m talking about the inspiration for this book.