As if sensing their perusal, Maddox slowly turned his head to look at them. The moment his emerald green eyes settled on her, Hannah's stomach shivered, not with fear, but with something else. Awareness? A spark of life? A sudden desire to take a deep breath and step out into the sunshine?
She didn't want this. She didn't want to notice him, or any other man. She just wanted to get to her new home and start her life over, a life where there was no more pain.
But, as Maddox stared at her, something inside her shifted. Unbidden, almost against her will, she smiled at him. She didn't mean to. She didn't want to. But there was something about the heavy burdens in his green eyes that made her want to reach out to him, to offer him the kind of light that Katie used to give anyone she met.
For a long moment, he simply stared at her. Not smiling back. Not giving any kind of indication hat he'd even noticed her overture.
As he stared at her, Hannah's smile began to fade. Who was she kidding? It was Katie who had always known how to help people, not her. And why would she think she could offer relief to this tall, broad-shouldered man who could clearly take care of himself?
But just as she began to lower her eyes and turn away, he nodded at her. A single nod, so slight it was barely discernible, but she saw it. Instinctively, she knew that that little nod had been far more significant than any smile he would have given her.
A smile would have been fake.
The nod?
It had been real.
She smiled then, a real smile, her first real smile in months.
Like it? Get it now!
Sneak Peek: Wrapped Up in You
Cole said nothing, his dark gaze searching hers. "I swear I know you," he said softly, lifting a hand to trail it along her jaw. "I remember those eyes. Your voice. It's like..." His finger traced across her skin, sending chills racing down her spine.
She closed her eyes, drinking in the feel of his touch, so light, so sensual, it made her entire body long for more. He was dangerous and mysterious, strong and protective, so erotic that he made her want to embrace her femininity and allow it to flourish, instead of hiding it away.
He moved closer, and she felt his breath against her ear. "Who are you, Kate Smith?" he asked, his voice sending chills down her spine. "Who are you, to me?"
Willow shook her head. "No," she said. "Let me be Kate." She opened her eyes and caught her breath. His face was so close to hers that all he'd have to do was move an inch to kiss her. Adrenaline raced through her. He was so incredibly sexy, in the rough, rugged way of a man bound to the land, a man who lived with honor. "Kiss me," she said suddenly, the words bursting out before she'd even articulated them.
His eyes widened, and she felt her cheeks heat up. "Oh, God," she said, pulling back. "I didn't mean to say that. I don't even know you." She scrambled out from under his arm and lunged to her feet, horrified.
Was she that desperate to feel alive that she'd actually asked a complete stranger to kiss her just because he called to her in a way that she hadn't felt in so long? She hadn't felt this kind of connection to anyone for years. The last time she'd felt like this had been the only other time she'd been on the island. It had been only one night, one evening, but she'd never forgotten how she'd felt that night. That was why she was coming back…to find that moment that she'd failed to hold onto so long ago. She was not here to beg for kisses from a man she didn't even know. "Never mind—"
Cole stood up, grabbing her wrist as she started to walk away. His dark eyes were burning into her, his jaw hard and angled. He was so male, so intense, so powerful, as if he were carrying the burdens of a thousand civilizations on his shoulders. Was this the man who had confessed his guilt over someone's death only minutes ago? Where was the vulnerability he'd let her see when he'd told her he didn't believe in love. Had she imagined it? She searched his face, looking past the rigidity of his jaw and the taut lines of his mouth, looking for the softness. She tried to imagine his mouth turning up in a smile, his eyes crinkling with laughter...
Recognition suddenly flashed through her mind, and she froze. Dear heavens. She'd seen him smile before. She'd heard him laugh. She did know him. He was the boy, the boy from that night so many years ago when she'd been on the island. Her first kiss, in the moonlight, on the beach that had felt endless and beautiful. It was him. "Cole?" she whispered in shock. She'd forgotten his name. She'd forgotten what he looked like. All she'd remembered was how he'd made her feel. But it was him. She knew it was.
"Kate." He whispered her fake name, the name she suddenly didn't want to be. Then he pulled her against him, his hand sliding up into her hair as he lowered his head. Her heart hammered when she realized what he was doing. He was giving her what she'd asked for. He was going to kiss her.
Suddenly, all the stakes had changed. He wasn't a safe, random stranger in a storm. He was real, someone she knew, someone who had mattered to her so long ago. She grabbed his wrist, intending to stop him, but before she could, his lips touched hers, and he kissed her, sweeping her up into the most romantic, most seductive, most dangerous kiss of her life.
She had no chance to stop him, or to keep herself from responding.
Like it? Get it now!
Books By Stephanie Rowe
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
* * *
Wyoming Rebels series
A Real Cowboy Never Says No
A Real Cowboy Knows How to Kiss
A Real Cowboy Rides a Motorcycle
A Real Cowboy Never Walks Away
A Real Cowboy Loves Forever
A Real Cowboy Always Trusts His Heart (Coming Soon!)
* * *
Rogue Cowboy series
A Rogue Cowboy for Her, featuring Brody Hart
(Coming Soon!)
* * *
Rodeo Knights series
Her Rebel Cowboy
* * *
Birch Crossing series
Unexpectedly Mine
Accidentally Mine
Unintentionally Mine
Irresistibly Mine
Mistakenly Mine (Coming Soon!)
* * *
Mystic Island series
Wrapped Up in You
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
* * *
Order of the Night
(An Order of the Blade Spinoff series)
Edge of Midnight, featuring Thano Savakis
(Coming Soon!)
* * *
Heart of the Shifter series
Dark Wolf Rising
Dark Wolf Unbound
Dark Wolf Untamed (Coming Soon!)
* * *
Shadow Guardians series
Leopard's Kiss
* * *
Order of the Blade series
Darkness Awakened
Darkness Seduced
Darkness Surrendered
Forever in Darkness
Darkness Reborn
Darkness Arisen
Darkness Unleashed
Inferno of Darkness
Darkness Possessed
Shadows of Darkness
Hunt the Darkness
Darkness Revealed (Coming Soon!)
* * *
NightHunter series
Not Quite Dead
* * *
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
* * *
Alaska Heat Series
Ice
Chill
Ghost
* * *
YOUNG ADULT
* * *
Mapleville High Series
The Truth About Thongs
How to Date a Bad Boy
Pedicures Don’t Like Dirt
Geeks Can Be Hot
The Fake Boyfriend Experiment
Ice Cream, Jealousy & Other Dating Tips
* * *
For a complete list of Stephanie’s books, click here.
For all the non-biological families created by adoption, remarriages, and other beautiful ways of coming together. Family is cre
ated through the heart and the soul.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to my beta readers, who always work incredibly hard under tight deadlines to get my books read. I appreciate so much your willingness to tell me when something doesn't work! I treasure your help, and I couldn't do this without you. Hugs to you all!
There are so many to thank by name, more than I could count, but here are those who I want to called out specially for all they did to help this book come to life: Alencia Bates, Jean Bowden, Shell Bryce, Kelley Currey, Holly Collins, Ashley Cuesta, Denise Fluhr, Valerie Glass, Heidi Hoffman, Jeanne Hunter, Dottie Jones, Janet Juengling-Snell, Deb Julienne, Bridget Koan, Felicia Low, Phyllis Marshall, Jodi Moore, Judi Pflughoeft, Emily Recchia, Kasey Richardson, Karen Roma, Caryn Santee, Dana Simmons, Julie Simpson, Summer Steelman, Amanda Tamayo, Nicole Telhiard, Linda Watson, and Denise Whelan.
* * *
And lastly, thank you to Kelli Ann Morgan at Inspire Creative Services for another fantastic cover. Mom, you're the best. It means so much that you believe in me. I love you. Special thanks also to my amazing, beautiful, special daughter, who I love more than words could ever express. You are my world, sweet girl, in all ways.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Rowe is the author of more than forty-five novels, and she's a four-time nominee for the RITA® award, the highest award in romance fiction. As an award-winning author, Stephanie has been touching readers' hearts and keeping them spellbound for more than a decade with her contemporary romances, romantic suspense, paranormal romances, and YA contemporary romances.
For the latest info on Stephanie and her books, connect with her on the web at:
www.stephanierowe.com
[email protected]
Unintentionally Mine Page 27