Take Me Tender
Page 29
Except Ren wasn't, he thought, closing his eyes. He was seven years older and back in the day, he'd had little contact with her. And no man who was practically a brother to a woman would be experiencing this unsettling and powerful surge of raw horniness every time he looked at her.
Maybe he should have gotten laid more often in Moscow.
What warned him next, he couldn't say. But he opened his eyes in time to see a couple of scruffy young men summiting the ten-foot wall that separated Gwen's cottage from the narrow, one-lane road that led to the compound. Cilla still remained in her ray of sun, unaware of the strangers invading her bucolic moment right behind her back.
A wave of protectiveness welled in Ren's chest and he started toward her at a run. "Gotta go, Payne," he told his brother. "But just so you know, Cilla's no sister to me."
End of Excerpt
Buy Light My Fire (Rock Royalty Book 1)
Buy Love Her Madly (Rock Royalty Book 2)
Buy Break on Through (Rock Royalty Book 3)
Buy Touch Me (Rock Royalty Book 4)
Christie Ridgway’s Book List
Take Me Tender (Billionaire’s Beach Book 1)
Take Me Forever (Billionaire’s Beach Book 2)
Take Me Home (Billionaire’s Beach Book 3)
Light My Fire (Rock Royalty Book 1)
Love Her Madly (Rock Royalty Book 2)
Break on Through (Rock Royalty Book 3)
Touch Me (Rock Royalty Book 4)
Wishful Sinful (Rock Royalty Book 5) coming in September 2015!
Must Love Mistletoe (Holiday Duet Book 1)
Not Another New Year's (Holiday Duet Book 2)
First Comes Love (In Hot Water Book 1)
Then Comes Marriage (In Hot Water Book 2)
The Thrill of It All
Out on a Limb (novella)
Take My Breath Away (Cabin Fever Book 1)
Make Me Lose Control (Cabin Fever Book 2)
Can’t Fight This Feeling (Cabin Fever Book 3)
Beach House No. 9 (Beach House No. 9 Book 1)
Bungalow Nights (Beach House No. 9 Book 2)
The Love Shack (Beach House No. 9 Book 3)
Still the One
Always Mine
Forever Yours
About the Author
Christie Ridgway is the author of over forty-five novels of contemporary romance. All her books are both sexy and emotional and tell about heroes and heroines who learn to believe in the power of love. A USA Today bestseller, Christie is a six-time RITA finalist and has won best contemporary romance of the year and career achievement awards from Romantic Times Book Reviews.
A native of California, Christie now resides in the southern part of the state with her family. Inspired by the beaches, mountains, and cities that surround her, she writes tales of sunny days and steamy nights. For a complete list of books, excerpts, and news on the latest going on with Christie:
Visit Christie’s website
Meet up with her on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter
Sign up for Christie’s Newsletter
The Malibu Mystique
What is it about this stretch of shoreline (27 miles was the original designation, but when the city was incorporated in 1991, the boundaries include 21 miles) that gives it such star quality?
It was originally settled by the Chumash tribe of Native Americans. They called it a name that means “the surf sounds loudly” that became “Malibu.”
Then the Spanish arrived, and a 13,000 acre land grant eventually passed to Frederick Hastings Rindge in 1891. He and his wife guarded the place and their privacy, employing guards to discourage trespassers and fighting in court to keep out a railroad line and a road that ultimately became the Pacific Coast Highway.
The Rindge home, now knows as the Adamson house, is on the National Register of Historic Places as well as being designated a California Historical Landmark. There you can see some of the tiles that were made at the Malibu Potteries that May K. Rindge established to avoid selling off any land. The decorative tiles produced there are installed in many Los Angeles-area public buildings and Beverly Hills homes. A fire destroyed the business in 1931 and money problems forced Rindge to sell much of her land, beginning with the area known as Malibu Colony, where she allowed a few rich Hollywood stars to build homes.
Today the Malibu Colony is a gated community with multi-million dollar homes on small lots. There are other areas of the coastline and canyons and hills that provide beautiful views and give off that special Malibu vibe. Often these homes are hidden behind high walls. However, like all California beaches, Malibu beaches are technically public land below the mean high tide line. Along the Pacific Coast Highway, there are public access ways (often between two incredible mansions) that allow visitors admittance to the sand and ocean.
There are large public beaches (Zuma Beach, Surfrider Beach) that are most easily accessible with adjacent parking.
Lots of movies, commercials, TV shows, and videos have been set in and around Malibu, from the Gidget movies of the 1960s, to the TV series Two and a Half Men. In the Iron Man movies, Tony Stark’s primary residence is in Malibu, on Point Dume.
Still, what is the “it” factor that continues to attract people? "Malibu," said Joan Rivers, "is the only place in the world where you can lie on the sand and look at the stars—or vice versa." And of course, it’s not sheltered from natural disaster, as it has four seasons that some say are “earthquake, fire, flood, and drought.” Judge John M. Merrick once said "Living in Malibu is like having an affair with a wild and beautiful woman."
Celebrities say they like the peaceful, small town feeling and the privacy they can find in a beautiful coastal setting. For any of us, though, the warm sunshine, the golden sand, and the endless Pacific with its dramatic waves make this a memorable location…one very worthy of stories of passion and romance.
Table of Contents
TAKE ME TENDER
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Epilogue
Excerpt – LIGHT MY FIRE
Christie Ridgway’s Book List
About the Author
The Malibu Mystique