His shoulders moved in a huge, satisfied sigh. He held on to her tight, and she held on to him.
And she breathed in and he breathed out.
They had been kissing passionately for five or ten minutes when Taking Care of Business erupted from J. T.’s phone.
“Gotta take this,” he told her apologetically. He kept one arm looped around her as he answered the call. “Hey Al.”
“Rebecca’s dropped out of the running. So that’s the end of that,” Al said briskly.
J. T. quickly pressed the phone to his chest and whispered, “Rebecca’s dropped out.” He’d told Britt about his truck. She’d told him about the toast video, because he miraculously hadn’t heard about it yet, and it actually made him blush.
But Al was still talking. J. T. raised the phone back to his ear.
“But it seems the producers saw that toast video from Nicasio’s wedding. It’s closing in on five million hits, you romantic son of a bitch. And they realize that you’re catnip to millions of women. They want you to fly in and read with Tara Gonzales instead. So it’s all about you, now, and they just have to cast the other lead. Check your e-mail for your flight numbers and boarding passes. We’ll have a car pick you up in about four hours.”
Tara Gonzales. Another big star, a fine actress, a smoldering brunette with a body like sin. She would be amazing in that role, too. She had a husband and three adorable kids and no history whatsoever with J. T.
J. T. smiled slowly. “Sounds great, Al.”
“I’ll take you to lunch while we’re there.”
“Natch,” J. T. said, and ended the call.
He stared at Britt in utter bemusement.
“Your expression says you have some amazing news,” Britt prompted.
“So . . . like I said, Rebecca dropped out. But because of that video of the toast, and all the publicity around it, they want me to test with Tara Gonzales tomorrow. The part is mine. Now it’s all about me.”
She gave a short, amazed laugh. “Tara Gonzales? That troll?” she teased. “Actually, I love her.”
“So does her husband.” He kissed her.
“Wanna come with me? We’d be back in a couple of days,” he murmured, when they came up for air.
She touched his face. “You go do this. It’d leave Sherrie and Glenn in the lurch if I do. Next time. I promise. I’ll be fine, J. T., I swear. I’ll miss you, but I can’t wait to see you in this movie. And to buy a dress at Kayla’s boutique for the premiere.”
He studied her face as if to ascertain the absolute truth of this. Checking to see if she was, indeed, okay.
She loved him. She knew he loved her.
She knew pretty much what she’d just signed up for.
And she did trust him, and that was the honest-to-God truth.
But J. T.’s expression was a little somber. He was pensive about something.
“What do you want to do for four hours?” Britt asked him.
And then his eyes took on a portentous gleam. Some kind of lightbulb had just clicked on in his head.
She was pretty sure she knew the answer. She hoped, anyway.
But it was his turn to surprise her. “I think we should go for a hike.”
Once or twice a week, when they could get away alone, Glenn and Sherrie took a long hike in the cool of the evening, if it did cool down in the evening, which was no guarantee.
Their favorite hike was Full Moon Falls, because they could stop by the Eternity Oak to admire their initials. Glenn had carved them there with absolute unswerving conviction when the two of them were still in high school.
The scar was old and bold, and the tree, they liked to think, bore it proudly.
They stopped before it like a shrine.
And then Sherrie gasped. “Oh, my goodness. Look, honey. Brand-new initials up there on that branch. You can see they’ve just been carved. It’s a little raw.”
They moved in for a closer look.
BEL + JTM
2016
“Well, I’ll . . . be . . . damned,” she breathed. “That’s our Britt and John Tennessee McCord.”
Glenn whistled long and low. “Hooo-ly smokes.”
Sherrie stood on her toes and touched the newly carved initials gently, as if they were delicate and alive.
John Tennessee McCord had done it neatly and precisely, but then, he had carpentry skills.
“Glenn, you know how I always get goose bumps when something feels right?” Sherrie held out her arm to show him that she was covered in them.
“Sure. Like I got when I first laid eyes on you.”
She was the only one who knew how romantic and tenderhearted her husband was. He was forever saying things like that to her.
She smiled and looped her arm in his, and they moved on up the trail.
“You think Britt and J. T. will have a Hellcat Canyon wedding pretty soon?” she asked.
“Hope so. With that whole Hollywood crowd, sure would be good for business.”
Romantic and tenderhearted and practical.
“That right there, Glenn. What you said. That’s why I love you.”
Later that night, from his gate at the Sacramento airport, J. T. texted a photo to Franco Francone.
For once, it wasn’t his Emmy.
Instead, when Franco clicked it open, he saw Britt and J. T. standing right beneath their freshly carved initials on the Eternity Oak. J. T.’s arms were wrapped around her and her head was leaning back against his chest. They were wearing huge smiles.
She really loves me.
is what it said.
Franco, who was never going to tell J. T. that he was the one who’d recorded and posted that wedding toast video on YouTube, texted back
Good.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author JULIE ANNE LONG originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up (and she has the guitars and fringed clothing stuffed in the back of her closet to prove it), but writing was always her first love. Since hanging up her guitar for the computer keyboard, her books frequently top reader and critic polls and have been nominated for numerous awards, including the RITA®, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and the Quill, and reviewers have been known to use words like “dazzling,” “brilliant,” and “impossible to put down” when describing them. Julie lives in Northern California.
Visit Julie at www.julieannelong.com or www.facebook.com/AuthorJulieAnneLong.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
BY JULIE ANNE LONG
HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON
THE LEGEND OF LYON REDMOND
IT STARTED WITH A SCANDAL
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND IAN EVERSEA
IT HAPPENED ONE MIDNIGHT
A NOTORIOUS COUNTESS CONFESSES
HOW THE MARQUESS WAS WON
WHAT I DID FOR A DUKE
I KISSED AN EARL
SINCE THE SURRENDER
LIKE NO OTHER LOVER
THE PERILS OF PLEASURE
Coming Soon
WILD AT WHISKEY CREEK
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
HOT IN HELLCAT CANYON. Copyright © 2016 by Julie Anne Long. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieva
l system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition JUNE 2016 ISBN: 9780062397621
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062397614
Avon Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. and in Other Countries, Marca Registrada, Hecho en U.S.A.
Avon, Avon Books, and the Avon logo are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers.
HarperCollins® is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
FIRST EDITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Hot in Hellcat Canyon Page 34