“Maybe.” The word slipped out, almost on its own. Her gaze flew to his, hoping he hadn’t noticed her moment of weakness. He was watching her with his little-boy grin. A smile slowly and deliberately spread across her face. Surprise flickered in his eyes, and something much more intense darkened them. He lowered his head toward hers.
An Excerpt from
WHEN I FIND YOU
“OKAY—NOW THAT I’VE got your attention, let me tell you about my day.” Walker resumed his pacing. “I’ve been up since four thirty this morning. I’ve saved your neck three times so far today, and for my trouble I’ve been cracked on the skull, threatened by a bear, and nearly drowned. We’re through doing it your way.” He stopped and pinned her with a warning glance. “I realize you’re confused and you’ve got no idea who I am, but there’s only one thing you need to know. I’m taking you out of here with me, and I don’t care if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out. Are we clear?”
She watched him without saying a word, looking anything but resigned to her fate.
Walker stared back, daring her to defy him.
She never even flinched.
“If you were me, what would you do?” Her strong, clear voice challenged him, while her eyes flashed with fire.
“If I were you, I’d find someone I could trust and stick with him until this is over.”
“And that’s you, I suppose? How do I know I can trust you?”
He made a show of looking around. “You don’t have a lot of options at the moment, but in case you haven’t noticed, I’m the one trying to keep you alive.” He reached for her elbow and pulled her to her feet. The cool breeze through his wet clothes chilled him, and he worried about her. Even with her arms wrapped around her just beneath her breasts, she still shook. No sense putting this off. She wasn’t magically going to start trusting him in the next few minutes, and they had to get moving.
He held up his jacket in front of her and took a deep breath. “Get out of those wet clothes and put this coat on.”
Her eyes widened in alarm and she stared at him, resting her hands on her hips in a stance that would have made him smile if she hadn’t been so serious. He held her gaze, expecting her to tell him to go to hell. He couldn’t afford to give on this issue so he kept talking. “We’ll head back to higher ground, start a fire, and get our clothes dried out. I have to get you warmed, and this is the only way I know to do it. We don’t have time to argue about this.”
“You can’t seriously expect me to . . . you’re wet and cold too. Wear your own damn coat.” She wrapped her arms around her waist again as though she could stop her trembling.
The fear in her expression tugged at his conscience and sent him searching for the words to reassure her he wasn’t going to jump her as soon as she undressed. The suspicious glare she fixed him with succeeded in hardening his resolve, and he lowered the coat, raised an eyebrow, and swept his gaze over her. “You can either get out of those clothes yourself, or I can help you.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“You’ll find there’s not too much I wouldn’t do.”
Darcy glowered at him a few more seconds, clearly wishing she had a tree branch in her hand. Then she sighed and dropped her gaze, blinking several times in quick succession, obviously determined he wouldn’t see her break down. So, the woman wasn’t as tough as she wanted him to believe. Her vulnerability unleashed a wave of protectiveness that washed over him and left him feeling like an ass.
He frowned. “I’m not the enemy.” He held the coat higher so it blocked his view of everything but her head and shoulders. “Hurry, we have to get moving.” Trembling visibly, her lips still maintained a bluish tint. She wasn’t out of danger yet.
About the Author
* * *
DIXIE LEE BROWN lives and writes in Central Oregon, inspired by what she believes is the most gorgeous scenery anywhere. She resides with two dogs and a cat, who make sure she never takes herself too seriously. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, movies, and trips to the beach.
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By Dixie Lee Brown
If You Only Knew
When I Find You
All or Nothing
Give in to your impulses . . .
Read on for a sneak peek at four brand-new
e-book original tales of romance from Avon Books.
Available now wherever e-books are sold.
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A COWBOY
By Emma Cane, Jennifer Ryan, and Katie Lane
SANTA, BRING MY BABY BACK
By Cheryl Harper
THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE CHRONICLES: GRACE
By Lori Wilde
DESPERATELY SEEKING FIREMAN
A BACHELOR FIREMEN NOVELLA
By Jennifer Bernard
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A COWBOY
by Emma Cane, Jennifer Ryan, and Katie Lane
What’s better than Christmas?
Christmas and Cowboys.
From Emma Cane, Jennifer Ryan, and Katie Lane come three wildly romantic holiday stories featuring snowstorms, proposals, a sleigh ride . . . and, yes, cowboys.
The Christmas Cabin by Emma Cane
Sandy and her five-year-old son, Nate, are Christmas tree–hunting when a snowstorm strikes and an old ranch hand points them to an abandoned cabin. Little does Sandy know, the hand sent cowboy Doug Thalberg to the same place. It’s a Christmas all of Valentine Valley will remember.
Can’t Wait by Jennifer Ryan
Before The Hunted Series began . . .
Though she is the woman of his dreams, Caleb Bowden knows his best friend’s sister, Summer Turner, is off limits. He won’t cross that line, which means Summer will just have to take matters into her own hands if she wants her cowboy for Christmas.
Baby It’s Cold Outside by Katie Lane
Alana Hale hits the internet dating jackpot when she finds Clint McCormick. He’s sensitive and responsible—not to mention wealthy. When he invites her to spend the holidays on his family’s ranch, she readily accepts. But on the way there, a blizzard strands her with a womanizing rodeo cowboy who could change everything . . .
An Excerpt from
SANTA, BRING MY BABY BACK
by Cheryl Harper
A bride abandoned at the altar . . . just in time for Christmas? ’Tis the season for second chances at Cheryl Harper’s Elvis-themed Rock’n’Rolla Hotel.
There was something about Grace Andersen that made him want to help, even after decades of trying to guard his mother and her money against personalities and stories like hers.
He wouldn’t mind being Grace Andersen’s hero.
To avoid doing something stupid, Charlie turned to go but stopped when she added, “Oh, Charlie, could you do me a favor?”
She shuffled toward him, the rustle of the wedding dress sweeping the floor loud in the silence. “Could you unzip me? I thought I was going to dislocate a shoulder getting it zipped in the first place.” She turned and bent her head so that all Charlie could see was the smooth, pale skin of her shoulders and the loose dark hairs that tickled her neck.
When he didn’t move quickly enough, she turned her head to look at him over one perfect shoulder.
Remembering to breathe became a struggle again.
He forced himself to step closer. He grasped the zipper with one hand and slid the other under the fabric. The zipper made a quiet hiss as it slid down the curve of her back, every centimeter showing more beautiful skin.
And out of the blue he wondered if unzipping Grace Andersen would ever get old. Finished, he took two steps away to keep from smoothing his hands over her shoulders like he wanted, or tracing a finger down her spine just to see goose bumps.
She turned her head. “Thanks.”
As he pulled the door closed behind him, Charlie tried to remember the last time he’d seen anyone as pretty as she was in real li
fe. Never. But she wasn’t his type. He preferred career women who wore glasses and looked like they could reel off stock prices or legal precedents. He liked women with sharp minds and sturdy savings. He’d had enough excitement growing up with Willodean McMinn Holloway Luttrell Jackson. Now all he wanted was a comfortable home, an easy, companionable, stable relationship, and maybe a baby to keep things interesting. Maybe.
Grace Andersen looked like . . . magic.
He propped his hands on his hips and shook his head as he looked out at the guitar-shaped pool that was covered for the season.
Magic? He hadn’t been in the hotel for a full twenty-four hours and already his mind was going. Something about being that close to her had melted it. But Grace Andersen was just a woman. She’d been left at the altar but didn’t seem too broken up about it. He hoped her new plan, whatever it was, included checking out of the hotel immediately. Beautiful Grace Andersen might have the ability to wreck his goals along with his logic if she stayed.
An Excerpt from
THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE CHRONICLES: GRACE
by Lori Wilde
(Originally appeared in the print anthology The Christmas Cookie Collection)
New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde returns to Twilight, Texas, for another delightful holiday installment of her Christmas Cookie Chronicles. And this time, a young couple are thrilled to expect the greatest gift of all: a new baby!
The perfect Christmas starts with the perfect tree . . .
Flynn MacGregor Calloway put a palm to her aching back, wrapped her other arm around her pregnant belly, canted her head, and studied the spindly-branched, lopsided Scotch pine. After much wrestling and a few choice words, she’d managed to get it set up in a corner of the living room in the cottage she shared with her husband, Jesse.
She’d wanted to surprise him, so she’d waited until after the morning wedding of Jesse’s father, Sheriff Hondo Crouch, and his bride, Patsy Cross, before she’d slipped down to the Christmas tree lot and, using Jesse’s pickup truck, drove the tree home. Jesse had volunteered to drive the newlyweds to DFW airport to catch a plane bound for a Hawaii honeymoon, so he had taken their sedan because three people and luggage fit in it better, giving Flynn plenty of time to get it done.
The glow from the icicle lights dangling on the eaves outside slanted through the window and shone through some of the more meager limbs.
Okay, so it wasn’t quite a Charlie Brown tree, but it was close and clearly not what Maven Styles, the author of How to Host the Perfect Christmas, had in mind when she declared that an impeccable holiday began with the perfect tree.
Then again, Maven Styles probably wasn’t on a newlywed student’s tight budget that required her to wait for Christmas Eve, when they marked down the trees. Flynn had picked this one up for five dollars, and she was proud of her bargain. Maybe not proud, but it was a real tree, not artificial, and seven feet tall. She should get points for that, right? All it needed were a few decorations to spiff it up.
She couldn’t regret cutting corners. The baby had been a surprise, a very welcome surprise to be sure, but their finances had taken an added hit because of it. Between scraping together money for her college tuition, the cost of rebuilding Jesse’s motorcycle shop after the fire, exorbitant health insurance for the self-employed, and getting ready for the baby’s arrival, they hadn’t much money left to spend on holiday celebrations. Their situation was a temporary setback, she knew that, but part of her couldn’t help feeling wistful that their last Christmas with just the two of them was going to be as sparse as that scraggly Scotch pine.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she scolded. Plenty of people have it much worse.
By tightly pinching pennies all year and keeping an eagle eye out for sales, she’d managed to save just enough to buy Jesse a new leather jacket to replace the one he’d worn since high school. She couldn’t wait to give it to him on Christmas morning. For now, it was wrapped and stowed in the trunk of their car. He’d had so little growing up that she ached to give him everything his heart desired. Which was why she’d checked How to Host the Perfect Christmas out of the library, hoping she could pick up a few pointers.
A cardboard box filled with decorations from her childhood sat on the floor. Flynn peeled back the tape and opened the flaps. Her mother had had the habit of either buying or making one special ornament to commemorate each Christmas.
As she removed them from the box, each decoration stirred a memory—the candy canes made out of bread dough and shellacked (crumbling a bit now with age) that she and her younger sister, Carrie, had helped their mother bake in 1992. The twin wooden toy soldiers her mother’s best friend, Marva Bullock, had given her after the twins, Noah and Joel, were born; and the last ornament her mother had ever purchased, a delicate red glass ball inset with a tiny nativity scene.
Air stilled in her lungs. Although her family hadn’t known it at the time, the red glass ball represented the last perfect Christmas before her mother had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Tears misted her eyes. Oh, Mama. You’ll never know your grandchildren. With a knuckle, she wiped away the tears. Should she put the ornament on the tree? It would stir painful memories every time she looked at it. And yet the ornament was a shining reminder of that one perfect Christmas when her family was last together and whole.
An Excerpt from
DESPERATELY SEEKING FIREMAN
A Bachelor Firemen Novella
by Jennifer Bernard
From USA Today bestseller Jennifer Bernard comes the steamy story of a sexy bachelor fireman and the woman who will turn his life around.
Wayside Chapel, San Gabriel, California
The groom’s side of the aisle was packed with an astonishingly high number of gorgeous men. Nita Moreno, standing near Melissa McGuire—soon to be Melissa Brody—surveyed the pews with widening eyes. There was enough testosterone in the building to fuel a small nation’s army. Enough handsome, manly faces to fill an issue of Playgirl. Enough brawny muscles to . . .
Oops. Busted. From across the aisle, two steps behind Captain Brody, a pair of amused, tiger-striped eyes met hers. An unusual mixture of gold and green, surrounded by thick black eyelashes, they would have made their owner look feminine if he weren’t one solid hunk of hard-packed male. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. Even in this context—the so-called Bachelor Firemen crowding the wedding of their revered fire captain—he stood out. First there was that breath-taking physique. Then there was his face, a study in contrasts. His features were so strong they almost qualified as harsh. Firm jaw, uncompromising cheekbones. A man’s man . . . until one looked into those golden eyes, or noticed that he possessed the most beautiful mouth Nita had ever seen on a man.
She narrowed her own eyes and met him look for look. Hey, she wasn’t checking out the available men. She had one of her own. Very deliberately, she let her gaze roam to the bride’s side of the aisle and settle on Bradford Maddox the Fourth. Hedge fund operator, family scion, possessor of a killer business instinct and an only-slightly-receding hairline, he was hers, and she could still scarcely believe it. Maybe soon she and Bradford would be making their way down an aisle like this. Out of unconscious habit, she took the inside of her cheek between her teeth and worried it at. She loved Bradford, and she knew he felt the same. He must.
Bradford, who seemed lost in thought, startled when he realized she was looking adoringly at him. He gave her a faint smile, then pressed his finger to his ear. Lovely. He wasn’t lost in thought, he was listening to his Bluetooth. She sighed, telling herself to let it go. It came with the territory when you dated a hotshot financier. Of course he couldn’t focus his entire attention on the wedding of two people he didn’t even know.
The right side of her body felt suddenly warm, and she realized the man across the aisle was still watching her, as if she fascinated him.
Really? She fascinated him? That seemed unlikely. She raised a questioning
eyebrow at him. He smiled, the expression transforming his face from the inside out. Goodness, the man was gorgeous, in a totally different way from Bradford. Dark instead of blond, tough instead of charming. Virile and primitive, the kind of man who would toss you over his shoulder and have his way with you.
He jerked his chin at her, as if signaling her to meet him in the chancel.
She frowned at him, scolding. Excuse me? How inappropriate.
He did it again, more urgently this time.
What did the man want? She lifted her hands, palms up—a frustrated question—as he mouthed something to her.
“Bouquet.”
Aw, crap.
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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.
Excerpt from All or Nothing copyright © 2013 by Dixie Brown.
Excerpt from When I Find You copyright © 2013 by Dixie Brown.
Excerpt from Santa, Bring My Baby Back copyright © 2013 by Cheryl Harper.
Excerpt from The Christmas Cookie Chronicles: Grace copyright © 2013 by Laurie Vanzura.
Excerpt from Desperately Seeking Fireman copyright © 2013 by Jennifer Bernard.
IF YOU ONLY KNEW. Copyright © 2014 by Dixie Brown. 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, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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