Desperately Seeking Fireman (16 page)

Julie blew out a sigh, wondering—­again—­why she'd hired her silly cousin in the first place. Because family was family, that's why.

“Fine. Send him in.”

Ten seconds later, six-­foot-­two of Texan filled her door. Tawny hair, caramel eyes, tanned cheekbones.

Whoa
.

 

An Excerpt from

A Billionaire Bachelors Club Novel

by Monica Murphy

The boys of
New York Times
bestselling author Monica Murphy's sexy Billionaire Bachelors Club are back, and this time, they're mixing business with pleasure. Poised to snatch up Marina Knight's real estate empire, sexy tycoon Gage Emerson is on the verge of making an enemy for life—­even if he can make her melt with a single kiss! But when Gage discovers that this alluring creature is the key to his latest acquisition, he must get to know the fierce woman willing to face him down—­as she steadily steals his heart.

 

“T
his is a huge mistake.”

“What is?” He settles those big hands of his on my waist. His long fingers span outward, gripping me tight, and I feel like I've been seized by some uncontrollable force, one I can't fight off no matter how hard I try.

That force would be Gage.

“I already told you.” God, he's exasperating. It's like he doesn't even listen to a word I say. “Us. Together. There will never be an ‘us' or a ‘together,' got it?”

“Got it, boss.” He's not really listening, I can tell. He's pulled away slightly so that he can stare down at me, enraptured by the sight of his hands on my body. A shock of brown hair tinged with gold tumbles down across his forehead, and I resist the urge to reach out and push it away from his face.

Just barely.

He slides his hands around me until they settle at the small of my back, his fingertips barely grazing my backside. I'm wearing jeans, yet it's like I can feel his touch directly on my skin. Heat rushes over me, making my head spin, and I let go of a shaky exhalation.

“We shouldn't do this,” I whisper, pressing my lips together when I feel his hands slide over my butt. Oh my God, his touch feels so good.

What the hell am I
thinking
, letting him touch me like this? It's wrong. Us together is wrong.

So why does it feel so right?

“Do what?” His question sounds innocent enough, but his touch isn't. He pulls me into him so that I can feel the unmistakable ridge of his erection pressing against my belly, and a gasp escapes me. He's big. Thick. My thighs shake at the thought of him entering me.

I need to put a stop to this, and quick.

“I don't think we sh—­”

Gage presses his index finger to my lips, silencing me. I stare up at him, entranced by the glow in his eyes, the way he stares at my mouth. Like he's a starving man dying to devour me.

Anticipation thrums through my veins. I should walk away now. Right now, before we take this any further. We're standing in the doorway of the bakery for God's sake. Anyone could see us, not that many ­people are roaming the downtown sidewalks at this time of night. He's got one hand sprawled across my ass, and he's tracing my lips with his finger like he wants to memorize the shape of them.

And I'm . . . parting my lips so I can suck on his fingertip.

His eyes darken as he slips his finger deeper into my mouth. I close my lips around him, sucking, tasting his salty skin with a flick of my tongue. A rough, masculine sound rumbles from his chest as his hand falls away from my lips. He drifts his fingers down my chin, then my neck, and my breath catches in my throat.

“Gage.” I whisper his name, confused. Is it a plea for him to stop or for him to continue? I don't know. I don't know what I want from him.

“Scared?” he asks, his lids lifting so that he can pin me with his gorgeous green eyes. They're glittering in the semidarkness, full of so much hunger, and my body responds, pulsating with need.

I try my best to offer a snide response, but the truth comes out instead: “Terrified.”

He lowers his head. I can feel his breath feather across my lips, and I part them in anticipation, eager for his kiss. “That makes two of us,” he whispers.

Just before he settles his mouth on mine.

 

An Excerpt from

by Darlene Panzera

For fans of Debbie Macomber comes a special holiday-­themed installment of Darlene Panzera's popular Cupcake Diaries series.

 

A
ndi glanced at the number on the caller ID, picked up the phone, and tried to mimic the deep, sultry voice of a sexy siren. “Hello, Creative Cupcakes.”

“What if I told you I'd like to order a Mistletoe Magic cupcake with a dozen delicious kisses on top?”

She smiled at the sound of Jake's voice. “Mistletoe Magic?”

“I was guaranteed that the person who eats it will receive a dozen kisses by midnight.”

“What if I told you,” Andi said, playing along, “that you don't have to eat a cupcake to get a kiss and the magic will begin the minute you walk through the front door?”

Jake chuckled. “I'm on my way.”

Andi's sister Kim and best friend Rachel watched her with amused expressions on their faces.

“I hope Mike and I still flirt with each other after
we're
married,” Rachel said, her singsong voice a tease. “But the name Mistletoe Magic isn't half bad. Maybe we
should
make a red velvet cupcake with a Hershey's Kiss and miniature holly leaf sprinkles on top.”

Kim finished boxing a dozen Maraschino cherry cupcakes and handed them to the customer at the counter. “As if we don't have enough sales already.”

“Sales are great,” Andi agreed. “We've booked orders for eighteen holiday parties. Now if I could only figure out what to get Jake for Christmas, life would be perfect.”

Rachel rang up the next customer's order. “Mike and I decided our Hollywood honeymoon will be our gift to each other.”

“Are you serious?” Kim picked up a pastry bag from the back worktable. “You—­the woman who can't walk three feet past a store window without buying anything—­are not going to get Mike a Christmas gift? Not even a little something?”

“It
is
hard,” Rachel admitted. “But I promised him I wouldn't. I also promised I wouldn't go overboard with spending on the wedding arrangements.”

“You could always have a small, simple wedding like Jake and I did,” Andi suggested.

Rachel's red curls bounced back and forth as she shook her head. “I already booked the Liberty Theater for the reception. I know it's expensive, but the palace-­like antique architecture was so beautiful I couldn't help myself. I've always dreamed of—­”

“Being Cinderella?” Kim joked.

“I
do
want a Cinderella wedding,” Rachel crooned. “I figure I can bake my own cake and skimp on other wedding details to stay within our budget.”

Andi didn't think Rachel knew the first thing about staying within a budget but decided it was best not to argue. Instead she turned toward her younger sister. “Kim, what are you getting Nathaniel for Christmas?”

“I'm not sure.” Kim averted her gaze. “Maybe I should just get him a new set of luggage tags.”

Rachel frowned. “That's not very romantic.”

“No, but it's practical,” Andi said, coming to Kim's defense. “Nathaniel's probably getting her the same thing.”

“He planned to fly to his family's home in Sweden this Christmas,” Kim confessed, her dark brows drawing together. “But I told him I couldn't go, and he didn't want to go without me.”

“Of course you can't go!” Rachel exclaimed, bracing her hands against the marble counter. “I need you to be my bridesmaid!”

“It would have been awkward spending Christmas with his family anyway,” Kim said, piping vanilla icing over the cupcakes. “It's not like I'm part of his family, or like we're even engaged. In fact, I don't know what we are.”

“You two are great together,” Andi encouraged. “You both are artistic, enjoy nature, and love to travel.”

Kim nodded, then looked up, her expression earnest. “But what
else
? I'm beginning to wonder if I should tell Nathaniel to go to Sweden without me.”

“And miss my wedding? But you'll need a dance partner at the reception,” Rachel reminded her. “He wouldn't go and leave you stranded without a date on Christmas Eve, would he?”

Kim hesitated. “I don't know.”

The bells on the front door jingled as a man in his late forties entered the shop with a briefcase in hand.

“Are you the owners of Creative Cupcakes?” he asked, looking hopeful.

Andi stepped forward and smiled. “Yes, we are.”

The man placed his briefcase at the end of the counter and sprung the latch. “Then I have an offer I think you might like.”

“What kind of offer?” Rachel asked, anticipation lighting her faintly freckled face.

The man handed them each a set of papers a half-­inch thick. “An offer to buy Creative Cupcakes.”

 

An Excerpt from

by T. J. Kline

Sydney Thomas wants nothing more than to train rodeo horses and hopes becoming a rodeo queen will help her make the contacts she seeks. She is thrilled when Mike Findley hires her for her dream job as a horse trainer . . . until she meets Scott Chandler, the other half of Findley Brothers stock contractors. He's arrogant, judgmental, and, unfortunately, unbelievably sexy.

 

S
cott gave her a rakish, lopsided grin. “Oh, that's right. You can outride me.” His brow arched as he articulated her words back to her. “Any day of the week.”

It took everything in her to try to ignore how good looking this infuriating man was. He towered over her—­well over six feet tall—­and the black cowboy hat that topped a mop of dark brown hair, barely curling at his collar, gave him a devilish appearance. With sensuous lips and a square jaw, his deeply tanned face reflected raw male sexuality. She wasn't sure if he was actually as muscular as his broad shoulders seemed to indicate due to his unruly western shirt, but his jeans left no imagining necessary when it came to his sculpted thighs. And his jet black eyes almost unnerved her. Those eyes were so dark that Sydney felt she would drown if she continued to meet his gaze.

So much for ignoring his good looks, she chided herself. “Give me a chance out there today to prove it.”

“I don't see why she can't run them, Scott.” Jake must have decided that it was time to break up the showdown with his two cents. “She is certainly experienced enough, more than most of the girls you let run flags.”

Scott glared at Jake before turning back to Sydney. She caught Jake's conspiratorial wink and decided that she liked this old cowboy. Scott would be hard pressed to find a reason to deny her request now that Jake had sold him out.

“Fine, you can do both. But, if anything goes wrong, if a steer so much as takes too long in the arena, you're finished. Got it, Miss Thomas?” The warning note in his voice was unmistakable.

Sydney flashed a dazzling smile. “Call me Sydney, and it's no problem.” She clutched her shoulder. “Unless I'm unable to hold the flags because someone ran me into a fencepost.”

His look told her he didn't appreciate her sense of humor. “I mean it. Rodeo starts at 10 sharp. Be down here at 9:30, ready to go.”

A
s the sassy cowgirl walked away, Scott shook his head. “What in the world possessed you to open your mouth, Jake?”

“Aw, Scott, she'll do fine. Besides, you did run her down with Wiley at the gate. You kinda owed her one.”

Scott watched Sydney head for the gate, taking in her small waist, the spread of her hips in her red pants, and her lean, denim-­encased legs. That woman was all curves, moving with the grace of a jungle cat. With her full, pouting lips and those golden eyes, it certainly wouldn't be painful to look at her all day. “I guess.”

Scott mounted Wiley and headed to change into his clean shirt and show chaps but couldn't seem to shake the image of Sydney Thomas from his mind. He knew that she'd been attracted to him—­he'd seen it in her blush—­but he'd had enough run-­ins with ostentatious rodeo queens over the years, including his ex-­fiancée, to know that they simply wanted to tame a cowboy. It was doubtful that this one was any different, although she did have a much shorter temper than most. He chuckled as he recalled how the gold in her eyes seemed to spark when she was irritated. He wondered if her eyes flamed up whenever she was passionate. Scott shook his head to clear it of visions of the sexy spitfire. No time for that. He had a rodeo to get started.