Kissing Santa, A Clover Park Novella (Clover Park, Book 4) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (15 page)

Reader Advisory
: Contains references to a past sexual assault

Excerpt:

Lamenting my lack of AAA membership, I trudged back to the driver’s side door and climbed in. My best friend Heather had given me a heated seat pad for the trip. I nestled into the welcoming warmth and fished my insurance card out of my wallet. I was pretty sure my insurance company provided roadside assistance. But would it make my rates go up if I used it? Surely not. I hadn’t gotten in an accident. It was just a stupid flat. Living in down-town Philly on a social worker’s salary, I could barely afford to keep the beast in Valvoline oil and low-grade gasoline. Higher insurance rates were out of the question.

Hoping for the best, I dialed the 800 number. A sharp knock on the window made me yelp.

My phone clattered into the inaccessible abyss between my seat and the console. I’d lost countless spare change, Chap-Sticks and morsels of Chex Mix to that abyss. If anyone ever plumbed its depths, they’d be sure to find fossilized remains of lost species of gas station foods and thriving colonies of automotive dust bunnies.

And my cell phone. Crap.

I turned the full force of my scowl on the perpetrator, forgetting to be fearful until the height and breadth of the person registered.

A man. Crowding my window and blotting out the light of a faraway streetlamp. Panic made a fist around my heart.

I slammed down the door lock with one hand while feeling for my cell phone with the other. Duh. Empty cup holder. Nine-one-one was not an option.

Meanwhile, my eyeballs strained to make out the man’s face, and I realized why it was so difficult. The wide brim of a tan state trooper hat left all but the man’s square chin and firm mouth, which was surrounded by five-o’clock-plus-two-extra-days stubble, in shadow. That mouth was as unforgiving as rebar. When it moved with a glass-muffled “Everything all right?” it offered a glimpse of slightly crooked lower teeth.

I knew those teeth. That mouth. That chin with the faintest of dimples in the center.

It had been so long.

The knot of panic in my chest simultaneously unwound and morphed into mortification. Of all the people I’d planned to avoid on this trip, Cole Plankitt topped the list.

Check out
Cole in my Stocking
.

Find Jessi at:

www.jessigage.com

Blog: 
http://jessigage.wordpress.com/

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The Clover Park Series

THE OPPOSITE OF WILD
(Book 1)

DAISY DOES IT ALL
(Book 2)

BAD TASTE IN MEN
(Book 3)

KISSING SANTA
(Book 4, A Novella)

The Clover Park STUDS Series

Coming in 2015

STUD UNLEASHED: THE PREQUEL
(Book 1, A Novella)

STUD UNLEASHED: BARRY
(Book 2)

STUD UNLEASHED: DAVE
(Book 3)

STUD UNLEASHED: WILL
(Book 4)

Acknowledgments

Big hugs to my family, who cheer me on and pepper me with lots of future book ideas. My brain and heart are so full! Thank you to Tessa, Pauline, Mimi, Shannon, Kim, Maura, and Jenn for all you do. Virtual chocolate to all my readers! I hope you have as much fun reading these stories as I do writing them!

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks are not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Kissing Santa: © 2014 by Kylie Gilmore

Excerpt from
Stud Unleashed: The Prequel
© 2014 by Kylie Gilmore

Digital Edition 1.2

Cover design by The Killion Group

Published by: Extra Fancy Books

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the writer, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN-10: 0991266560

ISBN-13:
978-0-9912665-6-2

About the Author

Kylie Gilmore was lucky enough to discover romance novels at a young age as they were strewn all over the house (thanks, Mom!). She writes quirky, tender romance with a solid dose of humor. Her Clover Park series features the O’Hare brothers, three guys you’d definitely have a drink with and maybe a little more. Look for her new spinoff series, The Clover Park STUDS Series, in early 2015.

Kylie lives in New York with her family, two cats, and a nutso dog. When she’s not writing, wrangling kids, or dutifully taking notes at writing conferences, you can find her flexing her muscles all the way to the high cabinet for her secret chocolate stash.

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