The Rancher's Second Chance (22 page)
He thought he’d been living, thought he was whole, but he was wrong. Standing here, with Mel in his arms, he knew
this
was living. With each kiss, with each caress, he knew that
now
he was alive. He held her to him, his hands buried in her silky hair, his need to be close to her all-encompassing. Her hands climbed up his chest, every muscle clenching with response at her gentle touch. She fed his hunger with each kiss, and she breathed life back into his soul.
“I love you, Cole,” she whispered against his lips.
“I love you, too.”
“And you should also know you passed that hero test with flying colors, yet again.”
“Glad you think so,” he said, smiling against her hair. “I should probably let you know that I did lie about something.”
She pulled back, looking at him with a raised brow. “You?”
He nodded, resisting the urge to smile. “The exotic-dancing thing. There was no way I was ever going to let you do that. I was planning on walking into that place, giving them your name, and telling them that if they ever hired you I’d break their legs.”
Her mouth dropped open. For a second she looked outraged and then a mischievous smile tugged at her gorgeous mouth. “I should be saying that’s horrible, but uh…” She paused long enough to lick her lips and it sent a jolt of awareness through him. “Since we’re doing this complete honesty thing, I should probably tell you that’s kind of a turn-on.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “That’s good, because I know this little cabin not too far from here.” He buried his face in her neck, capturing the shiver that stole through her.
“So you take women up to this cabin of yours and seduce them?”
He grew serious and kissed her, long and deep, with all the love he felt for her. “Only you, Melanie. Only you.”
About the Author
Victoria James is a romance writer living near Toronto. She is mother to two young children, one very disorderly feline, and wife to her very own hero.
Victoria wrote her first book when she was ten years old—it was filled with betrayal, scandal, and all the deception a fifth-grader could dream up. She knew that one day when she “grew up,” she’d be a writer.
But first, Victoria attended Queen’s University and graduated with a degree in English Literature. She then earned a degree in Interior Design, got married, and opened her own business. After the birth of her first child, she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing.
Her dream of being a published romance author was realized by Entangled in 2012. Victoria is living her dream—staying home with her children and conjuring up happy endings for her characters.
Victoria would love to hear from her readers! You can visit her at
www.victoriajames.ca
or Twitter
@vicjames101
or send her an email at
[email protected]
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