Cowboy Firefighter Christmas Kiss will be released in November. I’m so excited about it. Here’s
what Publishers Weekly said: “With a
little help from Fernando the bull, an overabundance of sweetness, and a
healthy dose of mischief, this Christmas story is certainly memorable.”
Excerpt from Cowboy
Firefighter Christmas Kiss
As Ivy
Bryant stood on her tiptoes with arms raised to toss decorative tinsel over
deer antlers on the wall above her head, she heard the side door that led to
the Wildcat Hall’s beer garden open and boots hit the floor with a determined
stride.
“We’re closed!” she hollered, not
bothering to look over her shoulder. “Come back next week.”
“You look like you could use a little
help,” a man said.
She
froze with her hands in the air as she felt the deep male voice with that
melodic, slow cadence of a born-and-bred Texan strike her body and go deep, as
if she’d been pierced by a flaming arrow. Talk about red-hot. She tried to
shrug off the heat, but the chair shifted under her, making her sway.
“Easy does it,” he said. “Chairs have a way of
pretending they’re bulls sometimes.”
“Bulls?” She didn’t know whether to laugh at the joke
or appreciate he’d tried to make her feel better about almost toppling to the
floor. Still and all, if she’d known she was going to have company, she’d have
put on something besides formfitting yoga pants and top in hot pink with black
trim. He was getting an eyeful.
“In my case, I always tried to pretend bulls were
chairs.”
“How’d that work out?” She eyed the antlers, mind half
on her next throw and half on the amusing man behind her.
“About like you can imagine.” He sighed, as if life
had been unfair. “I finally had to give up bulls for chairs.”
“I bet the bulls were grateful.” She definitely wanted
to see the face that went with the voice, but she wanted to finish her task
more.
“Yeah…but I’ve broken a few chairs.”
“Maybe even one of the chairs here in the honkytonk.”
“Might be. Looks like your chair is keeping
an uneasy peace with the floor
“That’s one way of putting it.” She rose to her
tiptoes again, trying one last time to get the tinsel to disobey the laws of
gravity.
“Let me help.” He spanned her waist with large hands
and lifted her so she could easily reach the antlers.
She caught her breath in surprise at his strength—and
his boldness. But she wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth. She quickly
twined the antlers with red tinsel until they looked festive for the holidays.
“Pretty,” he said.
She shivered in response. What had gotten
into her? She should be struggling to get away. Instead, he was revving her up
with his hot hands.
“Got any more tinsel to put up?” he asked
in a deep voice gone husky. “I could hold you all day and into next week.”
“I suggest you put me down before you get
into trouble.”
“If you’re the one handing out trouble,
I’d wait in line to get it.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle because he
was laying it on thick in that teasing way Texas men would do to get them out
of problems with women. “Better put me down before your arms give out.”
“Not a chance. You’re light as a feather.”
She laughed harder. “Guess some women
would fall for that one. What are you selling?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m here to help you,
but you might consider it selling to you, too.” He gently set her down so her
feet were steady on the floor, and then he stepped back.
She turned to face him—and felt her breath
catch in her throat at the tall hunk of a cowboy. He wore pressed Wranglers
that accentuated his long legs and narrow hips, with a wide leather belt
sporting a huge rodeo belt buckle. His blue-and-white-striped, pearl-snap shirt
tucked neatly into the waistband of his jeans emphasized the width of his
shoulders and breadth of his chest. Blond haired. Blue eyed. Square jawed. Full
lipped. He looked as if he’d been made to dazzle—and she was suddenly and
breathtakingly susceptible to every single one of his charms.
“Whatever you’re selling, I think I’m
buying.” She spoke the words with a teasing lilt in her voice and a mischievous
smile on her face. Still, she meant it. And he probably knew it because he was
definitely heartbreaker material. How many women had already fallen to his
charms and been left in the dust? She didn’t intend to be a notch on his belt,
but if she’d known leaving the city for the country paid off so well in eye
candy, she might’ve followed her sister sooner.
He chuckled at her words and held out his hand with a
thick, muscular wrist that came from controlling thousand-pound-plus animals.
“Slade Steele. If you haven’t heard of me, maybe you’re aware of the Chuckwagon
Café and Steele Trap Ranch. Family businesses. I’m not just any guy off the
street.”
“You’re definitely not just any guy.” She
slipped her hand into his big one and felt him gently enclose her fingers. “Smart
guy to throw a few compliments my way. Guess you’re more than a pretty face.”
She tried to keep the teasing going, so their interaction stayed on a light
note, but he was still holding her hand and she wasn’t pulling away and his
eyes were heating up to a blazing blue fire.
“Nothing but the truth.”
“My sister Fern is the star.” She tried to tug her hand
away, but he held on another long moment, nodding as if deciding something or
conveying something or accepting something before finally letting go.
He grinned with a gleam in his eyes,
revealing teeth white against the tan of his skin. “Yeah, she is that…but you
make the earth move.”
“Oh my.” She returned his grin while
fanning her face with one hand in that old Southern way, as if he was too hot
to handle. “You really do want to sell me something, don’t you?”
“How am I doing?”
“Not bad.”
Smokin' Hot Cowboys
series
A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas (Book 1)
Blazing Hot Cowboy (Book 2)
A Very Cowboy Christmas (Book 3)
Hot for a Cowboy (Book 4)
A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas (Book 1)
Blazing Hot Cowboy (Book 2)
A Very Cowboy Christmas (Book 3)
Hot for a Cowboy (Book 4)
Cowboy Firefighter Christmas Kiss (Book 5)
Kim Redford is the
acclaimed, bestselling author of Western romance novels. She grew up in Texas
with cowboys, cowgirls, horses, cattle, and rodeos for inspiration. She divides
her time between homes in Texas and Oklahoma, where she’s a rescue cat wrangler
and horseback rider—when she takes a break from her keyboard. Visit her at http://www.kimredford.com
No comments:
Post a Comment