I recently completed and submitted my thirtieth book. I'm celebrating by offering a taste from each one. This one kicks off my Love In Montana series with Tule's Montana Born. Chase Goodwin goes back to his hometown of Marietta and gets a second chance with Skye Wolcott, the wholesome girl who stole his heart in high school. Enjoy!
This is one of my favourite covers ever. If you like series, look for the titles for the rest of the Love In Montana series below the excerpt.
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Skye and Chase had an unspoken crush on each other in high school. They're getting their second chance and this is their first kiss.
“Can I do something, Skye? It’s not a come-on, I swear, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.” He moved into her space.
She swallowed and held her ground, but had the feeling of a groundhog being cast in the shadow of a low-flying hawk. “What?” she prompted.
He set firm hands on her arms and slowly drew her against the heat of his big body.
Indecision had her hands rising nervously between them, but her arms folded as his wrapped around her and he molded her into his hard shape. He even set a wide hand on the back of her head to urge her into resting her cheek against the warm hollow below his shoulder. She was barefoot so the top of her head barely reached his collarbone and his jaw rubbed against her hair while he smoothed his hands reassuringly all over her back.
It wasn’t an aggressive, sexual move. They’d shared some really personal things in the last few minutes and this was a sweet embrace to seal the connection.
It was something Terry would do.
That thought made her stiffen until she realize Chase was stiffening—
“Um—” she blurted, jerking away.
“Yeah, I really meant that to be just a hug.” He eased his hold but left his hands loosely resting on her hips, allowing enough space for her to look up and see his rueful grin. “Let that be proof you’re doing just fine at attracting a man.”
It was the kind of boost her crushed womanhood really, really needed. They hadn’t even kissed and he was hard? Her eyes began to sting and her heart rate skipped into an uncertain gallop.
“I desperately want to kiss you right now,” he said gruffly, one hand rising into her periphery, hesitating, then resting on the side of her neck.
He was giving her time to decide and she’d already made this decision. As he set a possessive hand over her throat and tilted her chin with his thumb, she lifted on tiptoes, meeting the crush of his mouth.
And it was brilliant. No hesitation on his part. The opposite. Mastery. Hunger. He knew exactly what he was doing and it took her apart at the first indrawn hiss of her breath. In fact, she could hardly keep up under the onslaught of sensations. He kissed with firm, assertive masculine want, carefully grinding their mouths together, spreading dampness so their lips slid deliciously and a rush of excitement poured through her, culminating in a flood of wet heat between her legs.
Her arms curled around the back of his neck instinctively, mashing her tingling breasts into the hardness of his chest and even though he held her so close and tight it almost hurt, she loved it. His hands moved on her back, digging into her muscles and sliding low, encouraging her as she leaned her straining, reaching body into his. He caught her bottom lip in a gentle bite and lashed the plumped flesh with his tongue, then released it and swept to soothe the flesh before he delved into her mouth, flicking and coaxing her to play her tongue against his.
Oh God, she could barely breathe, but they only broke away to switch sides and threw themselves into another famished kiss, one she returned from a place of instinct and passion. She knew she ought to be having some kinds of thoughts, but her brain totally shorted out, leaving her flashfiring with bursts of excitement and contractions in delicious pleasure points. This was how it was supposed to be. She understood now.
Except, just as she was giving herself over to the mindlessness of it, his hands tightened on her arms and he set her away, sucking a pained breath through his teeth as he said, “Dinner. We have to leave now or we might not get out of here at all.”
She looked at where her hands had trailed down to rest on his chest. Her trembling fingers rose and fell with his panting breaths. Her own lungs were gasping for oxygen while her head swam and giddy desire filled her.
Real desire. Crazy, let’s do it in the road desire.
His hands moved restlessly up and down her arms. “Skye? I could really use your help here, ‘cause much as we professional athletes have a reputation to uphold, I don’t usually sleep with a woman this fast. Dinner first, for sure.”
“You really want to, though, don’t you?” she asked with wonder, needing to work up the courage to lift her lashes and read his face.
His expression flickered with bafflement, then slow understanding dawned and finally softened to tenderness. “No one since Terry? Really?”
“Not even a date. I’m using you. I’m sorry.” She withdrew her touch, quirking a sheepish look up at him. “I need to get back in the game, Chase. Do you mind taking one for the team?”
His brows came together in pain at her metaphor, but an amused smirk danced around his mouth. “I don’t know, Skye. Seems like a helluva favor to ask a guy when he’s been wanting to make out with you for nearly a decade.”
“You did not,” she scoffed, backing up a step.
He sent her an impactful look that put a funny feeling low in her belly.
“I wanted to make out with you, too,” she admitted nervously, stepping into a cavernous space, still not quite believing he could fully return what she had always felt around him, but wanting to.
He closed his eyes, hands fisting at his sides, reassuring her with the way he seemed to struggle for control. “That is not helping us get on the road, sweetheart. Now go fetch your purse so I can behave like a gentleman.”
He kept his eyes closed and she knew she should do exactly what he said, but getting back here and continuing what they’d started is all she would be thinking about for the two-hour drive and two-hour dinner and...
Letting instinct and desire take over, she moved forward, slid her arms around his waist and lifted to press her lips near his Adam’s apple.
His arms came around her, caging her in an embrace both possessive and protective, but stilling her from provoking him further. “You’re sure?” he said.
“I even stole condoms from the health room. They’re upstairs. That sounds horribly premeditated, but I wouldn’t have told you unless you seemed to want this, too and...you seem to. Which is really amazing to me when....” She licked her lips, encouraged by the way his gaze narrowed on her mouth. “Are you okay with, um—” She swallowed. “Kind of being my first?”
“Put me in, Coach.”
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Want more? Read the opening of Hometown Hero in this #SampleSunday post from when the book released in 2014.
Here are the Love In Montana books in order:
Book One: Hometown Hero
Book Two: Blame The Mistletoe
Book Three: The Bachelor's Baby
Book Four: His Blushing Bride
Book Five: His Christmas Miracle (releases Oct 27, 2016)
Book Two: Blame The Mistletoe
Book Three: The Bachelor's Baby
Book Four: His Blushing Bride
Book Five: His Christmas Miracle (releases Oct 27, 2016)
Note: Scorch takes place in Glacier Creek, but links to His Blushing Bride. We'll callout Book 4 1/2.
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