Hottie

by Alex, Demi

  He took it and pulled her to her feet. “Yes. I love you.”

  “I believe you,” she breathed, tracing his handsome face with her fingers. “I can’t believe I’m so lucky, but I do believe you.” The tears streaking her cheeks dropped onto her chest, and her heart swelled with happiness. “I don’t know how it happened so fast, but neither do I care. I want to stay, Hottie.”

  “Stay?” Hope played across his face. “Here?”

  “Yes. In Deer Creek. With you.”

  “Thank you…yes…thank you…” he repeated in between kisses. “I want you to stay.”

  “But you need to let up a little.” Placing her palms against his chest, she met his gaze. “I’m a big girl and can take care of myself. You can be a caveman in the bedroom, that I welcome, but you need to have some faith in me out of bed. You can’t smother me.”

  “I lost a good friend because she refused to listen, and it changed my life forever. I can’t lose the woman I love. It’s so hard to let up a little.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss and for the pain you’ve had to endure.” Her heart twisted into a knot, considering his feelings. “But that was a very different and very sad situation. You were in the middle of a war zone.”

  “He messaged you. Called you a bitch.”

  “I blocked him,” she answered confused.

  “He knows your passwords.”

  “Fuck.” She stepped back, holding her fists against her thighs. “I forgot about that.”

  “He also knows my face, and I know his.”

  “You video-chatted?”

  “Hell, yeah. I needed to know what he looks like.” Dane rubbed his fingertips across his forehead. “He’s not getting anywhere close to you.”

  “Eric doesn’t scare me. He doesn’t even know where I am.”

  “Still, you’re not making yourself available to be reached by him. I’m installing an alarm as soon as I can get it delivered. When I’m not with you, you’ll—”

  “I’m renting a room at the Maxwell House.”

  Shock colored his face. Shock filled her, too. She hadn’t even seen the room, she hadn’t even met Beatrice Maxwell, but she knew she couldn’t move in permanently so fast. She wanted to give them a real chance—time for a true relationship—past the physical attraction.

  “I want to be courted,” she said, holding her ground and refusing to listen to her yearning heart. “Properly.”

  His mouth formed into a gorgeous smile. “You’ve been speaking with Mrs. Brady?”

  “Yes. And she also helped me get a job with Doc Jenkins.”

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath, but the smile held steady. Sliding his palm down his face, he paced the room.

  “Dane?” Phoebe said after a long silence. “Please.”

  He cleared his throat and returned to stand before her.

  “I’ve been waiting for you a long time, sweetheart. I can wait a little longer. Plus, I think I’ll enjoy courting you—properly.” He wrapped his arms around her and lowered his mouth to hers, taking his time to wet her lips, then slowly passing through them and exploring her desire with gentle and seductive caresses of his tongue. “Yeah, I know I’m going to enjoy it.”

  “Me, too,” she added against his mouth.

  Chasing any negative thoughts away with his kisses, she welcomed Master Dane into her life. She couldn’t wait to get to know the man she’d fallen in love with at first sight. “I guess there was more to our initial connection than lust.”

  “There sure was, sweetheart,” he agreed. “Now, you need to be patient with me and help me learn how this trust needs to go both ways. Be gentle with me, Phoebe.”

  “That will be my pleasure,” she repeated his previous words and snuggled against him.

  “But,” he said, lifting her chin with his thumb, “will you at least humor a control freak of a man and let me inform the Sheriff’s office? They need to know what to look out for.”

  “I don’t want to waste my energy on getting any court orders against him.”

  “No need,” Dane agreed. “Strangers stand out in Deer Creek, and we protect our own. If he gets anywhere near the town, he’ll be in the hands of the locals before he can blink.”

  “Fine,” she said, shrugging. “He won’t bother. All he keeps asking for is a stupid bracelet he gave me for my birthday. He doesn’t even want it. He just wants to break me, or maybe pass it on to the next woman. I really don’t care what he does. He was a bleep of a mistake in my life, and he’s faded off the screen.” She motioned for Dane to follow her as she walked out of the room. “Want to help me prepare lunch?”

  “No,” he said, following behind her.

  “No?”

  “No. I’m starving, woman. We’re going to the Bluebonnet for lunch and some pie.” He walked ahead of her and double-timed it down the stairs. “We’ll use the groceries for dinner when we get back.”

  She laughed and agreed. “Can we stop by the Maxwell house so I can see my room?”

  “Of course,” he replied. “It’ll allow me the opportunity to arrange for an alarm to be installed at Beatrice’s.”

  “You’re overbearing,” she said, shaking her head, but eagerly taking his hand. “How do you know that she’ll agree to it?”

  “Because Deer Creek women are exactly like you, sweetheart. They know when to listen to their men and when to question them. That’s why you belong here. That’s why you belong with me.”

  “That’s what Desired Granny said.” She laughed, brought his hand to her lips and scraped her teeth over his knuckles. “I think I’m really going to like it here.”

  “You are,” he confirmed and led her to a classic Corvette parked inside the garage. “You’re home, sweetheart.”

  About the Authors

  Demi Alex is a hopeless romantic who sits at her neighborhood café and fabricates stories of magical interludes between her fellow java worshipers. Even though her characters can be found in any town or city, their attitude sets them apart. They let loose and experience what life throws at them!

  When Tia Fanning is not lost somewhere in the exciting world of fantasy and romance, you might find her residing in the Midwest with her husband, Warren, and two dogs, Drew and Jack. However, according to her husband, she is usually lost…even the dogs can’t find her.

  “What would life be, if we didn’t take a few risks along the way and place our hearts on the line? Boring! So come on—let loose.”

  You can find both Demi and Tia hanging out at www.ResplendencePublishing.com.

  Want to read more from Tia Fanning and Demi Alex?

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  Who makes life-altering decisions based on a for
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  Moresome Series, Book Three

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  Angel discovers she doesn’t need Lady Luck when she’s got the Luck of the Irish. Laying all her cards on the table, she bets on a passionate night with Liam, Brody and Ryan. But come morning, the guys up the ante. The jackpot is tempting, but staying with the three men is the greatest gamble of her life and requires that she go all in.

  Will Angel fold and leave Las Vegas as she arrived? Or will she add her heart to the pot and meet their ante?

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  Jack, Jordan, and Jonathan McMathan own and operate a secret security firm contracted by the US Government. Hidden away in an old Cold War spy station located the middle of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, the brothers are not only able to do their top secret jobs safely without fear of discovery, but are better to protect their other, more personal secret: They have the ability to shift into Kodiak bears.

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  www.resplendencepublishing.com