They were better than good. They were a team both at work and at home. Their café was doing so well they’d hired a second barista and a cleaning service. Together, they’d created an employee handbook that spelled out the café’s policies and procedures for all the employees' benefit. And nothing ever slipped through the cracks with his training. Book It was in the black, doing even better now with her new rewards program: buy ten books, get one half price. And she’d started a romance section now that she understood what it meant to be in love. It was the best-selling section of the store.
Rachel had even opened a savings account where she stashed away some of the profits from the café for a down payment on a home. She rubbed a hand over her belly. They’d be needing that house soon. She hadn’t told Shane yet.
It would be his Christmas present.
~THE END~
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You’ve just read book #3 in the Clover Park series. The books in the series are The Opposite of Wild (Ryan and Liz), Daisy Does It All (Trav and Daisy), Bad Taste in Men (Shane and Rachel), and Kissing Santa (out Christmas 2014). I hope you enjoy them all!
If you’d like to read an excerpt from Kissing Santa, Rico and Samantha’s story, please turn the page.
Kissing Santa: Excerpt
Clover Park series, Book #4, Novella
Samantha Dixon is about to confess her most secret, romantic Christmas wish to Santa. Heck, what's she got to lose with her disastrous romantic history? Like that player from her horrible blind date last week arranged by her mother. Only guess who's Santa?
Rico del Toro loves women. So one bad date with the beautiful Samantha in a string of many, ahem, successful evenings is no big deal. But when a friendly favor playing Santa unexpectedly lands Samantha on his lap for a romantic confessional, he's intrigued. He's never heard a woman open her heart like that before.
But if this Santa wants a second chance, he'll have to rethink his womanizing ways and convince her that he is the perfect package.
Samantha walked over and plopped down on Santa’s lap. She took comfort from the fact that she couldn’t quite see Harold’s face under the hat, wig, and huge beard. She focused on a pretty snowflake decoration across the room. It was almost like going to confession with Father Jensen, very private, just the two of them. The cafeteria was nearly empty now, except for a few volunteers cleaning up. Even the elf had taken off.
“Oh, Santa, I know it’s silly, but I always dreamed of a sweet romance like you read about in books and see in the movies. It just doesn’t seem to be happening for me. And believe me, I’ve tried to move things along.” She sighed. “It just seems like everyone’s already married or gay or divorced with a lot of baggage. I just want to meet my Prince Charming, you know?”
At Santa’s continued silence and good listening, Samantha confided all the heartache she’d endured over the last two years due to her failed romance attempts. First she told him the worst—the Tim Johnson debacle—just to get it off her chest and explain what started her on her quest for romance. Then she moved on to the day her hair, makeup, and new heels were ruined in the August heat while she waited for a mysterious Mr. Hunk to arrive on the scene to change her flat tire (and yes, she confessed, she’d let the air out on purpose) and how a toothless old lady had arrived instead to inform her she had a flat. She’d had to change the tire herself, ruining her white skirt. She told him of the British hottie who moved in next door to her parents’ house that looked a little like Hugh Grant—she’d loved him in Bridget Jones’ Diary—and just when she was thinking they might really be moving from borrowing sugar (she had a huge stash now) to actually hanging out, his boyfriend showed up.
She sighed and continued on with the advice she took from her friend to look for someone at a wedding and how that had turned out to be a second cousin she’d never met. “Luckily my mother told me before things moved off the dance floor,” she whispered.
Santa merely grunted, so she went on. “I have a huge hammer collection from all my trips cruising the aisles of Home & Tool for an eligible bachelor. I could never use them all.” She shook her head. “Besides, those guys are all married.” She straightened, suddenly indignant. “And the worst, my mother tried to set up an arranged marriage with this total player who was too handsome for his own good. He was all—” she waved her hands in the air “—look at me! Don’t you want some of this sugar? And I was all, get away from me, you phony! The lines that came out of this guy’s mouth! If my mother had known what he was really like…” She exhaled sharply. “Don’t get me started on my mother.”
Finally, she wound down.
“This was all my niece’s idea,” she said with a rueful laugh. “Since I’m here… my Christmas wish is to meet a handsome, smart, charming man that will just make my head spin with the happiness of true love." She warmed to her topic. "Make him be someone who brings me flowers and candy just because, writes poems for me, serenades me, and likes to hold hands while we go shopping, ice-skating, or maybe even walking along the beach." She let out a dreamy sigh. "I guess that's too much for one Christmas wish."
Santa’s voice went low and husky. "I'll see what I can do."
Her eyes flew to his, and she took a good look at the guy she’d just spilled her guts to. He smiled, and her hand went to her throat. This man didn’t have wrinkles or pasty white skin. This wasn't Harold! This was someone much younger with caramel skin and brown eyes behind those spectacles.
Santa was coming on to her!
She leaped off his lap and jabbed a finger at him. "You're Santa. You can't pick up women. You're married to Mrs. Claus."
Dear Lord, what had she just told this complete stranger? Her cheeks burned.
The Santa-Harold imposter stood and raised his palms. "I'm off-duty. You want to get a cup of coffee?"
She whirled and hurried over to her niece. "Come on, Gabriella. We're going."
"Bye, Santa!" Gabriella called. "Merry Christmas!"
"Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas, Gabriella! I'll make sure the elves know about your Christmas wish and yours too, Samantha!”
She froze. Omigod. He knew her name. She’d never said her name. And that voice. Her mind quickly put the pieces together, that beautiful caramel skin, the brown eyes. It was the player her mother had set her up with—Rico.
She took Gabriella's hand and speed-walked to the parking lot. Samantha had never been so embarrassed in her life. She buckled her niece in, muttering to herself about the nerve of some guys.
They drove home, and Samantha prayed she never, ever ran into that Harold imposter again.
The Clover Park Series
THE OPPOSITE OF WILD (Book 1)
DAISY DOES IT ALL (Book 2)
BAD TASTE IN MEN (Book 3)
KISSING SANTA (A Novella)—late-2014
Acknowledgments
A special thank you to Big Guy for creating the “villain” Barry and The Dancing Cow. Thanks to Little Guy for the wacky glasses. And to my honey for being my very own romance hero.
Thank you to my editors, Tessa and Pauline, and to my super-sharp first readers, who push me to make every story that much better, Mimi, Shannon, Kim, Jenn, and Maura.
And thanks to all my lovely readers for taking this journey with me!
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.
Bad Taste in Men: © 2014 by Kylie Gilmore
Excerpt from Kissing Santa: © 2014 by Kylie Gilmore
Digital Edition 1.0
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: 0991266544
ISBN-13: 978-0-9912665-4-8
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.
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.
Click here to sign up for Kylie’s Newsletter and be the first to hear about new releases, exclusive excerpts, and subscriber-only giveaways. You can also sign up on my website kyliegilmore.com or use this QR code:
Kylie can be found on Twitter @KylieGilmoreToo and on Facebook.com/KylieGilmoreToo. Contact Kylie at [email protected].
Bad Taste in Men (Clover Park, Book 3) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) Page 23
