Love’s Influence
Tessa’s Highlander
Erotic horror author Tessa Danvers's limited experience with men has her convinced that she just doesn't need to waste time on them. Her writing career is hot enough, and she recently purchased the home of her dreams.
When a scheduling conflict prevents her cousin Jaime from making some much-needed renovations to her new house, he sends his friend, Gavan Murdoch—a gorgeous, hulking Scotsman with a brogue thicker than Highland fog—in his place. One look at the diminutive author and Gavan's protective defenses are up. He swore off women years ago following a devastating heartbreak.
After getting off to a very rocky start with Tessa in an effort to keep her at arms' length, Gavan succumbs to his desire for the petite, hot-tempered author, only to learn that he'll have no choice but to share her with millions of other men.
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 48,385 words
TESSA’S HIGHLANDER
Love’s Influence
Cooper Lovell
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at
[email protected]
A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
TESSA’S HIGHLANDER
Copyright © 2011 by Cooper Lovell
E-book ISBN: 1-61034-716-1
First E-book Publication: August 2011
Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Tessa’s Highlander by Cooper Lovell from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Cooper Lovell’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Lovell’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
This book is for all the authors who have created heroes I’ve fallen in love with and for Lori who has been my unwavering cheerleader since I couldn’t sleep one night and decided to do some writing.
TESSA’S HIGHLANDER
Love’s Influence
COOPER LOVELL
Copyright © 2011
Chapter One
Tessa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Jaime promised her weeks ago he’d do this for her. Now, he was telling her another job took precedence because of an emergency and was sending another contractor in his place.
“C’mon, T. You know if I could do it myself I would,” Jaime said. “The job I’m doing right now has major deadlines, and if I don’t keep up my end on the timing, they’ll sack Danvers Construction. I have no control over the weather, and all this damn snow has really messed with my schedule.”
Tessa’s brother Jaime was three years older. Their family had been very close and they relied on each other frequently. When Tessa was in her last year of college, their parents were killed in a car accident while on vacation in Europe. They’d become orphans in one devastating phone call.
The guilt in his voice was palpable and Tessa relented. “Look, Jaime, I understand. It’s just that I have a lot going on, too. My editor’s on my butt about the book, and having a stranger coming in and out of my house all day doesn’t exactly thrill me. Honestly? You know how I hate having people I don’t know in here when I’m busy.”
She released an irritated sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. “What if I just hold off on the renovations until you have time to do them yourself? I’d rather wait for you to do it.”
She could just kick herself for not foreseeing the need to have built-in ladders and step-ups wherever possible in the house. Despite its overall cottage-like appearance, the house was built on a grand scale. It wasn’t a huge house, but the sizeable rooms all had high, vaulted or cathedral ceilings, and the amenities boasted larger-than-life dimensions, which made life for a five-foot-one shrimp, like herself, frustrating. It was the price for having a penchant for all things big. She’d loved the house since she was a little girl and always called it the “enchanted cottage” because, to her, it looked like something straight out of a storybook. The bonus and advance she’d earned after her third book debuted on the ten best-sellers list arrived only weeks after she noticed the house had been put on the market.
Immediately following her move into the house, Jaime made himself available to handle a laundry list of repairs and renovations. He and his crew provided her with three long months of near constant noise and general mayhem. But in the end, the inconvenience of sharing her days with a construction crew was well worth it. She had been able to purchase her dream home and had it renovated and decorated to her liking. It was comfortable, unique, and aesthetically pleasing. She loved it.
“Listen, I wouldn’t send Doc over in my place if he wasn’t a first rate master carpenter. He’s more than a carpenter, T. He’s built a reputation as an artist. I’m actually really psyched that he’s available. He just returned from Mexico where he was working on some millionaire’s mansion for the last year. I’ve sent him all the specs on the house with the details of the renovations you want. Really, if you think about, it’s actually a better situation for you, T.”
“Oh? And how is that, exactly?”
“Well, since basically everything that needs to be done is woodworking and he’s a master carpenter, he won’t need to haul a crew in with him. He’ll be able to do the job alone. That should seriously cut down on the annoyance factor, right?”
>
Tessa rolled her eyes. “If you say so. I guess, in a way, you could be right, considering I have this ridiculous photo shoot for some magazine that I’m just dreading scheduled to come here next week. Having a construction crew and a film crew here at the same time would definitely suck.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the sound of relief in Jaime’s voice as he quickly jumped on her change of heart. “Great then, it’s all set. I’ll tell Doc to be there tomorrow morning. Oh, and since I’m so tied up on this other site, I probably won’t be over for dinner for a couple of weeks. Talk to ya later, T.”
He hung up before she could say another word.
Placing the phone back in its base, she turned toward the back door.
“He better be right about this guy,” Tessa grumbled to herself as she headed out to the barn to take care of the horses.
* * * *
Greetings of “Hey! Happy to see ya!”, whinnies, and nickers helped to curb Tessa’s annoyance at the whole Doc situation. She grabbed four apples and fed one each to Rusty, her pony who acted more like a dog than an equine, Jasmine, the palomino that she loved to take for long, relaxing rides so they could have girl talk, Aladdin, her jet-black Arabian that she rode with an ease that led one to believe they became one being when she was astride him, and last but not least, her newest addition to the barn. The big, beautiful Blanco. His former owner tried to talk her out of the purchase, warning that he had an untamable wild streak and that such a large horse, eighteen hands, would be too much for such a little girl. But Tessa would not be swayed. From the moment she saw the whiter-than-white giant, her mind had been made up.
She worked her way through the evening chores, giving each horse a quick brush down while she vented her anger at Jaime’s change in plans. By the time she had everyone settled for the night, she’d done enough complaining and physical labor that her anger was gone, replaced by resignation and exhaustion.
After a quick dinner of soup and salad, Tessa sat before her computer staring at the list of final revisions to her latest book. She worked long into the night, and when she looked up to see that it was after two in the morning, she saved her changes, tossed her Passport into the wall safe, and went to bed.
Unfortunately, the revisions, the renovations, the strange guy she expected tomorrow, and that damned upcoming photo shoot kept playing in her mind like internal movies. On the one hand, she was beyond thrilled that she had managed to make what was, at this point, a successful career out of writing, which was something she loved to do. On the other hand, though, her sudden popularity among the fans of her novels was something she hadn’t been prepared for. It turned out she’d stumbled into quite the niche with her blend of horror and erotica. When her first book hit the shelves, it drew a quick and loyal fan base, largely comprised of college-aged males. Her second book catapulted right to the top ten, resulting in preorders for the third book, which, at that point, was only an outline. Sometime between the second and third books she had been assigned a publicist when word got to her editor that fan sites were being created in her honor. One had named her “High Priestess of Horror,” a nickname that caught on among her fans like wildfire. Instant celebrity, unusual for a new, young author, became part of Tessa’s routine. She’d enjoyed making appearances to discuss her books and appeared on a few minor national talk shows. She fielded the typical questions like, “How does a nice girl like you dream up such dark storylines?” or, “Have you heard that yours is the best-selling poster on college campuses?” and the like. Two issues ago, the trendy men’s magazine Appointed named her the ultimate fantasy in the twenty-to-forty age demographic. When the issue hit the stands, her publicist decided it would be a good idea to make the most of it and scheduled the upcoming photo shoot for the magazine.
Ugh.
Just the thought of what could be in store for her on this shoot made sleep impossible.
She saw 4:17 appear on the clock before she finally fell asleep. At six, her alarm sounded and she dragged herself out of bed, groaning the entire time, and stumbled into the shower. She towel dried her hair and dragged a brush through the long, sandy blonde layers, grimaced at its typical unruliness, and gave up, tossing the brush onto the vanity top. Her eyes were gray and red—gray irises surrounded by bloodshot whites—but a couple of eyedrops relieved the effects of sleep deprivation. Feeling every bit as haggard as she looked, she pulled on a creamy, short-waisted turtleneck sweater, her favorite 505s, and a pair of thick, wooly socks and went downstairs.
The mug of much-needed, very light coffee was millimeters from her lips when the doorbell rang.
“Here we go,” Tessa said aloud, feeling the irritation of having her plans changed against her wishes creep back up her neck as she walked to the door, coffee mug in hand.
The bell sounded again as she reached for the door. “Jeez, give a person time to walk across a room,” she groused, pulling the large door open.
“Gavan Murdoch. Jaime sent me.”
Chapter Two
Oh God. Oh, great, glorious, benevolent God.
“I…um, I’m…Yes. Tessa. Yes!” she stammered.
Standing in her doorway was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. The split-second glimpse of his face upon opening the door simultaneously sent a shiver down her spine and a warm rush through her middle. Surreptitiously, she looked down to see if her tongue was actually lying on the floor and was amazed to see that it wasn’t.
Starting at his big, brown work boots, her eyes began the long journey up to his ruggedly handsome face. Strong, muscular thighs strained slightly against the perfectly worn-in, low-slung jeans. Jeans that also hugged slim hips and attempted, in vain, to conceal behind the button fly a very impressive front bulge. Above the waistband of his jeans, the ripple of washboard abs was easily visible beneath a very taut hunter green tee. His wide chest was partially hidden by the winter-weight Carhartt jacket that hung open, and his shoulders were so wide that most of the sunlight was blocked out from behind him.
Somewhere in the distance she could hear her voice shouting, Stop staring like an idiot. Man, she really, really hoped that voice was in her head and not actually coming out of her mouth.
She licked her lips as she felt the warmth that had gathered in her belly move down, making her pussy twitch.
In order to see his face, it was necessary to tilt her head back. Lord, the man had to be at least six and a half feet tall. When she finally focused, his eyes were looking into hers. Beautiful, dark-amber-colored eyes that locked with hers, and she momentarily found herself unable to look away. Above his eyes were winged brows, one of which was arched in question. Maybe wondering if she was a dangerous or nondangerous kind of lunatic.
His jaw was strong below rugged but high cheekbones, and his mouth was sexy as all hell, bottom lip full and a little pouty with an upper lip that looked like it could and did pull off the wickedest of sneers.
Oh, the things that mouth is probably capable of, Tessa thought before she could stop herself and felt the wetness between her legs dampen her panties as her pussy twitched again. What was going on there? She’d never had a reaction like this before. His skin was tanned to a golden brown, and she remembered Jaime saying something about him spending the last year in Mexico. When she tore her gaze from his face, she saw that his shoulder-length, wavy hair was exactly the color of a Hershey bar. Gorgeous, rich-chocolate brown with threads of gold laced through it, more evidence of the kiss of the Mexican sun.
Jaime hadn’t sent her a master carpenter; he’d sent her a god. A freaking, bona fide Golden God!
She had no idea the coffee mug had slipped from her fingers until she heard the crash on the tile.
“Oh no!” Tessa exclaimed as she looked down at the mess. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I splattered your boots!”
“Is’na’ worry, lass,” the Glorious God said quietly.
Tessa’s mind reeled and her stomach did a flip-flop. A Scottish burr! How motherfucking hot was that? His
voice was all deep and rumbly. That voice, combined with the burr, seeped over her like warm honey. Another gush in her panties. She couldn’t help but wonder what the etiquette was for excusing yourself to change your soaking underwear.
In an attempt to regroup and avoid further embarrassment, she tilted her head back, smiled, stuck out her right hand, and said, “Hi, I’m Tessa, please come in.”
Instead of taking her hand, the Golden God only grunted, reached down to pick up his toolbox, and stepped over the puddle of coffee and broken ceramic and past Tessa into the house.
She was about to get good and annoyed at his obvious brush-off, but it evaporated like a wisp of smoke when she caught the vision of his fine, firm ass. Tessa glanced down stupidly at her snubbed hand and let it drop back to her side as he looked appraisingly around the house.
Without looking back at her, he said, “It’s likely best if you show me what you’d like, and I’ll make some notes of my own on the specs that Jaime gave me.”
She gave her head a little shake, took a deep breath to bring herself back into the here and now, and squeezed around Gavan—Lord but the man was huge—to lead him the rest of the way into the house. All the while, she was wondering what species of bug had crawled up that phenomenal butt to make him so standoffish or if he was just generally pissy.
Then it occurred to her.
An expression had flashed across his face when she opened the door. What was that look? Disgust? Yup, that had to be it. Being Jaime’s friend, of course he’d know about her books. She’d encountered this before. Yet another person who read her books and decided that because she had a full, rich, descriptive, and admittedly slightly bizarre imagination, she was somehow defective, bad, or twisted.
Lovell, Cooper - Tessa's Highlander (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 1
