LAST CHANCE FAMILY
by Hope Ramsay
a Contemporary Romance
from Forever Publishing
Blurb
Mike Taggart has always been willing to take a gamble. But these stakes are just way too high - there's no way he's prepared to become a legal guardian to his five-year-old niece. His only option is to head from Las Vegas to Last Chance to sort things out as quickly as possible. Problem is, he arrives to find an inconsolable little girl, her sick cat, and a gorgeous veterinarian he can't get out of his mind.
Charlene Polk has two talents: healing sick critters and falling in love with the wrong men. Mike has trouble written all over him, but she can't leave him in the lurch. And the more time she spends with the sexy high roller, the more she sees that this ready-made family is the best stroke of luck they've ever had . . .
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EXCERPT
Charlene stood in the kitchen doorway, her hair wet, her stomach
empty, and her heart suddenly racing.
Mike leaned against the counter, his head hung low. He seemed to be struggling to draw breath.
She crossed the
room and put her hand on the middle of his back. His T-shirt was soft, the body beneath it
hard and warm.
He straightened and
let out a big breath.
"Sorry."
"What's
wrong?"
"Killer
heartburn," he said, then immediately changed the subject. He moved toward the coffee maker, shaking off
her touch. "You want some
coffee?"
He turned and gave
her a quick glance. That's all it
took.
Her heart wrenched,
and she responded the way she always did when confronted with unspoken
pain. She encountered it often, usually
in the eyes of animals. But it was
there, beyond that mild-mannered expression he tried to wear. He was hurting. She reached up to stroke his cheek. Her fingers encountered his warm skin and
rough stubble. That touch flipped her
switch. Electricity flowed inside her.
He closed his eyes
and took a deep breath as her fingers moved over his face to his ear and up
into his bright red hair.
"Don't,"
he whispered, but he made no attempt to move away. He reminded her of an abused animal that
growls when all he wants is a little kindness.
She cupped the nape of his neck and pulled him down as she rose up on
tip-toes.
She gave him a
soft, gentle kiss. Nothing deep or sexy,
just a little kiss, intended to comfort.
But it didn't stay that way. Mike
grabbed her by the cheeks and pulled her up into it like a man starving for
love. His tongue stroked hers. His right hand dropped to her hip, and he
yanked her forward and into his chest.
Her knees almost
buckled. But she didn't fall, because
Mike had her. His hand found the small
of her back as he sagged against the counter.
They leaned together, thigh to thigh, chest to chest. The kiss turned utterly carnal. His hand wandered up over her spine to her
breast. He palmed it. Her nipples came alive. He groaned.
And her whole body
throbbed.
She broke the kiss
and looked up into his face. His eyes
had dilated with desire. His breath
sounded ragged. His skin flushed red.
"I want
you," he said in a hoarse voice.
"I want to strip you naked and do it right here in the
kitchen."
His words ignited a
bad-girl fire that pretty much torched her reservations about him. "Okay."
His gaze
widened. "I'm not a reliable
bet," he said.
She laughed. "You think I don't know that?"
"Oh."
She could almost
feel him having second thoughts. And she
had no intention of allowing that. She'd
have the rest of her life to regret this choice. Or not.
Which would she
regret more? Letting her reservations
about him put the kibosh on this? Or
spending the rest of her life wondering if maybe she should have bet on Mike
Taggart?
Heartbreak was her
middle name. "I'm a gambler,"
she whispered. "And sometimes the
long shots pay off."
"Not
usually," he said.
"Maybe
not. But I'm the eternal optimist.”
About Hope Ramsay
Hope Ramsay grew up on the North Shore of Long Island, but every summer Momma would pack her off under the care of Aunt Annie to go visiting with relatives in the midlands of South Carolina. Her extended family includes its share of colorful aunts and uncles, as well as cousins by the dozens, who provide the fodder for the characters you'll find in Last Chance, South Carolina. She's a two-time finalist in the Golden Heart and is married to a good ol' Georgia boy who resembles every single one of her heroes. She lives in Fairfax, Virginia, where you can often find her on the back deck, picking on her thirty-five-year-old Martin guitar.
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