Excerpt!
Suddenly, Kana wasn’t remotely hungry.
“You can have it if you like,” she offered, handing it over.
Rugby studied Kana for some time before sliding the bag from her fingertips, and she felt a prickle of unease under his scrutiny—conscious of the scruffy state of her hair, and the dried clay on her jeans. She’d left the studio in a hurry, and hadn’t put on a scratch of makeup.
“How about we split it?” Her landlord took out the sandwiched cookie and twisted the two halves apart, grimacing comically at the uneven result. There was much more icing on one side than the other.
He offered the two pieces up, and Kana’s hand hovered, undecided.
“Take the icing. It’s good.”
She could hear the smile in his voice, but wasn’t prepared for the softness in his eyes when she glanced up. Was her landlord actually flirting with her?
Surely not.
A man like Rugby would be used to getting his own way, manoeuvring other people and their resolve. Kana didn’t have to do what anybody else said, or cater for anyone else’s Master Plan, no matter how attractive they might be.
She took the icing light half, maybe just to spite him.
Rugby startled her by grabbing her wrist as she moved it away, half-biscuit in hand.
“What were you thinking, just then?”
Kana forced a little laugh, her eyes flicking down to the band of fingers now holding her captive.
“I was thinking I’ve had enough sugar recently,” she hedged, pulling her wrist free.
“Liar,” he negated, voice low.
“I beg your pardon?” Kana tried to inject the appropriate level of indignation, but came off sounding a bit out of breath.
Rugby laughed—and though Kana wanted to feel nothing, she felt a whole lot more than that. It wasn’t just the depth of sound, but the warmth in his expression.
Author bio:
Award winning New Zealand contemporary romance novelist and short story writer, Stephanie Ruth lives in the South Island, Te Waipounamu, with her husband, three children, and an ever expanding array of animals. If it doesn't have a happy ending in some form or other, Stephanie's not writing it.
First impressions are hard to shake…
Big-headed ex-rugby star, Daniel Dante, refuses to believe a word celebrated ceramicist Kanako Janssen says, though why her new landlord’s opinion bothers her so much is anyones’s guess. She has enough to worry about, with her soon to be ex-husband refusing to sign divorce papers, Daniel’s dog appearing regularly to freak her out, and an exhibition date looming.
Kanako is everything Daniel isn’t, and nothing he’s used to. Trust doesn’t come easily to a player who’s been burnt so publicly before, but if he can’t learn to lean on this fresh-faced, quirky artist, he could well lose her altogether.
Like the swallows, Kanako’s only in Otago for the season. But willing or not, the self-proclaimed introvert is being slowly absorbed into small town life on the lake, and she’s in grave danger of falling in love with it.
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Award winning New Zealand contemporary romance novelist and short story writer, Stephanie Ruth lives in the South Island, Te Waipounamu, with her husband, three children, and an ever expanding array of animals. If it doesn't have a happy ending in some form or other, Stephanie's not writing it.
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