Excerpt!
The water did look amazing, and he’d been dying for a swim all afternoon. He shucked off his boots and jeans then let out a whoop as he raced past her, wearing only his black boxer briefs, and splashed into the water.
He ducked his head under then came up, shaking the water out of his hair. The temperature was perfect, warm but not hot, and cooler the deeper it went. He lifted his hand and beckoned her toward him. “Come on in. The water’s fine.”
“No way. I don’t have a swimsuit.”
He offered her one of his best flirty grins. “Never stopped you before.”
She shifted from one foot to the other, chewing on her bottom lip.
“I know you’re mentally weighing the pros and cons,” he told her. It was what she’d always done.
She planted a hand on her hip. “You don’t know me that well.”
“Yeah, right. Go ahead. Lay them on me.”
She let out a little indignant huff before starting the list. “The biggest pro is that the water looks incredible, and I’m hot and could practically die from wanting to go for a swim.”
“Avoiding dying seems like a pretty big pro. What kind of con could possibly challenge that?”
“Wellll, the biggest one is that getting in the water means I’d have to take my clothes off.”
“Nope. That definitely goes in the pro column for me.” He waggled his eyebrows playfully at her. “Oh, come on. You’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“Oh yes, I have. I have much more now than you’ve seen before. I’m no longer a seventeen-year-old girl with flawless skin and no dimples or cellulite. My body has changed. I am much…” She paused as if struggling to come up with the best descriptive word. “Much curvier now.”
“I happen to like your new curves. In fact, the curvier the better I like to say.”
“Oh yeah? When do you like to say that?”
“Just now. And also, any time there’s a possibility of a gorgeous, curvy woman, stripping naked in front of me.” He offered her another one of his trademark grins—the one that most women couldn’t resist.
But most women weren’t Eleanor Gibbs.
She was different.
“Tell you what,” he said. “How about if I turn my back, and I won’t look while you strip down and wade in.”
She twisted her mouth from side-to-side with indecision. “You promise you won’t look?”
He held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Now I know you’re lyin’. You were never a Boy Scout.”
He laughed. “Okay. I promise I won’t look…after your shirt and shorts come off.”
She huffed again.
“Come on, darlin’,” he drawled. “You gotta give me a little something here.”
“No, I don’t.” She tried to keep the annoyed expression on her face but couldn’t hold it as she broke into a laugh.
He splashed a small spray of water in her direction then held up three fingers. “All right, you had your chance to do this the easy way. Now, Miss Eleanor Gibbs, you’ve got exactly three seconds to peel those clothes off, or I’m coming out of this lake to do it for you.”
Leni narrowed her eyes at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Oh, he would dare. In fact, he couldn’t wait to dare. Chevy took a step toward her as he called out, “Three!”
She let out a shriek as she retreated up the shore, splashing water as she walked backward.
His grin widened as he took another menacing step toward her. “Two!”
“Okay, you win. Stop counting.” She laughed as she shimmied out of her shorts and tossed them further back onto the bank, then pulled her shirt over her head and pitched it toward the shorts, leaving her in only a black lacy bra and a pair of black bikini panties. She made a circular motion with her hand. “Now, turn around.”
He stared, the sight of her half-naked body making his mouth go dry.
The last time he’d seen her like this, she was seventeen, and he was a horn-dog teenage boy. Now, she was a full-fledged woman, round and lush, and as his gaze roamed over those curves she’d described, he felt like that love-sick out-of-control teenager again.
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked, self-consciously putting her hands up to cover herself.
“I can’t help it,” he said, all teasing aside. “You’re just so gorgeous.”
A grin tugged at the corners of her lips. “Stop it.”
“It’s true.”
“You’re just trying to get me to take my bra off in front of you.”
He shook his head, trying to keep the sincerity in his voice. “No, it’s true. You’re beautiful.” He couldn’t help the grin that creased his face. “Although, if you do want to take your bra off in front of me…”
Three abandoned cowboys, born in heartbreak and bonded by brotherhood, are brought together by the fierce love of the grandparents who took them in and the ranch that’s the only home they’ve ever known…
He gave her up once, but will he risk everything for a second chance?
Ford, Dodge, and Chevy Lassiter are three half-brothers whose mother named them after the trucks that their dead-beat dads drove away from them in. Chevy is the middle brother, the easy-going flirt who uses his charm to keep anyone from getting too close. He’d only let himself fall in love once…but then he’d pushed her away so she could chase her dreams of becoming an aerospace engineer—leaving him and their small-town life behind.
Eleanor (Leni) Gibbs left the small Colorado mountain town of Woodland Hills behind ten years ago. Now she’s back, temporarily trading rocket science for diapers to help her sister with a new baby, but isn’t sure she can handle facing the cowboy who broke her heart. But the undeniable chemistry between them still simmers beneath the surface, and every encounter has her wondering if they’re meant for something more.
Both have been burned by the past, and neither knows if they can trust the other—or themselves—with their fragile hearts. As old wounds reopen and new sparks fly, can Chevy and Leni find the courage to take a second chance on love—or will he let her fly away again, this time for good?
Author bio:
Jennie Marts is the USA TODAY Best-selling author of award-winning books filled with love, laughter, and always a happily ever after. Readers call her books “laugh out loud” funny and the “perfect mix of romance, humor, and steam.” Fic Central claimed one of her books was “the most fun I’ve had reading in years.”
She is living her own happily ever after in the mountains of Colorado with her husband, two dogs, and a parakeet that loves to tweet to the oldies. She’s addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends.
Her books include the contemporary western romance Hearts of Montana series, the romantic comedy/ cozy mysteries of The Page Turners series, the hunky hockey-playing men in the Bannister family in the Bannister Brothers Books, and the small-town romantic comedies in the Lovestruck series of Cotton Creek Romances.
Jennie loves to hear from readers. Follow her on Facebook at Jennie Marts Books, or Twitter at @JennieMarts. Visit her at www.jenniemarts.com and sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the latest news and releases.
