western-romance

One more salt to try," Kellan said, reaching into the box. He brought a jar of black, flaky crystals up to the light. "Black diamond finishing salt. Extremely rare and too bold for those with meek palates. But, for a true connoisseur, the flavor is incomparable." He lowered her head and torso to the ground and pushed her sweater up to expose her stomach and ribs. "I want to sample it on your skin.

She was partial to the tie. Not too long ago he did unspeakable things to her with that tie.

Damn, she better get her imagination under control or she was going to be in trouble. She stole another glance in his direction, her eyes locked onto the bulge in his lap. Well lookie there. Maybe I__ not the only one having carnal thoughts

Let__ just say Noah and Flynn enjoy the chase, and when they catch their woman, they keep her tied so she stays caught when they play.

Whatever it was that came over him that night pulled a cord__er laugh, or her surprise gasp slipping out to think he__ do something so bold.

Arms still crossed, Lindsay's clogs tapped on the sidewalk. __o Sam didn__ tell you I was a desperate orphan child with no life outside of work? This isn__ some kind of intervention, some kind of lame attempt to cheer me up?_ He grinned.__hy would she do that?_ __ecause that__ how it sounded._ Nudging her shoulder, he grinning down at her. __ou don__ look desperate, Dr. Lindsay, not by a long shot." __hat__ because you don__ know me._ Lindsay bit her lower lip, arms still crossed, clogs still tap-tap-tapping. Her chest heaved. __y parent__ died in a car accident almost two years ago. It__ a difficult thing to get over. I__ still not exactly right. I guess she worries about me._ Ty sucked in his breath, thinking fast. ____ really sorry about your parents, Linds._ As he put an arm around her shoulder, she broke into a self-conscious smile and shook her head. __pend any time with me at all and you__l find that Sam__ right. I__ a desperate orphan child, completely paranoid and irrepressibly horny._ __hoa!_ She looked so cute, but vulnerable, too. He closed the arm around her shoulder, squeezing her sideways to his chest. Embarrassed, she smiled as she elbowed his rib. Then she dropped her arms and stayed put, tucked close against him. It felt right, having her there.

You're pretty low maintenance, as women go.""I am, am I?" She sounded amused."Yeah. Like a cactus.

I'm named after my father, Rudolph," he said, then shot her a stern look. "But if you connect that with my red nose --

She pulled her arm free from his grasp and stood back, her arms crossed. "So, what then? You're holding me hostage? Are you even really a sheriff?""I am," he said, highly amused at her attempt at bravado. "You wanna see my badge?

It's nothing fancy, I opened a jar of sauce and cooked the linguine. But there's fresh Parmesan and I even found a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.""You found wine." Earlier he'd been thinking about microwaved Who Hash, solitude and if he was very lucky, beer.But a hot, fresh-cooked meal? Candles? Wine? And a chatty yoga-elf chef? With a body like a Las Vegas showgirl?

Consider me your rescuer, not your jailer," he said to Frankie, without looking at her. His gut told him that, on the criminal mastermind scale, this one landed closer to Tinker Bell than Lizzie Borden.

Rory's big labradoodle made a snap judgement that Frankie was everything her life had been missing up until now. She flung herself into the girl's arms, wiggling and whining, a shaggy mass of chocolate-colored enthusiasm."Mistral likes you, I see." While he, the one who filled the dog's food dish, had gotten nothing but suspicious glances since he arrived two days earlier."of course you like me" she said, baby-talking into the dog's fur, "I'm extremely likeable."If the dog's expression was any indication, Frankie was about to get nominated for sainthood....She glanced at him. "Maybe she'd like you more if you weren't so... testosterone-y.""But then you might like me less

I hope you brought your handcuffs," she added. "I won't go quietly.""I might use them anyway, for fun," he answered, remembering the sensation of her warm lips against his.

Bending the law is different from breaking, my lovely, strategically-challenged Francesca.

I'm resourceful," she called after him.Resourceful, he thought, rinsing his hands with the ladle she'd left in the bucket. "A euphemism commonly used by successful criminals," he called out to her."If I were so successful," she called back, "I wouldn't be talking to you.

Great. He had a ranch with no power, a burgeoning blizzard, animals depending on him and now, a frightened, felonious elf to look after.

Once in rur-al Flathead coun-tyStood a cru-wel Christmas sceneDumped for slaugh-ter were the rein-deerWhen an elf did intervene.

Consider yourself warned, Frankie. Something about these mountains convinces previously sane women to give up Starbucks for saddle sores.