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The hardest second chance they'll ever take.
For six years, Sydney Davis has completely avoided the man who broke her heart. Now she needs a favor, and ranch owner Cam Thatcher is the only one who can do it. She thought she was over him -- but when she sees him again after all this time, her powerful attraction returns stronger than ever.
Cam wants nothing to do with the woman he used to love -- especially when he finds out she's marrying the man who's trying to destroy him and take his ranch. But he soon realizes his feelings aren't as buried as he thought. When he learns Sydney doesn't know about her fiancé's dark side, he races to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life.
If you love contemporary romance and romantic suspense, don't miss this steamy, emotional story of first loves, second chances, and the healing power of love.
Heat level: Steamy **Standalone book, no cliffhangers**
Excerpt:
Cam
didn’t say a word for a long time. Sydney couldn’t see him,
though she heard him clanking around somewhere beyond the glow of the
flashlight he was using. Eventually he came around to the window
holding a little hose with a metal clip at one end, and what looked
like an oversized thermometer at the other.
“You might have a
bad spark plug,” he said. “When I tell you, crank the engine. But
only for a few seconds. You keep grinding it over, your battery’s
going to die.”
She nodded. “What’s
that?”
“A spark tester.”
He started back for the engine.
“Cam?”
He stopped without
turning. “What?”
“I…” It was on
the tip of her tongue to apologize for what she’d said. But she
didn’t know if he’d heard it, and maybe he didn’t want an
apology. It might even piss him off more. So she settled for saying,
“Thank you.”
“I haven’t done
anything yet.”
He kept going, and
Sydney leaned back against the seat with a sigh. She really didn’t
know how to take this. After all this time, to have Cam Thatcher help
her not once, but twice in the same day was disconcerting at best. It
galled her even more to think that Tommy had tried to forbid her from
talking to him.
He’d been right
about one thing, though. Cam didn’t have any friends. And for the
first time, she started to wonder why—how much of it was Cam
keeping to himself, and how much was the whole town assuming he
wanted it that way.
“Okay. Crank it.”
She started, reached
for the key, and gave it a single hesitant twist. The engine barked
once.
Cam leaned over and
stared at her. “A few seconds. Not half a second.”
“Right, sorry.
Tell me when.”
He disappeared
behind the hood again. “Okay, go.”
She turned the key
and counted to four before she switched it off. Cam didn’t stop
her, so she figured that must’ve been right. Then he muttered under
his breath, and she heard him rustling through his tool box.
“Cam? Was that
it?”
When he didn’t
answer, she took a deep breath and got out of the truck. “Hey,”
she said as she headed for him. “Can I help…”
She caught sight of
him in the wash of the light that was settled on the edge of the
hood, and her heart skipped a beat or three. He knelt in front of the
tool box on the ground, looking up at her with a tight expression.
And his eyes were burning.
“No. You can’t.”
He grabbed the biggest socket wrench she’d ever seen, then stood
and stared at the engine. “I can probably get it going,” he said
without looking her way. “Just need to clean and gap the plug. But
you should get it replaced as soon as possible. I don’t have the
right size here.”
“Okay.” The
single word sounded lame and pathetic. She wanted to say something
more—anything, really. Thanks for rescuing me. Sorry I said
that. Why do you hate me so much? But he didn’t seem in the
mood to listen, so she stepped back to give him space.
He picked up the
flashlight and stood there another minute before he tucked it under
his arm and leaned forward. As he fitted the socket over one of the
spark plugs, the flashlight dropped and hit the edge of the frame
with a hollow clunk. It bounced off and rolled across the ground a
few feet.
Cam hung his head
and sighed. “Could you hand me that?”
“Sure.” Sydney
grabbed the light and hesitated a second. “I can hold it for you,”
she said. “It’d probably be easier.”
“Fine. Just keep
it still.”
She watched him work
the wrench, trying not to pay attention to the way his arms flexed
with the movement. The rhythmic ratcheting sound was almost soothing,
and definitely a lot more pleasant than the bitterness that etched
his every word. There was no trace of the easygoing, quick-to-smile
person he’d been in high school—up until the end, at least. Not
that she’d paid any attention to him after he humiliated her.
Well, maybe a
little. And hadn’t she been just the tiniest bit satisfied that he
seemed to be losing his popularity? He’d gone downhill pretty fast
over the last month of his senior year, even before he lost his
father.
“Got it.” Cam
straightened and extracted a mostly black spark plug from the socket.
“Christ, Sydney. When’s the last time you had this thing tuned
up?”
“Um. It was
around…never.”
“What a surprise.”
He knelt to the toolbox again, sprayed something all over the plug
from a small, clear bottle, and then started wiping it with a rag.
Black grime slowly gave way to off-white. “Listen, you have to
replace this plug, and get your truck in for a tune-up,” he said
without looking at her. “Engines are like people. They need some
TLC, or they’ll up and quit on you.”
“My engine is a
person,” she said. “Got it.”
“Why do I bother
offering advice? Especially to you.” He slammed the rag back in the
toolbox and stood. “Just hold the flashlight over here.”
She bit her lip.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to make a joke. A bad one.”
He sighed and leaned
on the truck. “Okay. I guess I’m sorry, too.”
“For what?”
“I’m sorry your
jokes are bad.” He smiled, just for an instant—and her heart
stopped. God, what was wrong with her? “And I could be a
little nicer,” he said. “So let’s get this beast started.”
“All right.”
She managed to hold
the flashlight without letting her hands shake. All of a sudden,
being this close to Cam seemed dangerous. She had to forcefully
remind herself that she hated him.
It only took a
minute for him to get the spark plug back in. “Okay,” he said.
“Hand me the light, and go ahead and give it a try.”
She nodded, leaned
into the truck and turned the key. The engine started right up.
“Oh, God,” she
said. “Thank you so much. You’re…you really are a genius.”
“I just know
machines.” He closed the hood and stood back. For a long moment he
looked at her, but she couldn’t read anything in his expression.
Finally, he said, “Make sure you get that serviced. It’s not
going to stay running for long.”
“I will. Cam…”
He raised an
eyebrow. In that split second, she could’ve kissed him.
And a huge part of
her wanted that more than anything.
“Thank you,” she
said on an exhale. “I really appreciate it.”
“You’re
welcome.”
After they exchanged
awkward goodnights, Sydney climbed in the truck and waited until he
moved his. She headed out of the parking lot and forced herself not
to look back. The last thing she needed right now was to remember
just how sexy Cam Thatcher was, and how badly she’d wanted him.
She was practically
a married woman. And that was just the way she wanted it.
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