Sometimes loving enough means letting go…
CAUGHT LOOKING
Jody Holford
Releasing April 25, 2017
Major league baseball player, Ryan Walker, takes a mandatory leave of absence to escape the paparazzi and the false drug charges against him. All he wants is a little peace of mind out in the middle of nowhere.
Eager to rid herself of the empty socialite life, Frankie Vaughn moves to a rundown home in Minnesota that she inherited from her aunt. But Frankie is shocked at what she discovers inside: three young boys. When Ryan discovers that Frankie, his new neighbor, has taken on the three homeless kids as her own, he has a new hope for humanity.
Despite how easily and lovingly Ryan takes to Frankie and the boys, his past just might be the reason Frankie can't adopt the boys. Now, Ryan must choose between loving them or letting them go. Can he walk away from what he's been looking for all along?
EXCERPT
As he edged
near the property line, he caught sight of toned, shapely legs swinging from
the branch of a tree. His neighbor was doing pull-ups. On a tree.
“What the
hell are you doing?” Ryan said the words to himself, his finger sliding off of
the trigger. Frankie hadn’t heard him. Her earbuds’ cord was connected to the
iPod strapped to her arm. He repeated his question, louder, and she startled,
dropping from the limb she’d been holding. Pulling her earphones out, she
smiled and gave a surprised laugh. Lust curled tight in his stomach at the
sound. Which pissed him off since he didn’t need more complications in his
life.
“Hey. Didn’t
see you there, neighbor.”
She wiped the
sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. Strands of hair were escaping the
ponytail sitting high on her head. She put her hands on her hips, gulping in
air, still smiling. His eyes roamed over the tone and definition of her arms.
Arms weren’t supposed to be a turn on. They were just something to have wrapped
around you. Along with legs. But legs were a turn on. Still, he couldn’t take
his eyes off of her arms. They led up to sleek shoulders and a graceful
collarbone. When his eyes met hers, she was grinning and he knew he’d been
caught looking.
“You’re doing
pull-ups on a goddamn tree?”
“Um, it’s my
tree,” she said, looking back and forth between him and the tree. Small as she
was, the tree didn’t look like it could hold its own branches, never mind a
person’s weight.
“Actually,
it’s smack in the middle of our property line. So stay the hell off it and get
a pull-up bar.”
She rested a
hand on the bark and smiled at him with something like fire flashing in those
blue eyes. Her breath was a bit uneven, but firm. “I’ve never shared a tree with
anyone. It feels like a big step.”
He bit back a
smile. “Funny. This tree needs to be cut down. It’s rotted.” He kicked at the
trunk to show her what he meant.
“Don’t kick
our tree,” she said, not even trying to hide her smirk.
“It’s not
safe.” Jesus. She was hard to be irritated with. Which, oddly, only irritated
him more.
“And as much
as I appreciate your neighborly concern, Ryan, I can take care of myself. And
our tree. See, my home gym isn’t quite set up yet so I’m using what’s
available. If you want, we can work out a schedule for tree use.”
There was as
much sarcasm in her stance as in her tone. This time, the grin spread before he
could stop it.
“You’re
feisty.”
“You’re a
jerk.”
“Yeah. But
it’s still not safe. I have an extra pull-up bar in my garage. You put it in
the frame of a doorway. I’ll grab it and bring it over,” he said, hoping the
gesture served as an apology.
Which he was
man enough to admit she deserved from him.
Frankie’s
eyes widened and she took a step back, wariness overshadowing her amusement.
“No thanks.
I’m not ready for visitors.”
He arched an
eyebrow. “I wasn’t planning on coming for tea.”
She gave a
rough laugh. “I don’t need anything from you, Ryan. I’ll pick another tree. Or
do push-ups.”
She backed
away, the unease in her eyes fascinating the hell out of him. She didn’t want
him over. And not because he was a jerk. She waved one perfectly shaped arm
over her head as she went back to her house.
He turned the weed trimmer back on, purposely turning his body in the other direction. He wasn’t going to stand around and watch her go, even across her yard. He’d never watch a woman leave again. Once was enough.
He turned the weed trimmer back on, purposely turning his body in the other direction. He wasn’t going to stand around and watch her go, even across her yard. He’d never watch a woman leave again. Once was enough.
CAT'S REVIEW
"Caught Looking" by Jody Holford. This story tells the tale of a sweet woman looking to find herself and a sexy baseball player, looking to hide himself. Frankie decides it's time to reinvent herself into more than a social butterfly. She is sweet and kind and fun and extremely generous and good. Ryan, despite having a bit of a gruff and rough persona, was underneath it all, a really, really good guy. I liked them together, their banter was fun and lighthearted and they truly seemed to need each other to balance their lives. It was enjoyable to see Frankie pull smiles and chuckles from Ryan and earn the trust of both him and the boys as well. Finding the boys in her new home was obviously a shock. There is quite a bit of emotion throughout as we not only learn about Frankie and Ryan, but the sad story of the boys. One small drawback of this story for me was Frankie keeping the boys secretly. I found that a bit of a stretch and not realistic, however, the rest of the story does trump that and was easily looked over to enjoy the heartwarming tale of love and family. (received ARC for honest review)
★★★★
