A beautiful but broken woman must decide if true love is worth
risking everything...including her freedom.
MIXING TEMPTATION
Second Shot #3
Sara Jane Stone
Releasing September 13th,2016
Avon Books
In
the third installment in Sara Jane Stone's dazzling Second Shot series, a
beautiful but broken woman must decide if true love is worth risking everything...including
her freedom.
After a year spent living in
hiding—with no end in sight—Caroline Andrews wants to reclaim her life. But the
lingering trauma from her days serving with the marines leaves her afraid to
trust the tempting logger who delivers friendship and the promise of something
more.
Following an accident that nearly
robbed him of his hopes for the future, Josh Summers believes life has given
him a second chance. He wants to settle down with the woman who stole his
attention and his heart. And he’s willing to wait until she’s ready to be more
than “just friends.” When fear of discovery leaves Caroline pretending to be
his date, Josh tempts her to try the real thing—a relationship built on trust,
not lies.
But then the past threatens and
Caroline must risk everything—including her freedom—to bury her demons before
she can take a chance on happy-ever-after.
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EXCERPT
EXCERPT
“May I lick
the whipped cream off your face?”
Josh lowered
his fork to the pie dish and waited for the Big Buck’s dishwasher to catch up
with the conversation. Pie—not flowers—had offered him the perfect way to
transition from the guy who found her in the woods to her friend. And he
couldn’t resist the temptation to switch from small talk to damn near close to
begging for a kiss.
And a date, he thought. I’m going to ask her out today.
Caroline
raised one perfect, dark eyebrow. One hand clasped a spoon and the other rested
on the stainless steel work surface that on busy nights held stacks of dirty
pint glasses waiting for her attention. Right now, it was just the two of them
and the pie. The bar wouldn’t open to Forever’s local logging population and
the university students who outnumbered the men and woman born and bred in this
section of the Willamette Valley for another hour.
“No,” she
said. Her tongue darted out from between her pink lips that always looked as if
she was wearing a kiss-me-now lipstick. Or course, he knew the woman whose
ideas of accessorizing involved a concealed weapon tucked into the waistband of
her pants did not bother with makeup. She licked the whipped cream teasing the
edge of her mouth. “I’ve got it under control.”
He nodded,
refilled his fork and lifted another bite of key lime pie to his mouth. He
always asked—for a touch, a taste, a kiss—but he never pushed. Caroline would
shift the parameters of their dessert-based friendship in her own time. Or she
wouldn’t and he’d be forced to come to terms with the fact that the future he
daydreamed about—settling down with Caroline, buying his own home, maybe a
dog—would replace sleeping with Megan Fox on the top of his Never Going to
Happen list.
“You’re going
to Noah’s wedding on Saturday night?” he asked, sliding back into friendly
chitchat. He’d waited a year to kiss Caroline the first time. And he’d sit
tight for another if it meant more sugarcoated kisses. To hell with his
siblings’ opinions.
“Just because
I can take the dishwasher apart and fix it every time it tries to quit on
us”—she nodded to the restaurant-grade appliance behind her—“doesn’t mean Noah
wouldn’t fire me for missing his wedding. Plus, he’s closing the bar for the
night. Everyone else is going.”
“Everyone
else is in the wedding,” Josh pointed out. Big Buck’s owner and manager was
marrying Forever’s former bad girl, who’d burst into his life over a year ago,
demanded a job, and quickly worked her way up to assistant manager. And the
only other bartender on the payroll right now was the groom’s best friend and
the bride’s big brother.
“True. But I
owe Noah. I can’t miss his wedding.”
Fair enough, he thought.
“A couple of
months ago, you asked me out on a date,” Josh pointed out.
“I was
feeling brave at the time.”
“Are you
canceling?” he challenged. If she said yes, he’d kiss her again. Maybe not
today, but one day soon. And he’d reminder her why she’d summoned the courage
to ask in the first place. He’d caught her looking, her eyes roaming over his
biceps with a flicker of something more than friendship in their green depths.
And if given the chance, he would let her run her fingers over his T-shirt,
mapping the muscles beneath . . .
“No, I’m not
canceling,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m still working out the details.”
“Be my date
to the wedding.”
Her eyes
widened, staring back at him as if he’d dropped to one knee and suggested they
follow her boss down the aisle.
“No,” she
said firmly. “Josh, I . . . Just no.”
Caroline
refused to look away. She’d spent months learning to read Josh’s facial expressions,
forcing herself to look past the red-gold stubble that screamed ‘I’m too sexy
for this bar.’
Or his shirt.
Or her . . .
Right now,
the corners of his mouth threatened to fall into a frown. Disappointment. But
he never let his smile falter for long. He always took a moment. Looked away
and then returned his gaze to her as if she hadn’t turned him down twice in ten
minutes.
But he knows I’m a long way from
whipped cream kisses in the bar’s back room.
And dates.
Yes, she’d
asked him out once. But then reality had come crashing down on her. Her life
consisted of washing pint glasses and staying out of sight. She couldn’t hope
for more—not even a single night out at one of the restaurants near the
university—with a federal warrant hanging over her head.
Of course,
the police weren’t actively looking for her. As far as she knew. But if the
local cops, or even a state trooper passing through town, found out who she was
. . . If they learned why she kept to the shadows, she would be under arrest
and turned over to the military. She would have to pay the price for her
unauthorized absence. For refusing to deploy alongside the men who’d turned a
blind eye when their commanding officer ordered her into his bed. The men who’d
laughed with Dustin when he’d said he would force open her mouth and make her
take him between her lips . . .
And then
there was the elephant in the bar’s back room that would also tag along on
their date. She hadn’t had sex—oral or otherwise—because she wanted to since before she joined the marines. Josh had never
treated her like a victim, but there was a first time for everything.
“I’m sorry,”
she added. “But I can’t go to the wedding as your date. There will be too many
people. And everyone knows you. If they see me with you . . . they’ll ask
questions. And I can’t give them answers. I need to stay in the background,
hiding behind a plant or something. And then leave as soon as they cut the
cake.”
“A wedding
probably isn’t the best place for a first date.” He pointed his fork at her.
“Maybe once I get my own place, you can help me christen the kitchen.”
She raised an
eyebrow. “That assumes a lot for a first date.”
He laughed.
And the familiar sound threatened to lead her into his version of the future.
One where they would kiss in the kitchen and then—
“I was
talking about baking a pie together,” he said. “I’d invite you over to the
farmhouse, but I didn’t think you’d take kindly to receiving the third degree
from my siblings and their significant others.”
“Probably not
a good idea,” she murmured. She’d spent the past year trying to avoid his two
older brothers and his sister. It wasn’t hard seeing as his family lived in
Independence Falls, a solid hour’s drive from Big Buck’s Bar. Chad Summers, the
middle brother, had tried to befriend her, stopping by the bar’s back room with
his girlfriend, a drop-dead gorgeous woman who’d served in the army. But
Caroline had shut down their attempts.
Josh Summers
remained the one and only person she’d let in since she’d showed up on Noah’s
doorstep. There was something about the way he accepted the word ‘no’ that
broke down her defenses. He never tossed the word aside, questioning whether it
was a knee-jerk response. He never pushed—not once—under the pretense that he
knew what was best for her. Not since that first night when he’d found her in
the woods. Even Noah, who’d had her back when they were deployed together,
pushed. Her fellow soldier turned boss tried over and over to talk her into
visiting the local gun club with him. She said no and he asked again and again.
But Josh
always listened.
“Have you
started looking for a new apartment?” she asked, steering the conversation away
from dates that might lead to compromising situations.
“I’m looking,
but not for an apartment. I’m still sitting on my split from when we sold the
family trucking company. I want to use the cash to buy a piece of land.
Someplace with a nice view of the mountains, maybe space to put those
viticulture classes I’ve been taking to use and grow some grapes. Not a lot.
I’ve learned enough to know that is one tough business. I’d rather keep my day
job with Moore Timber and put my blood, sweat, and tears into building my own
home.”
“You can do
that?” The question slipped out before she could mask the surprise in her
voice.
“I’ll need
help, but I know what I want. Four bedrooms. Maybe five. Plenty of space to
spread out. Timber frame. A second story that is open to a great room below.
And one helluva kitchen with all the modern appliances. I’ll hire an architect,
and a builder. But I can swing a hammer with the best of them.”
Four bedrooms. Plenty of space . . .
CAT'S REVIEW
"Mixing Temptation" by Sara Jane Stone. Ms. Stone has once again written a tale that is heartfelt and emotional, yet interspersed with a touch of humor and light. Caroline is dealing with a lot yet she remains a strong yet caring person. Josh is amazing! Very few guys would have been as patient with her as he. He is the epitome of kindness. He gets her and her issues and truly just wants to be there for her and with her. Ms. Stone tackles some heavy stuff in this one yet does it in a way that isn't so overwhelming to the reader - as I read it, I found I got angry at the injustices and was rooting for our heroine to come out on top (with Josh of course!). Ms. Stone's writing style flows nicely and I always knew where we were and what was happening. I enjoy when an author gives us some of the inner thoughts of the characters and interjects a bit of humor in those thoughts as well. While not all laughs and giggles, the insights projected by these thoughts go a long way to help the reader connect and understand both Caroline and Josh. It was nice to once again reconnect with some characters from the previous books as well. Note - not necessary to read the previous tales, but, as she did with this one, they are quite the reads so I would say, check them out. (received copy for honestreview)
★★★★
After
several years on the other side of the publishing industry, Sara Jane
Stone bid goodbye to her sales career to pursue her dream-writing
romance novels. Sara Jane currently resides in Brooklyn, New York with her very
supportive real-life hero, two lively young children and a lazy Burmese cat.
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