Chasing Treasure: A Granite Lake Romance
By Jody A. Kessler
Genre: Contemporary Romance
On Sale For $0.99 April 6-12
After spending the
winter apart, Treasure can’t stop thinking about her former paramedic partner,
Bodie Everett. But, with her unfortunate history of dating, and an overwhelming
fear of commitment, Treasure doesn’t know how she’ll react when Bodie returns
from training at Wilderness School. Or, if the irresistible and sexy, Bodie,
wants to continue where they left off back in December. With a flooded
apartment and a ridiculous suspension from her job as a paramedic, Treasure
heads to Granite Lake and back to her childhood home—a rundown apartment and a
garage packed full of motorcycles.
Now that Bodie
has new Search and Rescue certifications under his belt, he’s ready to move
forward with his life. He hopes that includes a relationship with Treasure.
After an unforgettable night together, he can’t seem to shake her from his head
or his heart. He’s ready to take their friendship to the next level, but his
intruding family members have their own agenda. Opening a brewpub with his
brothers, joining the Mountain Division of Search and Rescue, and the surprise
return of his ex-fiancé complicate and distract Bodie from chasing and catching
Treasure.
Available on
Kindle Unlimited
"Exciting,
steamy, romance that's heartfelt and entertaining!" – New York Times
Bestselling Author Nancy Segovia
Treasure rolled over and admired, not for the first time,
Court’s hard, delicious deltoid muscles. They capped broad shoulders and flowed
seamlessly down to meet bulging biceps. His muscles elicited a baser need to
climb on top of him, squeeze him between her thighs and stroke every inch of
his incredible arms—and the rest of him too. His triceps were ripped. His
forearms could have belonged to Popeye. She glanced at his chest and almost
drooled at the sight of the smooth bronze pecs and rippling abs.
Court caught her attention the moment he entered the bar last
night. She’d been chatting with friends and he quickly became the game of the
evening. She supposed she’d won. In all honesty, her girlfriends hadn’t been as
driven to win the prize as strongly as she had. Treasure knew going to Paradiso
would more than likely provide a new boy-toy, or two, and she thought
she was in the mood to fool around with someone new.
She hadn’t exactly meant to end up in bed with him, but she
hadn’t been opposed to it either. Now, she was in Court’s brand new condo
wondering where her clothes were while trying not to berate herself for
sleeping with someone she just met. What did she even know about this guy?
He told her he was new in town, which explained why she and her friends had
never seen him before. He said he moved to Reno for a job and his last name was
Prescott. Court Prescott. That should have been a huge flag to their sexual
incompatibility. His name sounded ridiculously pretentious to Treasure even
though he didn’t come across that way. And who names their kid Court anyway?
It reminded her of basketball or tennis. Which brought on the image of balls
and that made her snicker as she mentally renamed him Court Tennis Balls
Prescott. Yeah, balls had definitely been involved last night, she thought, and
knew it was juvenile, but ball jokes never got old. Except for actual old
balls and that was unpleasant to think about.
Lying next to him, Treasure slid Court the side eye. This wasn’t
the first time she’d done something like this, but it was the first time she
regretted it with such whole-hearted distaste. He’d been a sloppy and unrefined
lover. The thought of kissing him made her queasy. His lips were beautiful but
had no finesse. She should have known after the first kiss sex with this man
would be disappointing, but she’d pursued him and kept the foreplay going with
the hope that the night would get better with a little coaching. It hadn’t. She
cringed remembering the lackluster roll in the sack and his less than stellar
performance. For all his good looks, the man had no moves. Was it the
tequila shots? Some men couldn’t handle their liquor and their women in the
same night. In her own experience, she thought alcohol improved her sex drive,
lowered her inhibitions, and generally made naked encounters with men much more
exciting. She’d have to rethink this approach. Either way, in her current state
of undress, the insufficient stimulation after they left Paradiso clung to her
like slime-coated cellophane.
She inched across the mattress and paused, listening for a
change in Court’s breathing. If she could sneak away without waking him, it
would save her a headache. She never wanted to see him again. Uggg, she
groaned to herself when he rolled over and his hand brushed her side.
His eyelids fluttered before opening. The whites of his eyes
were bloodshot. Treasure swallowed and wished she had pretended to be asleep. A
sly grin crept across his face. His body had originally attracted her, but
those damned dimples sealed the deal.
The
dimples reminded her of Bodie and sent her mind reeling with vivid memories of
her friend and work partner. When you watched Bodie smile, you had to search
for the dimples, like they were a secret hiding just below the surface. Bodie’s
dimples weren’t as deep as Court’s, but Bodie’s were sexier. She wished she
could see them now, damn it. Why was Bodie always on her mind?
“Hi. I won our bet. You owe me a fantasy.”
“Hi to you too,” Bodie said on the other end of the line. “Where
are you?”
“Granite Lake. I, umm,” Shivers crept over her skin after
mentioning Granite Lake with Bodie’s voice in her ear. She wanted a replay of
their night together. She needed him triply bad after her experience with
Court.
“Hmm….” he hummed into the phone.
She didn’t know if any sexual innuendo existed in the smooth
purr coming out of him, or if it was the sound of curiosity being answered, but
her inner thighs shivered. The phone beeped its low battery warning. Tamping
down her lust, she said, “It’s not as great as it sounds. I have a mess to
clean up at my dad’s old place. And I have a disaster at work to handle when I
return to civilization. Cheer me up before my phone dies.”
“No charger?”
“Uh-uh. I rushed to get to the mountains and accidentally left
it behind.”
“What’s going on at the ambulance barn?”
“I don’t want to get into it.”
“That bad?” he asked.
“Sort of.” And worse, she thought to herself. “Working
with you was a thousand times better.”
“About that…” he said.
Treasure filled the gap. “You’re a total punk. A paramedic
demigod compared to what I’ve been dealing with.” She didn’t want to rehash her
time spent with Court. Luckily Bodie shifted gears.
“Boosting up my ego again? You better watch yourself Treasure or
I’m going to think you’re a nice girl or something.”
“I can be nice. When I want to.” Treasure walked into the
apartment and curled up on the couch.
“You may not be so kind when I tell you my news.”
“I’m not sure I can handle any more bad news today. Can’t you
just tell me your naughtiest fantasy before my phone dies? I need something
tantalizing to get me through the night.”
“You’re so not ready for one of my fantasies.”
“Now you have to tell me. I promise I can handle it.”
“I don’t think so. Besides, I didn’t agree you won,” he said.
“I did. But since you object, I’ll tell you a secret.”
She almost said, ‘I can’t wait to see you again. You’ve totally
ruined my chances at ever having a worthwhile orgasm and you need to help me
out immediately.’ Instead, she bit her lip. They weren’t a couple and she
didn’t know what he thought about jumping into a relationship. “I miss you,
Bodie. Work was pure hell this week.”
He stayed silent for a beat too long. Treasure regretted her
confession. Speaking her emotions was difficult. She’d rather have a root canal
in most cases. The secret she shared wouldn’t be hard for any normal person to
say aloud, but it felt a little too real for Treasure. In the next moment, she
erased her regret. She wanted to be truer to herself where Bodie was concerned.
“Now it’s my turn. I miss you too. I’m fantasizing about a hot
day.” He paused again.
Treasure’s dour outlook perked up a bit. She liked when he said
“fantasize,” and “hot.”
“You and me,” he continued. “I want to take the boat out on the
lake. You up for it?”
“Definitely,” she said.
“Good.”
He didn’t continue like she hoped.
“That’s it? That’s your fantasy?”
“No. Of course there’s more. It has to be hot enough to swim.
We’ll bring beer. Good beer. IPA beer. And chips and donuts. Why you like those
awful mini powdered donuts is beyond me.”
She smiled into the phone. “And mini cherry pie.”
“Yeah, those too. And I can’t wait to put my hands on you…” he
paused for affect.
Treasure held her breath imagining his hands on her body.
“And push your ass into the water.”
“Nice. Real nice,” she said sarcastically. “Your fantasy is
lacking…umm,” she paused, searching for the right words. “Zing. Zest. Color.
Sexiness. Give me something to warm me up and keep me company while I sleep.”
“What are you talking about? My fantasy is perfect.” He sounded
offended. “I’ll let you wrap your hands around my…fishing pole if you want.”
“Fishing pole better be code for something else, Bodie Everett,”
she warned, and laughed when she heard him snickering.
Jody A. Kessler is the winner of the Readers’ Crown Award for
Best Paranormal Romance and an international bestselling author. She writes
contemporary romance, historical time travel fiction, and paranormal fiction.
She is the author of the An Angel Falls series, Granite Lake Romance series,
The Night Medicine and more.
Jody
invites you to stop by her website and see what’s new at: www.JodyAKessler.com. Subscribe to the
newsletter and receive a FREE eBook.
No comments:
Post a Comment