Title: Sweet Adventures
Author: Tamie Dearen
Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance
Cover Designer: Najla Qamber Designs
Publication Date: June 13, 2019
Blurb:
Will Katie jump into the shark-infested waters for a second chance at love?
Katie Carson is afraid of everything. Spiders. Sharks. And especially love… thanks to her ex-fiancé. That's why her immediate attraction to the reckless Gary Lassiter scares her to death. Sure, he looks like Superman and he saved her from a giant arachnid, but he's an adrenaline junkie.
Gary Lassiter owes his life to his best friend, Steven. But his loyalty is tested when he meets Steven's PA, Katie. Though Steven and Katie are probably a better-suited match, Gary wants Katie for himself. He sees a lot of spunk behind her overtly timid façade, and he’s determined to bring it out in the open.
When the three spend a week at Indigo Bay, Katie starts to fall for Gary, even stepping outside her comfort zone. It’s all fun and games until her adventure brings her to a moment of life or death. Thrown into the nightmares of her past, she’s convinced they can’t have a future together. Will Gary get past her defenses?
This is the sixth book in the Indigo Bay Second Chance Romance series. All books have been written as standalones, so feel free to dive in anywhere!
NOW LIVE ON MOST RETAILERS!
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Katie
screamed, jumping up so fast her desk chair crashed to the floor behind her.
The spider on her desk was gargantuan—approximately the size of
Godzilla—covered with spiky brown hairs. She could tell by the menacing look in
each of its ten million beady eyes it was preparing to leap at her and inflict
a lethal bite.
Maybe it
already bit me!
She checked
her arms for signs of puncture wounds.
“Is something
wrong?”
The deep
voice startled her, and she whipped around, stumbling on the overturned chair.
The room tilted and a sledge hammer impacted the back of her head. She looked
up from the floor, stars swirling in front of the face that bent over her.
Thick brows furrowed over crystal blue eyes.
I know that
face—it’s Superman!
Pain thudded
in her skull, forcing her eyelids closed.
“Are you
okay?”
“Just hit my
head,” she mumbled.
Her eyes came
open as gentle hands lifted under her shoulders. The blue-eyed hero was
kneeling beside her, so close she caught a whiff of his enticing scent, a
combination of minty clean and a dash of masculine aftershave. Curling her legs
to the side, she sat up and groaned, raising her hand to the back of her head.
“Let me see,”
he said.
Her face was
pressed against his clean black t-shirt, as his fingers parted her hair to
probe the tender scalp on the back of her head. She inhaled deeply, enjoying
the intoxicating smell.
“It’s not
bleeding,” Superman announced. “Good thing you have this padded rug under your
desk. The tile would’ve split it open.”
As her hero
uprighted her chair, she couldn’t help noticing how his back muscles flexed and
bulged, pressing against the thin cotton.
That’s
strange… I’ve never wished I was a t-shirt before.
Stretching to
his full-height, something over six feet, he turned to face her and bestowed a
slow smile that sent warmth furling in her belly. Damp tendrils on his forehead
suggested he’d been in the shower moments earlier.
Had he come
from the company gym? She only interacted with a few of Gherring, Inc.’s
employees, the ones who came to the board room to meet with Steven Gherring,
her boss. She’d certainly never met this guy before. No way she could forget
Superman.
He rubbed his
hand across the stubble of dark beard on his square jaw, and she imagined her
fingers doing the same, tracing the sharp angle, relishing the masculine feel
of the soft bristles on her sensitive skin.
His eyes
sparkled as if he somehow read her thoughts, and blood rushed up her neck to
highlight her embarrassment.
As if it
wasn’t humiliating enough to meet Superman when I’m sprawled on the floor.
“I’ll help
you up,” he said.
She placed
her palms in his outstretched hands. Big mistake! Charged like an ongoing
static shock, his touch sucked the air from her lungs in a whoosh. Before she
could escape his electrifying grasp, his large hands folded over hers. With
what seemed to be little effort, he hefted her up and eased her into the chair.
Then he sat back on the edge of her desk, folding his arms.
The spider!
“Stand up!
Get off the desk!” she yelped.
At her cry,
he jolted to his feet and whipped around, staring at it as though it might
explode at any moment. “What’s wrong with the desk?”
She aimed a
wobbly finger at the desktop, the last place she’d seen the spider, who’d now
retreated into some unseen place. No doubt, his plan was to hide away, waiting
patiently until she’d forgotten about him, only to spring out and clamp his
jaws on her skin.
“There’s a
spider.”
He glanced at
the desktop, empty except for her laptop, the dark wood pristine as always, not
a scrap of paper marring the gleaming surface. “Where?”
“He’s hiding
now. Probably went underneath or in a drawer, but he was humongous.” She
stretched her arms as wide as they would go.
“That big,
huh?” The corners of his mouth twitched.
“He was huge.
And poisonous. A brown recluse.” She put enough certainty in her voice to
properly warn him, though she hoped her hero was brave enough to slay the
skulking beast.
“Venomous.”
He sank to his knees, peering under her desk. “Spiders are venomous, not
poisonous.”
“Either way,
I hate them.”
“It wasn’t a
brown recluse, though.”
“How do you
know? Do you see him?”
“Not yet, but
I know we don’t have brown recluse spiders in New York City. It gets too cold
here.”
Too her
horror, half his body disappeared under her desk, deep into the spider’s lair.
“Don’t go in there.”
A muffled
chuckle sounded, before he backed out and stood, miraculously unmarked,
brushing his fingers on his jeans. “I knocked a little spider web down. That
should take care of it.” His hand swept toward the desk, as if all were clear.
“No, thanks.
I’ll just do my work over here until the exterminators come.” Katie stood,
crept toward her laptop and snatched it, retreating back to her chair, well
away from the spider’s domain. Then the monster emerged, charging across the
rug. “There he is!” she yelled, on her feet and scrambling away. “Get him
before he makes it to the bookshelves!”
With amazing
calm, her hero stepped on the spider. Relief flooded Katie’s system, knowing
she wouldn’t have to be on guard for his reappearance. Superman bent down and
examined the conquered foe.
“You’re that
afraid of a tiny little spider?” He cocked his head at her, fingers shoving
through his damp locks, pushing them into adorable disarray.
She shrugged.
“He looked bigger on the desk.”
He coughed
behind his hand, but it sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Now that we’ve
ended this horrible arachnid infestation, I’m here to see Steven.”
Katie snapped
into her role, Guardian of the CEO.
“I’m sorry.
Do you have an appointment, Mr. …?” She left the question hanging.
“Lassiter.
Gary Lassiter. And no, I don’t have an appointment, but—”
“I’m afraid
Mr. Gherring won’t be able to see you without an appointment. His schedule is
quite full. Let’s see when we can fit you in.” She opened her laptop and pulled
up his schedule, with no real intention of making an appointment. Steven
Gherring had given strict instructions not to schedule any appointments he
didn’t initiate himself. One of Gherring’s subordinates would no doubt handle
this man, clearly an intruder, even if he did look like Superman and valiantly
slayed large spiders.
“I think Steven
will want to talk to me. We’re partners in a business deal.”
“If you
aren’t willing to follow protocol, Mr. Lassiter, you may find your business
deal canceled.”
“I’ll take my
chances.” With an arrogant grin, Gary edged toward the entrance to Gherring’s
private office, an ornately carved wood door.
In a flash,
Katie was on her feet, racing for the door. With the element of surprise on her
side, she reached it first, barring the entrance with her body. Her chin lifted
in dogged determination as she glared up at the invader, who towered over her
by at least six inches.
“No one goes
through this door without an appointment.”
His
devastating blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he retrieved his cell phone
and held up his index finger. “One moment, please.”
He tapped
once on his screen and held the phone to his ear. “Hi… I’m here… No, I can’t…
Because your very attractive pit bull is guarding the door, baring her teeth at
me.”
Katie heard
her boss’ laughter from the phone in Gary’s hand just before the door opened
behind her.
She barely
kept her jaw from dropping. This interloper had Steven Gherring’s personal cell
number?
“I tried to
tell you.” Gary shook his head.
Her face
radiated heat. But for the recent spider web, she might’ve crawled under her
desk to hide. Instead, she aimed a glare at her boss. “You made an appointment
with this man and didn’t bother to tell me?”
“An oversight
on my part, Ms. Carson. It won’t happen again.”
His lips
curved into the trademark, billion-dollar smile that left most women swooning.
Katie, however, was impervious to his charms. Not because he was thirteen years
older—he certainly didn’t look it—but because she’d sworn off men two years
ago. All men. Including handsome billionaires, like her boss.
And hunky
spider-killers who’re too smug for their own good.
“It was nice
to meet you, Ms. Carson,” said Gary, apparently unaware of the poison darts her
eyes sent his way. “I hope you don’t encounter any more giant arachnids.”
“Thank you
for disposing of that one,” she mumbled, more irritated than grateful.
He followed
Steven inside the door, but turned to his head to toss over his shoulder, “Just
thought you might want to know, I noticed a bunch of empty spider eggs in that
web.”
The door
clicked closed behind him, but the sound was drowned out by the bass drum her
heart pounded in her ear.
About the Author
Tamie Dearen
lives in Texas with her very romantic husband—her own personal romance hero.
She’s been involved in creative writing since elementary school, though her
degrees are in the science fields—Chemistry and a D.D.S. But a more recent
master’s degree in higher education sparked her writing bug again. And with a
zany and wonderful bunch of family and friends, there’s no end of inspiration
for her stories. Contact her on her website at TamieDearen.com.
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