It's been a great release week here in Kincadia - thank you so much for all the shares, likes, and wonderful comments for Paxton. If you've missed the details - here they are, along with an excerpt. Enjoy!
Paxton Mathis is committed to bachelorhood. One failed
marriage was more than enough to remind him of the dangers of getting too
close. He has his work on the ranch; he has his family. He has everything he
needs.
Event planner Reese Jameson accepted the job at Shadow
Maverick Ranch for one reason: to face her biggest regret. Paxton Mathis was
her first love, her first everything. And ten years ago, after a night of
unbridled passion, it all came crashing down.
The moment they see each other again, it’s clear the years
haven’t doused the heat between them. On the contrary, their flames burn hotter
than ever. Despite Paxton’s attempts to keep things casual, old feelings emerge
alongside a fierce hunger to keep Reese in his life forever. Reese willingly
accepts Paxton’s need to keep things casual, but she’s worried her heart won’t
get the message.
When Paxton is forced to face his fears, will history repeat
itself, or will he take a chance on a whole new future?
***********
Pax made good on his promise to
call.
He called every night for a
week, so when her phone rang late on Friday night, Reese wasn’t
surprised.
“Hi, beautiful. You home yet?”
She experienced a rush of
pleasure at hearing his voice. Reese turned her key in the lock. The man had
impeccable timing. “Walking in now.”
“How’d it go?”
She tossed her purse and keys
on the narrow counter that served as a pass-through to her kitchen.
“Without a hitch.” She’d been
planning the fundraiser for a local children’s hospital for months. “They
raised a lot of money, and I found the perfect caterer for Gavin and Lauren’s
wedding.”
Surprise colored his tone.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been hesitant to mention
them to Lauren. They were highly recommended, but I’ve never seen them in
action until tonight. The food was delicious, and perfect for what Lauren
envisioned. I won’t bore you with the details. What did you do today?”
“You never bore me, darlin’.
You wanna talk boring? I spent a good part of the day in the office with
Gavin.”
She snickered. “In the office?”
As memory served, Pax hated anything to do with paperwork. Or being cooped up
inside. He preferred fresh air and wide-open spaces.
“Not my favorite thing to do,
but sometimes, a necessary evil. There’s a neighboring property we’d like to
buy. We had a conference call with our dad this morning. Sort of a status
update, I guess you could say. Then I spent the next few hours going over land
surveys and next year’s breeding schedule. Tedious stuff.”
Right. Tedious. He loved every
minute of it, just as she loved her work. “Are your parents enjoying their
vacation?”
Reese made her way to the
bedroom. She kicked off her heels, shouldered the phone, and worked the sheer
pantyhose down her legs. Wearing pantyhose on a hot Texas night should be a
crime. She sat on the edge of the bed and flexed her toes, groaning as her
muscles cooled and relaxed.
“Pax?”
“They are.” Pax’s voice turned
sultry smooth. “What are you doing?”
She fell back on the bed. “I’m
reveling in being out of those shoes. And don’t get me started on the
pantyhose.”
“If I were there, you’d be out
of more than just your hose and shoes.”
Her body reacted to his threat,
heat pooling between her thighs. “Promises, promises.”
Reese ran a hand over her
breast. God, she missed him. Their work schedules had made getting together
impossible over the last week. They had their date for Mrs. Sinclair’s seafood
boil tomorrow, and it couldn’t come soon enough. Reese was counting down the
hours until Pax picked her up.
The night of Patrick’s death
had haunted her for so long. She felt lighter, happier than she had in years.
Reese never dreamed they’d be in this place. She and Pax. Rediscovering the
connection between them.
Their nightly conversations had
been tame. A ritualistic check-in at the end of each day that screamed relationship. They’d begun to get to
know each other again, which seemed odd considering in the two times she’d seen
him, he’d made her come more times than she could count.
Leave it to them to do things
backward.
Pax continued to avoid the
topic of his marriage and Reese didn’t push. She’d figured out most of it on
her own, anyway. Reese hadn’t been entirely forthcoming, either. She’d never
been married, but she’d been asked. Recently. Pax deserved to know, but how
does one go about saying Hey, this guy I
refused to marry keeps calling…
Yeah, not so easy when the man
she loved was looking for a reason not to trust her. Whether he realized he was
doing it or not.
One day, he’d trust her to
protect his heart. The last thing she wanted to do was give him a reason not
to.
Reese filled her lungs,
prepared to broach the subject.
He’d be cool. Pax would see the
situation for what it was. Reese wasn’t interested in Todd or anything he had
to offer. Pax owned her heart. Okay, so she wouldn’t share that last part. Call
it a defense mechanism. Whatever. Her heart wasn’t a card she was ready to
play.
“Tell me about the dress you’re
wearing. I assume you’re in a dress?”
Pax’s words startled her back
to the conversation. “Well … yes. For the moment I am. A cocktail dress.
Simple. Nothing flashy.” She was often expected to attend the fundraisers she
planned. She dressed the part, but preferred to stay on the sidelines to make
sure everything went as scheduled.
“Gonna need a little more for
the visual I’m trying to create here, sweetheart.”
And she’d just lost her opening
to a conversation that would now have to wait. Not for long, though. Soon.
“It’s just a dress. Spaghetti
straps. Modest…” She glanced at her cleavage. “…modest-ish. Black and turquoise. That’s sort of a green—”
“I know what turquoise looks
like. Keep going. Is it a long dress?”
“No, short.”
He growled. “How short?”
Reese hummed into the phone,
warming to his game. “Short enough.”
“Take it off.”
Her stomach clenched at the
demand. “What?”
“Take. It. Off.”
***********
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