Heart’s
Desire
Healing Harts # 1
By:
T.J. Kline
Releasing
April 28th,
2015
Avon
Impulse
Heart's Desire
Healing Harts Series
TJ
KLINE’s brand new Healing Hart's series kicks off with HEART'S
DESIRE
If
you could have anything, do anything… what would it be?
Jessie
Hart has a soft spot for healing the broken, especially horses and
children, but her business is failing and bankruptcy is looming. The
one man who can save Heart Fire Ranch is the last man she wants to
take advice from - financial expert Nathan Kerrington - the same man
who broke her heart eight years ago.
Nathan
Kerrington has it all, except the one thing he’d wanted most -
Jessie. Now that he’s finally freed himself from his corrupt
family, he wants to make amends. When he’s called in to save
Jessie’s ranch, he sees his chance to win her back - if only he can
prove to her that she can trust him with her heart…
“What
in the hell are you doing out here?” She felt the urge to cross her
arms over her chest as she swam backward toward the shallow end of
the pool until her feet could touch the bottom. How dare he come into
her backyard uninvited? To violate her sanctuary?
“I
just came out for a swim. It was quiet so I assumed everyone was
already in bed.”
Nathan’s
brows drooped as he moved toward her, the water only reaching his
lower ribs. She didn’t remember him being so tall, or his presence
being so imposing. Nathan had always been impressive but now he
seemed larger than life. She wasn’t sure what it was about this man
that set her so on edge. Or how he could make her stomach feel like
it had suddenly broken out with a deadly case of butterflies at the
same time. She realized she was still retreating and stopped,
standing her ground and arching a brow in defiance.
“Well,
some of us still had work to finish. I’m so sorry I couldn’t take
the day off to entertain you.” She swam toward the stairs,
dismissing him, but felt a hand gently circle her wrist.
The
butterflies in her stomach took off, beating against her ribs, making
it difficult for her to breath. How could his touch still do this to
her? How dare he touch her? Her traitorous body had held onto the
memories of Nathan without her permission.
It
shouldn’t still bother her that he’d never called, but after the
last night they’d spent together, she’d thought it meant
something to him, that she’d
meant something. But as it turned out, he’d done her a favor. He’d
saved her the embarrassment of telling him she loved him, and he’d
made it easy to despise him. It sure made him a convenient target for
her ire now.
She
shot him a scathing look over her shoulder, then down to his hand
still holding her captive.
“Look,
I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot, Jess. I’m just here
to help you.”
“Yeah?”
Jessie jerked her arm from his grasp. “I don’t remember asking
for your help. I don’t need your help, and I don’t want it.”
“Wow,
I remembered you being a pistol, Jessie, but it would have been nice
if someone warned me that you’d taken bitchiness to a new level.”
“Excuse
me?” She turned back to him slowly, appalled at his audacity and
hoping for his sake she hadn’t heard him correctly.
“I
just don’t understand this whole two-year-old, I’ll-do-it-myself
thing.” He shrugged. “It’s obviously not working. I get that
you hate me and you’re scared but—”
She
walked toward him, moving through the water, until she stood
toe-to-toe, looking up at him, her eyes barely reaching his shoulder.
“I am not
scared.”
Nathan
noticed she didn’t correct his assumption about him. He let it
slide and arched a brow, cocking his head to the side as a grin
tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You sure about that?”
“I’m
not.”
“You’re
running a dude ranch, alone
I might add. One that normally takes several people to operate.
You’ve got no clients booked now and none for the future. This
place is sinking faster than the Titanic, and you’re not scared?”
He scoffed, his green eyes looking down on her. “You should be
scared because, if you’re not, I don’t think I’m going to be
able to help you.”
Jessie
took another step toward him and narrowed her eyes. “Did you miss
the part where I didn’t ask for your—”
“I
heard you. You don’t want my help,” he mimicked. “But, let’s
face it; I’m your best option right now.”
She
turned her back on him and climbed out of the pool. “You’re my
only
option
or you wouldn’t be here. I doubt you can help anyway. If I remember
right, you were pretty hopeless the last time you were here. You
could barely mend a fence. What do you know about running a dude
ranch?”
“Apparently,
almost as much as you do.” She glared at him as she reached for her
towel. “Jessie, you might know horses, but I know business. I can
save this
business,
but only if you quit fighting me and cooperate.” Nathan shook his
head and followed her out of the pool. “Look, I get that I hurt
you. It was never my intention. But it was a long time ago.”
She
laughed, but the sound was sad and bitter, even to her own ears.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Nathan.”
He
ran his fingers through his hair. Jessie’s mouth dried up as her
eyes followed the water sliding down the planes of his face, the
moonlight making shadows over his jawline. She forced herself not to
not follow the path of the water any farther than his broad
shoulders. She might tell herself that he wasn’t her type anymore,
but she was treading into dangerous territory. There was no sense
looking for temptation.
Nathan
was walking, talking, raw sexual attraction, and she was sure he used
it to bend women to his will often. Her body might not know the
difference between the past and the present, but Jessie wasn’t
about to let his sexy smile and hard muscles distract her focus
again. She wasn’t the same innocent girl who had believed in fairy
tales eight years ago. He’d taught her a lesson she wasn’t likely
to forget.
“I’m
sorry. I owe you that. After I left here, things got . . .
complicated. I was wrong not to call.”
How
long had she wanted to hear those words? She realized she’d been
staring at the planes of his chest, highlighted by the moonlight. She
flicked her eyes up to meet his, trying to get her brain operating
again.
“I’m
surprised you never told Justin.”
“Of
course not! What should I tell him? That his best friend seduced me
and then left without another word?” She moved to stand in front of
him and poked a finger against the solid wall of his chest. “Besides,
I didn’t see the point after you turned your back on him, too. I
didn’t think he’d be stupid enough to ever trust your lying ass
again.”
“That
wasn’t what happened.” His voice was husky, seductively
mesmerizing as his fingers brushed over the back of her hand.
She
could barely make out his face in the near darkness, but she could
feel the gentle invitation in his touch. It transported her back in
time. To a time when she was young and trusting and naïve. A time
when she believed in love that could withstand any trial.
She
tried to ignore the grief and the loneliness that washed over her. It
made her wish Nathan would make the first move, that he would wrap
his arms around her, allow her to bury her face against his chest and
seek the comfort she longed for, if only for a moment. The isolation
she’d felt for the past few months filled her and tears threatened,
burning at the back of her eyes.
Damn
it, she couldn’t cry in front of this man, or anyone else, just
because she felt a little sad. She quickly pulled her hand away from
his grasp. She didn’t need sympathy. She didn’t want
it, especially from this man. She just wanted him to go away.
She
could almost hear her father’s voice. Cowgirl
up, Jess.
As
if sensing the change in her demeanor, Nathan laughed quietly. “Don’t
worry, Jessie, your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell anyone
you aren’t always a hard ass.”
Jessie
smiled sweetly before lifting her hands and giving him a quick shove
backward.
Droplets
of water splashed over her feet as he fell into the deep end of the
pool.
Link
to Follow Tour: Here
T.
J. Kline was raised competing in rodeos and rodeo queen competitions
since the age of 14, She has thorough knowledge of the sport as well
as the culture involved. She has had several articles about rodeo
published in the past in small periodicals as well as a more recent
how-to article for RevWriter. She is also an avid reader and book
reviewer for both Tyndale and Multnomah.
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