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Category:
Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
ISBN-10: 1601547900
Type: Fiction
Pages: 250
Copyright: 8/6/2010
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
It takes pilot B.J. Gilmore to show widower Grady Rawlings that love tomboy-style can heal his wounded heart.
THE TOMBOY
Pilot B.J. Gilmore is Tommy Creek, Texas’s tough tomboy who loves to fly planes and gamble and doesn’t give a whip what anyone thinks or says about her…until Grady Rawlings steps into her life.
PLUS THE WIDOWER
Heir to an oil dynasty, Grady has inner demons to battle. Ever since his wife and unborn child died two and a half years ago, he’s developed a deep-seated hatred for sympathy and can’t handle anyone feeling sorry for him or treating him like some pitiful widower.
EQUALS TROUBLE IN TEXAS
Grady hires B.J,'s plane service to fly him to Houston for an overnight business trip. While there, she coaxes him into accompanying her to a late dinner, where she decides it’s time for him to move on with his life. A month later, she turns up pregnant with his baby, and neither of them is prepared for the chaos that follows.
Excerpt
Grady had already made it to the hotel by the time B.J. exited the restaurant.
It had started to rain, and a light drizzle coated her face. Pushing her drooping bangs out of her eyes, she dashed after him, streaking across the street and jaywalking to catch him before he made it to his room. She was soaked by the time she hit the entrance's overhang and caught sight of him through the window. The miserable shower had drenched him too, but a heedless Grady marched determinedly toward the bank of elevators. She entered the fancy foyer and took off in pursuit.
Never one to bother with propriety, she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Hey, Rawlings."
He didn't break stride, pause, or give any indication he'd heard her. But she knew he had, mainly because everyone else in the lobby stopped to glance curiously her way.
B.J. ignored the others and raced after Grady. As he stepped into the elevator, she hollered, "Hold that door!"
Another man entering glanced back. When their gazes met, he spiked out a hand, accommodating her request.
"Thank ya, sir," she said breathlessly, slipping inside and settling herself next to Grady. He must've known it would look childish to hop off, so he merely stood stiff as a board, hands fisted at his side, and studied the numbers above the door as they lit one after the other.
B.J. exploded. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
The other passenger lifted his face, his eyes wide and startled, before he no doubt realized she was ripping on Grady and not him.
"I was actually racing after you to apologize. But you know what? Screw that. I'm not sorry about what I said, because it's about time someone threw an ice cold glass of reality right in your face."
When he refused to meet her glower, she set her hands on her hips. "You make everyone in Tommy Creek uncomfortable whenever you're around because you freeze folks out like they should all feel ashamed they're alive and your wife isn't. Well, you know what? That's just the way it happened. Time to move on."
He continued to stare at the numbers, but his jaw worked furiously, tightening and loosening, tightening back into a knot and then loosening again. "Go to hell," he said in a low, warning baritone.
The third occupant of the elevator backed against the wall and darted skittish glances from Grady to B.J.
"No. YOU go to hell," she countered, jabbing her finger his way. "I'm trying to give you helpful advice on—"
"I don't need your ADVICE," he snarled. "I just want to be left alone."
B.J. snorted. "Well, I can't. Amy was important to me too, you know. She'd be devastated if she knew I was letting you pretend you're not alive. You need to join the real world again, Slim. Quit wallowing—"
He whirled toward her so quickly she jerked an intimidated step back. From between clenched teeth, he hissed, "I'll live my life however I damn well please."
When she sucked in a breath, he blinked like he'd just realized she was cowering. Letting out a low growl, he reeled away and raked a shaky hand through his hair. "Jesus," he whispered. "Why can't everyone just leave me alone?"
B.J. could tell his control was splintering. But she fully believed it'd be healthy for him to lose it. For once in his life, he needed to let out some of the pressure. He needed to alleviate the pain that had been brewing inside him since the moment his wife died.
He needed to go a little crazy.
"It's probably because you bring it on yourself," she said.
He glanced menacingly at her. "Excuse me?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come off it, Slim. If you really wanted everyone to stop feeling so sorry for you and treating you like some kind of wounded animal, you'd stop ACTING like one."
Shock filtered across his cheekbones with a red tinge. His mouth fell open. "What? I do not—"
But his gaze landed on the wet shirt clinging to her breasts, and the words died in his throat. Looking taken aback by the fact she was nipping, he gaped at her with slack-jawed shock. On pure impulse, she pulled her shoulders back a fraction, pushing her chest forward to goad him. For the briefest of moments, his lashes lowered, and he sucked in a quiet breath through his teeth. Then he tore his eyes away, muttering a curse.
B.J. blinked, taken aback. She'd just gotten a response from the ice man. Grady Rawlings had looked at her with sexual awareness. Thinking this might be good for him, she licked her lips and quickly planned her next move.
The elevator stopped on their floor; he shot through the doors as soon as they began to open.
B.J. stuck to his heels, grabbing his arm.
"Don't," he said and shrugged her away, not once stopping his long-legged stride.
She clutched his wet, slippery sleeve again, ignoring the warning.
With a snarl, he swung around, grabbing her wrist in a bruising grip and ripping her hand off him. The scorching heat in his eyes was deadly. "I do NOT ask for anyone's sympathy. The last thing in the world I want is for everyone to treat me like some kind of—"
Ignoring his tirade, B.J. rose onto her toes and stamped her mouth against his……
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