Autumn Bliss (23 page)
Authors: Stacey Joy Netzel
“We were kids.”
“Texas. Judge Breakstone’s niece. She had a candy-apple red convertible with the lipstick to match. We were sixteen. She was seventeen.”
Clay winced. “I’ve changed a lot since those days, darlin’.”
“Sure. That’s why you’re in my bedroom.”
“I was curious. That’s all.”
“Bull.”
“No bull.”
“I’m not the naîve girl I used to be.”
“I didn’t think you were.” He flicked his thumb across the cool porcelain cheek of the doll head in his hand, thinking Kelby’s bright cheeks would be anything but cool to the touch.
“You have no right to be in my room going through my things.”
“Sure as the sun rises and sets, I don’t. But you and I both know who gave you this.” He held up the doll whose porcelain head had been torn from its cloth body as though in a fit of temper.
She snatched the doll torso from him, guilt swimming in her eyes.
Ah, Kelby, what have I done to you?
Her gaze slid to the floor and her voice came out just shy of wobbly. “Get out of my room.”
He should leave. He had no business upsetting her life further. But his feet wouldn’t budge.
“You did me a favor ten years ago by laying out the facts,” he said.
She rolled her eyes, any sign of the pain he’d caused her gone. “Oh, not the ‘guiding light’ bit again.”
He sighed. “Whether you want to believe it or not, it’s the truth.”
“And I’m the Princess of Wales.”
Her stubborn refusal to let go of the past was beginning to annoy him. He shook the Kewpie doll head at her. “Kelby, after all these years, what are you doing hanging onto a broken doll I gave you?”
The next thing he knew, she hit him with the doll torso. She hit him again and again about his shoulders and chest with that pitiful, limp doll body, all the while snarling, “Get out. Get out. Get out.”
He caught her by the wrist. “Stop acting like a child.”
“You’re calling me a child?” The words pierced the air on a shrill note.
He winced. “I’m saying you need to grow up.”
She jabbed her chin at his. “You’ve got some ego, thinking I’m still mooning over you because I kept some old doll.”
“This isn’t about my ego,” he muttered, aware of how kissably close her lips were to his. “It’s about you being stuck in the land of girlish crushes and bad boy misdeeds.”
“I’m not stuck anywhere,” she countered.
“Oh no?” He huffed. “Look around you, darlin’. Is this the room of an adult?”
She glanced past him and her cheeks turned pink as her floral wallpaper. “I-I have more important matters to deal with than room decor.”
He’d have felt sorry for her if she hadn’t turned storm-dark eyes on him and continued lambasting him. “Like how to keep Willow Creek Kennels running. How to pay taxes, monthly bills, and repair costs.”
“Like a leaky roof?” he fired back at her, not sure why he stroked his thumb across her pulse at that moment.
She jerked her wrist free and planted her hands on her hips, the rag doll torso squashed in one fist. “Unlike the Bell Hill set, we aren’t swimming in oil money.”
“You resent my moneyed background, darlin’?”
“Resent?” She snorted. “I don’t resent you for anything. I’m stating the facts of life in the real world.”
“Oh yeah? Look around you, Kelby.
Look
at your real world.” He didn’t give her a chance to respond. “Your world is all pink and ruffled. Kind of a new twist on rose colored glasses.”
She thrust the doll torso toward the door. “Out!”
“Dammit, Kelby. Look at your bed! You sleep with stuffed animals!”
“Who or what I sleep with is none of your business.”
Whatever had made him think even for one moment he wanted to make babies with this child-woman?
He leaned so close to her their noses nearly touched. “You know what you need?”
“No. But I bet you’re going to tell me,” she fired back.
“You need something to remind you that you’re grown up. Something
not
pink,
not
ruffled,
not
soft.”
“And I suppose that would be you?”
“As a matter of fact—” Dumping the porcelain doll head into her free hand, he cupped the back of her head and covered her mouth with his. She stumbled back from him and he slid an arm around her waist, holding her upright against him.
Dang if she didn’t feel like something he’d searched for all his life. Dang if her mouth didn’t taste sweet in spite of the muffled curses she uttered against his lips. He really should let her go.
But he had a point to make. He’d kiss her just until she stopped squirming.
But when she stopped wriggling, her curves melded into him like sin and he no longer wanted to let go of her.
He slid his hand from her waist and surveyed the roundness of her little derriere. She gasped and pressed into him. He groaned.
In about two seconds, he was going to toss her down onto that god-awful pink floral coverlet and make love to her amidst teddy bears, assorted bunnies, and one squishy gray elephant. He’d finally figured out what Kelby Richards needed. She needed a good, thorough—
~~~
Find out exactly what Clay figures Kelby needs in
The Mating Game
…
About Stacey Joy Netzel
I fell in love with books at a young age, so for me it seemed only natural to graduate to writing them. I credit my parents for encouraging my dreams of becoming a published author, as well as the very talented friends I've made in Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Wisconsin Romance Writers (WisRWA).
An avid reader and fan of movies with a happily ever after, I live in Wisconsin with my husband and three children, a couple horses and some barn cats. In my limited free time I enjoy gardening and canning, and visiting my parents up north at the cabin on the lake with the whole family.
~~~
Follow online:
Website and Blog:
http://www.StaceyJoyNetzel.com
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http://twitter.com/StaceyJoyNetzel
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Stacey Joy Netzel’s Other Titles
Italy Intrigue Series
~
Colorado Trust Series
(romantic suspense)
~
(small town contemporary romance)
Mistletoe Mischief
(book 1)
Mistletoe Magic
(book 2)
Mistletoe Match-Up
(book 3)
Autumn Wish
(book 4)
Autumn Bliss
(book 5)
Autumn Kiss
(book 6)
~
(small town romance series with Donna Marie Rogers)
A Fair to Remember
(book 2)
Grounds For Change
(book 4)
The Heart of the Matter
(book 6)
Hold On To Me
(book 8)
~
Single Titles
More Than A Kiss
, contemporary romance
Chasin’ Mason
, contemporary western romance
~
Novellas
Dragonfly Dreams
,
contemporary Christmas romance
Ditched Again
,
contemporary reunion romance
If Tombstones Could Talk
,
paranormal romance
Beneath Still Waters
(Part One), paranormal romance
Rising Above
(Still Waters Part Two), paranormal romance
~
Free Short Story
Autumn Bliss
Copyright © 2014 Stacey Joy Netzel
ISBN: 978-1-939143-26-6
Excerpt from
More Than A Kiss
© 2012 Stacey Joy Netzel
Excerpt from
The Mating Game
© 2009 Barbara Raffin
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Editor:
Stacy D. Holmes
Cover Art:
Laura Morrigan
Digital Formatter:
Author E.M.S.
Table of Contents
Coming Fall 2014 — Autumn Kiss
Recommended Reads — More Than A Kiss
Recommended Reads — The Mating Game
