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An Excerpt from

SWEET COWBOY CHRISTMAS

A Sweet, Texas Novella

by Candis Terry

Years ago, Chase Morgan gave up his Texas life for the fame and fortune of New York City, and he never planned on coming backâÂespecially not for Christmas. But when his life is turned upside down, he finds himself at the door of sexy Faith Walker's Magic Box Guest Ranch. Chase is home for Christmas, and it's never been sweeter.

C
HASE HAD COME
up to stand beside her and hand her more ornaments. While most of the influential men who visited the ranch usually reeked of overpowering aftershave, Chase wore the scent of warm man and clean cotton. Tonight, when he'd shown up in a pair of black slacks and a black T-Â shirt, she'd had to find a composure that had nothing to do with his rescuing her.

She'd taken a fall all right.

For him.

Broken her own damn rules is what she'd done. Hadn't she learned her lesson? Men with pockets full of change they threw around like penny candy at a parade weren't the kind she could ever be interested in.

At least never again.

Trouble was, Chase Morgan was an extremely sexy man with bedroom eyes and a smile that said he could deliver on anything he'd promise in that direction. Broad shoulders that confirmed he could carry the weight of the world if need be. And big, capable hands that had already proven they could catch her if she fell.

He was trouble.

And she had no doubt she was in trouble.

Best to keep to the subject of the charity work and leave the drooling for some yummy, untouchable movie star like Chris Hemsworth or Mark Wahlberg.

Discreetly, she moved to the other side of the tree and hung a pinecone Santa on a higher branch. “We also hold a winter fund-Âraiser, which is what I'm preparing for now.”

“What kind of fund-Âraiser?” he asked from right beside her again, with that delicious male scent tickling her nostrils.

“We hold it the week before Christmas. It's a barn dance, bake sale, auction, and craft fair all rolled into one.” She escaped to the other side of the tree, but he showed up again, hands full of dangling ornaments. “Last year we raised $25,000. I'd like to top that this year if possible.”

“You must have a large committee to handle all that planning.”

She laughed.

Dark brows came together over those green eyes that had flashes of gold and copper near their centers. “So I gather you're not just the receptionist-Âslashâtree decorator.”

“I have a few other talents I put to good use around here.”

“Now you've really caught my interest.”

To get away from the intensity in his gaze, she climbed up the stepstool and placed a beaded-Âheart ornament on the tree. She could only imagine how he probably used that intensity to cut through the boardroom bullshit.

As a rule, she never liked the clientele to know she was the sole owner of the ranch. Even though society should be living in this more open-Âminded century, there were those who believed it was still a man's world.

“Oh, it's really nothing that special,” she said. “Just some odds and ends here and there.”

When she came down the stepstool, his hands went to her waist to provide stability. At least that's what she told herself, even after those big warm palms lingered when she'd turned around to face him.

“Fibber,” he said while they were practically nose to nose.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You know what I do for a living, Faith? How I've been so successful? I read Âpeople. I come up with an idea, then I read Âpeople for how they're going to respond. Going into a pitch, I know whether they're likely to jump on board or whether I need to go straight to plan B.”

His grip around her waist tightened, and the fervor with which he studied her face sent a shiver racing down her spine. There was nothing threatening in his eyes or the way his thumbs gently caressed the area just above the waistband of her Wranglers.

Quite the opposite.

“You have the most expressive face I've ever seen,” he declared. “And when you're stretching the truth, you can't look someone in the eye. Dead giveaway.”

“And you've known me for what? All of five minutes?” she protested.

One corner of his masculine lips slowly curved into a smile. “Guess that's just me being presumptuous again.”

Everything female in Faith's body awakened from the death sleep she'd put it in after she'd discovered the man she'd been just weeks away from marrying, hadn't been the man she'd thought him to be at all.

“Looks like we're both a little too trigger-Âhappy in the jumping-Âthe-Âgun department,” she said, while deftly extricating herself from his grasp even as her body begged her to stay put.

“Maybe.”

Backing away, she figured she'd tempted herself enough for one night. Best they get dinner over with before she made some grievous error in judgment she'd never allow herself to forget.

She clapped her hands together. “So .Â .Â . how about we get to that dinner?”

“Sounds great.” His gaze wandered all over her face and body. “I'm getting hungrier by the second.”

Whoo boy.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Excerpt from
An Heiress for All Seasons
copyright Â© 2014 by Sharie Kohler.

Excerpt from
Intrusion
copyright Â© 2014 by Charlotte Stein.

Excerpt from
Can't Wait
copyright Â© 2013 by Jennifer Hopkins. This novella originally appeared in the anthology
All I Want for Christmas Is a Cowboy
.

Excerpt from
The Laws of Seduction
copyright Â© 2014 by Gwen T. Weerheim-ÂJones.

Excerpt from
Sinful Rewards 1
copyright Â© 2014 by Cynthia Sax.

Excerpt from
Sweet Cowboy Christmas
copyright Â© 2014 by Candis Terry.

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. Copyright Â© 2014 by Lecia Cotton Cornwall. All rights reserved under International and Pan-ÂAmerican Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-Âbook on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-Âengineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperÂCollins e-Âbooks.