Take Me Home: Home is Where the Heat Is, Book 3 (11 page)

“I want everyone here to think of what you can do to really help.” Her gaze scanned the room, and he smiled when she found him. She smiled back. “I know what I need to do. Because of a wonderful person who reminded me of who I really was, I’ve decided to step down from
StyleU
and join AHFM’s efforts.”

There was a loud murmur of surprise through the room.

She held up a hand. “While I don’t expect anyone else to make such a drastic change, I hope you’ll consider as large of a donation as possible. There are also numerous volunteer opportunities, and AHFM can always use hands-on assistance.”

“I’ll donate my ten-thousand-dollar advance to A Home for Me,” Cash yelled out.

Shawna shaded her eyes from the stage lights, her gaze finding him again. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Yeah, darlin’. I do.” He eased toward the stage. “I thought I understood before, but I really get it now.”

“Get what?”

“Your need to make a difference.” The roomful of people evaporated around them, and all he could see was her. “You want to change what’s wrong with our world. It’s a big undertakin’, but damned if I don’t love you for it.”

The room erupted in soft gasps and sighs.

“You-you love me?” She shook her head, eyes wide. “You can’t.”

“You figure ya got any control over how I feel?” He made his way to the edge of the stage. He glanced at the people around them before looking back at her. “Truth is, I’m nuts about you. Have been since I met you. I was pushing you for more, but I understand now. I wanna help you change the world. I want to travel, work and experience everything until we write our names in the stars together. We can spend every day from here on out making a difference. Everyone will know your name, and they’ll remember it in an amazing way. I think you’re spectacular. I want to change the wrong with you. I’ll be proud as hell to be at your side.”

“You—” Her voice broke. “You know you’re a little crazy, right?”

“No.” He hopped up on the stage and took her in his arms amid a volley of applause. “Not crazy. Ready. Let’s make our mark. You and me, darlin’. I didn’t see it before, but I do now. We can make this happen together.”

Shawna hugged him and pressed a gentle, shy kiss to his lips. “I guess two heads are better than one.”

“Damn right,” he replied. Turning to the crowd, he winked. “Whatcha think? She’s stubborn. Ya’ll figure I can rope her?”

A healthy Texan
hell yeah
followed the question, and Cash looked at Shawna. “Can’t buck them odds, can you?”

“No.” She smiled, tugging him close. “And I don’t want to.”

About the Author

Candi Wall is probably the only person whose real name is more epic than any pseudonym she could have come up with—even as an author! She writes because the voices in her head have to come out somehow. Animal rescue-ess (yes, six years as an Animal Control Officer, and six rescue critters later), mother of four, and soccer mom by day, she spends her free time writing—often on napkins at kids’ games because she never knows when a juicy story will reveal its delicious self. She once wrote a sex scene at a wrestling meet. Shhhhhh!

You can find her at
www.candiwallwrites.com
and on Twitter
@candiwall
.

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He’s determined to change her mind…through her head, through her bed and through her heart.

Home is Where the Heat Is, Book 1

Miya Jackson always believed life had more to offer outside Dead End, Texas. So when circumstances turned her life upside down, she took her chance to break free. A few years—and some brutal doses of reality—later, her little sister’s wedding brings her back to the hometown she left behind.

The last place she expects to end up is in the arms of the man she’s tried and failed to forget. One scalding, passionate night is all it takes to make her rethink her damn good reasons for leaving.

Shawn Dalton always hoped this day would come. Hell, he and Miya have a history, and any misunderstandings can be fixed if she’ll only stay in one spot long enough. Now that’s she’s back, he’s determined to make her see that she belongs in Dead End. With him.

Her obstinate nature is intact, but he can deal with that. It’s the cold, detached woman she’s become that worries him. Melting that wall—and reminding Miya of her roots—is going to take every hot, sinful moment he can wrangle.

Warning:
Cowboy up
has never had so many meanings. This cowboy is hell-bent on rekindling a lost love…even if he has to fight dirty.

He knows just how to tame this filly, but it’ll be one wild ride.

Home is Where the Heat Is, Book 2

As far as Chloe Garrison is concerned, Nick Westing was carved by the gods. Her one and only plan while visiting her best friend in Texas: get that sexy cowboy into her bed as often as possible until it’s time to return to New York.

After a whirlwind week she slips away, thinking it best to make a clean break. Except she can’t get Nick out of her head. And when he unexpectedly walks into her office, her first instinct is to find her defenses before she loses her panties.

Nick jumped at the chance to accompany his brother to New York for a photo shoot, but now that he’s here, he’s pissed. Seems Chloe is doing everything in her power to ignore him. The tender part of him understands her need for space.

The wilder side of him teases and torments her until she finally admits she’s missed him. Even though she walks away, in his book it’s a win. Because one way or another, he’s going to convince her they belong together.

Warning: Contains a commitment-phobic city girl who wants her cowboy—and hates that she wants him. And a hot, sweet-as-sin Texan with the patience and skill to show her she belongs by his side, in his world, and in his bed.

eBooks are
not
transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Take Me Home

Copyright © 2015 by Candi Wall

ISBN: 978-1-61923-010-1

Edited by Jennifer Miller

Cover by Erin Dameron-Hill

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: September 2015

www.samhainpublishing.com