To Risk a Heart Excerpt
Here's a taste of my next book. Hope you enjoy! Cover reveal coming soon.
(The photo inspired my heroine's entire character development. Isn't it funny what works sometimes?)
Eliza Jane Miller slid on the blue four-inch heels stamped with cherries and buckled the strap. Oh yeah. They were awesome.The old Eliza Jane would have never worn these shoes. They screamed sex. Not that she was experiencing much of that these days, but maybe one day soon. She looked in the mirror and smiled.The leggings showcased her trim form. The navy minidress hugged her body in all the right places and flared out and down from her waist. The boyfriend shirt style wasn’t all that amazing on its own, but it slid off her shoulder just a bit. Enough that her skin would be a distraction if she needed it to be.And her hair. God, she would never be able to thank Jacinda Mason, her boss’s wife, for the new style. The blonde highlights shimmered like sun-kissed flecks of gold.The mouse was gone.This Eliza Jane Miller knew what she wanted and knew how to get it. One day she was going to see Grady Jenkins again, and when she did, he was going to be sorry he’d sent her to buy that last box of chocolates. Most of the time Eliza Jane didn’t miss Caldale at all. Not its small town mentality, not its one and only grocery store where everyone knew everyone else’s business and had no problem telling you all about it. And most definitely not her former boss Grady Jenkins. She’d loved Grady from the time she was five and told him he was going to marry her one day. That was right before he squirted a can of green slime in her face and after he’d convinced her to try Pop-Rocks and soda at the same time. At least when they were kids, they’d been friends. When he came home from law school in Austin and she started working as his secretary, that changed. Over night, she’d gone from his sister’s best friend to his rock. Not an emotional rock, but an organizational genius who knew his every second of every minute of every hour of every day. An assistant who took care of every detail of his practice and his life…from his case schedule to his dry cleaning pick up to the gifts he had her buy for his plethora of wannabe Mrs. Jenkins. She’d been a combination gal pal, wife without benefits and mother.Leaving had been the best choice of her entire life. She slicked her pink lipgloss on and puckered at herself in the mirror then laughed feeling carefree and hopeful for what the future would bring.It was good to be Eliza Jane Miller, Executive Assistant to Todd Mason of Mason Oil and Gas. Eliza Jane Miller who’d scored an invite with the boss and his wife to the swankiest private poker club in town.Okay, so the boss was an old family friend, but so what? She was going to win and win big tonight. And maybe she’d score a date or two with some of the city’s most eligible bachelors. She slid a sparkly headband over her hair and fluffed the new shoulder length style. Oh yeah. Tonight was going to rock.
Eliza Jane Miller was in a world of trouble. A world of trouble she couldn’t possibly know existed. Grady Jenkins sat in the Escalade down the street from a mansion on the Dallas West Side and clenched his teeth against the tick that had been a constant since he’d seen Eliza Jane’s name on the report detailing the possible ugliness of that trouble.“If this goes south, I’m ditching your ass and telling Lyle I didn’t want any part of your plan,” James Caddo, Grady’s partner for the moment, said. But the smile on Caddo’s face said he wasn’t all that upset. Caddo liked anything that broke up the monotony of investigating. Breaking from a Lyle-approved mission made the risk all the more worth it. “It would be a hell of a lot easier if you could just walk up to your old girlfriend and tell her to come with you now.”“Liza Jane’s not my old girlfriend,” Grady said sliding out of the SUV and checking to make sure the gun in the shoulder holster was ready if he needed it. He prayed he wouldn’t. Caddo was right. It probably would have been better to confront Liza Jane at home with a team ready to extract her from the situation once it was obvious she was nothing more than an innocent bystander. Problem was they didn’t have the time to prove her innocence, and if Eliza Jane saw him at Mason Oil and Gas tomorrow and ruined his cover, they were screwed. “I trust you with my life, man, but are you sure she’s not in this?”“Absolutely.”No way was Liza Jane involved in Mason’s nefarious deeds. Grady had spent years trying to help her see the truth about people, but she still believed the best in humanity. And now because of her naiveté she was in danger. Tonight he’d whisk Eliza Jane away from that danger, and he’d do it without compromising the mission. And then he’d find the information necessary to take down Todd Mason. When he was done, Eliza Jane would see reason and return to Caldale where she belonged. Hell, she’d probably thank him for riding to her rescue once the truth broke about her boss and his business. Probably.Eliza Jane tended to be a bit stubborn sometimes, though. If she proved to be stubborn about this, he’d just make her see reason. Somehow.
<3
***********Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter here. No spam. Just giveaways, free reads and news. No more than one a month!If you're on Facebook, you can like my page also. Just click this link.
(The photo inspired my heroine's entire character development. Isn't it funny what works sometimes?)
Eliza Jane Miller slid on the blue four-inch heels stamped with cherries and buckled the strap. Oh yeah. They were awesome.The old Eliza Jane would have never worn these shoes. They screamed sex. Not that she was experiencing much of that these days, but maybe one day soon. She looked in the mirror and smiled.The leggings showcased her trim form. The navy minidress hugged her body in all the right places and flared out and down from her waist. The boyfriend shirt style wasn’t all that amazing on its own, but it slid off her shoulder just a bit. Enough that her skin would be a distraction if she needed it to be.And her hair. God, she would never be able to thank Jacinda Mason, her boss’s wife, for the new style. The blonde highlights shimmered like sun-kissed flecks of gold.The mouse was gone.This Eliza Jane Miller knew what she wanted and knew how to get it. One day she was going to see Grady Jenkins again, and when she did, he was going to be sorry he’d sent her to buy that last box of chocolates. Most of the time Eliza Jane didn’t miss Caldale at all. Not its small town mentality, not its one and only grocery store where everyone knew everyone else’s business and had no problem telling you all about it. And most definitely not her former boss Grady Jenkins. She’d loved Grady from the time she was five and told him he was going to marry her one day. That was right before he squirted a can of green slime in her face and after he’d convinced her to try Pop-Rocks and soda at the same time. At least when they were kids, they’d been friends. When he came home from law school in Austin and she started working as his secretary, that changed. Over night, she’d gone from his sister’s best friend to his rock. Not an emotional rock, but an organizational genius who knew his every second of every minute of every hour of every day. An assistant who took care of every detail of his practice and his life…from his case schedule to his dry cleaning pick up to the gifts he had her buy for his plethora of wannabe Mrs. Jenkins. She’d been a combination gal pal, wife without benefits and mother.Leaving had been the best choice of her entire life. She slicked her pink lipgloss on and puckered at herself in the mirror then laughed feeling carefree and hopeful for what the future would bring.It was good to be Eliza Jane Miller, Executive Assistant to Todd Mason of Mason Oil and Gas. Eliza Jane Miller who’d scored an invite with the boss and his wife to the swankiest private poker club in town.Okay, so the boss was an old family friend, but so what? She was going to win and win big tonight. And maybe she’d score a date or two with some of the city’s most eligible bachelors. She slid a sparkly headband over her hair and fluffed the new shoulder length style. Oh yeah. Tonight was going to rock. Eliza Jane Miller was in a world of trouble. A world of trouble she couldn’t possibly know existed. Grady Jenkins sat in the Escalade down the street from a mansion on the Dallas West Side and clenched his teeth against the tick that had been a constant since he’d seen Eliza Jane’s name on the report detailing the possible ugliness of that trouble.“If this goes south, I’m ditching your ass and telling Lyle I didn’t want any part of your plan,” James Caddo, Grady’s partner for the moment, said. But the smile on Caddo’s face said he wasn’t all that upset. Caddo liked anything that broke up the monotony of investigating. Breaking from a Lyle-approved mission made the risk all the more worth it. “It would be a hell of a lot easier if you could just walk up to your old girlfriend and tell her to come with you now.”“Liza Jane’s not my old girlfriend,” Grady said sliding out of the SUV and checking to make sure the gun in the shoulder holster was ready if he needed it. He prayed he wouldn’t. Caddo was right. It probably would have been better to confront Liza Jane at home with a team ready to extract her from the situation once it was obvious she was nothing more than an innocent bystander. Problem was they didn’t have the time to prove her innocence, and if Eliza Jane saw him at Mason Oil and Gas tomorrow and ruined his cover, they were screwed. “I trust you with my life, man, but are you sure she’s not in this?”“Absolutely.”No way was Liza Jane involved in Mason’s nefarious deeds. Grady had spent years trying to help her see the truth about people, but she still believed the best in humanity. And now because of her naiveté she was in danger. Tonight he’d whisk Eliza Jane away from that danger, and he’d do it without compromising the mission. And then he’d find the information necessary to take down Todd Mason. When he was done, Eliza Jane would see reason and return to Caldale where she belonged. Hell, she’d probably thank him for riding to her rescue once the truth broke about her boss and his business. Probably.Eliza Jane tended to be a bit stubborn sometimes, though. If she proved to be stubborn about this, he’d just make her see reason. Somehow.
<3
***********Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter here. No spam. Just giveaways, free reads and news. No more than one a month!If you're on Facebook, you can like my page also. Just click this link.
No comments have been added yet.
