(Broken Valor #1)
By Lexi Post
On sale for 99¢
He’s the right man at the wrong time with an unwanted Christmas proposal.
As if cocktail waitress and horse trainer Lynzie Mullins didn’t have enough problems, she discovers she’s pregnant just as her high school crush rides back into town in time for Christmas. He’s a constant reminder of the happily ever after she’d always dreamed of instead of the mess she’s in now.
Cowboy veteran Ryan Crawford reluctantly returns to Lucasville to help his grandfather sell his place. The town has changed and so has Lynzie—from an awkward teenager to an attractive young woman with a caring heart.
Despite his best efforts, Lynzie’s not interested in leaving Lucasville, so Ryan offers her what she wants—his heart. Unfortunately, that proves not to be enough. Now he has a decision to make. Give up his dream farm or his dream girl.
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EXCERPT
Lynzie smiled. “No. You are still the boy I liked in high school, just better.”
Ryan’s grin was back. “That’s good enough for me. So would you like to come over this weekend and give me a few pointers on Midnight and Toby?”
“I can come by Sunday. I don’t work Sunday night.”
“Perfect. You can stay for dinner.”
What was she doing? “Sounds good.”
“It will be. I’m cooking. You don’t want to eat anything Gramps cooks. I found that out the hard way.”
She rarely ran into Ryan’s grandfather, but she’d heard he was forgetting things. “You know how to cook?”
He shrugged. “I’ve picked up a couple tips here and there. My specialty is smoked ribs. Do you like those?”
Oh, God could the man get any better? “I love smoked ribs.”
“How about twelve hundred hours? I’d like your opinion on a few things, but I know you work late.”
Her opinion? She ignored his use of military time. “Noon is fine.”
He gazed into her eyes, a smile still on his face. “I’m really glad I came back here.”
Before she could react to the thrill that buzzed through her chest, Ryan cupped her neck and kissed her.
The second his lips touched hers, her whole body came alive. At first the kiss was just a brush of a touch, but as he lifted away, he hesitated then came back and really kissed her, his tongue seeking entrance to her mouth, which she allowed.
As teenagers, they had been awkward at best in their kissing, but Ryan knew what he was about now as he commandeered her mouth with his tongue. She moaned as she kissed him back, loving his new taste.
“Excuse me.”
At the sound of the strange voice, she pulled away and looked at the person who wanted to go into the restaurant. She didn’t recognize the man, but still her cheeks heated.
“I’m sorry.” Ryan spoke to the man then stepped away from the doorway, taking her with him, his hand at the small of her back, possessive.
She shook her head, not quite able to form words yet.
“Good.” He looked at his watch. “I better get going. See you Sunday?”
She nodded.
He tipped his hat and strode off, the hitch in his step not quite as noticeable as it had been.
She watched him until he turned the corner, unable to take her eyes off him. Lifting her hand to her lips, she relived the kiss. Ryan Crawford had grown into the perfect man, just like the ugly duckling grew into a swan.
And he had opened her eyes to life’s possibilities in just a few hours. If only—her doctor’s appointment was Friday. Maybe she would get lucky and discover her home pregnancy test had screwed up.
ABOUT LEXI:
Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan Poe's short story “The Masque of the Red Death” to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, she's read, studied, and taught wonderful classics.
But Lexi's first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance and the classics. Whether it’s sizzling cowboys, dashing dukes, hot immortals, or hunks from out of this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a “whole lotta story.”
Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her two cats in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and you’ll never see her without a hat.
