The Power of Love

Excerpt

NO ANGEL by Lucy Monroe

“Do you make it a habit of sending someone’s apology down the garbage disposal?” he asked dryly.

“Is that what it was?” Her brow lifted. “An apology?”

“Yes. Damn it. What else would it have been?” …<snip>… “Well they were an apology,” he huffed.

“Say it.”

“You want me to say that I’m sorry?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that a little juvenile? I’ve already told you the flowers were meant to convey that.”

“So, say the words.”

“Fine. I’m sorry for the way I treated you Friday morning and for expecting you to lie to get me out of a tight spot.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He grimaced. “Hard enough.”

She laughed. “You are forgiven.”

And why those particular words should make his dick go hard as granite, he had no clue, but he wasn’t knocking it.

 

 

Lori Foster, “Sweet Dreams”

Cara Compton woke from a deep sleep, bolting upright in her bed, her eyes wide in the dark room.

Holy smokes.

She ran her hands over her face and realized she was damp with sweat. And no wonder. Given that vivid, purely sexual dream…

Appalled at herself, needing to dissipate the effects of the dream, she threw back the sheet and sat up to turn on a lamp. The June weather had turned stifling hot, and
no air stirred in her room. Trying to obliterate the tingling in her stomach and on her skin, she strode to the window to open it wider. It slid up easily, letting in a warm, restless breeze, and…

Her heart froze in her throat.

Across the way, in the same apartment complex but in the building adjacent to hers, the object of her hotter-than-hot dream stood at his own window. A soft light limned his body.

Jamison Lawton. Bare-chested. His hair mussed. Knowing he looked right at her, Cara lifted a limp hand to wave.
Erin McCarthy, “Unpredictable” Hannah saw it coming. As a man drenched in sweat wearing a knit cap came barreling
toward her she sidestepped him, reaching out her hand to catch the purse she knew he would drop.

What she didn’t anticipate was the police dog.

Until she was pinned against the wall being held hostage by yellowed fangs and a vicious snarl.

“Good doggie. You’re not going to bite me or drool on my rayon skirt, are you?” Clutching the purse, she tried not to move, annoyed that yet again her mild psychic ability
had provided her with thoroughly useless information, like when to catch the purse, but failed to warn her she was the next episode of When Animals Attack.

“I didn’t steal the purse,” she pleaded with Lieutenant Lease, who growled again, showing no sign of easing up. “This has all been a mistake, really.”

“He can’t understand you, you know.”

Hannah looked past the toffee fur into the amused eyes of one very good looking cop, uniform straining across his broad chest.

“Recall, Ralph.”

The dog sat down and his tongue lolled out.
Toni Blake, “After Hours”

At first, his mouth barely grazed her lips, yet the leasure it released inside her was immeasurable. When the kiss grew firmer, more demanding, it moved through her like warm
liquid, slow but potent. By the time it ended, they were both breathing heavy, the only sound in the room.

Their eyes met, and despite being in a high-rise office building that bustled with hundreds of people each day, Marla felt completely isolated, like nothing existed but the two of them, and desire. It was late enough that even the vague sounds of downtown traffic on the streets
below had faded to nothing.

And something in his eyes, in her heart, in the passion that now stretched so tautly between them, urged Marla to make the boldest move of her life.
Dianne Castell, “Last of the Red Hot Mammas”

Gloria knew that Ten Steps to Finding the Perfect Gigolo was not what she wanted even if her sister and the rest of Savannah insisted it truly was. So she seemed a bit cranky, irritable and been a long time without a man. Heck, she’d survived the divorce, got custody of Dacey against her ex and his high-faulting lawyers and even started Scrumptious Savannah. All was well. She’d won!

Or had she? A brush with cancer made one man run for the hills and the chance of another man taking off when things went straight to hell was more of a gamble than Gloria was willing to take … until Rab Langley came to town and turned her life and her heart upside down.

 

Karen Kelley, “Salesman of the Year”

“Hi, Jenny.” Devon’s words were spoken with a soft, Southern drawl.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, a lazy smile lifting one side of his mouth. His dark hair was still a little too long, just like in high school. He hadn’t cut it back then, either. He’d spent a lot of time in detention his senior year. The bad boy of Austin High.
The rebel that had all the girls drooling, including her.
She cleared her throat, pulling herself back to the present. “Devon, what are you doing here?”

“I grew up and became a realtor.” His gaze lazily roamed over her again, bringing a flush to her cheeks. “And I see you grew up.”

 

Rosemary Laurey, “Dance the Fandango”

“Querida, I miss you. Two days is a long time.”

“You’re right there! I’m tempted to leave my bedroom window open but I don’t want to see my daughters dropping dead from shock if they decide to bring me a cup of early
morning coffee.”

“True. No point in scandalizing the young. They shock so easily.”

“You can say that again.”

“I would rather say, “I love you’.”

”I love you, too, Juan.” Wondrous really, after losing Sam she’d been empty, hollow.

Juan had changed all that.

“Tell me, my love, would Sunday be the time for me to ask their permission to marry you?”

“You don’t need to ask anyone but me, and I’ve already said ‘yes.’”

“It might help.”

He was right. Much as the thought rankled. “Ask Simon. The sons-in-law can go sing, and the girls will probably want to debate it and take a vote.”

 

Janice Maynard, “Girl Next Door”

Felicity bit his bottom lip … lightly … and then soothed it with her tongue. Her pretty grass-green eyes were hazy with arousal, and a tiny smile on her lush, red lips taunted him.

“Jason?” Her voice was husky… strained.

“Yeah?”

“What would you think about me coming to live in Charlottesville?”

His minute hesitation cost him dearly. As did the unmistakable way he tensed up. Shit.

She went from cuddly to caustic in a split second. She jerked out of his embrace so suddenly she almost fell over a nearby pile of boxes. Her eyes were bright. With
tears? The possibility wounded him.

She backed away, heading for the door. “Oh, shoot,” she said, her voice wobbly. “That was just the hormones talking. Forget I said anything. I’ll see you later.” And then she fled.

 

LuAnn McLane, “Chicken Soup for Annie”

“Right,” Josh nodded but he couldn’t help but smile at his cute little volunteer. The sudden rosy color in her cheeks had him hoping that the attraction that he was feeling
was mutual. Although she had mentioned a daughter her ring finger was bare so he assumed that she was a single mom and he intended to find out before her shift was over. He decided not to come on too strong since she seemed rather skittish… not that he was a smooth operator. No, quite the opposite. When it came to women Josh tended to get tongue-tied…

Lucy Monroe, “No Angel”

“Do you make it a habit of sending someone’s apology down the garbage disposal?” he asked dryly.

“Is that what it was?” Her brow lifted. “An apology?”

“Yes. Damn it. What else would it have been?” …<snip>…
“Well they were an apology,” he huffed.

“Say it.”

“You want me to say that I’m sorry?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that a little juvenile? I’ve already told you the flowers were meant to convey that.”

“So, say the words.”

“Fine. I’m sorry for the way I treated you Friday morning and for expecting you to lie to get me out of a tight spot.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He grimaced. “Hard enough.”
She laughed. “You are forgiven.”

And why those particular words should make his dick go hard as granite, he had no clue, but he wasn’t knocking it.

 

Patricia Sargeant, “Angel in the Alley”

Sara’s voice shook only a little. “I want to be independent. I want my own identity. And I don’t want you in my life any more.”

“You need me.” Asa stressed the words. “When your mother died, I took care of you. You didn’t have anyone else.”

Sara stared at him, realization freeing her mind. “No, Asa. You need me to make yourself feel superior, stronger, in charge. I’m through with letting you or anyone else control me.”

“You’re going to regret leaving me.” Anger stripped his mask and revealed the brutality just beneath his surface.
She watched Asa stalk off. Rage made his body stiff, his movements jerky.

Her gaze shifted to Raphael. He nodded once and Sara relaxed.

Kay Stockham, “Hannah’s Choice”

“Hey! Hey, don’t do that! Stop!” Hannah Pruitt didn’t take the time to think, much less pause and remove her leather sandals or the ridiculously expensive watch she’d
splurged on six months ago as an “I am woman, hear me roar” present to herself.

Instead she vaulted over the rail of the foot bridge crossing the twelve-foot deep canal that sliced Orchard Park in two, and entered the cold depths with a choking gasp.

When a bubble escaped, she belatedly reminded herself that keeping her mouth closed would be a good idea. God knew jumping in hadn’t been her brightest.

The moment her leather-clad toes touched the canal’s rocky bottom, she pushed herself to the surface, arms and legs working as she frantically searched for the burlaplooking
sack she’d seen a man toss into the water. Had it gone under? Where?
J.C. Wilder, “The Mouse Roared”

Just what in the devil are you waiting on girl?

The shriek of tires and the loud, insistent blare of a horn jolted her back to reality.

The bumper of a bright yellow cab was mere inches from her right leg. She blinked.

What the heck?

With a start she realized she stood in the center of an intersection, the busiest in Haven.

Not twenty yards away was the storefront, the place she’d always dreamed of. But what if she never made her move? What if tomorrow, she were struck dead and she’d done nothing to halt her slide into mediocrity.

Was she destined to die an unfulfilled woman?