Wow, y’all. The one week countdown to Designed for Love‘s release is ON! I can’t believe the final book in the Texas Nights series is concluding a journey I began with “the call” from Carina Press in the fall of 2012.
To celebrate a book I thoroughly enjoyed writing and can’t wait to share with readers, I’ll be releasing a Designed for Love excerpt each day this week on different blogs (Thank you to all the generous bloggers taking part in this week’s excerpt tour!). These excerpts aren’t available ANYWHERE else, so don’t miss them! Check out the bottom of this post for a list of subsequent excerpts. And read on for the beginning of Ashton and Mac’s Happy Ever After. 🙂
Ashton sidled up to the Piggly Wiggly’s bulletin board, pretending interest in the announcements about the past Miss Cherry Tomato pageant and a litter of free Australian shepherd-beagle mixes. But from the corner of her eye, she was scanning the grocery store’s four-page sale flyer. Something called Kibble Kare was on sale.
The tightness in her chest eased slightly, and she unzipped the mesh door to her shih-poo’s carrying case, perched in the seat of a wobbly grocery basket. The darn thing rolled to the right with a clunk-clunk of its worn wheels. Surely these carts drove other people crazy too. Then again, folks in Shelbyville, Texas, probably cared more about stocking up on reasonably priced groceries.
Stocking up wasn’t in her plan today. She’d be lucky to get Napoleon a week’s worth of Kibble Kare. He stuck his furry, champagne-colored snout out of his carrier and sniffed the air.
“No, sir. You stay inside or I’ll have to zip you back up.” When the rumor had spread around the small town that Napoleon was a seeing-eye dog, the grocery store’s manager allowed her to bring him inside, however reluctantly. Even though Ashton wore dark sunglasses each time she came in, he still shot her suspicious looks.
Napoleon whined and plopped down on his butt. Doggie-style pouting.
“Good, sweetie.” She wheeled through the produce section. Jessup, who’d served as her family’s butler since Ashton was a girl, would be so proud of her. Before she’d left her wealthy lifestyle in Houston, she’d never been inside a grocery store. And now she knew strawberries were a good deal at two pints for three bucks. She picked through the containers at the back of the case and selected one. Then she headed for the dairy section and studied the wall of yogurt. Her favorite was a European import with a tiny container of honey attached, but it was twice the price of the store brand. Her fingers itched to toss the good stuff into her basket, but she settled for a generic French vanilla and a lemon custard. Two breakfasts for the price of one.
What she wouldn’t give for one of Jessup’s post-party brunches. What she wouldn’t give for Jessup to come work for her. But if she couldn’t afford food, she sure couldn’t afford to pay Jessup.
She headed for the other side of the store where she thought the dog food was located. On her way, she passed the meat counter and the cute young butcher called out, “Hey there, Miz Davenport. You and the ankle biter want the regular today? I’ve got a nice filet with his name all over it.”
Napoleon let out a soft woof, telling her exactly what he thought of that idea. Definitely a yes.
“Hush,” she told her dog. “Thanks, Miguel, but I’ve decided it’s time to change Napoleon’s food a bit. His raw diet has been upsetting his stomach lately.”
Miguel pushed his hairnet back and scratched the line the elastic left on his forehead. “Really? I read something the other day that dogs are getting too far from their wolf roots, eating all that corn and filler and stuff.”
Ashton’s stomach cramped at the thought of garbage going into her baby’s tummy. Napoleon was used to the very best money could buy. Only problem was she no longer had the money for the very best. When she’d told her parents she was giving up her trust fund, she hadn’t fully considered what that might mean to Napoleon’s standard of living. He hadn’t walked away from millions. Why should he suffer?
She forced a smile. He’d have to suck it up because, otherwise, she’d end up in the Crockett County jail for shoplifting from the meat counter. God, how did people live like this? Hand to mouth. Or in her case, paw to snout. “Don’t worry. I’m ordering a specialty food online. Lots of vitamins and minerals. No fillers.”
“Let me know how that works out for you. Maybe I’ll switch my dog too.”
Shoot, now she had to take a detour down aisle 13 because she couldn’t beeline for the pet-food section after telling Miguel that whopper. But when she took a right, she almost turned around and headed the other way. Because there stood Mac McLaughlin studying the canned chili with the intensity of a man making a life-changing decision.
A frown pulled at his mouth, surrounded by a stubble-length goatee, and he rubbed his hand up the back of his neck to ruffle his hair—a blend of raw umber and burnt sienna—into a little ducktail. And that hand was just so…big.
So rough.
So unlike the hands Ashton had ever had on her before. A shiver rippled over her shoulders. The men in her past had visited the manicurist as much as or more than she had. And that was saying something.
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Want more of Mac and Ashton’s story? Designed for Love is on pre-order at the following e-tailers: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Apple
Add to your shelf: Goodreads
Or tune in for more excerpts this week!
November 18 – Excerpt Two – Just Contemporary Romance
November 18 – Excerpt Three – Ramblings From This Chick
November 19 – Excerpt Four – Brooke Blogs
November 20 – Excerpt Five – Romance Junkies
November 21 – Excerpt Six – Herding Cats and Burning Soup
November 22 – Excerpt Seven – TBQ’s Book Palace
November 23 – Excerpt Eight – Doing Some Reading
November 24 – Excerpt Nine – Gonna Need More Books & DESIGNED FOR LOVE’s Release Day!
