Taste the Heat Blog Tour: excerpt and giveaway
Taste the Heat by Rachel Harris
Contemporary romance
eBook, 220 pages
Publisher: Entangled Bliss (published July 8, 2013)
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
One sexy fire captain. One Cajun chef. One combustible kitchen…
When chef Colby Robicheaux returned home to New Orleans to save her family restaurant, the last person she expected to reconnect with was her brother’s best friend and her childhood crush. As tempting as a sugar-coated beignet, Jason is one dish she can’t afford to taste. Colby can’t wait to leave the place where her distrust of love and commitment originated and go back to Vegas.
Fire captain Jason Landry isn’t looking for love, either. Disillusioned by his past, he knows he should be focusing on finding the perfect mother for his daughter. But when he first sees Colby, all grown up and gorgeous, he can’t help but be drawn to her. And when she suggests a no-strings-attached fling, Jason can’t say no.
As their relationship grows more intense, Colby finds that Jason isn’t as easy to leave behind as she thought. Could turning up the heat on something real be worth the possibility of getting burned?
Excerpt:
Colby turned to glance at the dozens of women hanging on Jason’s every word, curious as to which one of them was the lucky recipient of his sexy smile. When they were growing up, she used to dream about him flashing it at her one day. But not in the friendly, how-ya-doing-squirt, or the I’m-your-brother’s-best-friend way he did back then. And not even the respectful you’re-the-judge-so-I-want-to-impress-you way he did today. But in an I-find-you-extremely-sexy sort of way. An I-actually-see-you-as-a-woman way.
An I-wanna-get-you-naked way.
Colby choked on the peppery bite she’d just placed in her mouth.
Where in the heck had that thought come from?
Jason sprang into action, like the knight in hero’s armor he’d always been, rushing to hand her a bottle of water. Colby uncapped it and quickly downed half its contents. Sure, the man—or rather, the boy he once was—had filled the pages of her childhood diary, and not all of her whimsical fantasies had been PG-rated. But the last time she’d even come close to getting naked with a man was more than three years ago. A very long three years ago.
Colby looked up into Jason’s concerned brown eyes, glanced at the scar slashing his left eyebrow, and took another long gulp.
“Are you all right?” He squatted down beside her chair, the fabric of his dark blue uniform pants stretching taut over his thighs. The Louisiana heat skyrocketed.
She nodded, and with a self-deprecating laugh he asked, “Was it my cooking?”
“No, it was my fault,” she answered, searching his handsome face for any sign that he knew who she was. “It just went down the wrong way.”
He lifted his hand and then hesitated, hovering it in mid-air until finally placing it over hers in an obvious gesture of comfort. Colby swallowed against the energy zinging up her arm. Tall and dark with piercing eyes and an easy smile, young Jason had set more than just her heart fluttering back in the day. But the man he’d grown into was simply devastating.
Strong, work-roughened fingers encircled her slender wrist. Her eyelids flickered. This small, innocent touch was the most action she’d gotten in a while. Then the thick pad of Jason’s thumb grazed across her skin moments before his nail rasped the tender flesh near her pulse. Her insides clenched. Looking up, she saw unmistakable attraction flash in his toffee-colored eyes. And then his hand was gone.
“Good,” he finally said, pushing to his feet. “I’d hate to be the one responsible for poisoning the judge.” He slid her one of his signature sexy, lopsided grins and headed back to his side of the table.
Colby couldn’t believe it. He actually didn’t recognize her. She knew it had been almost eight years since she’d last seen him at her mother’s funeral, when she’d looked like the living dead, but she hadn’t changed that much since they were kids. At least she didn’t think she had.
He certainly hadn’t.
Under the tailored MSFD uniform shirt, Jason’s back muscles flexed as he walked away. Yeah, he was older. His shoulders were broader, his waist trimmer. His backside filled out his uniform pants in a way that had her wanting to squeeze it. But he was still Jason. She remembered when he’d gotten that slash above his eyebrow. She was there when he broke his nose in her driveway. Well, being a girl and three years younger, she had observed most of it from the window seat in her bedroom, but she was there.
An I-wanna-get-you-naked way.
Colby choked on the peppery bite she’d just placed in her mouth.
Where in the heck had that thought come from?
Jason sprang into action, like the knight in hero’s armor he’d always been, rushing to hand her a bottle of water. Colby uncapped it and quickly downed half its contents. Sure, the man—or rather, the boy he once was—had filled the pages of her childhood diary, and not all of her whimsical fantasies had been PG-rated. But the last time she’d even come close to getting naked with a man was more than three years ago. A very long three years ago.
Colby looked up into Jason’s concerned brown eyes, glanced at the scar slashing his left eyebrow, and took another long gulp.
“Are you all right?” He squatted down beside her chair, the fabric of his dark blue uniform pants stretching taut over his thighs. The Louisiana heat skyrocketed.
She nodded, and with a self-deprecating laugh he asked, “Was it my cooking?”
“No, it was my fault,” she answered, searching his handsome face for any sign that he knew who she was. “It just went down the wrong way.”
He lifted his hand and then hesitated, hovering it in mid-air until finally placing it over hers in an obvious gesture of comfort. Colby swallowed against the energy zinging up her arm. Tall and dark with piercing eyes and an easy smile, young Jason had set more than just her heart fluttering back in the day. But the man he’d grown into was simply devastating.
Strong, work-roughened fingers encircled her slender wrist. Her eyelids flickered. This small, innocent touch was the most action she’d gotten in a while. Then the thick pad of Jason’s thumb grazed across her skin moments before his nail rasped the tender flesh near her pulse. Her insides clenched. Looking up, she saw unmistakable attraction flash in his toffee-colored eyes. And then his hand was gone.
“Good,” he finally said, pushing to his feet. “I’d hate to be the one responsible for poisoning the judge.” He slid her one of his signature sexy, lopsided grins and headed back to his side of the table.
Colby couldn’t believe it. He actually didn’t recognize her. She knew it had been almost eight years since she’d last seen him at her mother’s funeral, when she’d looked like the living dead, but she hadn’t changed that much since they were kids. At least she didn’t think she had.
He certainly hadn’t.
Under the tailored MSFD uniform shirt, Jason’s back muscles flexed as he walked away. Yeah, he was older. His shoulders were broader, his waist trimmer. His backside filled out his uniform pants in a way that had her wanting to squeeze it. But he was still Jason. She remembered when he’d gotten that slash above his eyebrow. She was there when he broke his nose in her driveway. Well, being a girl and three years younger, she had observed most of it from the window seat in her bedroom, but she was there.
From a few feet over, Mary discreetly cleared her throat, reminding Colby of where she was. With reluctance, she slid her eyes away from Jason’s delectable ass and glanced at the large crowd seemingly hanging on their every exchanged word. It wasn’t that their banter so far had been overtly flirtatious, but for some reason it felt like it was.
This is why I stay in the kitchen, she thought, picking up her fork and spearing a plump crawfish tail. In public, it’s only a matter of time until I make an idiot of myself…or drool all over hot firemen.
Rachel Harris Bio:
Rachel Harris grew up in New Orleans, where she watched soap operas with her grandmother and stayed up late sneak reading her mama’s favorite romance novels. Now a Cajun cowgirl living in Houston, she still stays up way too late reading her favorite romances, only now, she can do so openly. She firmly believes life’s problems can be solved with a hot, powdered-sugar-coated beignet or a thick slice of king cake, and that screaming at strangers for cheap, plastic beads is acceptable behavior in certain situations.
When not typing furiously or flipping pages in an enthralling romance, she homeschools her two beautiful girls and watches reality television with her amazing husband. Taste The Heat is her adult romance debut. She’s the author of MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY and A TALE OF TWO CENTURIES. She loves hearing from readers! Find her at www.RachelHarrisWrites.com.
Links:
*Grin*
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for being a part of the Taste the Heat blog tour! I really appreciate the support. You rock ;)
xoxo
Rachel
I just love the storyline and would like to know more. Thank you for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteBonnie Hilligoss - bonhill@speakeasy.net