I was a different man, once. I was a man with only one woman on my mind – the only woman I wanted to hold in my arms. I was her man. But things change. Life changes you. Choices, mistakes, resentment: they all change you. So do unkept promises. We hurt each other. We loved each other, then hated each other, then missed each other, then grew apart. And then… One day, we found each other again. At the wrong time, in the wrong place. Because the two of us are wrong together – we’re too far apart, too incompatible. We’re the main characters of a story that doesn’t belong to us. But I still keep loving her, even though she hates me. And she keeps hating herself, because she can’t help but love me. And we keep searching for each other, even though we’re destined to lose each other.
I wish I could be a different man, just once. I wish I could be the kind of man who’s ready to give everything for the woman he loves. Someone who was ready to let her go. Because I want her to be happy more than I want her to be mine.
“The first time we came here, you got me drunk.” Luckily, she changes the subject. “It was just one beer. I didn’t think you’d start throwing up all over the grass.” “I snuck out to see you.” “I’d told Andy where to stick it. Classic.” Darcy laughs. “You held my hair back while I was throwing up.” “It was long. I didn’t want it to get dirty.” “Then you kissed me, even though I’d just been sick.” “You were embarrassed, and I didn’t want you to feel like that around me.” Her expression grows serious. “Was that love?” “It was. But so is this.” She doesn’t add anything, but rolls back over to look at the stars. I lie there, watching her. I never really cared about the stars. I brought her here because I loved the fact that they would gossip about us at home and at work, but here, we could run away together. I loved her hair, and the way it fluttered out of the window. I loved her legs, which were always crossed in the passenger seat. I loved the way she looked at me when she thought I was watching the road. And I loved the way she loved me. “You’re not looking at the stars,” she points out. “I’m looking at mine.” She smiles, squeezing my hand. “I think I’m going to miss you, Brian Veldons.” Not as much as I’ll miss you.
A. S. Kelly writes Rom-Com, Romantic Fiction and Family Saga. Avid reader, hopeless romantic, lover of yoga, knitting and home baking. She was born in Italy but lives in Ireland with her husband, two children and a cat named Oscar.
Title: Hearts on Fire Author: Christina Berry Genre: Contemporary Romance
I never meant to stay. The plan was to fix up the farmhouse, sell it, and leave. Then I met Drew.
I’m a stranger in this place. When a car accident nearly killed me, Mom took me away from my father and this small Texas town. Now, I’m back, and while everyone seems to remember the little girl I used to be, no one knows the woman I’ve become. That’s okay. I’m not here to reconnect or fix what’s broken between my father and me. I’m just here to fix the house I inherited, sell it, and go.
Then I meet Bodhi, the three-legged cat who keeps peeing on my porch. And along comes Bodhi’s dad, Drew, the protective firefighter with rough hands, a smooth smile, and such a dirty mouth.
Drew has a reputation for rescuing strays. Is that what I am, another stray for him to rescue? Or this time, maybe I’ll be the rescuer.
Hearts on Fire is a dual POV, small town, scorching hot, firefighter romance with an HEA. Contains mature language and themes.
“You’ve been busy.” I sound impressed because I am. “Did you get all that wood out of here by yourself?”
She nods, beaming, then adds, “I can handle a little wood on my own.”
Did she just…? Why, yes, I believe she did just open the innuendo door. And here I come to bust through it like the fucking Kool-Aid Man. Oh yeah! “But how are you at handling big wood?”
Her eyes go wide, and she practically spits out a laugh. “You got some big wood around here that needs handling, Drew?”
Oh, Chloe, Chloe, Chloe, it’s game on now. You have no idea the beast you’ve unleashed.
To throw her off balance, I point to the pile of fresh lumber. “Well, there’s this big pile of wood right here.”
She raises a brow, trying to read something into my words. But there’s nothing there. That would be too obvious, and that’s not how I play this game. With my most earnest expression, I suggest, “Let’s get to work. I’ll help you get this wood into place.”
I use the ladder to climb into the attic, crouching where the first beam will go. From here I have an excellent vantage point for watching Chloe bend over to retrieve a piece of big wood. Her ass is a masterpiece, sculpted by the gods and probably lots of squats. I want my hands on it. I want my hands on every part of her, followed by my mouth.
She stands and turns with the board on her shoulder, looking like a total badass. I blink to wipe the nefarious thoughts from my head and focus on the job at hand.
Clearing my throat, I ask, “Do you need to cut these down to size, or are we going to let them run wild?”
“Big wood should run wild, don’t you think?” she says with a wink as she hands one end of the wood up to me. Nice. Chloe wants to play.
I hold my end in place while she moves the ladder and takes her end to the far side of the room, fitting it up over the load-bearing wall. When she grabs her hammer and a nail, I lend her some encouragement in my bedroom voice. “That’s it, Chloe. Right there. Nail that wood.”
“Oh my God!” She laughs so hard she nearly smashes her thumb—whoops.
I wait for her to collect herself and position the nail against the joist again. “Fuck, yes, that‘s the spot.”
Laughing, she shakes her head and focuses on hammering.
“Harder!” I demand. “Faster!”
I can’t help noticing she hits that nail a little harder, moving a little faster. I like how well she takes direction.
“Don’t stop, Chloe. All the way in. Yes. Just like that, nice and tight.”
When the joist is attached, she gives me a grimace and a raised eyebrow. With a wink, I nail my end to the joist that spans the other half of the house. I swing down out of the attic and hang from the joist we just nailed to execute one, two, three chin-ups before I let go. My boots hit the floor with a boom.
“You thirsty?” I ask, my voice low, my question dripping with double meaning.
She climbs down the ladder. “Do you really think that’s all it’ll take to make me thirsty?”
Stepping into her space again, I wait for her to look up at me before I say, “Well, I’m thirsty for something sweet. You got anything to wet my mouth and whet my craving?”
She stares at my mouth and licks her lips. Oh yeah, she’s thirsty all right.
My gloves come off so I can brush a strand of hair behind her ear. “How about some juice?”
Her eyelashes flutter a bit before she furrows her brow. “Huh?” She blinks, clears her throat. “Uh…”
“Orange, apple, grape… I’m not picky. I’ll help myself if you don’t mind.” I walk into her kitchen, light on my feet, acting like I don’t know I’ve just melted her panties.
Chloe
At this rate, I’m going to jump his bones before we get even half these joists up. Good Lord, the man is sex incarnate. Every syllable of what he’s said makes me want to see his dick. I’ll bet it’s pretty. If his self-confidence is any measure, he’s got to be sporting some pretty big wood.
He returns from my kitchen nursing a little glass of OJ and winks at me over the rim. I could laugh, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.
Inez was right; this guy is trouble. Not red-flag trouble, but definitely yellow.
Christina Berry writes sex-positive, contemporary romance. Her debut novel, Up for Air, won “Sexiest Consent” in the 2021 Good Sex Awards, as well as the 2021 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Winner in Romance – Sizzle, and the 2021 Independent Press Award in Romance.
A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Christina is originally from Oklahoma, and currently resides in Austin, Texas. When not writing, she’s usually helping her husband with their never-ending home remodeling adventure or marathon watching British crime dramas.
An avid reader as a child, her love for all things written waned into adulthood, the excitement of real life things taking over. But when her life slowed down as she finished her office job for maternity leave, her husband purchased her an e-reader, and that obsession was rekindled.
Quickly she went from reader to reviewer, and then from reviewer to blogger; street teams and promo tours galore. When she began collating her own book boxes over at Romance Readers Book Box UK and had the opportunity to include her own words and worlds, the characters began talking.
Those cheeky characters quickly found themselves written down on the page, and her first series was in progress.
When she is not coordinating her worlds, you can find her running around after her free-spirited three children, and husband, or tending to the dogs, bearded dragons, and snakes that also reside with them.
A break can be found soaking in a bubble bath or enjoying a glass of wine, often still with a book in her hand.
