Excerpt #4 – Tyler & Emily’s Romantic First Kiss

The first thing that attracted me to reading Romances all those years ago was the romance. My first romance was LOST ISLAND by Phyllis A. Whitney. My Dad loved to read and delighted in buying the next book by my favorite authors for birthdays and Christmas. It was something we shared that I missed so much when he became ill with Alzheimers. He’s been gone for too long now, but the love for reading that he and my mom instilled in my brother, sisters, and myself lives on as a testament to the power of the written word and the love my parents had for their children.

My husband and I passed our love and the love for reading to our children when they were young, now that they’re grown, they still love reading and receiving books as gifts.

Here’s that romantic first kiss Tyler and Emily share…

Slainte’

Excerpt #4  – Tyler & Emily’s Romantic First Kiss

Now that they were alone, Tyler didn’t know what he wanted to say first. He’d been struck by her beauty first thing… the chocolate had just added to his fascination with her. He lifted his mug to his lips and sipped. “Thanks for the hot meal.”

She smiled at him. “My pleasure. You looked like you were going to keel over any minute if I didn’t feed you.”

Lord, her smile tied his tongue up in a knot. He loosened it enough to say, “Might have.”

When he got up and started to rinse his plate in the sink, she joined him. “Here,” she said, placing her hand on his. “Let me.”

They both stopped and looked into one another’s eyes. Tyler couldn’t say he minded that she was quiet around him. Maybe he got to her the way she got to him and her tongue tangled up a bit. The thought of tangling tongues with Emily Langley had his libido warming up. He’d been fed and now had energy to spare.

“Emily, I—”

“Need to put something on that scratch.”

The pained look in her eyes had him wondering what caused it. Her next words answered his unasked question. “I’m so sorry I didn’t think about it before I fed you.” She glanced down reminding him of the reason he’d nearly thrown away his chance to save the Circle G.

“It, uh, doesn’t bother me all that much.”

Her face flushed a lovely shade of pink. Mesmerized, he reached out and touched the tip of his finger to the delicate line of her cheek, stroking it down to the edge of her jaw. “You’re distracting, Miss Emily Langley.”

She cleared her throat and managed, “Likewise, Mr. Garahan.” She blinked and seemed to get her thoughts back in order. “Still, you don’t want an infection, and you seriously don’t know where that woman’s nails have been.”

Emily’s words had his stomach clenching. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be sure to take care of it.”

She visibly relaxed and brushed her hand along the top of his shoulder. “Promise?”

The feather-light stroking motion was doing crazy things to his insides. He covered her hand with his and pulled her up against him so her hands were trapped between them. “You’re gonna make it hard for me to sleep tonight.”

Her eyes widened. “Really?”

He bent his head until their lips were a breath apart. “Let me show you why.” She licked her lips and he shuddered with need but held back. He didn’t want to scare her off. She was like a filly that needed gentling, coaxing.

Tyler brushed his lips across hers once, then twice, before settling them against her full lips. Her honey-sweet taste shot to his head like three fingers of his grandpa’s favorite Irish whiskey. He struggled against the need to devour and settled for a taste of her creamy skin, pressing his lips against her temple and the tip of her nose, before he finally pressed them to the top of her head.

Holding her against him was pure torture. He didn’t know how long he’d have to wait before convincing her he would be worth the time to get to know. One thing he did know was that he’d be locking lips with Miss Emily again… soon… real soon.

He eased back from their embrace, running his hands from her shoulders, along the surprisingly toned length of her arms, until he had her hands in his. It felt right.

“’Night, Emily.”

She tilted her head up to meet his gaze and softly smiled. “Goodnight, Tyler.”