My Housekeeper Fantasy
Hi All!
Cynthia D’Alba here. Thank you to ELF for having me on The Reading Addict to celebrate the release of
TEXAS TANGO, the second book in the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series. I have to say that I SOOO identify with the name of this blog! Reading addict describes me more than “I like to read.” True story…I used to write fake letters from my mother to my teachers (when I was in grade school) saying that I was “sick” and needed to stay inside from recess. Why? Because I wanted to read more than I wanted to run around on the playground.
Travis Montgomery, my hero in
TEXAS TANGO, has a full time housekeeper and cook. Henrietta, aka Henriee, is married to the ranch foreman and pretty much treats Travis like one of her kids. So when Travis comes home in the evenings, his house is clean and dinner is either in the refrigerator (ready to be heated) or in the oven.
Caroline Graham, my heroine, is like me (and probably most of you.) She’s always cleaned her own house and cooked her own meals. But once she ties up with Travis, not only does she get the hunky cowboy lover, but OMG! She gets a clean house that she didn’t have to clean and delicious meals she didn’t have to cook.
Confession…Caroline gets to live MY fantasy. I really hate to clean house. Cooking, I don’t “hate” but I don’t cook much. I’d rather have a nice meal waiting for me in the evenings, wouldn’t you? A full time housekeeper.
Here’s Caroline’s reaction after her first week with Travis…
When she got to Halo M ranch Tuesday evening, Travis was there waiting for her. Dinner was in the oven. The house was clean. She had no responsibilities other than what she wanted to do. And what she wanted to do was Travis…so she did.
Yeah, that’d be my reaction too.
So are you with me and Caroline? Having a full time housekeeper would be a fantasy fulfilled?
If not, what would be one of your fantasies?
Curious about
Texas Tango?
Their wedding might be fake, but there’s no faking the mutual attraction.
Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2
Dr. Caroline Graham is happy with her nomadic lifestyle fulfilling short-term medical contracts. No emotional commitments, no disappointments. She’s always the one to walk away, never the one left behind. But now her great-uncle is gone and her grandmother is on her deathbed, more concerned about Caroline’s lack of a husband than her own demise. What’s the harm in a little white lie? If a wedding will give her grandmother peace, then a wedding she shall have.
Travis Montgomery has one dream left—to build the ranch he and his wife planned before he lost her to cancer. There’s just one thing standing between him and the last bit of acreage he needs—a last living heir who has one traveling foot out the door…and an unusual request that challenges his determination to never again place his heart at risk. The land he wants in exchange for a faux marriage. Everyone wins. Until things start to snowball…and the hearts they stand to lose are their own.
Warning: This book contains a tortured widower who doesn’t want a wife and an independent doctor who doesn’t want a husband. Hot stuff between the sheets and failed efforts to avoid emotional involvements.
Excerpt:
“Travis?” She looked at her watch. Where had she lost an hour? “I’m sorry. I guess I lost track of the time.”
She struggled to keep her fingers from running through her hair in an effort to arrange it into some type of coiffure. Then she remembered she’d washed off her makeup when she’d showered, meaning to reapply a light coat before he arrived. That meant she was getting ready to request the biggest favor of her life while sporting ratty hair, no makeup, old clothes and barefoot.
She was pretty sure that if she dropped dead right now, God would feel so sorry for her that she’d sweep right through those pearly gates.
“Can I come in?” Travis asked, the corner of his mouth continuing to twitch in a smile, as though he knew something she didn’t.
She knew he’d spoken. She’d seen his lips move, but apparently mortification made a person become immediately deaf.
“Caroline? You asked me to come over about seven. It’s…” he checked his wristwatch, “…almost seven. Sorry. I’m a little early.
Are you going to let me in? Unless you want to have a conversation with me on your porch and you standing in the door.”
“What? Sure. Sorry.” This time, she couldn’t stop her hand from trying to fluff her flat hair. “I wasn’t expecting you for another half-hour.”
He chuckled. The deep-throated sound rattled out of him and into her, igniting a warm glow that started in her middle and radiated out like concentric circles from a rock dropped into water. Her blood began to boil from all the heat emanating from the sexiest cowboy in a tri-county area. Caroline felt beads of sweat pop out on her upper lip as a flash fire burned from head to toe.
“Sorry to catch you off-guard, but you look great. Educational shirt you’ve got on.” He grinned then tapped his hat on the end of her nose. “No reason to dress up on my account.”
Crap. Not a good sign when the guy you want to impress enough to talk into the huge favor doesn’t care if you look like a street person.
She sighed. “Uh-huh. Right. C’mon in.”
He stepped into the living room and glanced around. “Nice place. Love those African masks.” He walked over to study them closer. “There must be a great story behind those.”
Caroline shrugged. “Not really. Just a present from my parents. You want something to drink? I have diet soda, water, iced tea, fruit juice.”
“Water would be great. Thanks.”
She headed for her kitchen, trying to figure out if she could do anything about her appearance before she returned to the living room. Unless there was magic in that can of Crisco, she was doomed to her homeless hobo look for tonight’s appointment. She vowed to stock emergency makeup and a change of clothes in the kitchen from now on.
Straightening after pulling a bottle of water from the back of the refrigerator, she backed into a solid wall of hot male muscle. Strong hands grabbed her arms to keep her from falling at the same time the scent of raw male teased her senses. Sexual tension tightened every muscle. The area between her thighs throbbed with carnal lust.
“Oops,” Travis said.
She whipped around and smashed the cold bottle of water against his chest. A dark wet spot spread on his shirt. “Here.” Her heart jumped into her throat. Heat flared on her face. She had to curb the impulse to press her flushed cheek to his shirt.
Crap. Tonight was going to be a disaster.
“Thanks.” He uncapped the bottle, drank about half in one long gulp then wiped his mouth with his hand. “Man, I needed that. The heat today was a killer, but then I guess you know that.”
Her lower back tingled as a sexual itch expanded throughout her heated body. She needed a little physical distance to regroup. “Let’s go back to the living room. I’ll try to explain why I asked you here.”
“Great. I’m hoping you’ve given some thought to selling the Fitzgerald property.”
Caught off-guard by his comment, she stumbled over her feet. Lucky to not fall, she decided no response would be the best response. She’d had Uncle Angus’s ranch appraised this week for tax purposes. Selling the ranch wasn’t even on her radar at the moment, although she didn’t have a clue what she would do with the place.
She returned to the living room with him following on her heels and retook her seat on the couch. He took the other end. She turned toward him, leaned against the armrest and crossed her legs in yoga style. They sat there for a couple of minutes. Caroline couldn’t take her eyes off the movement of his Adam’s apple sliding up and down in his throat as he drank the water. She found herself swallowing in concert with each of his swallows.
No doubt about it. Travis Montgomery was an excellent male specimen. Too bad she didn’t need a husband…at least not a real husband.
He leaned toward her. A clean soapy scent wafted down the sofa toward her.
“Look, I know how hard it must be to consider selling your great-uncle’s property, so I’ll make this easy for you.”
She frowned and braced herself for his reaction. She held up a hand. “Wait a minute, Travis. I didn’t ask you over here to talk about selling Angus’s property.”
He returned her frown. “You didn’t? Then why am I here?”
Caroline drew in a deep breath. “I need a husband and I need one fast.”
Texas Tango is available at your favorite online bookstore or follow one of the links below:
Texas Tango (Amazon link) |
Samhain |
Barnes & Noble |
Kobo
About the author:
Want to know more about this housecleaning challenged author? I was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, I’m thrilled to be making my home back in Arkansas living in a vine-covered cottage on the banks of an eight-thousand acre lake. I started writing on a challenge from my husband in 2006 and discovered having imaginary sex with lots of hunky men was fun.
My first book, Texas Two Step, released in 2012 to outstanding reviews, was a Samhain Publishing best seller. The second book in the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series, Texas Tango, released November 5, 2013, again from Samhain Publishing. In February, 2014, Texas Fandango, a Novella in the Texas Montgomery Series will be released by Samhain Publishing. I am currently at work on book 3 of the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series (Texas Twist).
I love, love, love, to hear from readers and there are lots of ways to find me. Online, you can find me most days at my
website or my
group blog.
Follow me at
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Goodreads or
Pinterest.
or email me at cynthia@cynthiadalba.com
To send me snail mail, write to: Cynthia D’Alba PO Box 2116 Hot Springs, AR 71914
If you’ve stayed with me this far, you deserve some fun!
In the spirit of Christmas sneaking up on us, I’ll pick among the comments for someone to take home a western-themed ornament. Here’s just a sample…
Plus, I doing a TEXAS TANGO Jewelry-Themed Rafflecopter Giveaway. Be sure and look for the Rafflecopter widget at the end of the post. Here’s what up to snag…
Also check out my
personal blog for other places you can enter!
AND I have swag for the asking! But when it’s gone, it’s gone. Pens, jar openers, postcards, bookmarks, trading cards…just go by my
contact page, drop me a note and tell me what you want me to send you.
Thanks for coming by! Be sure to leave a comment with a
valid e-mail address about one of your fantasies for a chance to win one of the Christmas ornaments!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
(and the sequel, Dead Reckoning, should be out by the end of the year!) and 
, but I've done other titles for all three of these lovely ladies.
as well as Beth Kery's 
(
(Erotic Contemporary, Ellora's Cave)
(Erotic Regency, Ellora’s Cave)
(Erotic Contemporary) 
(Erotic Contemporary, Ellora’s Cave)
(One Night Stand, Decadence Press)
(Erotic Contemporary, Available on Amazon)
(Erotic Contemporary) 
