What
do you do when you meet the guy of your dreams? Set him up with your sister, of
course.
Kari
doesn't have time for love when she's opening her new cat café. Renovating an
old restaurant, hiring employees, fighting with the health inspector – oh, and
welcoming 16 shelter cats – keeps her plenty busy. She's doing this for the
cats, the community, and most of all her family. The café will give her sister,
Marley, a job worthy of her baking skills.
Then
a tattooed military vet wanders in claiming to be a master baker himself. The
café doesn't need another baker, but maybe Marley needs a man. Surely she'll
fall for a guy this sweet, this sexy, this tasty.
Colin
has other ideas. It's Kari who makes him want to pour on the sugar and turn up
the heat. But he's spent the last two years recovering from physical and
psychological wounds. Is he really ready for a relationship? He's not even sure
he should commit to Samson, the fluffy marshmallow of a cat who steals his
heart.
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Excerpt: Chapter 1
Kari studied the muscular, tattooed man with the
shaved head. Yummy. Not her type, but still, she could see why some women liked
bad boys. “You don’t look like a barista.” Whoops, had she said that out loud?
One corner of his mouth twitched. “You don’t look
like a business owner.”
Fair enough. Growing her hair out had not, as she’d
hoped, helped her look older than her 24 years, and no matter how tall she
stood, she couldn’t reach above five feet two inches. All right, technically
five feet one and a half inches.
She smiled. “I guess we’re even.”
He glanced around the empty room. Kari followed his
gaze. Was he wondering if they would actually get the cat café open in a few
weeks? At the moment, they had no furniture, no decor, and no cats. This man
had wandered in through the doors that were propped open to let the paint fumes
escape. He wasn’t the first person to take interest in the Help Wanted sign in
the window, but he was one of the few men, and the oldest. She guessed his age
at early thirties, though possibly hard living had added a few years.
His presence made the large room feels smaller. Kari
took refuge in professionalism. After all, however she might look, she was in
fact a business owner now. “Do you have a resume?”
He turned back to her and his piercing gaze almost
knocked her back a step.
“I’m going to be upfront with you,” he said.
She swallowed. “I’d appreciate that.”
“My resume doesn’t reflect my current interests. I
did four years in the Army. Then I signed on with a private security firm in the
Mid East. Did that for four years before I was injured last year. Almost two
years ago now, I guess.”
Kari did some math in her head, partly to distract
herself from his golden-brown eyes. Assume he’d entered the military right out
of high school. That made four years plus four plus two. That would make him
younger than she’d thought, less than thirty. Eight years in the Middle East
would also explain his tough, weathered look.
“I spent the time since then focused on healing.
Physical therapy, counseling.” His eyes narrowed slightly, as if ready to judge
her response.
“That’s good.” It would be rude to ask about his
injuries, not to mention against labor laws if this was going to be a job
interview. “I hope you’re …” It was probably too much to expect better from a recovery that took over a
year of physical therapy and counseling. “… improved.”
He nodded, and his shoulders dropped half an inch.
She hadn’t realized until then that he might be nervous about this conversation
as well.
Kari smiled warmly. “So now you think making coffee
sounds good? Or is it the cats that appeal to you?”
He returned her smile, and her knees went weak. He
was not her type. She liked intellectual, career-focused men. She had never
understood women who raved over a man in uniform. Not that he was in uniform
now. She glanced down at his faded jeans and tried not to let her gaze linger
on the snug black T-shirt as she looked up again. Now he looked like he should
be jumping on a motorcycle without a helmet, not looking for work in a café
that featured adoptable cats. Soldier or biker, he wasn’t her type – but she
could see the appeal.
A clatter came from the kitchen, where her sister was
organizing the supplies. On the other hand, this man might be Marley’s type.
After all, Marley had gotten pregnant at eighteen from a tattooed soldier on
leave. She’d hardly dated since, but if her ex hadn’t turned her off of the
type permanently, she might find this one appealing. But was he a nice guy or a
jerk?
“Both, actually.”
It took Kari a moment to realize he was responding to
her question about coffee or cats.
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About Kris
Bock
Kris Bock writes
novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance
series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall
in love with each other and shelter cats.
Kris also writes
romantic suspense set in the Southwestern U.S. If you love Mary Stewart or
Barbara Michaels, try Kris Bock’s stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and
intrigue in the Southwest. Sign up for Kris Bock’s newsletter for announcements of new books, sales,
and more.
Read excerpts at
www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.
Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter for announcements of new books,
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