Into
the Heat
By
Tamara
Lush
INTO
THE HEAT -- about
Leo Villeneuve is a wounded, tattooed Afghanistan
war veteran who is trying like hell to avoid his pain—and his past.
He returns to Florida in hopes of healing. On a
sun-kissed beach he runs into Jessica Clarke, the one woman he’s never
forgotten. Their attraction for each other burns as hot as the summer sun, but
Leo’s got secrets he can’t reveal. Because, if he does, he’ll risk the one
thing he can least afford to lose: Jessica’s love.
Into the Heat …
A book about first love and second chances. And
unforgettable passion.
Excerpt:
Jessica moved lightly, never taking her eyes off the
guy. His skin was a warm bronze hue and his muscular thighs had sunk into the
sand. He wore only blue surf shorts, and while she had grown up on the beach,
it was rare that such a stunning specimen of manhood graced the sleepy Palmira
shores. If only she could remain invisible while sculpting her sand creation,
free to admire this guy’s beauty without having to make small talk, then life
would be perfect.
She stopped swinging her bucket, so the tools
wouldn’t make a sound.
A sketchbook sat in front of the guy on the sand,
and he held a pencil in one large, masculine hand, drawing with broad strokes.
Jessica took a few more steps toward her sand pile, which also conveniently
allowed her to get a better look at the guy’s profile. What she saw turned her
grin into an open-mouthed gape.
No. It can’t be.
Leo Villeneuve? Inhaling a long, thin breath, she
narrowed her eyes. Was it possible? Her first kiss.
Her first love.
Her first heartbreak.
She took off her sunglasses. Was it really him? Yep,
it was. She could tell by the shape of his long, straight nose. And by the way
his full lips pushed out slightly as he concentrated on the sketchbook. Those
lips had kissed her, and the memory of all the places they’d touched— her neck,
her nipples, in between her legs—made her shiver in the hot sun as if a single ice
cube had been dropped down the back of her shirt.
“Jess, you’re my first. And I’m your first and I
don’t want there ever to be anyone else.”
It made her unsteady to recall his lazy New Orleans
accent and how he’d whispered honey- sweet promises and dirty declarations in
her ear all while he did wicked things to her body. Things that she’d allowed
no one to do in the five years since.
Leo and his father had vacationed on Palmira and
stayed at the hotel for two weeks. Her mom and his dad were old friends. Old
good friends, apparently, because the minute they arrived Jess’s mom had become
less strict. Jess and Leo had taken to each other quickly, talking about music
and video games and movies. He’d been surprised that she liked the Iron Man
franchise as much as he did.
They’d kissed on Christmas Eve, the second night
they knew each other, and spent the next several days doing everything but sex.
She’d been wary but so excited. Leo never once tried to push her to do more
than she wanted, and soon she was ready to try it all with him.
A week later, it happened. Leo slipped into her room
after the adults were asleep. They’d lost their virginity to each
other—awkwardly. She remembered how she hadn’t had an orgasm from sex like she
had with his hands and tongue, but it was pretty wonderful nonetheless.
They’d kept having sex over the rest of the
vacation, seemingly every moment they could steal away. Things had quickly
stopped being awkward. More like explosive.
“All of you, from your head to your toes and everything
in between, is mine. You’re mine, Jess. And I’m yours. Always will be, babe.
Forever. I love you.”
Jessica straightened. It had been five years, and
she’d heard nary a word. So, why the hell was her heart pounding like this? It
was as if she had sprinted from her car to the beach. This was not what she
wanted.
How unfair. She hadn’t felt this kind of adrenaline
rush around any guy in years. Not with the couple of dudes she’d gone out with
in college, and not with Jacob, her douche bag of an ex-boyfriend. No, there
was only one man who’d ever made her feel this crazy, and he was the one who’d
disappeared after what felt like a soul mate connection. And now he was
kneeling on the beach in front of her, looking hotter than any man had a right
to.
Oh. My. God. Turn around and run. Fast.
She couldn’t move. The sight of him riveted her in
place. Instead of the cute, sinewy boy who’d stolen her teenage heart that
winter five years ago, this was a man kneeling before her. He looked like he’d
been sculpted from fire—and sin. What the heck was he doing here?
Her eyes scanned the beach. There was no one around
except for her and this newer, hotter version of her first love. He definitely
hadn’t had biceps like that five years ago. Or all those tattoos. His dark hair
was short and severe now, no longer curly. His skin looked lickable and smooth,
with only a slight sheen of sweat that made her want to glide her hands over
his body and linger on every ridge and valley. Like she used to. When she knew
him before, he had looked like a sweet lead singer in a boy band. Now those
high cheekbones made him look a little feline and a lot arrogant. Hard and
sexy, like he was used to taking what he wanted and to hell with everything
else.
Or was she imagining all that?
She stepped back, poised to turn, but a curious
voice inside of her commanded her to stay. She hadn’t thought of Leo in a long
while, mostly because other, bigger tragedies had taken his place. And because
what had been the point?
Slipping her sunglasses over her eyes again, she
felt an uncomfortable awkwardness wash over her. What could she even say to
this near stranger? She suspected that after all these years they would have
nothing in common—if they ever had. They’d just been a couple of foolish kids...with
an insane amount of physical chemistry.
Tugging at the hem of her oversized T-shirt, she
wished she’d worn something other than it and this old pair of jean shorts. As
always, she wondered how she looked. Ugly? Fat? She was bigger than she’d been
in high school. More womanly. Well, there was nothing she could do now unless
she sprinted off the beach.
Her heart thumped hard. With a pulsing, annoying
cadence, her right eye twitched in time. Since everything had happened, her eye
did that when she was stressed or anxious. It was unnerving how one tiny muscle
could sense her emotions.
Leo. She had to say something to him, be polite and
act like a mature adult, not a brooding, heartbroken teenager—which was what
she felt like as she blinked several times as if to clear the sight of him out
of her eyes. Her sister was always telling her to put on her big girl panties
and stop being a baby. “Woman up,” Nicole always said. Well, this was the time
for it. She was overreacting, anyway. Right?
She’d been staring at him for several moments. He
hadn’t seen her and appeared to be deep in concentration, which was fine with
her; it allowed her more time to gawk at his hard body, which practically
radiated testosterone. She needed to get a handle on what she’d do before he
finally acknowledged her presence. She took a big breath, willing herself to
stomp down the excitement of seeing him in the flesh. It was only February, and
she was determined to have a better year than the last. But seeing Leo again
almost guaranteed that life was about to get very, very complicated.
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Tamara
Lush
BIO
During the day, Tamara Lush writes news as a
journalist with The Associated Press. At night, she writes fictional romance
tales about complicated, sexy men and the women who love them.
Her first novel, HOT SHADE, was published in
September 2015 with Boroughs Publishing Group. INTO THE HEAT is her second
novel.
When Tamara isn’t reporting, writing or reading,
she’s doing yoga, cooking for her Italian husband or chasing her dogs on a
beach on Florida's Gulf Coast. She loves connecting with people on social media.
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