Melting IceGame On in Seattle #5
By: Jami Davenport
Releasing June 15, 2015
Cedona Enterprises
USA Today Bestselling author Jami Davenport presents another Seattle Sockeyes hockey romance and the fifth book in her Game On in Seattle sports romance series showcasing alpha male heroes of football, baseball, and hockey.
Brimming with attitude and broken beyond repair, Isaac "Ice" Wolfe has a heart as cold as his nickname, and he likes it that way--until he meets his neighbor Avery Maxwell. Avery is unlike any woman he's ever known. Her smile thaws his frozen heart. Being with her heals his broken places. She makes him feel, and for Isaac that's not always a good thing. Isaac has burned every bridge in his professional hockey career. When he's traded to the Seattle Sockeyes halfway through their inaugural season, he knows he won't get another chance. He's never been a team player, yet he needs to become one--and fast.
Avery has only wanted one thing in her life--to train and show horses. Her decision to drop out of college to pursue her riding career causes a rift with her big sister, but Avery is tired of following everyone else's dreams. Now she's following her own, and no one is going to distract her from her passion--until she meets a dark stranger and his cantankerous dog.
When Isaac is warned away from Avery by the team's captain, who happens to be Avery's future brother-in-law, Isaac sees the writing on the wall. It's Avery or his career. To Isaac, a life without hockey wouldn't be a life worth living. But what about a life without Avery?
Do Isaac and Avery sacrifice their life's passions for their mutual passion for each other, or do they fight to have it all, even if by doing so, they might lose everything in the end?
Available at:
Excerpt
That damn
dog. As soon as Isaac opened the door to bring in groceries, the little shit
ran between his legs and took off after some invisible prey, streaking across
the neighbor’s pasture faster than any fat boxer had the right to run. He
disappeared out of sight, but Isaac heard him barking.
He yelled for
the mutt, knowing it was pointless. While Hal always came back, they’d only
lived here a couple days. Isaac doubted the animal was smart enough to find his
way home.
With a sigh,
he put his groceries on the porch and jogged after the dog, knowing the fat
boxer would tire pretty fast, and Isaac would eventually catch up with him.
Instead of
taking the meandering gravel road that wound past the neighboring horse barn,
Isaac jogged across the field Hal had streaked through only a minute ago. He
cursed under his breath as the wet, knee-high grass soaked his jeans. Then he
stepped in a puddle of water, splashing it all over his clothes. His shoes
squished as he ran.
Damn, ill-mannered dog.
The dog, a
drooling, snorting boxer, hated him. No wonder. The two of them were way too
much alike. He used to accuse his girlfriend of getting the dog because he
reminded her of Isaac.
The thought
of Jenny sobered him and weighed him down. He slowed his pace to a walk,
feeling slightly ill.
Hal had been
orphaned after the loss of Jenny, Isaac’s on-again-off-again girlfriend since
high school. She’d been the only somewhat constant in his sorry life except for
hockey. In their dysfunctional way, they’d loved each other. Not that Isaac had
much experience with love, but he’d cared about Jenny. She’d been the most
important person in his life next to his sister until that fateful night three
years ago when everything changed forever.
Now Hal was
his constant reminder of what a total douchebag loser he really was, and how he
systematically destroyed the people in his life who mattered most.
Hal and he
fit together well. They were both assholes and didn’t like anyone. He swore the
damn dog blamed him for what happened to Jenny, which made five of them,
counting his two brothers and his father.
Blowing out a
breath and watching it float away in the cold air, Isaac shook off his relapse
into self-recrimination, and picked up the pace again, driven by fear that
something might happen to Hal. He was steaming by the time he jogged into the
gravel parking area surrounding his neighbor’s large barn. A city boy from birth,
he breathed through his mouth rather than inhale the strong scent of horse
manure.
Isaac paused
in front of the barn and closed his eyes for a moment, sending up a silent plea
to whoever the hell listened to those kinds of things—if anyone did—that grouchy
Hal hadn’t done any damage to the horses, people, or himself.
Out of
options, he walked into the large barn, pausing while his eyes adjusted to the
dim lighting in the long aisle. Horses poked their heads over their stall doors
and made these weird noises, almost like they were happy to see him. No one was
ever happy to see him. Not anymore.
Isaac stepped
farther into the barn. A small blonde girl brushing a huge animal saw him and
stopped what she was doing. She stared at him, her eyes huge in her gaunt face,
looking like she might run like hell at any moment.
Isaac halted,
keeping his voice steady and calm, so he didn’t scare her off. “Hey, I’m
looking for my dog. A boxer. Have you seen him?”
The teenager
chewed on a fingernail and stared at the ground, keeping one hand on the
horse’s neck, as if the animal were some kind of lifeline. Isaac didn’t know a
thing about horses. Did they attack when their owners felt threatened like some
dogs did?
Isaac stepped
closer, maintaining a safe distance from the horse’s hooves. “Excuse me. Have
you seen my dog?” Something in the teenager brought out a rare and long buried
protective instinct in him. He didn’t want to hurt her or add to her obvious
alarm.
She glanced
up at him, alarm in her eyes. Dropping the brush on the concrete with a
clatter, she scurried down the aisle, disappearing through a door and slamming
it after her. Isaac scratched his chin. Hell, he’d been decent enough, hadn’t
raised his voice, hadn’t been a jerk. For him, he’d behaved like a nice guy.
Maybe she was
deaf or something.
Definitely or
something.
The door
opened again, and a leggy blonde beauty came flying out, heading toward him
with fury in every step she took.
Isaac rocked
back on his heels. What the hell? He
just wanted to find his dog. This woman marched toward him as if he were a
terrorist, and she was a soldier poised to take him down. Not that he was
scared—not much scared Isaac, especially when it came to women. If anything, he
found her anger amusing and arousing, while he found her hot, really hot, and
damn sexy.
He grinned at
her, figuring his rare trademark grin would shoot her down before she got close
enough to castrate him. It didn’t. He backed up a step and protected his
privates by putting a few hay bales between them.
The woman—a
very attractive, make-a-man-hard-in-a-split-second woman—stopped mere inches
from him. She was tall. He was taller. She was bad-ass, he wrote the book on
bad-ass. Yet, while he might be famous for his crappy attitude, her attitude
trumped his and took no prisoners.
He liked
that.
Damn, but she
could imprison him any time, put him in handcuffs, and tie him to her bed. He’d
be all over that scene in seconds and all over her in less time.
She wore a
stained T-shirt tucked into these form-fitting riding pants which hugged every
curve. And those boots. She wore knee-high black boots. They were scuffed from
hours in the saddle, but they fit like they were made for her legs. What guy
wouldn’t get a hard-on ogling a woman dressed like that? Now if only she’d been
carrying a riding crop. He’d cream his jeans right there.
One look and
he’d fallen for this woman, or at least fallen for her delectable body and
blazing blue eyes. Women didn’t do this to him. Ever. But she had him from the second she almost yanked that door
off its hinges and stalked toward him with smoke coming out her ears.
Lord, help
him.
Isaac
instantly went hard. His dick might be fast, but his brain was faster,
imagining this angry angel writhing underneath him while he showed her just how
hard this real man could ride. Even better, he’d flip over onto his back and
let her ride him. He groaned out loud at that thought, which earned him an
impressive scowl from her.
He hadn’t
felt this instant attraction to a woman since—since—he visibly shuddered and
banished those painful memories from his mind.
She was the
perfect angel to his devil. He wanted her, and in that instant, he knew he’d do
anything to have her. Even if she didn’t want him, he’d find a way to convince
her because his dick and his body wanted her. Oh, yeah, they wanted her, and
who was he to argue with the big guns.
He grinned—it
felt strange to do so, but she had that effect on him. He was one of the
meanest, nastiest guys in the NHL, yet she was willing to do battle and take
him on.
And that
impressed him more than anything.
Author Bio
USA Today Bestselling Author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary and sports romances, including her two new indie endeavors: the Game On in Seattle Series and the Madrona Island Series. Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland cross with a tennis ball fetish, a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat, and an opinionated Hanoverian mare. She works in computer support in her day job and juggles too many balls, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
Giveaway
Thank you so much for hosting MELTING ICE today!
ReplyDeleteAny time!
Delete