His To Love Part 32

The Editor's Corner.

Swing into spring this May with Loveswept! We've got something for everyone, so take your pick from these fabulous romance books.

Tracy March brings you another enchanting novel set in Colorado, with book two in her Thistle Bend series, Just Say Maybe. Brenda Rothert releases her first Loveswept book, Blown Away, a sensual, emotionally charged novel of love and loss in which a tender affair gives two daring storm chasers the strength to overcome shattered dreams and the courage to build a future together. Then we go from extreme weather to the world of extreme sports with Zoe Dawson's pulse-pounding Mavrick Allstars series debut, the steamy Ramping Up. Bestselling author HelenKay Dimon makes her Loveswept debut with Mr. and Mr. Smith. Moving on from the suspenseful to the sensual is a novel of pleasure and persuasion revolving around a high-stakes business deal in which the rules of negotiation are defined by desire in Shawntelle Madison's Bound to You. New York Times bestselling author Noelle Adams introduces a notorious tech mogul who makes a mild-mannered woman an offer she can't refuse and gets in return a battle for control-and a million-dollar affair-in Fooling Around. The Hunt Club continues with Pamela Labud's A Most Delicate Pursuit. New York Times bestselling author Erin McCarthy follows Nashville's hottest country music duo as they fight for love in a city where dreams often cost a broken heart in Heart Breaker. And New York Times bestselling author Sawyer Bennett proves that vengeance is sweet-but seduction is to die for-in Sugar Daddy.

Wait-there's more! Gina Gordon's White Lace series continues in book two with lots of sizzle and heat in Reason to Believe. A. M. Madden continues the True Heroes series-hot hero alert!-with Gla.s.s Ceilings. Two tortured souls share an unbreakable bond even as they break taboos, as Laura Marie Altom does it again with a fabulous stepbrother romance in Stepping Over the Line. Back in the sporting world, Stacked Up continues the Worth the Fight series from USA Today bestselling author Sidney Halston. And Interference continues the Pilots Hockey series from Sophia Henry, where a young single mom falls for a damaged coach pulling double-duty as a cop.

It's a great month for relations.h.i.+ps, so follow us on Facebook and Twitter and let the romance begin!.

Until next month ~Happy Romance!.

Gina Wachtel.

a.s.sociate Publisher.

Read on for an excerpt from.

His to Protect.

A Fireside Novel.

by Stacey Lynn.

Available from Loveswept.

Chapter 2.

I walked away from the woman-Trina-before I did something asinine like demand she tell me who gave her the fading bruise on her cheek. I noticed it as soon as she stepped into the lit doorway of the restaurant and felt the overwhelming urge to pummel someone.

Figuring she wouldn't like seeing my hands balled into fists, it took every ounce of self-control I possessed to tamp down that anger and scan the rest of her body.

When I did, I noticed several things, all at once.

She wasn't homeless. My ex-wife Mara spent enough hours at the salon getting her hair and nails done, and then b.i.t.c.hing about roots showing and chipped polish, for me to instantly see that this woman lived a lifestyle that Mara craved. This woman's clothes were high-end. No cheap pair of jeans could hug a woman's hips and thighs, and most likely her a.s.s, as well as the ones this woman wore.

A flash of her throwing her hand up in front of her face when I went to stop her from running pierced my mind and I fought the urge to growl.

No, she wasn't homeless, like I had originally a.s.sumed when I saw her crouched over a bag of ripped up garbage and handing food from it to her dog.

She was hiding.

Running.

And for some d.a.m.n reason, I had the overwhelming instinct to take care of her.

For one meal, I reminded myself.

I had enough s.h.i.+t going on in my life that I didn't need this additional cause to take on. Saving my restaurant was my priority; it hadn't had a profitable month all year. And while the fall and football season generally meant more business, I still had more problems than solutions. I didn't need any more.

"You decide what you want?" I asked, turning on the grill on the cooktop. Focus. I needed to focus. Feed her, get her out of here, and go home to a stiff drink so I could wash away the memory of what I thought when I first saw her.

Protect her.

When she didn't answer, I twisted my neck to see her hovering by the walkway. She could keep an eye on the door to the alley and her dog, as well as me at the same time.

I didn't blame her for being scared of me. Women either wanted to f.u.c.k me or skip to the other side of the street when they saw me coming. I couldn't help it. I'd been addicted to sports since I could walk and throw a football. Four years of college football only increased my love for being in shape. The few minor body building compet.i.tions I did after college cemented it. Lifting weights and working out relieved my stress. I carried enough on my shoulders on a daily basis that lifting was no longer a hobby, but an obsession.

"I can get you a menu," I told Trina when she didn't answer me but instead sucked her lips between her teeth.

"Salad," she muttered and blinked. "No, wait..." I tried to keep my expression blank while she chewed on that d.a.m.n lip. Not because it was s.e.xy, but because between the lip biting and fidgeting she was doing with her hands, I could tell she was still nervous. Over a d.a.m.n meal?

With a nod, she looked at me, meeting my gaze for the first time. "I want a burger. With cheese. Two slices...oh." Her face lit up, her smile wide.

I felt like I'd just been punched in the gut.

"And with fried onions."

"Onions?"

Her head snapped back at my question and that lip found its way between her teeth again before she looked away. "I mean, if that's okay. Or if it's too much work, I'll just take the salad."

Her shoulders slumped as she turned back toward the dog. Somehow, I got the feeling that decision was about way more than food.

I watched her as she s.h.i.+fted on her feet, eyes focused on the door like she was ready to make a run for it, but then her fingers brushed against the yellowish bruise on her cheekbone.

Something inside me ignited. Like a match struck and thrown on a fire.

"Trina," I snapped and then inhaled a breath, blowing it out slowly as she turned my way.

"I'll cook you whatever you want," I said, trying to soften my deep voice even though inside I felt like boiling over. It was a d.a.m.n burger. This stranger shouldn't ignite something like this inside me. But d.a.m.n it. She'd been beaten, that much was obvious.

And I was beginning to think she'd taken more than a physical beating if her fidgeting and uncertainty was any indication.

I quickly walked away from the stovetop, hoping like h.e.l.l she'd stay where she was when I moved toward the office. I grabbed a spare barstool and carried it back, setting it down close to her but trying to respect her personal s.p.a.ce.

She jumped as the wood sc.r.a.ped on the cement floor and her hand fell from her curly blonde hair. Not platinum blonde and super fake like Mara's was. Trina's was darker, but with streaks of light that told me she doesn't just get her hair highlighted...she spends a large amount of money on it.

My fascination with her was piqued.

"Have a seat," I said, keeping my voice soft. "If you want a salad I can make that, too. But if you want a burger with extra cheese and onions, it's honestly no big deal. Told you I'd cook you a meal, and if that's what you want, that's what you'll get."

My eyes dropped to her throat as she swallowed, and then my gaze zeroed in on one small mole she had right at that tender, fleshy area at the base of her throat. I pulled my gaze away from where I could see her pulse thumping.

"That's very kind of you." Her voice was raspy, still quiet. All her earlier confidence had dissipated into the air and d.a.m.n it, for some reason, I wanted her to get that back.

I slid a menu onto the countertop near her before I walked to the refrigerator and took out everything for the burger she first requested. While I was inside, I also grabbed a handful of salad fixings, because h.e.l.l...maybe she really liked salads, too. Although I doubted it. Something told me she lived on vegetation because she thought she had to. While she was tall and thin, she didn't need to diet.

When I got back to the work area, Trina was sitting on the stool, her fingertip absentmindedly tapping on the menu and one of her feet bouncing up and down on the lower rung of the stool. In the few seconds I watched her, I could tell that she was singing a song in her head before her lips even began moving. A soft smile graced her lips before she noticed me and jerked her head back.

Her smile disappeared and I had to, again, fight the urge to scowl.

I set down everything for the salad and reached for a plate, handing that to her as well. "This is for a salad if you want it. Help yourself."

She stared at it and her top lip curled.

I looked away before she could see me smile.

Somehow, I knew she hated salads.

Love stories you'll never forget.

By authors you'll always remember.

end.