The next installment of Aliyah Burke’s Rock Falls series is sure to knock it out of the park–or the basketball court? Either way, we’ve got an exclusive excerpt to keep you occupied until June 26th! For now, you can find out where to pre-order No Cooldown for Love here.
Exclusive Excerpt
Hope bit back her yawn. She would have no problem falling asleep right here. She and Mitchell sat before the burning fire pit as fat snowflakes fell down upon them, sharing a section of the outdoor seating where they were wrapped in a warm blanket. The footrest was up and they lay in it as if it was a recliner. The deck area was stunning, a large flat section with couchlike seating around the large pit in the center.
“I made this pit with Tully and Linc,” he murmured against her temple. “One of the first things I did with this house after I bought it. I took them with me to go shopping for the stone. And the couches.” His chest moved with his chuckle. “It was hard, making a decision like that. So many options and they, well, they weren’t any help. More like a hindrance.”
“But they’re your problem children.”
“I know, I know.” His statement was overdramatic. “I keep trying to take them over the river, like you do mice so they don’t come back, but somehow they always find their way home.”
She laughed. “You love them.”
“God, please don’t tell them that.”
She snuggled against him, loving how secure his arms felt around her. Like he had zero intention of letting her go. For the first time in her life, she didn’t want to be released. She longed to keep this, whatever it was she had right now. What would it be like to have him to come home to after a work trip?
Her ex had made her want this before but with him, she’d been hesitant. And for good reason, it turned out. He’d only wanted her in order to boost his career. A black woman with not one but three doctorates. When she’d overheard him telling his sidepiece that he would send them away if she wanted to keep the baby but he had to be with Hope because it would be a boost for him in the eyes of certain people and that he was willing to overlook her size because of that, she’d walked away from him and the future they were supposed to have.
She needed to change her train of thought, cut the rope to the anchor pulling her down into the darkness.
“Why this house?”
He was silent for a moment. “After I divorced my ex-wife, I wanted to start over. Needed something to fix up for myself that didn’t have her taint on it. Something to cleanse me, if that makes sense.”
It did. Purging the negativity.
“And do you want to be a carpenter in your next life? Is that why you’re doing the work or is that part of the cleansing you spoke about? Because I’m guessing you could have had some company come in and do it all for you.”
“I wanted to do it. To be able to look at it and say, mistakes or not, imperfections or not, I did this.”
“No imperfections from what I can see.”
“I’ve done three rooms. Still a long way to go.” He tipped her chin up to press a tender kiss there.
Her insides melted. How was this man so fucking perfect?
Determined not to fall further for this man who was undoing her with one word and one action after another, she tried for levity. “Fine then, these three are fantastic. I hope and pray you don’t fuck it up with the rest.”
From USA Today bestselling author Aliyah Burke comes a playfully sexy romantic-comedy about one room, one bed, and a man who knows how to play…
When ex-pro basketball player Mitchell Anderson sees an overturned car on the edge of a cliff during a nasty snowstorm, he knows he has only minutes to rescue the woman trapped inside. What he’s not expecting is their instant attraction, or that she can deliver one hell of a pick-up line even under the most terrifying of circumstances.
Hope Roman’s entire life is on the edge. She’s already overwhelmed with grief and upset, and nearly dying is pretty much the icing on a terrible, soggy cake. So it’s just her luck that she’s suddenly snowbound at a charming little inn with the hottest, yet down right grumpiest, man she’s ever met. And naturally, there’s only one room left.
Now the pillow barrier between them keeps disappearing. And the walls are coming down. But Hope knows she doesn’t belong in Mitchell’s world any more than he belongs in hers. The question is whether either of them can trust the other long enough to play for keeps…
About the Author
Aliyah Burke is an avid reader and is never far from pen and paper (or the computer). She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached here, or feel free to apply to join her yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aliyah_burke. She is married to a career military man. They are owned by three Borzoi, and a DSH cat. She spends her days sharing time between work, writing, and dog training, showing, and racing.
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