I’m so excited that Playing By The Rules is finally available. I’ve been thinking about this book for months and couldn’t get Amber and Caleb out of my head. They teased me a bit, not telling me what was going to happen at first, and they even changed things at the very end, but I’m so happy their story is written.

I wanted to give you a little sneak peak of the two of them. These two lit up the pages for me. It was a lot of fun to write someone a little snarky, like Amber, and a little alpha, like Caleb. To watch them dance around each other and eventually fall for each other was fun. When things fall apart for these two (because they always do for some reason), I wanted to shake them. Yep, I was in control, I knew what was going to happen, but I still wanted to reach through the pages and shake some sense into them.

I hope you like this little snip of them. It was a fun scene to write. Make sure you pick up your free copy (if it’s not free, it will be soon) at your favorite online retailer!

When most of the crowd had died down Amber decided to go. She turned the key and nothing happened. She tried again. And again. She dropped her head to the steering wheel and tried to figure out what to do.

Amber reached behind her to find an umbrella but only came up with a snow scraper. “Fat lot of good that’ll do me,” she mumbled. She climbed back from her car and lifted the hood, hoping inspiration would strike.

She pushed her wet hair from her eyes and looked around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. But then again Amber rarely lifted the hood on her 2004 Honda Civic. She let the guys who changed her oil every three months do that.

As Amber leaned against the open hood she closed her eyes and tried to come up with something. She was going to have to call Emily to get picked up. And hopefully whatever was wrong wouldn’t cost too much to fix. Amber’s brain raced with all the things she needed the money for besides her now broken car.

“Shit,” she swore. The rain drenched her. Amber turned her face up to the rain, welcoming the refreshing feeling. She was supposed to hate the rain. But at that moment it felt good.

“Do you need help?” she heard from behind her. She knew who it was before she turned around. Her body knew before he spoke. She felt her nipples trying to make a run for it, straight to his mouth if they had their way. Heat pooled in her gut and she knew she was in trouble. Deep trouble.

“No,” Amber called without turning around.

“Well, it looks like you need help. Are you a mechanic?” Caleb asked. Amber heard the door slam closed on his truck and knew he was coming to her. She held her breath against the power of his presence.

“No,” she said again without facing him.

“Then maybe I can help.”

“You know how to fix cars?” Amber asked. She dared to look into his deep brown eyes. Chocolate. No, coffee. They reminded her of coffee. Deep and rich. And hotter than hell.

“Yeah,” his eyes sparkled at her with his amusement. “I know a little about cars. Do you want me to take a look?”

“No,” Amber said glancing toward his truck. “You don’t need to keep your family waiting.”

“No worries. Becky took the girls home. We drove separately today.” He wanted to tell her that Becky encouraged him to talk to her, but he could tell she didn’t trust him. She wouldn’t be open to getting to know him without trusting him.

“Oh,” Amber mumbled. She felt deflated. She had the guy, literally the guy of her dreams, right there in front of her. And she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Obeying the rules sucked sometimes.

“Why don’t you let me look at it? If I can fix it, I will. If not I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Absolutely not,” Amber nearly shouted. She could barely stand next to him. Being confined in a car might push her over the edge.

“Why not? Is your boyfriend the jealous type?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend. But I don’t think your wife would appreciate it.”

Caleb turned and stared at her. Becky was right. He was shocked. And a little taken aback by the venom in her voice as she said ‘wife.’ He ran a hand through his dripping wet hair and said, “I’m not married.”

Amber scoffed at him, “Yeah, okay. Then who’s the woman you’re always with? With the two cute girls, one who looks just like you?”

“I’ll tell you if you let me help you.”

Caleb and Amber are fun. They felt like friends, and I love that.

This series will continue! I’m working on Becky’s story, Back In The Game. The first chapter is in the back of Playing By The Rules. You’ll get to meet some more great residents of Paradise Park and read their stories too.

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