So, I’m still hawking my online Holiday Book store ( shameless self promotion, lol!)
Today’s book is the 2022 first-book-in-the-Welcome to Renewal- series, THE SHERIFF & THE PSYCHIC. The title is kinda self explanatory about what the book is about, no? Hee hee. But just in case you aren’t sure, here’s the blurb before the snippet.
Police Psychic Silvestra Coeltrain comes to Renewal, OK to visit with old friends and to heal. After a year in which she was tested physically, mentally, and psychically, all she wants to do is sleep, fish, and bask in the tranquility of the sleepy town.
Sheriff Caleb Blackbear doesn’t understand the feelings he’s quickly developing for Renewal’s newest visitor. She responds to his kisses with a passion that equals his own. But she’s an enigma, filled with secrets and evasions, and he’s a suspicious man.
When several of the local ranches begin losing cattle to a mysterious illness, it’s Silvestra who claims the animals are being methodically targeted and killed. As Cal’s investigation zeros in on who and what could be slaying the animals, the murder of a prominent rancher’s daughter – and Cal’s former lover – complicates things. With Silvestra’s life now in danger, Cal is determined to keep her safe at any cost.
But can he?
“Want to dance?” Rising, he put his hand out for hers.
To Silvestra, it didn’t sound like a question, more a command. Especially when he stood waiting for her.
As Cal led her to the dance floor, she noticed the questioning stares and whispers behind hands as they made their way out to the middle, joining the other couples ready for a night’s fun.
“I think I should warn you I’m not very good at this,” she confessed when he took her in his arms.
The corner of his full mouth twitched upward. “Just follow me. It’s easy after you go around a few times.”
Shy tried to concentrate on his explanations, the direction his feet were taking, but acknowledged with regret, that she had more difficulty than usual. Being in arms that were as strong as steel traps, but she knew could be as gentle and soft as a feather, made focusing a hard task. When they should have been watching his feet, her eyes were drawn to where their hands were joined. The small hairs peeking out from under the plaid cuff, the length of his fingers, straight and taut against hers, took her breath away.
Cal maneuvered around the floor, keeping time with the music, quietly instructing her what to do with each turn. Soon Shy found herself enjoying the dance – and more- enraptured by the man holding her.
Shy’s head whirled. Touching him, being touched, made her mad with longing. She imagined just what it would feel like to have those long, powerful fingers massaging her naked flesh.
Stop it. This can’t be and you know it, so just stop your fantasizing right this instant.
Regret competed with the longing, one emotion proving stronger than the other.
The beat of the music quickened, as did the dancer’s steps. Silvestra laughed as Cal swirled her around the floor. In one move, he effortlessly twirled her to the right with a flick of his wrist at her waist. She felt as if her flesh had been seared and branded.
Spinning back into his arms, Silvestra stopped short, her body slamming hard into Cal’s chest. Instinctively, her hands came up, bracing, on top of his shirt. She could feel his heart hammering, felt the shifting of his rib cage with each breath. She sensed the pulsing of her own blood when his hands came up to enclose her wrists. Head tilting, she found raven-colored eyes burning and bright with an urgent need equaling her own. Insides quaking, she tried desperately to quell the passion surging within. But gazing into those dark mirrors, the small glimmers shifting within them, burning into hers, Silvestra had no will to silence them.
They stayed this way, rooted, each oblivious to the rest of the crowd surrounding them.
Time didn’t move.
Eventually, Cal took a deep breath, his gaze never turning from Silvestra’s face. “Not bad. I thought you said you didn’t dance well.”
Shy shook her head.
“I don’t,” she said, breathless. “You’re a remarkable teacher, Sheriff.”
Cal’s lips twitched again, a gesture she found herself coming to expect from him. A hidden mirth, rarely shown, but one, Silvestra knew, he felt comfortable displaying to her.
“Want to go another round, or would you prefer to sit this one out?”
The desire to stay exactly where they were weighed heavily. When Shy glanced around and discovered they were the sole occupants of the dance floor, a deep flush flew up her cheeks.
“I think I’d like to have that lemonade now,” she said.
He nodded and silently led her back to the table, empty now, as Jake and Mabel made the rounds of their friends.
Intrigued? Lol. I hope so. You can order a print copy from my online website bookstore for a discount, here: TSATP or an ecopy for just #99cents everywhere digital media is offered online, here: SHERIFF
Peggy Jaeger, Author 