Title:
A LATE THAW
Author:
Ana Blaze
Publisher:
Entranced Publishing
Imprint:
Kissed
Genre:
contemporary romance
Length: 102
pages (novella)
Release
Date: October 28th, 2013
Blurb:
The
town’s too small for Kiley St. Claire’s reappearance to be a surprise, still
seeing her hits Cole Thomas like a punch to the gut. She ripped his heart apart
when she turned to ice and ran away all those years ago. Now that she’s back,
Cole’s going to say his piece and move on.
Even
if she does look damn good in that uniform.
Kiley
St. Claire is back in the small town of Barrett, Vermont, for one reason and
one reason only: to earn some cash so she can survive her final semester of
grad school. She’s not there for the sexy Christmas tree farmers.
Even
the one who once held her heart.
Add
to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17830852-a-late-thaw
Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About
the author:
Ana lives just outside Washington DC with her
very supportive husband and three rather demanding cats. She loves the ocean,
Indian food, Ikea, and cooking. Ana admits to watching too much television and
she swears that someday she’s going to learn how to play the guitar resting on
the bookshelf in her office.
Connect
with Ana:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ana_blaze
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AnaBlazeLove
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/anablaze/
Chapter One
COLE THOMAS HAD BEEN a late bloomer.
One of the smallest boys in their middle school, he’d disappeared to his
uncle’s ranch in Wyoming the summer before high school and had come back six
inches taller, wearing a cowboy hat. Kiley St. Claire doubted the woman he was
currently flirting with remembered that. It was practically ancient history.
She squinted as she tried to remember
the woman’s name. Cole’s fangirl looked vaguely familiar under her
over-processed blond hair and cheap but abundant makeup. She was probably one
of Cole and Kiley’s former classmates. Amber maybe, or one of the Ashleys. She
was pretty—whatever her name was—and she had a fantastic rack. More
importantly, she wasn’t wearing a cheap Bavarian Miss costume and pigtails like
Kiley was. If they were competing, the babe with the penchant for bleach and
blue eye shadow would win. They weren’t, of course. Kiley was done crushing on
Cole. It was obvious—had been for years—that he’d never see her as more than a
friend.
She straightened the red bodice that
made even her own modest chest look full, pulled the notepad from her already
sticky apron, and marched over to their table. Her heels clicked along the
scuffed and murky wood floor. No doubt it had originally been a beautiful
walnut. Now it was covered with a layer of scum as old as she was and fit right
in with the rest of the decor.
The entire bar was filled with heavy,
dark wood tables and stools covered in faded maroon vinyl. Kept clean and under
the right lighting it had probably once been genuinely attractive. Probably. If
that had ever been the case it had stopped the day Kiley’s boss, the infamous
Buddy, bought the building and started filling it with kitschy, vaguely
German-themed knick-knacks and neon beer signs. Cole and the blonde were sitting
near a display of Hummel knock-offs, one of which appeared to be mooning the
patrons.
A table full of afternoon-drunk Frat
guys signaled to Kiley. She held up a single finger in acknowledgement. They
could use a couple minutes before their next round, and she had to do this,
face Cole, before she lost her nerve. “Are you guys ready to order, or do you
need another minute with the menus?”
“Kiley?” Cole’s dark eyes widened for
a second before he started laughing. His shoulders shook, and he slapped the
worn wooden tabletop. “This is…” He gestured toward her. “This…oh, you gotta
give a turn.” He circled a finger in the air.
“Do you want a beer or not?” She
refused to be embarrassed. Yes, she was dressed like the St. Pauli girl, but it
obviously hadn’t been her idea. She didn’t even like wearing costumes on
Halloween.
“I heard you were coming back for the
summer, but this…damn.”
“School’s expensive, Cole, and there
aren’t a lot of summer jobs in this town.” Barrett, Vermont was a pretty little
town, not a thriving metropolis. If there had been other options, any other
options, she wouldn’t be dressed like slutty Gretel serving beer and waffles in
a Bavarian-themed restaurant owned by a man who’d never traveled farther than
Montreal.
Cole looked her up and down with a big
grin on his too-handsome face. Kiley pretended not to notice that his thick,
brown hair was a touch longer than the last time she’d seen him, or that it
curled appealingly against the collar of his blue-green plaid shirt. She tried
not to check the scar on his left arm—a thin jagged line that was only really
noticeable when the skin around it tanned a shade or two darker. Her heart
melted a little when she saw it.
Cole had only recently turned eight
the night they went searching for Kiley’s runaway dog. He got tangled in a bit
of barbed wire fence hidden amongst the leaves in the woods behind her
neighbor’s house. The dog came home on his own later that night, but Cole ended
up needing
stitches in four places. And a tetanus
shot. He made her promise not to tell anyone he’d cried, and she drew a cross
over her heart and wished for untold tortures if she broke her word.
She still hadn’t.
“So why’d you come then?”
Kiley shrugged. Way to make a girl feel welcome, Cole. “It’s home.”
“Wasn’t enough to bring you home last
Christmas, or the one before.”
Yup. She was a horrible daughter, and
her mom let the whole town know it. Mother dearest undoubtedly left out that
Kiley couldn’t afford to pay for a rental car sturdy enough to make the
several-hour trip in wintry weather.
Before she had a chance to respond,
the blonde sitting with Cole tilted her head to the side and frowned at her. “I
remember you.” She smiled then, broadly, as though remembering anything was an
accomplishment worthy of her pride.
Kiley tried to smile at the woman, but
her lips were too tight. “Go Bobcats,” she said weakly.
“Yeah, you were in my gym class.
Didn’t you get hit in the face with a tennis ball one time?”
Kiley had long ago accepted that,
despite the lack of any reasonable scientific explanation, her face clearly
attracted sporting equipment. She’d absolutely gotten hit with a tennis ball,
as well as a volleyball, a softball, and a Frisbee. Once she’d even managed to
get wacked in the nose with a broom while they’d attempted to play a grounded
version of Quidditch. “Yup, that was me.”
The other woman nodded. “I knew it.
I’ve always been good with faces.”
“Wow. Catching up is super fun, but I
have a bunch of tables. So…”
“Were you even going to give me a
call?” Cole looked hurt, and Kiley wished she didn’t care.
“Sure. Once I got settled and all, I—”
“Right.” He scowled. “Why don’t you
bring us a couple of drafts. Whatever’s on special is fine.”
His cool tone sliced through her
resolve and made her stomach churn. Why couldn’t she just move on? Being Cole’s
friend, watching him date every other girl in town, hurt too much. She’d
promised herself she wouldn’t fall back into his well-meaning but clueless
clutches this summer. Kiley had come home to work and to save up enough money
to live on for the final semester of classes she needed to earn her Master’s in
Meteorology. That’s it. She already had job prospects for after graduation in
January. This would be her last summer at home.
She nodded. “I’ll be right back with
your drinks.”
He’d already turned back to the
blonde.
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