His gift is the only thing left from the love they shared…and she plans to sell it.
Former bad boy, now famous artist, Zane DeMonde laughs off an engraved invitation to return to Regret Hollow, the same town that booted him out fifteen years ago. When he discovers the woman who once broke his heart is putting his professional reputation at risk by selling his old paintings, he’s no longer laughing. He’ll do anything to stop her, even return to town … even put his heart in jeopardy again.
High school art teacher Julianne Truman's last chance to save her beloved art department from budget cuts is to sell the old artwork Zane gifted her. Her heart breaks to remove the final traces of him from her life, but she needs to finally move on from the love she never got over.
Julianne’s life belongs to her students, and Zane’s only goal is to protect his art. But the moment they wrap their arms around each other, their old attraction flares to life, hot enough to incinerate them and their best intentions.
Excerpt:
Julianne climbed down the ladder, her knees so shaky she was surprised she didn’t collapse into Zane’s arms. Facing the man she’d once believed would be part of every single day of her future sent her into her biggest emotional tailspin since he’d walked away nearly fifteen years ago.
“You surprised me,” she admitted, her voice stronger than she’d dared hope. “Your manager led me to believe you wouldn’t come.” Unable to resist the magnetic attraction, she stepped toward him. He’d cut his beautiful shoulder-length black hair into a more conventional style. Gone were the black hoodie and ripped jeans of his youth. Now he wore chinos and a sharply pressed blue button-down shirt, open at the neck.
“I didn’t plan this trip, but you left me no choice. The sketches and painting I gave you are not for sale.” The dark storms in his cobalt-blue eyes mirrored the turbulence of the day he’d marched away from her. The same fire and frustration reflected in all of his gallery paintings.
“I own them. I don’t need your permission to sell them.” She held her body rigid, the fragile shell the only thing keeping her heart from crumbling. Despite choosing this path, the prospect of parting with the only piece of him she’d been able to hang onto filled her with yawning emptiness.
“As long as my name is on them and you’re planning to get rich off me, I will fight you on this to the bitter end.”
Getting rich was so far from the truth, she would have laughed if he hadn’t stolen her sense of humor along with her breath. She scrambled to recover her professionalism and treat him the way she would any other visitor or school official. “We’re honored to have you back at Regret Hollow High.”
Her students rightly considered him a living legend and would be awed beyond words. Her brother, on the other hand, might burst an artery. No, surely her brother and Zane had both moved on from their ancient history. She was the only one clinging to a past that had meant everything to her.
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Sara Daniel writes what she loves to read—irresistible romance, from sweet to steamy and everything in between. She grew up in a small town and was once a landlord of two uninvited squirrels. She has no regrets about turning her back on her accounting degree to write romance, but she deeply regrets her inability to keep track of her car keys. Subscribe to Sara’s newsletter: http://eepurl.com/rx_AL Visit her website: http://www.SaraDaniel.com
Thanks so much for hosting me, Clare!
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