Excerpt: 'Ever After at Sweetheart Ranch' by Emma Cane

Emma Cane, author of Ever After at Sweetheart Ranch (out today!), shares an excerpt from her new Valentine Valley romance.

First, here's the blurb (courtesy of Avon):

Emma Cane's Valentine Valley series returns, as a teacher and her cowboy crush kindle sparks—and something more—in the town that lives up to its name ...

The only thing hotter than a cowboy ...

Math teacher Lyndsay De Luca never surprised anyone—least of all herself—until this summer. First, she secretly published her debut romance novel. Then, she started dating Will Sweet, the cowboy of her dreams. And now, Lyndsay's scrambling to hide the juiciest tidbit of all: that the hazel-eyed hero of her steamy fiction is the same guy whose kisses have become her mind-blowing reality.

... Is a cowboy in love.

Ever since Will's high-school sweetheart died in a tragic accident, he hasn't been able to commit to a long-term relationship. Lyndsay is the first woman in years who's been able to catch—and keep—his attention. When they team up to teach Valentine's teens about ranch life, Will discovers it's not just her sexy-as-hell smile that has him hooked. Will she be the one to finally break down the walls around his guarded heart?

Emma sets the scene for us …

Emma: Math teacher Lyndsay De Luca's dreams are coming true — her first romance novel is about to be published. But she's keeping it a secret for a while, because she "accidentally" based her hero on cowboy Will Sweet, her brother's best friend. It's obvious she wasn't as over her high school crush as she'd thought. To get him out of her system, she's determined to ask him out on a date.

EXCERPT

Lyndsay stood in the doorway of her classroom, turning off the lights, when she happened to look up—and see Will Sweet. He was walking slowly down the hall, glancing from room to room, his cream-colored Stetson shadowing his eyes, emphasizing the cleft deep in his square jaw. His sandy blond hair curled a bit behind his ears. Her mouth went dry, and she saw other women doing a double take as he strode past. His long arms swung loosely, veins from hard work meandering up them, the same faded rodeo t-shirt tight over his biceps. His jeans were faded, too, low on his hips, tight across his thighs. He controlled a horse with those thighs, she thought with a shiver. His cowboy boots made a distinct, clipped sound on the wood floor.

When Will saw Lyndsay, his smile widened, his dimple deepened, and his eyes twinkled at her from beneath the shadow of his brim. "Just who I'm looking for," he called, raising a hand.

"Hi, Will," she said, a bit more weakly than she'd hoped. "What can I help you with?"

He stopped right in front of her, and she had to angle her head back to see his face. She was too close to the tanned hollow at the base of his throat, and she could see the raindrops moistening the shoulders of his t-shirt.

"Can we talk?" he asked, glancing past her to nod pleasantly at someone.

"Sure." She turned the lights back on in her room and led the way to her desk. She seated herself behind it as if for protection—from herself, of course—and gestured to the chair beside it.

Instead, he sat on the edge of the nearest desk. "Tony told me about the 4-H club needing a project leader. Will I do?"

She wasn't sure what she'd expected him to say, but it hadn't been that. "Sure. That's really generous of you to offer."

He leaned back on both hands and grinned, his head cocked. "You don't sound all that enthused."

"No, no, really, I am," she said, wishing she could kick herself. "I guess I was thinking it would be someone's dad or uncle or—"

"Nate and Em are doing their best to make me an uncle," he answered.

She briefly closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense. You'll do a great job with the 4-H. I really appreciate your help."

She'd been waiting for some time alone to ask him out, but hadn't imagined it being at school. She stared at him, and he was studying her just as intently.

She took a deep breath. "Will, would you like to get a drink with me some evening? And I don't mean to talk about 4-H."

His smile faded, then something changed in his eyes. All that heavy-lidded smolder she'd seen directed at other girls switched on. His gaze moved down her body, leisurely, intently, and she felt it like a physical caress, her nipples hardening, her belly clenching, her thighs tightening, and between them—no, she wasn't letting herself go there, not now.

"I've found myself thinking the same thing lately," he said in a husky voice.

The sound alone made her trembling increase. My God, she was in her middle school classroom, and she was worried about losing control.

"I think we could have some fun," she said. "I know we usually orbit around Tony, you and me, as friends."

"What's changed?"

He straightened then, leaning forward, forearms braced on his thighs. His hands were loosely clasped together, and she studied them, wondering how it would feel to be touched intimately by him.

She shivered. "I—I don't know." That was a lie. But how could she tell him that her recent realization that she'd based Cody on him made her want to bring her feelings out in the open and put it behind her? "Maybe I just need to start taking chances, have some fun, even if I risk being hurt."

"You think I'd hurt you?"

"Not deliberately. Maybe I'd hurt you," she teased. "Not deliberately, of course."

His faint smile deepened again. "I'm only hesitating because of your brother."

"We're not in high school anymore."

Suddenly he rose to his feet and came toward her almost nonchalantly, removing his hat and setting it on her desk. Her mouth went dry, her neck arched and arched, and then she couldn't take it anymore and had to stand up, too, though she felt as if her legs would buckle.

"I'm not sure we have any chemistry at all," he said softly. "We should check."

Find out more about Emma and her books at www.emmacane.com.