A Fair of the Heart

Single mother, and work-at-home hair stylist, Lauren Frazier can barely keep the roof over her head from falling down around her. When handyman Caleb Hunter shows up at her door for a haircut, the military veteran is the answer to her prayers—and the attraction is instantaneous. Too bad her troubled ten-year-old son isn't quite as thrilled to have Caleb hanging around.

Old wounds have kept Caleb from returning to Redemption permanently. When he receives word of his mother's unexpected death, guilt and regret bring him home again, but will the love of a good woman keep him there? Beautiful, witty, and strong, Lauren excites him like no woman ever has, but she's a package deal, and he's not sure he's prepared to take on a ready-made family.

Excerpt: First Kiss...

Lauren moaned, leaning into him, dissolving into his heat, pulse roaring in her ears. She turned in his arms, bringing her leg around so she could straddle his lap and snuggle even closer, plastering herself against his broad, hard chest. Caleb answered her silent plea with a growl of his own, crushing her in his arms, his hands caressing a fiery trail down her back, cupping her butt in his big hands. Their mouths meshed with escalating hunger, their tongues moving in a dance as old as time, both giving as much as they took. Lauren felt sure she would drown in the heady sensations coursing through her.

The proof of his desire was nestled between them, and it took all her self-control not to move against him. It had been so long since—

Caleb tore his lips free and rested his forehead against hers, his breath coming out in ragged pants.

"Wha—?" Lauren could barely draw air into her lungs to speak. "Is something wrong?" she finally managed to whisper.

"I think Emma woke up," he whispered right back.

She sat back in alarm and shot a look toward the stairs. How could she have not heard her? "I'll be right back," she murmured, unable to meet his gaze. She climbed off his lap with as much dignity as possible and raced up the stairs.

Emma had indeed woken up, but Lauren rubbed her back for a few minutes, and she fell right back to sleep. She stuck her head in the bathroom on her way back to check her face in the mirror, make sure the words "bad mother" weren't etched into her forehead.

Caleb stood as soon as she entered the kitchen. "Is she all right? It wasn't her hand, was it?"

"No, just fussing. She fell right back to sleep." She wrapped her arms around herself and walked past him to the sink for a glass of water.

Caleb came up behind her, but didn't touch her. "Is something wrong?"

She took a sip, then another, too embarrassed to turn around and face him. "I didn't even hear her. What does that say about my maternal instinct?"

He took her in his arms. "You're a wonderful mother, Lauren. You got wrapped up in the moment, which, to be honest, is a pretty big compliment."

She gazed up at him, hoping her heart wasn't in her eyes. "But you heard her. Does that mean you weren't as...that it didn't affect you the same way...?"

He silenced her with a quick kiss. "Shh. All it means is I'm a military man who's attuned to the sounds around him. The kiss knocked my socks off, lady."