Series: One Kind Deed #10
Publication date: April 28th, 2022
Synopsis:
Secrets had a way of destroying everything.
Trying the wrong guy has huge consequences. Tessa Collins learned that the hard way and now there's a black mark next to her name. She's spent a fair amount of energy trying to outrun that stain, but it will always be there. The best she can do is throw herself into her dance career at The Nalu Resort in Hawaii. Pristine beaches, endless sunshine, and her wonderful best friend have done wonders to heal her soul. As long as she stays away from men, she'll survive.
But ignoring men is hard. Especially ones that look like resort guest Detective Donovan Henley. When he plays the white-knight role to rescue her from an aggressive vacationer, she's more than a little intrigued by his protect-and-serve attitude. Getting involved with a sexy Vermont cop who could easily find out all her secrets, however, is asking for disaster. So what if Donovan makes her feel things she's never felt with anyone else? Tessa isn't going to let another man disturb her rhythm.
Is one kind dance enough to keep two hearts in step?
One Kind Dance is a vacation-fling, small-town, contemporary romance that features a detective hero who protects the ones he loves and a dancing heroine with a checkered past.
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Excerpt
"Almost there," Donovan said. "This is my street."
Tessa sat up a little straighter, but all she saw around them were trees, trees, and more trees.
The darkness was all consuming apart from the twin beams of the truck's headlights ahead of them.
"Does anyone else live on this street?"
Donovan chuckled. "Yes, most of the properties have long driveways though so you can't see the houses from here."
"Oh." Everything around her little chunk of Kauai was right out in the open because it was a tourist area, but her family home in Maine had been like this. Neighbors spread out and everyone having their own little private world. "Do you get lonely out here?"
He shrugged. "Sometimes, but I spend a lot of time at work or in town. Mostly I just sleep here." He navigated the truck around a large branch in the road. "I'm going to move that for the next guy. Do you mind?"
"Not at all." She loved how he looked out for other people.
He put the truck in park and jumped out. He walked to the back of the truck and Tessa followed his path, but she couldn't see him in the darkness. A scraping sounded as he must have slid the big branch to the side of the road. She had a moment to think she wouldn't want to be on this road alone right now before Donovan was climbing back into the driver's seat.
"Have you encountered animals up here?" she asked as they got moving again.
"Yup." Donovan held up his gloved hand, counting with his fingers. "Bears, moose, deer, fox, turkeys, coyotes, raccoons, porcupines, beavers, squirrels, chipmunks, birds." He put his hand down then brought it back up. "Oh, and spiders. Huge ones." He walked his hand along her arm, simulating spider legs with his fingers.
She slapped his hand, stopping his motion. "Joke's on you, Mystery Guy. I love spiders. I used to pitch a fit as a kid if my mother killed one that got into the house. I'd try to trap them peacefully in a cup and free them outside."
"You got fifty percent more adorable with that story." Donovan followed the road to the right where it bent, his driving cautious on the snowy road. "I try not to kill spiders and other bugs too, unless they get into the bathroom. Something about being naked around insects freaks me out."
"Don't want them to see your bits and pieces?"
He shook his head. "I'm selective in who gets that show."
"I'm glad I made the cut." So glad. Donovan's bits and pieces had brought her so much pleasure over the past few days they'd spent together. She looked forward to making love to him in his bed as they had in hers.
"Trust me, my bits and pieces are overjoyed you made the cut." He turned into a driveway that had almost no snow on it. "Wow, Christian must want something if he did this good of a plow job on my driveway."
A single floodlight pierced the darkness ahead. Tessa couldn't see much aside from the black silhouette of what she assumed was Donovan's man cave. Her heart sped up as a garage door slowly crept up when he'd hit the remote on his visor. This was it. She was here. In Vermont. With Donovan.
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Christine DePetrillo can often be found hugging trees, conversing with dragonflies, and walking barefoot through sun-warmed soil. She finds joy in listening to the wind, bathing in moonlight, and breathing in the fragrances of things that bloom. If she had her way, the sky would be the only roof over her head.
Her love of nature seeps into every story she tells. As does her obsession with bearded mountain men who build, often smell like sawdust, and know how to cherish the women they love. Today she writes tales meant to make you laugh, maybe make you sweat, and definitely make you believe in the power of love.
She lives in Vermont with her husband and cat who defend her fiercely from all evils.
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