25 Days of Christmas Stories: UNTANGLE MY HEART by Maria K. Alexander

When her marriage ended in tragedy, Kate DiFrancesco rebuilt her life, but has never gotten over the pain of what she lost. Seeking the help of an ex-lover ignites feelings she’s promised never to have again. She’ll need to untangle herself from dangers in her past in order to break the hard shell around her heart.

Edward Weston has a lot to prove, both to his stuffy upper-crust British family, and to himself. Working alongside Kate, a woman he had a casual relationship with, stirs unexpected feelings. Helping her family makes him realize what he's missing. For the first time, he wants more than a one-night stand.

When Kate is threatened, Edward must overcome feeling unworthy to protect the woman he loves and fight for the family he never thought he’d have.

Excerpt:

“You made cookies with Lucas this afternoon?”

Her face relaxed and she smiled. “Yes, for the Christmas party.”

“Ah, that sounds like it could be interesting.”

Edward never made cookies in his life and didn’t have a clue about what that entailed. But based on the tiredness etched on her face, it looked rough.

“It was fun, though I wish I had an eighth of the kid’s energy. Boy, can he talk. I’m exhausted and my feet ache.” She closed her eyes and rested her head along the back of the booth.

He glanced down at the high-heeled black leather boots propped up on the bench next to him. They came up to just under her knee and hugged her calf like a second skin. As usual, the heel was close to four inches, and while looking at them made the blood rush to his groin, they didn’t seem practical for an afternoon of baking cookies. Unable to refrain from the temptation, he unzipped one of the boots and slipped her foot out.

Her eyes flew open. “What are you doing?”

“Relax, luv. I once dated a masseuse and she showed me pressure points to rub to become perfectly relaxed,” he said, caressing the instep of her foot.

She snorted. “Yeah, I can just imagine the pressure points she showed you.”

Edward briefly thought back to Lana, at least that’s what he thought her name was, with a fond memory. She had fantastic hands and could get herself into the most flexible positions. It made for some very creative sex.

But now he only had thoughts of Kate as he stroked her foot. He remembered she had the sexiest toes, always polished with bright colors. He wondered if she just did that for the summer or if they’d be polished now.

“You’ll be appreciating the special skills she taught me in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, we’ll see.” She crossed her arms around her middle but closed her eyes again.

Not being able to resist, he stripped off her sock and felt his pulse increase. They were just like he remembered. Candy cane red today and perfectly manicured. He reached for her other foot and started the same ritual.

He studied her relaxed face, a slight curve to her mouth. A moan escaped her mouth and he wanted nothing more than to reach for her across the table and kiss her. Fully aroused, he tried to will away his erection all the while thinking how much he wanted to run his mouth up the length of her slender leg.

“I take it you like?” he asked, his voice husky with desire.

“Mmm hmm,” she murmured. “Your hands are magic.”

Buy Untangle My Heart for Kindle.

Author Bio:

A romantic at heart, Maria K. Alexander spent hours as a young girl getting lost in and wishing to be one of the heroines in the stories she read. Books gave her the ability to go to another world where she loved meeting new characters, learning about their problems, and watching them fall in love. 

Maria blogs and shares her writing journey with her critique partners at: http://thevioletfemmes.com.

When not writing, Maria loves to read, bake, downhill ski, visit the beach, and watch romantic comedies. Maria lives in New Jersey with her husband and children, and writes in her “spare” time between juggling a full-time job and her kids’ busy schedules.

You can keep in touch with her at: http://mariakalexander.com.

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Giveaway:

To celebrate Untangle My Heart’s Kindle release, Maria is running a special Rafflecopter contest through December 25^th. Please enter below to win a $10 Amazon gift card. The winner will be announced on the contest page of her website at http://mariakalexander.com on December 26th.

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