No One Like You (31 page)

Authors: Kate Angell

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary

BOOK: No One Like You

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“I’m giving permanence to us.” He took her hand, settled it over his right hip. Her fingers touched the hollow of his groin. “My tattoo.
Married
.”

“I like your choice.”

“I thought you might.”

Atlas sensed all was well in the world. He howled, loudly. The other dogs joined in. They were serenading his fiancée.

They all seemed to agree—there was no one like Beth.

And she was theirs.

Don’t miss the next charmingly quirky tale in
Kate Angell’s Barefoot William series,
No, No . . .Yes!
Please read on for a glimpse of Halo Todd’s story,
available next spring.

“B
e my boyfriend for one hour.”

Halo Todd stared at the woman dressed in the chicken costume. At least, he assumed she was female. Feminine voice. Short in stature. Indeterminable age. She wore a padded yellow, feathered jumpsuit with orange leg covers and spiky chicken toes. The head cover had a red wattle. A sharp black beak.

Six-fifteen a.m., and she paced outside Jacy’s Java, a popular coffee shop in historic Richmond, Virginia. Brick buildings and sidewalks. Gas streetlights and narrow avenues. A hint of dawn was on the horizon.

He’d purchased a double espresso in preparation for his drive south. The Rogues were about to begin spring training in Barefoot William, Florida. He played right field. It was the first week in February, and the morning was bleak. Fifty degrees. Overcast skies. A stiff wind blew from the north, ruffling the chicken’s feathers.

Who the hell was she?
He scratched his head, asked, “Do I know you?” He had, on occasion, slept with women and not known their names. He would have remembered a chicken.

She shook her head, and the red wattle beneath her chin quivered. “We’ve never met.”

“Why me?” he asked. Amused. He wondered if his teammate Landon Kane was pranking him. But there was no one on the street corner other than him and the chick. No one hiding behind a parked car. No one recording a video for YouTube, as far as he could tell.

The woman clapped her hands, stomped her feet. Shivered. A few feathers flew. Apparently the costume wasn’t as warm as it appeared. “My boyfriend broke up with me last night,” she said on a sigh.

Her man must not be into chickens.

“You’re the biggest guy to walk down the street,” she went on to say. “The last male costume for matching couples at Masquerade was an extra-large rooster. Cock-a-doodle-do me?”

His mind went to the gutter.
Cock-a-doodle-do her
sounded kinky. He had no idea what she looked like. Other than that her eyes through the slits appeared green. Her mouth was hidden beneath the beak. His curiosity got the better of him. “What’s with the costume?” he asked.

“Go Big or Go Home.”

“The game show?” No way, Jose.

“I have tickets. I stood in line for three days.”

Go Big or Go Home was a popular television show. He’d watched it on occasion, during the off-season. Seated on the sofa in his condo while sipping a beer. The show got funnier as he worked his way through a six-pack. He’d be cheering for his favorite contestant when he crushed the last can in his hand.

Challengers lost their inhibitions. They made spectacles of themselves. Jumping, shouting, and waving signs to get the host’s attention. Alex Xander encouraged them to riot. The louder, the crazier, the more out of control, the better. The costumed audience fed into the frenzy.

Halo was familiar with wild and crazy. Raising hell. Sleeping around. Calling a friend for bail money. He lived the moment. Controlled his own chaos.

A game show would flip his competitive switch. Winning was important to him, in all aspects of his life. He would have to abide by their rules. He’d have no say in the matter. The show was based on challenges. The contestants played games. Some were mental; others physical.

Each day had a different theme, which varied from midway at the fair to three-ring circus, haunted house, rodeo and jungle madness. No one knew the activity until the curtain went up. He’d be at the host’s mercy. He had no desire to make a fool of himself. Even in a costume.

“So, what do you say?” the chicken pressed, sounding hopeful. “Sixty quick minutes.”

Quick minutes?
It would be the longest hour of his life. One he could never get back.

“The television studio is six blocks east.” She rolled back the orange mitt on her hand, glanced at her watch. A big faced Minnie Mouse on a red band. She had kid in her. “The show films in the morning and airs in the afternoon. We have less than an hour to sign in. As it is, we’ll be stuck standing in the back row.”

The last row wasn’t far enough back for him. “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

“Can’t or won’t?” she stood up to him. Chicken was brave.

“Won’t.” He was honest with her.

She pointed a hand claw at him, said, “The show’s in its tenth season. This is anniversary week. Friday is for couples only. Winners take home cars, jewelry, and dream vacations. Fifty thousand dollars is the grand prize.” She spread her arms wide and her chest puffed. He glimpsed the outline of her breasts for half a second. Small, high, and firm. A-cups. “Anything you’d ever want,” she tempted him.

Don’t miss any of Kate Angell’s Barefoot William novels!

No Tan Lines

“Hot, sexy and smart!”
—Carly Phillips,
New York Times
bestselling author

There’s a place where the ocean meets the shore, where kicking off your shoes and baring some skin is as natural as sneaking under the boardwalk for an ice cream cone and stolen kisses.

But life isn’t all a beach for Shaye Cates, even if her idea of an office is a shady umbrella at the water’s edge equipped with cell phone and laptop. Steely-eyed Trace Saunders is the incredibly irksome fly in her coconut tanning oil. And running a kids’ softball team with her longtime rival is going to have everyone in her little Florida town buzzing. Her scads of laid-back relatives and his whole uptight clan know that Shaye just wants to play ball while Trace thinks only of business. But beneath the twinkling lights of the ferris wheel, the magic of sea and sand can sweep away every inhibition . . .

Suddenly, it’s summertime, and the lovin’ is easy.

No Strings Attached

“Grab a beach chair, sunscreen, and a Kate Angell book for a great summer read!”

—Roxanne St. Claire,
New York Times
bestselling author

Balmy ocean breezes . . . sweet coconut oil . . . glistening tanned bodies. There’s no better place for romantic sparks to fly than at the beach.

As a professional volleyball player, Dune Cates attracts scores of pretty women who flock to his side. But only one has managed to get under his skin—Sophie Saunders. Unlike the skimpily-clad beach groupies, Sophie marches to a beat all her own. And though she’s afraid of the surf, burns in the sun, has two left feet, that doesn’t stop her from trying every daring sport available on the boardwalk. Dune knows Sophie spells trouble, and he should keep his distance, especially since he’s a no-strings-attached kind of guy. But he can’t ignore an overwhelming instinct to protect her. And with the promise of ice cream sandwiches, merry-go-round rides and dreamy sunsets, it’s only a matter of time before Dune gives in to the temptation of Sophie’s soft lips.

Love is always sweeter in the summer.

No Sunshine When She’s Gone

“Another fun, sweet, sexy romance full of great characters.”
—Fresh Fiction

Life’s a Beach

Though his family owns the charming beachside town of Barefoot William, Aidan Cates is as down-to-earth as the locals. He’s also practical to a fault and doesn’t believe some psychic on the boardwalk can predict
his
future.

Jillie Mac is as free as an ocean breeze, so when the hot stranger and his date mistake her for a fortune-teller, she’s ready to have some fun. But one devastating secret told, one mistaken identity revealed, and numerous long summer nights later, it’s Jillie and Aidan who discover that sometimes love comes with a simple twist of fate.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

KENSINGTON and the k logo are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

ISBN: 978-0-7582-9130-1

First Electronic Edition: May 2015

ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9131-8
ISBN-10: 0-7582-9131-0