Thank you for enjoying my Surrender series. Are you ready for the spinoff?! The first book in the Blossom Ridge series, Starting Over, releases in February of 2022! Blossom Ridge features Craig and Leah, their staff, and all the Littles and their Daddies who come to visit the resort!
Please enjoy the following excerpt from Starting Over.
He’s standing in the doorway, same as last time, hands on his hips again. He takes in a deep breath and closes his eyes. “Much better.”
I smile, deciding to brush off our odd interaction from this morning. I’m going to have to work with this man. We need to get along. “The smell? Yes. The oven is officially clean. Would you mind trying my muffins? I’m going to need a few opinions before I settle on a recipe.”
“Not a chance.” He shakes his head firmly.
My stomach drops. What the hell?
He steps closer, but now I’m trembling. He’s so damn huge. His frame seems to eat up the entire room, and it’s a gigantic room. His shadow looms over my workspace.
“I’ll take a muffin, Amelia, but there’s not a chance I’m going to critique them.”
“Amy,” I inform him, surprised he even knows my name.
He lifts a brow. “People call you Amy?”
“Yes.” Why is this shocking? It’s a nickname.
He stares at me, his gaze roaming up and down my frame several times until I’m no longer trembling but shaking and a bit unnerved. “Nope.” He shakes his head. “I don’t see it.”
“You don’t see what?” I’m confused. My brain is scattered.
“You’re an Amelia. That’s your name. It’s pretty. It suits you. I’ll be calling you Amelia.”
My brows shoot up. I don’t think I’m breathing. There’s something so very…dominant about this man. That’s it. He’s overbearing and I can feel my instinct to submit to him pulling hard.
I can be submissive. I know this. But I usually keep that side of me to the hours at the club. I don’t submit to anyone outside of Surrender. I’ve never even felt the urge before.
This man has me tongue tied and close to kneeling at his feet. Which is also aggravating because he’s so…surly. That really is the best word for him.
“Umm…” That’s all I manage to murmur.
Foster glances at the various batches of muffins. “Cinnamon is my favorite. Which one would you like me to sample?”
“Uh…”
He meets my gaze. “Amelia?”
When he says my name this time my nipples stiffen and my panties grow wet. No one has called me Amelia besides my mother when I was very young. I insisted on being called Amy after my first day of kindergarten when the cute boy next to me misunderstood and called me that by accident.
I clear my throat and jerk my gaze from his as if I might get sucked into another vortex if I don’t. I glance at the muffins. “You’re supposed to try all three,” I murmur. Why is this concept so difficult? I only have three people to use as a test group: Foster, Leah, and Craig. There isn’t anyone else staying at Blossom Ridge yet. We don’t open for another week.
When Foster makes no move closer nor speaks, I finally glance up at him again.
He searched my face and runs a hand through his hair. “Look, I owe you an apology for earlier. I was snippy for no reason. You caught me off guard. I…” He shakes his head. “Never mind. The point is that I’ve already insulted you one too many times. It won’t happen again. So, no. I won’t critique your muffins. I will eat any or all of them, but I will tell you they are fabulous no matter what.”
I flinch. “Oh.”
He gives me a slow smile, the first one he’s graced me with. He looks even sexier when he smiles. It’s much better than the brow-furrowed, brooding look.