Teaser:
A Little Love by Maren Smith
“I really appreciate this,” Tricia said, and not for the first time. Looking back through his splayed knees, Nolan could just see her via her reflection in the dressing mirror that hung on the bedroom side of the bathroom door. She sat on the counter, ankles demurely crossed and holding onto the screwdriver and wrenches he hadn’t needed since disassembling the old faucet. It was just an ordinary summer Saturday and she was dressed the part in baggy pink coveralls, cut-off and rolled up just above the knee, white sports bra, and sneakers. On every pocket hem, yellow duckling and white bunny decals alternated with shovels, hoes, watering cans, and buckets of either vegetables or yellow, white and pink flowers. She looked ready for a day of grubbing in flower beds in an outfit that didn’t look entirely out of place and yet which any five-year-old would have loved. He loved it, too. Especially her hair, pulled back in twin ponytails now. A brunette version of Pippi Longstocking’s, all except for the pink stripe in her overlong bangs. That hung free. Parted to one side, it framed her eyes and her right cheek beautifully.
“Not a problem,” Nolan said, heaving himself out from under the sink. Having done all he could until she had a new faucet to replace the old one, he accepted the towel she handed him and wiped his hands. “I’m happy to help.”
And he was. Plumbing in her house was still plumbing, but standing in her bathroom, he found it almost pleasurable… when he wasn’t also wondering why ‘Daddy’ wasn’t here doing it himself. Maybe he was at work, although it didn’t take more than a casual glance around her bathroom to see there was no male influence anywhere in evidence. No razor or shaving cream on the counter by the misbehaving sink. No beard or moustache trimmer, and only one toothbrush—a bright pink one with dinosaurs on the handle—in the cup holder she’d moved to the towel shelf before clandestinely covering it with a washcloth (which he’d pretended not to notice).
“I think the kitchen sink’s still working,” she said, perking slightly. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
He shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I should probably get back to work before something happens.”
Tricia didn’t exactly un-perk, but her smile quirked a little crooked. “Something… like what?”
Shaking his head, Nolan tried not to think about her tattoos, but they’d pretty much been haunting his thoughts since the day he’d caught that brief glimpse up her skirt. He shook his head again, laughing softly, knowing better than to say anything and yet also knowing when it came down to self-preservation, saying something now might be the only thing that kept them both from doing something they’d regret.
She was going to throw him out of her house, he thought. The minute he said it, she was going to know exactly how he knew what was written on her thighs and she was going to send him home with blistered ears. And yet, even knowing how stupid this was, he still opened his mouth. “Like Daddy coming home and finding me in the middle of your bedroom. Trust me, ‘I’m only here to fix her pipes’ is not an excuse he’s going to accept gracefully.”
Tricia stared at him for almost a full minute in perfect silence, her mouth gradually rounding in an expressive ‘O’ that ran the gamut from surprised to instant understanding to immense embarrassment—all in the blink of her heavily mascaraed eyes.
“Oh,” she said, spots of pink staining high on her cheeks. “Thank you. Um… that’s a very nice way of saying I need to get a longer skirt.”
Nolan ran the towel between his fingers before clearing his throat. “I shouldn’t have looked, I’m sorry.”
“No, no. Um…” She cleared her throat. “Entirely my fault. Okay, well… Um, how about we start by saying you aren’t in my bedroom, you’re in my bathroom. And then we can go from there straight into the fact that you wouldn’t be in either place if I had a Daddy at this point in time.”
“That’s almost worse,” Nolan said, not sure if he ought to feel foolish or relieved.
“How so?”
“Real Daddies don’t leave their marks and then just walk away.”
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F5XVG79/
Blurbs:
Two military sergeants accustomed to being obeyed—both in the field and in the bedroom. Two Daddy Doms with their own ideas on how best to care for the women in their lives. Teaming together to present a book so hot it sizzles, Katherine Deane and Maren Smith combine two novellas for the price of one in Red, White and True.
Cherry On Top by Katherine Deane – Army Sergeant Jacob Pye is still reeling from the fallout of losing two of his squad members. Now, during some mandatory time off to recover, he’s on an undercover mission to protect his best friend’s younger sister. The mission: Go in and assess the situation; protect the sexy, young woman; neutralize the enemy. Most importantly—don’t fall for the gorgeous woman who is strong enough to finally make him feel human again.
Originally published in Blushing Books’ Hero Undercover anthology.
A Little Love by Maren Smith – From the moment he saw her tattoo, Sergeant Nolan Anderson knew Tricia was meant to be his. But they were neighbors and, worse, he was broken. She deserved so much better from the man who became her Dom and yet, now that he’d held her, how could he bring himself ever to let her go…
Originally published in Blushing Books’ Hero to Obey anthology.
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F5XVG79/
About Maren Smith
Fortunate enough to live with my Daddy Dom, I am a Little, coffee whore, pain slut, administrator at my local BDSM dungeon, resident of the wilds of freakin’ Kansas (still don’t know how I ended up here) and submissive to the love of my life. An International and USA Bestselling Author, I have penned more than 120 novels, novellas and short stories, and am the author of the Masters of the Castle series.
CONNECT WITH MAREN SMITH
Visit Maren Smith’s blog here: http://badgirlscorner.blog
Friend me on Facebook here: http://facebook.com/Maren.Smith.10
Follow me on Twitter: @authmarensmith
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Visit me on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/authormarensmith
About Katherine Deane:
USA Today bestselling author Katherine Deane is a multi-published, top 100 romantic and BDSM author and romantic at heart.
She loves cheese, red wine, chocolate, and snuggling up with her daughters’ kittens while reading a good book.
When not reading, or writing, you can find her knitting, sewing, crafting, or doing pretty much anything to keep her hands busy. She has taken over the dining room AKA craft room, much to her husband’s dismay. In one of her books, an energetic “craftaholic” would find herself over her husband’s knee for losing an important document in a pile of bi-cone crystals and mod podge. Her real life, and the people in them, give her plenty of ideas to work with.
Katherine has dubbed herself the queen of cheese. Not only is she a former Midwestern Cheese Head; she also loves to incorporate it into her books.
In her opinion, all romance deserves at least one cheesy scene that makes you cry.
Find her here:
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