THE IDEA OF YOU
Ribbon Ridge #4
Darcy Burke
Releasing November 17th, 2015
Avon Books
Following a major tabloid scandal, movie
star Alaina Pierce escapes to Ribbon Ridge. She’s immediately drawn to the
quiet, picturesque town and the incredibly sexy—if a little quirky—Evan. He may
be built like a Greek god, but he’s honest and straightforward… so different
from the Hollywood types she normally dates.
Their attraction is undeniable, but Alaina
can’t elude the paparazzi forever, and Evan has no interest in being in the
limelight. When the secret she’s been keeping is exposed, the idea of Evan—of
real love and a family like the Archers—could vanish in an instant.
“I
didn’t sign up to have my life scrutinized and invaded.” Her tone had risen
again. He tried to decide if that meant she was agitated, excited, or something
else. Sometimes talking to strangers was like speaking in tongues. Sometimes? Always.
“Do
you need any help with this?”
“No,
I’ve got it handled. Thanks. But should you leave that battery out? What if
there’s an actual fire?”
“Are
you planning on making more bacon?”
She
shuddered, and a lock of her dark blonde, wavy hair fell against her face. “God
no. I’ll find something else to eat.”
He
ought to invite her to the main house for dinner, but he was probably going to
heat up a frozen burrito or make nachos. She wrapped her arms around herself,
and for the first time, he registered the chill coming from the open windows.
He
went and closed the window. “The smoke’s mostly gone.”
“I’ll
go shut the one in the bedroom.”
“I’ll
get it.” He turned and went into the single bedroom. The light was on, and he
saw an array of clothing spread out over the bed. His gaze lingered on a lacy
bra and a matching pair of panties. She’d look amazing in those.
He
quickly spun around and closed the window.
“Thanks,”
she said as he moved back through the living room toward the kitchen. “What
about the battery?”
“Right.”
He’d meant to put it back, but her underwear had totally distracted him. He
retrieved the chair and replaced the battery in the alarm. “All set.”
“Thank
you for rushing to my aid. Maybe I’ll see you . . . tomorrow. Or something.”
“How
long are you staying?” It probably wasn’t his business, but the question was
out of his mouth before he could censor it.
“Until
my life gets back to normal.” She laughed. He recognized that laugh from her
movies. It was full and sexy and utterly distinctive. “What a joke. My life
will never be normal.”
“Why
don’t you quit, then? If you hate the fame and you want a normal life, just
walk away. I’m guessing you have plenty of money.”
“Yes,
but I also love my job. Could you walk away from something you loved?”
Something
he loved . . . What was that exactly? His family. His cat. His job? Not yet.
But the potential was there. Finally. Yeah, he’d walked away from something he
loved. After grad school, he’d moved away from home, from his family, whom he loved—to prove that he could. “Yeah, I
could walk away. Maybe all the negatives associated with your job are telling
you to leave. Sometimes you have to realize it’s time to move on.”
That
had been one of the hardest lessons of all, in both big and small ways. It had
taken him years to learn to walk away from an incomplete school assignment and
accept he could finish it later. Or let go of a specific rule or idea.
“Thanks
for the unsolicited advice,” she said.
More
sarcasm? Probably. “I wasn’t trying to give you advice.” He walked toward the
door but paused at the threshold. “If you want some beer, come over to the
house and I can pull you a growler or whatever you want. You know my dad’s a
brewer, right?”
She
shook her head. “That was a bit of a non sequitur, wasn’t it?”
He
was the king of non sequiturs, and as a result, he had learned a few defense
mechanisms for when people noticed the oddity. “It’s part of my allure.”
She
took the towel from her shoulder and laid it over the back of one of the
barstools. “Sean told me you own a bunch of brewpubs.”
“Not
me. My dad. Technically, Archer Enterprises, and he’s the CEO. My adoptive
brother, Derek, is the CFO, and my brother Kyle is acting COO while my younger
brother, Hayden, is in France learning to make wine.”
She
crossed her arms over her chest, and her lips did that almost-smile thing
again. “Also an encyclopedia, I see.”
He
had a canned comeback for that, too. “The better to charm you with. Seriously,
if you want the beer, just come over.”
“Thanks.
I’ll keep that in mind.”
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Darcy Burke is the USA Today
bestselling author of hot, action-packed historical and sexy, emotional
contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a
happily-ever-after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved
him, with exceedingly poor illustrations.
A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the
edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious
kids-who each seem to have inherited the writing gene in some form-and two
Bengal cats. In her "spare" time Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled
in a 12-step program where one learns to say "no," but she keeps
having to start over. Her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at
the Gorge.
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