Hard Irish Luck is Arriving in June!

At Last!

I said it!  Gulp.  Now I need to make it all come together despite my sometimes insane life.  Book Three of the Weldon Brothers Series, HARD IRISH LUCK, will be out this month even if it takes me to the eleventh hour of the last day of the month.  I am going to get it done.  The kids may starve and the dog may languish.  I might get fired from my day job because I’ll be percolating hot steamy scenes all day and burning the midnight oil to get them written, but I vow to get the job done.  Now enough about me.

Let’s talk about Jared Weldon.  This hunky brother and identical twin is up next.  He’s been living the life of a hardcore bachelor but is about to get a knockout punch from Rocky McKenna.  It’s going to take more than good looks and a hard body to send this hard Irish woman over the edge.  Add in steamy nights, ragged emotions, heart-wrenching drama, and a killer and you’ll get what it takes for an explosive free fall into love.

Before we get to the excerpt I have another announcement that I hope will be great news to all.  The response to the Weldon Brothers Series has been so good that I’m asking myself why should it all end?  Once James’s book, HOT IRISH LASS, comes out, there are no more Weldon brothers of age and I’m not quite ready to bring the second generation into adulthood yet.  But I am more than ready to write about some sexy southern men.  So coming in December 2012 I will start my Southern Steam Series.  You won’t want to miss COCKTAIL COVE and YOU MUST see THE MAN who has agreed to be on the cover.  Tim Parrish who will be in NBC’s LOVE IN THE WILD Season Two Premiering this Tuesday Night, June 5th.  Tune in to watch and follow him on Twitter @timboparrish or facebook.com/timfparrish.  Tomorrow I will have an interview with him and debut the cover!

Hard Irish Luck

“I’m warning you now that you’ll be on your own for a bit, bro.  Before I leave here tonight, I’m getting that woman’s number or my name isn’t Weldon,” Jared said.

James raised a brow, looking more like his usual self than he had all day.  “Maybe I’d better take a second look at her.  I haven’t seen you this determined in a long time.”

“Look is all you can do.  She’s mine,” Jared muttered.  There was one negative to having an identical twin.  If a woman was attracted to one then odds were she’d be equally attracted to the other.  It always left a little doubt.

They’d lost their premium seat at the bar, much to Jared’s frustration and had to settle for a table across the room, which put a kink in his brow and had him grumbling at James over it.

“If you remember, the reason we’re here has nothing to do with picking up chicks for the night.  We’re supposed to be scouting out McKenna’s crew.”

“I said I was getting her number.  I didn’t say I was…have you even looked at her,” Jared glared at James.  “She’s so not that type.”

James spewed his beer mid-sip.  “You haven’t even spoken to her yet and you already know what type she is?  Come on, what’s gotten into you?  Do you hear yourself?”

Jared opened his mouth then shut it.  There wasn’t anything he could say.  There wasn’t any ration or reason to the vibe he got from her.  It just was and it bothered him James couldn’t see it.  Alan Jackson was crooning over the sound system about being in love with a woman whose name he didn’t even know.   

“I will warn you that you aren’t the only guy in the room focused on her,” James added.

“No dah.  There are ten staring at her play pool.”

“Not them.  That guy back there.”

Glancing over his shoulder, Jared’s hackles rose.  A man in the back corner was staring daggers at the woman.  It was more than obvious that he had a bone of ill content to pick with her.

“He’s looking like possession is the law and that he has every right to possess her.” James said.  “I don’t need any Beam-me-up-Scotty’s premonition to predict that.  Bad news is about to happen.”

The guy downed his drink and staggered to his feet.  Jared braced himself and turned his gaze on the woman.  He had to know what this guy meant to her and he had his answer the moment she caught sight of the guy heading her way.  Terror and anger.  She was afraid of the man approaching, but not too afraid to turn her back on him.

Jared watched as the woman tossed the cue onto the pool table and pointed her finger at the men around her, clearly accusing them of something.  They all stood, shaking their heads in denial.  Two of them moved toward the approaching man, who promptly shoved them aside.

Jared stood and James grabbed his arm.  “This isn’t your business.  Men get shot for sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong.  Sit down.  She’s not alone.”

Two more men split from the group and went to head the guy off.  “Go home, Roan.  You weren’t invited and Rocky doesn’t want you here.”

“Stay out of it, Mack.  This is between me and her.”

“Afraid not.”  Mack moved to block the guy and that’s when the fight broke out.  The guy threw a punch, the Mack guy ducked, and the punch caught some biker dude upside the head.  It spread like wildfire.

“Shit.” James grabbed Jared’s arm again.  “Let’s get out of here.”

Jared pulled free.  “Not yet.  Cut off by the fray, he saw the woman backing into a corner and headed her way.  People shoved and hollered.  Beer bottles flew along with bar stools.  Women yelled and men shouted.   He knew she was tall but hadn’t quite realized how tall until he got closer.  Six foot at least.  She had her gaze focused on one man.  The man who’d started the fight.  The man who still looked bent on getting to her, but was happy to knock a few others out on the way first.

“Watch out!” Jared dove her way.  Wrapping his arms around her, he brought her crashing down with his best offensive tackle as a flying bar stool smashed into the wall where she’d been standing.   He grabbed the heart-shaped ass he so admired and twisted to take the brunt of the fall.  Splintered pieces of wood rained down on them.  

Jared’s pulse kicked up about ten notches.  Just an adrenaline rush.  It had nothing to do with the scorching feel of her long, lean but curved just-right body plastered to him or the thick-lashed, narrowed green eyes the color of spring clover staring at him.   Her curtain of dark hair fell about them, framing her face that could only be described as beautifully determined.  Sun-kissed skin glowed like warm honey and an even sweeter-looking, lush mouth softened her dominant nose, chin, and brow.  She smelled of citrus and coconuts, making him want to lick just to see if she tasted that way, too.

The fear was still in her eyes, along with surprise.

He gave her a reassuring smile.  “I don’t know who that jerk coming after you is, but I do know two things.  He doesn’t deserve to be in any universe you’re in.  And I’d do just about anything to take that fear out of your eyes.”  He slid his hands up from her delectable bottom to pull her tighter to his chest.  “Please tell me he isn’t your husband.”

She blinked at him a moment before she exhaled and whispered.  “Ex.  He’s my ex.”

He brushed back a wave of hair that had fallen across her face, it was like heavy silk.  “Best news I’ve heard all day.  I’ve half a mind to kiss you and show him you’ve moved on to bigger and better things.”

She arched a skeptical brow.  “I’ve lost my mind, because I’ve half a mind to let you.”

“Two halves make a whole,” Jared whispered.  He leaned up slowly, giving her plenty of time to back off before he claimed her full mouth.

Until tomorrow, Happy Reading and remember every day to DREAM, BELIEVE, CREATE, INSPIRE, LOVE, HEAL, and then you will know you have truly SUCCEEDED in life!

Love Jenni