Gambling on Love (Stories of Serendipity #6) Read online

  Thank you for reading my latest installment in the Stories of Serendipity. If you liked it, I encourage you to leave a review, and tell others about it. My family appreciates you.

  Keep reading for the first chapter of the next Story of Serendipity, My Mistake due out in 2014.

  Chapter 1

  Sweaty skin sticks together as hot gasps tear the air to shreds. Fingernails grip backs, buttocks, nipples. Teeth graze flesh and toes curl. The scent of candle wax and body oils fill the room. Souls collide in a mesh of desires, if only for a brief period in time.

  This is what happens to Casey, every time she sees the man down the street, working on the roof of Mr. Jackson’s house. Of course, he doesn’t realize she’s been undressing him all week long, as she sips a cold beer on her porch. But that’s okay. It’s not like it’s anything that’s going to ever happen in her lifetime.

  She sighs as today, for the fourth day in a row, she watches him climb the ladder, a package of shingles slung over his shoulder like a rag doll. His tan muscular shoulder, completely visible through his T-shirt that sticks to him with sweat, flexes and bunches with the movement.

  Licking her lips, Casey took another sip of her beer, drinking in the sight of the nameless worker down the street. Once he got up on the roof, he dropped the shingles and stood there, wiping sweat from his brow. A gust of wind blew by, and Casey pushed her hair back out of her eyes, so she can keep watching him.

  Except now, she sees he’s watching her.

  His movements stilled, and he put one hand on his hips, standing on Mr. Jackson’s roof, jeans slung low, T-shirt a little too snug for polite company, casting a shadow over his features with a hand to his brow to block out the sun. He looked at her for a little while, then seemed to come to some conclusion, as he tossed Casey a casual wave, and squatted to get back to work.

  He knows I’m watching him, now.

  But she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the power that emanated from the man on the roof. She knew she was being stupid, fantasizing about a stranger. Crazy, even. Stalkerish.

  But she couldn’t help it. He looked familiar.

  She wasn’t close enough to see his features clearly, but there was just something about him that she recognized.

  Casey sat there, legs crossed to ease the ache in her loins. Her arms brushed across her nipples, which were stiff as pencil erasers, straining against her tank top, every time she raised her beer bottle to her lips. This guy made her hot. Hotter than the Texas heat. The sweat above her lip and on her hairline could have been caused by the sun, but she chose to think it was him.

  Because it wasn’t just her skin that was on fire.

  Watching him work made her insides burn with an intensity that was undeniable.

  Casey had read that book. The one that had been featured on Oprah a few years back about visualization. The fact was, she had always been one to obsess over what she wanted. When she’d read the book, she’d realized that if she put enough focus and energy into something, her chances of getting it improved. It seemed to work with her professional life, there for a little while, but it had yet to work with her love life. Men were definitely the most fun to fantasize about, certainly more fun than jobs. And if she’d come to any conclusions about her life in the last few weeks, it was that she was going to start doing stuff for herself. So here she was, she was going to fantasize about a strange man, having him here, in her Mom’s house, just for her.

  As she finished her beer, she continued watching the man down the street. Silhouetted against the sunset, a brilliant display of oranges and pinks, she could see his body shimmering in the heat of the dying day. He was packing up his things, and Casey decided it was probably time to go inside.

  She stood in front of the AC window unit, feeling the frigid air hit her body, as she closed her eyes and thought about the vision of the man on the roof. He’d taken his shirt off, and tanned muscles stretched and flexed as he hammered, bent, and reached. A sheen of perspiration coated his skin, and Casey’s tongue snaked out to lick her lips.

  She decided a little fantasizing wouldn’t be remiss. If she wanted him, she should put her thoughts and energies into getting him, shouldn’t she?

  Casey imagined him, walking down his ladder, the tee-shirt he’d taken off tucked into his back pocket, tool belt slung low on his waist, carrying his sack of larger tools over one shoulder. He slings the tool sack into the bed of his truck, and looks over to her house, question in his eyes.

  What color where his eyes? She hadn’t seen him that closely, so she should make up a color. That would make the fantasy more real.

  His hair was brown, so his eyes probably were, too. A dark mocha color. Yeah.

  His mocha colored eyes squint in question, as he thinks about what he should do. Nodding to himself in answer, he squares his shoulders, and looks down to unbuckle his tool belt. Strong, thick fingers works the clasp as he deftly releases the belt and tosses it into the back of the truck, before throwing in his tee shirt as well. Shirtless, he strides across the street with purpose and marches up Casey’s lawn.

  When he gets there, he knocks

  In her fantasy, Casey has just gotten out of the shower, where for some unknown reason, she has groomed herself carefully, so when she opens the door, she is clad in only a bath towel. As the stranger’s gaze falls on her, his mocha eyes burn with an intense heat that makes Casey’s insides quiver.

  He doesn’t say a word, just takes a step inside the house, kicking the door shut behind him, and the need that has consumed him on the walk to her house takes over. He pulls the towel from her body, eliciting an excited gasp from her, before ravaging her mouth with his, while his hands roam over her contours: grasping, stroking, tweaking. Casey is a raging inferno, and this man is stoking her heat.

  Casey realized her fantasy had gotten really hot, really fast. The AC unit was not doing its job, maybe a cold shower would.

  With one more glance out the front window to see what the mysterious stranger was up to now, nothing, he was by the truck, she went to the bathroom to start her shower. She figured she could continue her fantasy after her shower, maybe in bed with a toy.

  Before she could turn the nozzle, a knock at her front door surprised her. She walked back to the front of her house, her stomach fluttering.

  Could it have worked? Did her fantasies actually make him materialize at her doorstep? But she had specifically worked a shower into her fantasy, so she’d be clean. Right now, she was still all sweaty from sitting on the porch staring at him all afternoon in triple-digit temperatures.

  She steeled herself for a proper mauling, then opened the door, beginning her gaze at his feet. Scuffed, worn leather work boots tucked into scruffy, tar-stained jeans with a small hole in one knee, widened out to the too-tight tee shirt that outlined muscles too numerous to name. When her gaze landed on his face, she saw what color his eyes were, and her breath came out in a whoosh. Gun metal gray. Tabby-cat gray. Smokey gray. Brent Baum gray.

  Fuck. Me.

  Her voice came out of her mouth sounding like a choking wheeze. “Brent?”

  About The Author

  Anne Conley is a former high school teacher, who took some time off to raise goats and children. Living in a rural Texas town has taught her that life won't come to her, she's got to grab what she can get. So, she started writing for public consumption. She lives in a rural East Texas town with her husband, two children, and currently 44 goats. She is writing two series: the Stories of Serendipity, about life and love in a small town, and the Four Winds, about God's archangels "falling" in love. Check out her blog, www.anneconley.com for updates, book blurbs, and more.

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  For The Reader

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  Anne's Serendipity Bookshelf

  (in order)

  Neighborly Complications

  Claire is a jilted bride, jumping at the opportunity to hunt for treasure in the house her uncle left her in his will. Her goal? To start fresh in this tiny town called Serendipity, fix up the old house and start a bed and breakfast. The hunky widower next door is not in her plans. And when he seems to show up all the time, butting into her business, she can’t seem to dampen her frustration. Or control her urges.

  Max has the same problem. Something about the woman next door has made him forget all about the comfortable memory of his wife. He feels an unexplainable need to explore the tumultuous emotions that Claire evokes in him, but it seems like all he can ever do is make her mad.

  But damn, she’s sexy when she’s mad…

  Dream On

  Allysa has a hard time keeping up with her responsibilities, and she's has a lot: her elderly mother, both kids, her high school students, and of course, herself. When she starts dreaming of a handsome bad boy living a kinky lifestyle, she wonders what in the world her subconscious is telling her. She barely has time for her own life, much less one involving a guy with those kinds of appetites.

  Dalton has been living life on the edge for too long. When his he begins dreaming of a woman from his hometown, Serendipity, he initially thinks it's something inside him, letting him know it's time to settle down. When his dad gets sick, and Dalton has to move back home to take care of the family ranch, he realizes his dream girl is a reality.

  Sparks fly in this sizzling novel that explores love and lust in a small town setting, complete with ex-husbands, high school football, and nosy school boards.

  Warning: Some content not suitable for under 18 years of age

  Chef's Delight

  Welcome to Serendipity, Texas, a town where real people deal with real problems. Meet characters in their thirties and forties struggling with day-to-day issues and managing to find love in the process. Visit Serendipity, where the days are hot, and the nights are steamy!

  Connor is trying to open a restaurant in Serendipity, Texas, where Jessie is trying to keep alive a struggling goat cheese business. When his cheese suppler flakes out on him, he needs a new cheese maker, but she is a little trigger happy since her ex-boyfriend has started stalking her. Add to the mix a ghost that has a crush on Connor, and you have a steamy romance that will send chills to your toes.

  Hot Mess

  Sam is a single dad trying to get over the death of his ex-wife, and help his daughter move on from the loss of her mother.

  Rachel is a single mom with a secret of her own that has kept her out of the dating scene for years.

  What happens when this drop-dead gorgeous firefighter moves in across the street from the reticent woman with a past?

  Sparks fly as the heat level rises in this new novel of Serendipity.

  Falling for Him

  After eighteen years of marriage, Amy has finally found a man to talk to, and it's not her husband. She's tried everything she can think of to put the umph back into her marriage, but when she meets Cool_Hand_Luke in a movie chat room, he validates her thoughts and opinions in ways her husband seems incapable of. With the holidays fast approaching, Amy tries to hold herself together for her family, while simultaneously exploring her new online relationship. Will she meet him in real life? Or will she figure out how to save her own marriage? Find out in this Holiday novella from Serendipity, Texas.

  Gambling on Love

  Wanted: someone to donate sperm the old fashioned way to create my child without emotional attachments. Must pass a health check. Must pass interview. Interested parties please meet at the McDonal Hotel at 11:00 am on March 1. If chosen, will need to pass a STD screen. Chosen applicant will be monetarily compensated upon positive pregnancy test.

  Kathy is thirty-four years old, and her biological clock is tick-tick-ticking away. When she breaks off her long distance relationship with Luke because of his reticence to take the relationship to the next level, she decides to take matters into her own hands.Luke didn’t mean to drive her away. He just made a mistake. He had a plan. And apparently his grand Valentine’s Day proposal wasn’t going to cut it. Luke is desperate to stop Kathy before she makes the biggest mistake of her life, but will he get to Vegas in time?Secondary characters from Chef’s Delight, Kathy and Luke continue their story in this new installment of Serendipity, a novella around 23 thousand words.

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