“I’ll take a Diet Coke.”
“Living on the edge.” Dirk winked conspiratorially.
“Honoring my friend’s memory. She loved Diet Coke.”
Dirk chuckled. “She’s fallen in love, not passed away.”
Kit lifted her shoulders. “They might be one in the same.”
“Aw, c’mon, don’t diss on love like that. Maybe you’ll fall off the ledge of love someday yourself.”
“Not me. I’m too fun for one man to keep up with.” She gave a little shimmy dance and Dirk laughed.
Find Her Prince Charming Boss here.
Excerpt - The Pursued Patriot
Shar Heathrow paced behind her restaurant, trying to decide how to play this. Mike Kohler was sitting at one of her tables, and Kelly, that sweet little airhead, had told him that Shar had a crush on him. She’d probably also revealed Shar had posters of him tacked all over the restaurant walls. The posters had been a joke. When her younger sister Kim caught her staring at Mike at Ally’s wedding, and then Shar had refused to go introduce herself, Kim had realized Shar had a wicked crush. She’d started teasing her about him. The teasing escalated, and Kim and her husband, Colt, had come by the restaurant one time and secretly tacked up posters of Mike all over the kitchen. Shar should’ve taken them down, but none of the restaurant help complained about looking at Mike Kohler’s handsome face, and heaven knew she enjoyed it.
Yet she couldn’t just march up to him, stick out her hand, and say, “Shar Heathrow. I idolize you.” It was all sports idolizing anyway, right? She’d fallen in love with football as a teenager. Her parents thought sports were idiotic. They were completely focused on their girls’ talents and brains. But they couldn’t say anything when Shar was elected student body vice president and had to attend every sporting event. Football was her favorite.
She’d gotten her business degree at Auburn before going on to culinary school because she always knew she wanted to start her own restaurant. Mike Kohler was the wide receiver sensation at Auburn, a football icon, winning all kinds of awards and everyone’s heart with his gentle, humble manner and gorgeous face and smile. She’d never missed a home game, even streaming the away games on her computer. Of course, she hadn’t met the superstar of a huge university. He was busy dating the cheerleaders. When he showed up at her sister’s wedding, her confident and fun-loving personality vacated the scene, and she was too scared to even be introduced to him.
Now, he was here! At her very own restaurant. Heaven on her doorstep. She paced the alleyway, thinking up ways she could greet him and make him laugh. Should she say: “Hey handsome, sorry about Kelly. We worry she’ll drown standing up in the shower.” No, that was horrid of her to think, let alone verbalize. Shar loved Kelly. She was just a little perturbed with the sixteen-year-old fairy-tale believer at the moment. How about: “So glad you made it. I’d like to start with an interview before I agree to you being the father of my children.” No, that was tacky too. Dang, she really wanted him … in every which way.
“Dang, girl, why are you so pathetic?” she asked thin air.
Shar was asked on dates all the time. When she wasn’t too busy with her restaurant, she even accepted some of those dates with handsome, kind, and smart men. She had fun dating. She had a great life. She didn’t need to be such a pathetic fangirl. But come on, this was the Mike Kohler.
Shar faced the dumpster and jumped, bouncing from foot to foot, psyching herself up. She pretended to punch the dumpster a few times, and then yelled, “You got this, girlie!” Then her shoulders sagged, she shook her head, and muttered, “No, I absolutely have not got this.” She clenched her fists and rolled her neck. “Come on, come on. Get some confidence, you pathetic loser.”
“Excuse me,” a deep voice said from behind her.
Shar whirled and screamed as she glimpsed a massive shadow behind her. Throwing up her fists, she yelled, “Back off if you don’t want a lungful of mace!”
The man lifted his hands, palms toward her, and backed up, revealing his face as he passed under the dim overhead light.
Shar screamed again, “Oh, my, crap! Mike Kohler! Stop!”
He stopped like a deer in the headlights. He was staring at her. Mike Kohler was staring at her. She’d dreamt of this moment for a long, long time, but he wasn’t staring at her like she was an amazing, accomplished, and gorgeous chef, like she usually heard from other men. He was staring like she was hoolie-hoot-oo, or translated for the layman, bat-crap crazy.
“I’m sorry,” she gushed out. “I’m acting a bit nuts, and I’m not nuts …” She paused as she thought through the past few minutes of facing the dumpster and giving herself a pep talk to meet this dream man. She was barely able to squeak out, “Okay, I probably seem a little nuts. How much did you see?”
His hands were still up as if he could ward her off. His handsome face was much too serious and those delectable lips she’d dreamt about kissing many a time were in a tight, concerned line. “Um, hey, it’s good. Sometimes I … talk to myself too.”
Her heart melted. Though he didn’t put off any vibes of warmth toward her, he was such a nice guy. She knew this, as she’d observed him from afar at college and through the media. He’d come from a great family. His dad was a pastor, and his mama and three younger sisters were as beautiful, kind, and supportive as anyone could hope for. Since achieving success, Mike often took his entire family on humanitarian trips and did so many great things to help the people in his hometown of Birmingham, and now in Atlanta where he lived.
“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I must seem like a whack job, but I promise I’m not. Kelly humiliated me a few minutes ago by trying to set me up with you. I’ve idolized you for years, so you know how that goes. Okay, scratch that, you don’t know how that goes. I mean, who would Mike Kohler possibly idolize? Anyway, things just got all awkward and squirmy inside.” She showed him how she squirmed by pointing to her abdomen. His eyes flitted over her and made her hot and cold all over, but he didn’t say anything.
“So, I came back here to give myself a pep talk, and all that jumping around stuff was just to pump me up to meet you. Then you obviously saw me, being all weird.” She blew out a breath and wished he wasn’t looking so wary of her. “I’m sorry, but I’m sure you get insane chick fans all the time. Old hat for you, right?”
“It happens,” he admitted.
Shar stepped toward him, and he backed up. It hurt that he backed away, probably because he did think she was nuts, but then it struck her as so funny. He was over a foot taller than her and twice her size with all kinds of lovely muscles his t-shirt couldn’t possibly hide. What did he think she was going to do to him? She started laughing. He cocked his head to the side and studied her with his eyebrows slightly lifted. Dang, he was so perfectly handsome. Seeing him up close and personal like this made her blood pressure spike, even though she was messing it all up.
“What?” she asked. “Did you think I was going to come after you?”
“Um …”
“You did!” She started laughing harder, though she wanted to cry. This entire first meeting with her superstar crush was a disaster. Shar wasn’t one to wallow in misery, so she chose to laugh. He already thought she was nuts—she might as well laugh about it. “You’re like monstrous, and I’m a pipsqueak, and you think I’m going to come and take you out or something? Sorry, big guy. I left all my carving knives in the kitchen.”
Keep reading here.
Also by Cami Checketts
Georgia Patriots Romance
The Loyal Patriot
The Gentle Patriot
The Stranded Patriot
The Pursued Patriot
Steele Family Romance
Her Dream Date Boss
The Stranded Patriot
The Committed Warrior
Extreme Devotion
Jepson Brothers Romance
How to Design Love
How to Switch a Groom
How to Lo
se a Fiance
Billionaire Boss Romance
Her Dream Date Boss
Her Prince Charming Boss
Quinn Family Romance
The Devoted Groom
The Conflicted Warrior
The Gentle Patriot
The Tough Warrior
Her Too-Perfect Boss
Her Forbidden Bodyguard
Hawk Brothers Romance
The Determined Groom
The Stealth Warrior
Her Billionaire Boss Fake Fiance
Risking it All
Navy Seal Romance
The Protective Warrior
The Captivating Warrior
The Stealth Warrior
The Tough Warrior
Texas Titan Romance
The Fearless Groom
The Trustworthy Groom
The Beastly Groom
The Irresistible Groom
The Determined Groom
The Devoted Groom
Billionaire Beach Romance
Caribbean Rescue
Cozumel Escape
Cancun Getaway
Trusting the Billionaire
How to Kiss a Billionaire
Onboard for Love
Shadows in the Curtain
Billionaire Bride Pact Romance
The Resilient One
The Feisty One
The Independent One
The Protective One
The Faithful One
The Daring One
Park City Firefighter Romance
Rescued by Love
Reluctant Rescue
Stone Cold Sparks
Snowed-In for Christmas
Echo Ridge Romance
Christmas Makeover
Last of the Gentlemen
My Best Man’s Wedding
Change of Plans
Counterfeit Date
Snow Valley
Full Court Devotion: Christmas in Snow Valley
A Touch of Love: Summer in Snow Valley
Light in Your Eyes: Winter in Snow Valley
Romancing the Singer: Return to Snow Valley
Fighting for Love: Return to Snow Valley
Other Books by Cami
Seeking Mr. Debonair: Jane Austen Pact
Seeking Mr. Dependable: Jane Austen Pact
Saving Sycamore Bay
Oh, Come On, Be Faithful
Protect This
Blog This
Redeem This
The Broken Path
Dead Running
Dying to Run
Fourth of July
Love & Loss
Love & Lies
Cami’s Collections
Steele Family Collection
Hawk Brothers Collection
Quinn Family Collection
Cami’s Military Collection
Billionaire Beach Romance Collection
Billionaire Bride Pact Collection
Billionaire Romance Sampler
Echo Ridge Romance Collection
Texas Titans Romance Collection
Snow Valley Collection
Christmas Romance Collection