Love Repaired By Deana Birch
Publication date: July 30, 2019
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Summary:
Attorney Amee sets aside her own needs to juggle the broken pieces of her life and family until mechanic Ben repairs her heart.
Divorce attorney Amee Benton—who has an ex of her own—is pretty sure she’s a #MomFail. Showing up late on a Friday night to retrieve her car from the shop and finding the pink frosted cupcakes she forgot to leave at her daughter’s ballet camp confirms it.
When mechanic, Ben Mathis, confesses to stealing one of the confections and asks who is taking care of Amee, she knows he’s a unicorn—a magical, beautiful beast who surely only exists in fantasies. And she tells him just that. With an f bomb for good measure.
Amee has three things Ben finds irresistible in a woman—brains, a family, and a serious potty mouth. At a chance run-in at Ben’s own personal hell, AKA the mall, he summons the courage to ask her out. Though Amee is leery of dating a younger man, and Ben is more than aware of their social gap, the two take a chance.
But Amee’s life isn’t like his. And when her ex returns and the doubting divorcée blunders, all of Ben’s insecurities are piqued anew. Now, Amee must prove to Ben his worth is much more than stand-in dad and rebound boyfriend or she’ll watch magic gallop off into the forest forever.
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EXCERPT:
Amee:Duggan’s was a not-too-hip, not-too-chic coffee shop downtown. It had its own parking lot and outdoor seating with canvas umbrellas for overly sunny days.
Ben—I didn’t know his last name—was sitting at a table for two toward the edge of the terrace. His long-sleeved army green Henley was pushed up to the elbows and his casual sprawled posture opposed the nerves brewing in my belly. He stood when he saw me, those damn dimples pressing into his cheeks with his smile.
Time to face the unicorn.
He side-stepped around the table and pulled out the wicker chair for me. The earthy scent from Friday night returned, this time without the motor oil.
“Hey.”
The grittiness of his voice made me swallow hard, and I sat in the chair. He reached up to adjust the angle of the umbrella to protect us from the sun. What promised to be the perfectly formed V of his lower abdomen peeked out from between a black elastic waistband under his jeans and the green shirt.
Unicorn cupcake eating man candy. Shit. I was in over my head. He was way out of my league. My workouts consisted of me taking the stairs and vacuuming with headphones on. I hadn’t even been on a date since Pete and I had divorced. I shouldn’t have been allowed to play ball.
New plan—Excuse my behavior from Friday night, tell him I was not ready for any kind of relationship, go home and take a long, long shower thinking about his stomach.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said as he took his seat.
“I assumed you would be.” He scooted in, and before he could say anything else, the waiter came over. I ordered a fluffy complicated sugary mess of caffeine and Ben asked for just a water.
“You don’t drink coffee?”
“Nope.” He crossed his arms. “So, let’s hear it, Amee Benton.”
“Hear what?” There was no way in hell I would tell him why I’d called him a unicorn. A fucking unicorn.
“Your list.” His blue gaze challenged me from the opposite side of the table, then he blinked.
“What list? I don’t have a list.”
“Yes, you do. You have a list of why you’re not going to give me your phone number and agree to see me again.”
I sank a little into my chair before puffing out my chest, mulling over my next move.
“Maybe you should tell me your list.” Every muscle on my cheeks wanted to smile but years of questioning witnesses had polished my game face. I shaped parallel lines with my forearms on the black wire tabletop.
“Which one do you want me to tell you about?” he asked with a casual grin.
Stupid dimples. His dimples were dumb. Dumb like puppies.
“How many are there?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Many. Many. So many lists…” Leaning in, he licked his lips. He lightly traced a semi-circle on the top of my hand. “Grocery lists, home repairs, back to school…”
The breath from the base of my lungs rose up my chest and escaped slowly through the ‘O’ I’d formed with my mouth. I hadn’t been touched like that in ages and mundane tasks had never sounded better. Christ. I was practically panting.
His recoil startled me and he cleared his throat. The waiter set down our drinks, breaking the beautiful tension.
Creamy froth parted as I blew into the mug before taking a cautious sip. Without the haze of his touch, I regrouped. I placed my coffee on the table and he drank from his water bottle.
“Why?” I asked.
“Why what?” He screwed the cap on and set the bottle on the table.
I’d studied body language. I knew liars and I knew nervousness. His open legs and arms were neither. He was confident, honest. Real.
Author Bio:
Contemporary romance and erotica writer Deana Birch was named after her father's first love, who just so happened not to be her mother.
Born and raised in the Midwest, she made stops in Los Angeles and New York before settling in Europe where she lives with her own blue-eyed Happily Ever After.
Her days are spent teaching yoga, playing tennis, ruining her children's French homework, cleaning up dog vomit, writing her next book, or reading someone else's.
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