Description:
He’s gotta earn his wings…again.
Love Detail’s favorite angel has his sights set on his next target: the stoic and mysterious Noble Blackfeather. And it just may prove to be his toughest case yet. Noble’s reclusive ways keep his angel at wing’s distance, and love even further. But he’s not playing a part – he’s truly masking a painful secret and a profoundly wounded
heart.
A cupid’s worst nightmare.
Noble’s been paired with Braelyn Campbell, the cute single mother next door. She’s adorable, friendly, fun…everything Noble needs. This should be a Love Squad slam dunk. Except she’s making a fresh start in Texas to protect her son from a volatile ex, and she’s not about to risk her heart or her son on another man. Even if he’s sexy as sin and always coming to her rescue.
Thank God for possibilities.
But, reluctantly, they are drawn together – thanks to their cupid’s dogged efforts and a whole lotta chemistry. Can the girl next door learn to trust again and help heal Noble’s wounded heart? Together, can they save the lost, hurting boy she's raising? Can the angels help it happen before it's too late?
Thank God for love.
EXCERPT:
***
Chapter 1
Crash! Noble
bolted up in bed at the resounding clang of metal hitting
concrete. The ear-splitting rah-bah-bah drone of hardcore death metal
music made his head pound. He glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand. Shit.
He’d only managed to snag a couple hours sleep.
He padded to the window
and cracked the mini-blinds. He reared back when the sun pierced his tired eyes
and let the blinds snap shut with a curse.
He was about to give up
and slide back into bed with a pillow over his head when the hideous grating
noise started again followed by a screeching sound, then the obnoxious wailing
music cranked up infinitely louder. His new neighbor wasn’t usually this noisy.
Cute, yes. Loud, no.
With a tired sigh, he
squinted his eyes to prepare for the sunny onslaught and tipped the blinds open
again to figure out what in the hell all the racket was about. How could one
tiny woman make so much friggin’ noise?! He wouldn’t be so tired if his boss
and best friend, Jed, hadn’t left him babysitting the business while he went
away on his honeymoon. All those extra shifts kept him up too damn late.
He scanned the tidy,
postage-stamp-sized yard next door. She’d already planted some pink flowery
things. That probably explained the sweet scent on the breeze when he came home
at night, but there was no sign of her right now. He had no idea what her name
was or her story. Only that she was little and cute and had a killer ass.
Wait.
A movement caught his eye from inside the open garage. But it wasn’t Sweet
Cheeks, as he’d come to think of her. A lanky figure dressed in a black
hoodie snuck inside and disappeared almost as quickly as Noble caught sight of
him. His heart began to beat double-time as he wrestled with what to do. Call
the cops? Go make sure she was all right?
“Damn it.”
He let the blinds slap
closed again and threw on the same jeans and T-shirt he had discarded just a
couple of hours earlier. Barefooted, he ran down the hallway, ducked out the
front door and raced across the yard.
Quietly, he pressed
himself against the brick exterior wall, which was already warming with the
sun’s rays. His eyes darted around, searching for any sign of his neighbor, but
he didn’t see anything. The music was unbelievably deafening now and his
eardrums rattled with each beat of the bass drum.
How could she not hear
this? Was she already hurt? Had she turned the shit on and this guy was using
it as his cover to get in and . . . His heart rate picked up speed as he
thought of the possibilities.
He peered around the
corner into the garage and caught sight of the guy in the hoodie and black
jeans tinkering with something in the corner of the room near the door to her
house. A protectiveness surged through Noble and he knew he had only moments to
keep this hoodlum from getting inside.
Never taking his eyes
off the back of the guy’s head, he inched his way inside the garage and along
the wall. The pungent mixture of gasoline, degreaser, and fertilizer combined
with the punch of adrenaline that pumped fast and furious through his veins,
forming a potent cocktail. The bass drum now beat so loud it thrummed in his
chest as he got almost close enough to grab the hoodie. Just two more steps.
One more.
Noble grabbed the guy
from behind and pinned him against his chest. He reached over and flipped off
the stereo. His ears rang in the deafening silence. His ragged breathing filled
the grease-scented air. “What do you think you’re doing?” he growled into the
hoodlum’s ear.
The guy squirmed
against him. He was much smaller than Noble had originally thought. “I, um . .
.” His voice cracked.
Noble spun him around
and stared him down. He was just a kid, and he was wide-eyed with fear. He
looked ready to piss his pants.
The door to the house
flew open. “How many times have I told you about that blasted . . .? Tristan?”
Noble and the kid both
looked over. Oh, shit. Sweet Cheeks.
“Mom?” the kid croaked.
About the author:
Shauna grew up an only child with two open and loving parents in Central Texas. She’s married to her high school sweetheart and is the mother to three fantastic (no, that’s not a typo!) teenagers.
When she’s not writing, editing, or acting as a personal assistant to a NYT Bestselling author, Shauna enjoys reading, movies with Gerard Butler, vacays to the beach, and hangin’ with the kiddos–even if they don’t like hangin’ with her!
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