Cerian Hebert

Good Morning,

I thought I’d do something different today. I’m posting the blurb and an excerpt from my book Where One Road Leads which is currently available in either print or ebook form from Samhain Publishing.

BLURB:

Krista knew that coming home would be the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she never imagined she’d find forgiveness, love and someone who’s out to kill her.

Krista Faye has decided it’s time to put her dark past behind her and face her personal demons in her hometown. Matt Burgess isn’t ready to have her back, especially when he finds out that they’re going to have more to do with each other than he cares for.

There’s someone, though, who wants Krista gone even more than Matt, and the two are forced to work together to find out who so Krista can make her dream come true. Along the way, Matt discovers a woman with passion, confidence and unyielding determination. Krista finds a man who is able to put aside everything he’s believed for fifteen years and look beyond the scars the past left behind into a heart that is at last ready for love.

EXCERPT:

As soon as she took that curve, she realized she was on the same stretch of Route 168 where she’d been in the accident. For a moment, her resolve shuddered, leaving her torn between the desire to run down the bastard and not wanting a repeat of that night long ago.

The other car was too far ahead anyhow. She’d never catch up now. She swore under her breath and eased her foot off the gas, but before she’d gotten back down to the speed limit, a Quail Ridge cruiser pulled up behind her, lights flashing.

“Oh sure, you go after me and let the other guy go,” she shouted in the rearview mirror but pulled over to the side of the road.

Before she had a chance to turn off the Jeep, let alone dig her wallet out of her purse, the driver’s side door flew open.

“Get out!”

There was no misreading the expression on Matt’s face. It was pure anger. His cheeks were red as the damned brake lights of the fleeing car in the distance and his eyes blazed with fury. She hesitated, but knew if she didn’t cooperate, there’d be more trouble.

“Now.”

“Okay, I’m getting out,” she grumbled and stepped down from the Jeep. She brushed past him angrily and turned to face him. “But you might want to tell me why. Most cops don’t force someone from their vehicle over a simple matter of speeding.”

“There’s nothing simple about this and you know it,” Matt ground out through his tight jaw. “What the hell do you think you were doing chasing after him like that? You think you could’ve caught him? And if you did catch him, what were you planning to do with him? Make him admit that he’s the one who is responsible for messing up the center and throwing the brick through your window?”

Krista set her jaw firm and glared at the now empty road ahead of her. Three white crosses glared against the dark woods a little bit up the road. She swallowed hard but didn’t answer.

“You know where you are, don’t you? And you’re driving like you want a repeat of that!”

“Stop it!” She pressed her palm against her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut. God, she wanted a cigarette. That craving hadn’t visited her in well over a week, but it overwhelmed her now. Krista wasn’t in the mood to fight with him.

She had planned on catching up with Ricky and demand he tell her what he wanted. It probably wasn’t the best idea because he’d just come up with some bullshit answer, a smooth lie she wouldn’t believe anyway. And then what, she didn’t know.

“He was following me,” she exclaimed. The frustration that had been building inside her coiled in a ball in her chest. Maybe he’d understand where her desperation stemmed from. “For at least twenty minutes, he was just tagging along behind me. I turned the tables on him about three miles back. Why the hell didn’t you stop him? He was going a lot faster than I was.”

“I was more worried about you,” Matt replied angrily. “Driving like a maniac. You could’ve gotten in an accident here, Krista. Besides you wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with him, you know that, right?”

Krista nodded. Damn, he was right of course. Things had been quiet around here for a while and now she might have just stirred the pot.

“Damn,” she swore bitterly. “Okay, I was wrong, I made a mistake. I’m sick of living on the edge like this. Waiting for something else to happen. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I mean, I expected some people to react badly to me, like you did, but I didn’t think that I’d be attacked. I just wanted to do something good for this town. I never thought I’d be a threat to anyone. If he’d just let me be, there wouldn’t have been a threat.”

He had her in his arms before she even realized that he was going to embrace her. She sucked in her breath and stood stiffly for a moment trying to process the moment. He’d gone from being incredibly mad at her to wanting to comfort her. His body was warm and hard. She could feel his badge pressing into her and his hands smoothing down her back.

“What are you doing?” Krista asked, her voice a whisper. She rested her chin on his shoulder and leaned against him.

“I think I’m holding you,” he replied. His breath tickled her ear.

Krista chuckled. “At the side of the road. A very strange place, Officer Burgess.”

He pulled back, his arms still wrapped around her. Their gazes met and held for a long moment. The smile faded from his lips. She’d wondered off and on since their time on the ridge, and on every single occasion they bumped into each other, what it would be like to kiss him. It seemed like she was about to find out as he dipped his head down and caught her lips with his.

God, she hadn’t been breathing those last few moments before the kiss. Now she inhaled against his mouth, tasting and smelling him. There was a bittersweet fervor in the way his lips moved over hers and she met it and returned it. His hands lingered on the small of her back and pressed her against his body. It was exciting, daring, and sent her heart racing, as it hadn’t done in years.

She pulled away first, though, to get her bearings. No, it couldn’t be this easy. She didn’t want to fall into a relationship with him. Not so soon after he’d given up on his contempt of her. These things would take time.

“Thank you for stopping me,” she told him, detangling herself from his arms.

He let her do so without a fight, but he looked disappointed. “You’re welcome. I want you safe. Just keep away from him, Krista. Don’t encourage him. He’s got enough pull to make your life miserable.”

“I’ll remember that,” Krista assured him, but was caught up in the way his hazel eyes looked at her, steady, probing. He was trying to find out what was going on in her head.

She hoped she wasn’t giving anything away. If she was, her heart wasn’t going to stand a chance against him.