Tour Stop, Excerpt & Giveaway: A Heart So Wild by Raine Thomas

What should have been a fifteen-minute drive took Roxy ten. Callan felt like he needed those extra five minutes to find the strength to stand since he was sure his knees were going to give out on him, but he climbed out of her car at the first listing since Roxy got out and stared at him until he did.

“I really had hoped I’d go back in time if I ever went that fast,” he mused as they walked up to the brick townhome bearing a lockbox on the front door.

She gave him the side-eye as she entered a code into the lockbox. “You drive an Audi and you’ve never opened her up?”

“Well, no.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” He sought the right words and went with, “I’m normal.”

“Sounds rather boring to me.”

“Maybe, but if my agent heard I was in a car with someone who drives like you, he’d drop dead of a heart attack.”

Her lips twitched with humor. “Well, we’re here now. Let’s focus on the listing.”

“Okay.”

She motioned towards the door handle. “While it’s a little unconventional, I believe the potential homeowner should be the one to open the front door and go inside first. That first feeling you get when you step into a new place is one of the most important things to consider when homebuying.”

He nodded and opened the door. He paid attention to his first impression as he stepped inside and paused in the foyer. Then he got distracted when Roxy followed him in and brushed against him, making him itch to touch her.

“First thoughts?” she asked.

He stuck his hands in his pockets so he didn’t give into his urge. “It’s very white.”

The two-story foyer was open and airy. To the right was a grand dining room with a crystal chandelier. To the left was what appeared to be a formal living room. Ahead was a hall leading towards what he thought was the kitchen and family room.

Every single wall was white.

“Paint is an inexpensive update,” she said. “But it tells me something that you noticed the white walls first rather than the layout or these beautiful hardwood floors. Let’s go ahead and do a walk-through anyway. It will help us narrow down what you like and don’t like in a property.”

“Works for me.”

They completed their tour of the townhouse, where he decided he liked the hardwood floors, the custom built-ins in the study and family room, the crown molding throughout the home, and the fact that it backed up to the Chattahoochee National Forest. He didn’t like the lack of character, the layout, or the outdated bathrooms.

They went through the remaining listings just like that. Much as Roxy suspected, none of them were quite what he wanted.

Strangely, although he hadn’t been planning on buying a new home until a few days ago, he found himself getting into the spirit of it. Roxy made it interesting, her death-defying driving aside. He found himself asking for her opinion more than once and taking it into account, something he wouldn’t typically do with someone he didn’t know all that well. He tried telling himself that it was because she was his real estate agent, but deep inside, he knew that wasn’t true.

Somehow, some way, this woman he had met all of seven weeks ago had come to matter to him.

A lot.

When they returned to his condo’s parking garage, she stopped her car in front of the door leading into the complex rather than parking.

“I don’t suppose you’d be interested in coming up for a drink?” he asked.

“As much as I’d like that, I can’t.”

“Ah. Busy night ahead?”

“Not really. The thing is, if I go up to your condo, we’re going to have sex. I can’t get distracted by sex right now no matter how much I might want that.”

His disappointment eased into pleasure. Apparently, he hadn’t made as bad a first impression with her as he’d feared.

Good to know.

“Guess I can’t argue with that,” he said. “How about a goodbye kiss?”

She shook her head and waved him out of the car. “Stop trying to get me to break my no-sex pact.”

He paused with his hand on the door’s handle. “What’s that now?”

“Tell you what,” she said, leaning over him, pulling the handle, and shoving the door open. “You never ask about that again and I’ll call you for some phone sex at some point this week.”

“Bye.”