Blame It on the Bet by L.E. Rico

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Welcome to Mayhem, Minnesota, where the cats wear sweaters, the local priest dispenses dating advice, and you can find your fortune in the bottom of a pie pan.

When her family’s pub is threatened with foreclosure, Hennessy O’Halloran, along with her three sisters, is determined to raise enough money to keep it out of the hands of the L.A. real-estate developer trying to raze it and replace it with a—god forbid!—multiplex theater.

Bryan Truitt always gets what he wants. And what he wants is the sweet corner property on Mayhem’s Main Street where O’Halloran’s Pub sits. But his “quick business” turns into more than he bargains for when he meets the feisty Hennessy. Next thing he knows, he’s betting her he can outlast Mayhem’s punishing winter in time to make the pub his—or he’ll gift it to her for free.

Hennessy knows better than to flirt with the enemy. But suddenly Bryan’s not sure which he wants more…the property or the woman who owns it.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Standing there, looking bedraggled and exhausted, is Bryan Truitt. He’s holding his iPhone up to the door, and I can just make out the tiny image of Peter Gabriel’s album So on the screen. Bryan doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t knock. He doesn’t ring. He just stands there, phone up, waiting for me to hear him and open the door.

I do.

“In your eyes, I see the doorway to a thousand churches…” Peter Gabriel sings just loud enough so as not to bother my neighbors.

“That’s my favorite line,” he says. “The doorway to a thousand churches line…”

“Yeah, that is a pretty amazing image,” I agree, playing along as he pretends this is a perfectly natural situation.

“I get it.”

“What?” I ask, neither of us budging.

“I get what he’s saying. Because I see that when I look into your eyes.”

I stare at him, my breath suddenly caught in my throat.

“You…you do?” I ask, sounding tentative.

He nods.

“I do. And that’s why I’m here.”

“It is?”

Jeez, could I be any lamer?

He nods again.

“Can I come in?”

I step back and hold the door open so he can pass me.

I realize I’m dressed in only a terrycloth robe with my hair swept up in a towel turban. No clothes. No makeup. Not even a pair of slippers.

“Uh… Let me go put something on—”

“No,” he says sharply. The surprise must register on my face because he’s quick to jump in again. “I don’t want to let you out of my sight. Not for a second. I can’t.”

“Bryan…”

He sets his phone down on the breakfast bar and wraps his big, strong hands around my forearms.

“No, Hennessy. I let you go once, and I won’t do it again. Not ever.”

About the Author:

L.E. Rico didn’t set out to be an author. In fact she’s made a name for herself as a classical music radio host—doing her best to make the music and the composers relevant by putting them into a modern context. It was just a few years ago that she discovered a passion for writing that blossomed into an entire novel. And then another. And another. And, while she still spends plenty of time on the radio, telling the stories of the great composers, she spends even more time composing her own great stories.

http://www.LaurenRico.com
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