Excerpt of All About Charming Alice by J. Arlene Culiner

Suddenly Jace rose to his feet and, in that languid way of
his, crossed to the doorway where she stood. Alice was a
tallish woman but, still, he towered over her.Casually,
stretching out one arm, he rested his hand on the
doorframe, just a hair’s breadth above her head. He was
close, so close. His body was supple, strong and—yes, she
had to admit it—warm, fragrant. The heat of him reached her
over the few inches separating them and she ached to curve
into it. Aura? This man was a flesh-and-blood heat wave.

The strange, tingling excitation was flowing through her
again like thick port wine. She lowered her eyes, refusing
to meet his gaze, although she knew hewas, once again,
examining her minutely.

“And I want to take the room.”

“Look, you don’t need my room,” she said, desperation
evident in her tone. “There’s a perfectly reasonable motel
the other side of the Winterback Mine, out in the direction
of Logan. Actually, it’s far better equipped to take in
tourists than anything you’d find here in Blake’s Folly.”

“I know. Rider Motel. Air conditioning, closed circuit
television. Right across from the Dew Drop Inn.” His smile
was wry. “That’s exactly where I’ve been staying for the
last three nights. And over and over again during those
three nights I remembered Blake’s Folly and the ‘room to
let’ sign on your wall. And the more I thought about it,
the more appealing it got. There’s nothing worse than an
impersonal motel room when you have to stay in an area for
a while.” He paused, let his eyes wander over the faded
wooden framing, over the settee on the veranda. “Right
here, it feels more like home.”

That wasn’t it, she knew. That wasn’t even part of the
truth. He was back because something hot and wonderful
shimmered between them. Did she fascinate him as much as he
did her? Possibly. Although she hadn’t done anything to
encourage him, not even once. It would have been hard to
find anyone less friendly than she’d been.

Still, there was something about him that touched her,
something that had nothing to do with raw desire. Was it
the warmth in his eyes? A quirk to his lips thatpromised
humor and understanding? Or was it just plain magic, the
magic that happens when the right female meets the right
male? Whatever it was, she’d been unsuccessful in putting
him out of her head for days.

She knew she was softening.

He must have sensed that too, and he pushed his point
further. “Everyone, or almost everyone, needs the feeling
there’s home somewhere. I’m sure you understand that.”

She nodded slowly, reluctance fighting with sympathy. “What
are you doing in the area?”

And immediately felt the flush crossing her cheeks. She
didn’t want to be interested in him. She wanted to blot him
out. She’d opened her mouth, intending to refuse him, but
the question had popped out instead. And that had opened
the door to conversation. He’d realized it too, and she
could almost feel his body relax with relief.

“I’m working on a book on the Old West, so I’ll be poking
around the area for a while.”

Alice couldn’t help smiling. “Blake’s Folly's a great place
for history. Lucy Warner’s pig gave birth to fifteen
piglets once. That was back in thirty-two, I think.”

His eyes met hers evenly. “Nineteen thirty-three. The fifth
of August. A hot month for hard work like that.” He gave a
short laugh. “Nothing important gets past us serious
researchers.”

Suddenly there was a loud thump followed by a wild scraping
of claws. Seconds later, a huge black dog thrust itself
past Alice and threw itself against Jace, almost knocking
him backward.

“Killer! Down!”

Killer wriggled like an eel, danced a doggie jig on the
veranda floor and still managed to stare up at Jace with
supplication. He was ecstatic.

Jace bent down and gingerly patted Killer’s head, then
looked back up at Alice with slight embarrassment.

“Normally I never pat dogs. I never understood why anyone
would want to.” He observed Killer again. “There’s pure
adoration in his eyes. It gets to me, somehow.”

Killer nestled in closer, wagging his long, seedy-looking
tail wildly, and Jace patted him again, this time with more
tenderness.

Alice felt herself relenting. She loved animals—any animal:
dogs, cats, rabbits. And snakes.

And this man was touching her too much. Far too much. She
had to bring her defenses back into play. “That isn’t the
way a dog normally reacts when he meets a total stranger.”

Jace met her semblance of hostility with his limpid green
gaze. “I’m not a total stranger. I fed him my packed lunch
the other day, remember?” He looked down at Killer, grinned
ruefully. “I still didn’t know why I stopped for him.
Anyway, we’ve been through all this already. And, as I
said, I’m here about the room.”