Naked Desire

By Desiree Holt

Cynthia Dellinger doesn’t have much after a divorce that almost broke her, but she does have her grandfather’s secret barbecue-spice-rub recipe, and she is going to make the most of it. New in Saddle Wells, she’s determined to start over with the help of her new friends—starting with a new business. But she’s totally unprepared for her reaction to the artisan carpenter they recommend she hire.

Jesse Orosco is more than happy to renovate Cyn’s storefront, but what he’d really love to do is tackle that self-doubt he sees lurking in her eyes. The red-head calls to Jess on every level, but first he has to convince her to give them a chance despite their age difference, jealous exes, and what the townsfolk may say.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Nov 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640630734

Desiree Holt

A multi-published, award winning, Amazon and USA Today best-selling author, Desiree Holt has produced more than 200 titles and won many awards. She has received an EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many others including Author After Dark’s Author of the Year. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily Mail. She lives in Florida with her cats who insist they help her write her books, and is addicted to football.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

About the Author

Discover more Select Contemporary titles…

The Charmer

Nailed It

Code of Honor

Opening Act

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Desiree Holt. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

2614 South Timberline Road

Suite 105, PMB 159

Fort Collins, CO 80525

Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.

Select Contemporary is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Heidi Shoham

Cover design by Fiona Jayde

Cover art from iStock

ISBN 978-1-64063-073-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition November 2014

Rerelease November 2017

It takes a lot of people to create a series and put a book together that works. First and always to Margie Hager, the world’s best beta reader. Where would I be without your insight and feedback. To my daughter, Amy, whose funny little story gave birth to the Naked Cowboys. You just never know where incidents in life will take you. To all my kids, my adult children who are the best promo people in the world. To my readers, without you where would I be? And finally, to all the cowboys who live around me. You are my inspiration, naked or not.

Chapter One

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Cynthia Cyn Dellinger kept repeating the sentence like a mantra, one she desperately needed. Standing in the middle of the empty retail space, one that appeared would take more work than she wanted to think about at the moment, she tried to slow the rising tide of uncertainty. But the place was perfect. How could she not snap it up?

I think this will work absolutely fine, don’t you? Nida Beloit, the real estate agent, gave her a bright smile and waved her arm, gesturing at the emptiness.

Fine. Cyn swallowed. Yes, I think it will do. Absolutely.

It will. If I can figure out how to get myself unstuck here. I must be crazy. Whatever made me think I could do this, anyway?

She had been in Saddle Wells two weeks, embarking on a new phase in her life with a great deal of anxiety. Until this moment, nothing had seemed quite real. But she would shortly sign her name to a piece of paper and her new life would officially begin.

When you explained what you were looking for, Nida went on, I thought of this spot immediately. You can do all kinds of things with it.

Again, Cyn thought how lucky for her that Alfredo Hyland, the small manufacturer who would produce her barbecue rub and hopefully her sauce too was located right outside this small Texas town of Saddle Wells. Alone for hours in her Memphis motel room, she had done intensive research looking for a small company to handle her product. How lucky for her that the company she’d settled on was located in a place so welcoming. Where she’d found the first real friends she could recall having in ages. Friends even now waiting for a report on this meeting.

Handing over the recipe to Alfredo and signing the contract with him had been her first really scary moment since leaving Memphis behind. This would be her second.

I can do it. I know I can do it.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Cyn visualized the sign she wanted over the door—Cyn’s Cyn-Sational Barbecue Rub and Sauce. It was amazing how that took the edge off her panic.

I’m so excited about your project. Nida was gushing now. I can’t wait to tell all my friends. You should have this place fixed up and ready for business in no time.

No time.

Right. Assuming she could find a carpenter who wouldn’t cost her every bit of her financial reserves. And unexpected problems didn’t crop up. And she didn’t suddenly wilt and lose the backbone she’d forced herself to find sitting in that damn Memphis motel room.

What am I doing? Am I out of my mind?

Cyn? Nida’s Texas drawl pierced her mental fog.

Oh. Sorry. Cyn gave herself a mental shake. Yes, I think this place is exactly what I’m looking for. And the rent you quoted is within my budget.

I hope.

I promise you, when word of your product gets out, you’ll be taking money in by the fistful.

Cyn gave her an unsteady laugh. From your lips.

So shall we go over to my office and get the paperwork signed, give you the keys and you can get started?

I’m doing it. I can really do this. All I have to do is keep telling myself.

Yes. I’m ready.

She nearly faltered in her determination walking the two blocks to the realty office. In the dark of the night, when she’d lain sleepless in that Memphis motel, and then on the long drive from Memphis to Saddle Wells, Texas, and all morning as Nida showed her available places, she’d kept hearing the nasty voice of Frank, her ex-husband, in her head.

Take your damn recipe. What do you think you can do with it anyway? You’re nothing without me and you never will be. Nothing but a dumb broad who happened to have something I needed.

That had hurt perhaps more than anything else. More than the neglect. More than the women she learned about. More than his growingly dismissive attitude. Yes, discovering that he had only married her to get his hands on her great-grandfather’s barbecue-rub recipe had made the past fifteen years a huge waste of her life. At first, she’d been proud that the rub had put the restaurant on the map and been responsible for the success of the continued growth and expansion. But to learn that even the best years of their marriage had been nothing more than a sham had almost destroyed her self-esteem.

Almost. But not quite.

She’d walked away from the big house, the fancy cars and clothes, the lavish lifestyle with nothing but a tiny settlement and the recipe in her hot little hands. And a determination to make a success of herself and tell good old Frank Dellinger to stick it up his ass.

So here she was, hoofing it down a typical Texas main street, parking spaces filled with as many pickups as SUVs and other vehicles. Limestone and wood seemed to be the building materials of choice, the design and combination giving the heart of the town its charm. Old-fashioned light posts dotted the streets, sporting signs that said Historic Saddle Wells. Benches were placed in front of strategic locations such as Sundaes and Coffee Café and Bit and Bite where people could pause to enjoy their treats and chat with each other. Huge terra-cotta pots sported profusions of colorful flowers, blooms cascading over the sides. People she didn’t even know nodded and smiled at her as if she’d lived there forever.

What’s not to love about this place?

It was as far from her previous life as she could get, which was a big plus as far as she was concerned. In the short time since she arrived, she had completely fallen in love with the place.

The realty office had as much character as every other place. The door was heavy carved wood, the walls inside were hung with Frederick Russell prints and pens and pencils poked out of a leather cup holder on Nida’s desk.

I can’t wait for you to get going on this, the woman gushed as they finished the last of the paperwork. Barbecue rub in Texas? And sauce? Mmm-mmm. A recipe for success.

I hope so. Cyn took her copies of the contract and the ring of keys Nida handed to her. Apprehension and anticipation bubbled inside her in equal amounts. Now all I need to do is get the place whipped into shape, advertise and get some customers. The shaky laugh popped out of her mouth again. Easy peasy, right?

This town will give you all the help you need. We like new businesses.

Even from outsiders? Cyn asked.

You’re only an outsider until you move here. Nida winked.

I hope you’re right. Cyn picked up her purse and stood. Listen, thank you very much. You’ve been great and you found me the absolutely perfect place.

Keep me in the loop. I can pass the word when you’re ready to open. Nida closed her desk drawer. You got anyone in mind to do the renovations?

No. Cyn sighed. But Georgie Hannigan said she might have some names for me. You know I’m staying at the B&B she and her husband own.

Yes. Nida grinned. I’ll tell you, Cade Hannigan’s story is one to talk about. If people had told me that when he lost everything he’d figure out how to be a human being and end up with a winner like Georgie, I’d have called them a liar to their face. So you see? She grinned. Good things do happen.

I’ll keep that in mind. Well, I’d better get going. I’m meeting some new friends for lunch at the Bit and Bite.

Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything, Nida called as Cyn headed out the door.

Thanks. For everything.

I need someone to tell me I’m not crazy.

…

"I need someone to tell