Sunday Smooch!

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from The Cattleman, The Baby and Me by Michelle Douglas, but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is --
Ju Dimello!


Congratulations, Ju! Can you please contact Nikki Logan at

Nikki (at) highway1 (dot) com (dot) au and she'll send you a copy of A Kiss to Seal the Deal.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from The Cattleman, the Baby, and Me by Michelle Doulgas ...





Dear Diary I came to the Outback to fulfil my sister’s wishes and find my little nephew’s father. But poor Harry no longer has a daddy, and I’m staying with his uncle. Liam’s an Outback cattleman through and through, and doesn’t seem happy about us landing on his doorstep. But, oh, my, he’s indescribably gorgeous! I’ve seen his tough edges soften when he’s seen adorable Harry smile…maybe I can make his heart melt too? Sapphie x






[Set up: Sapphie and Liam have fallen into the habit of sharing caramel milkshakes in the afternoon when Harry goes down for a nap. They have spent much of the day together, including an invigorating horse ride. Both have been doing their best to ignore the attraction building between them. For the last six years, Sapphie has buried her sexuality, but it's refusing to remain buried any longer.]


Sapphie paused in her bedroom doorway, straightened her shirt and mentally girded her loins. 'Caramel milkshakes,' she murmured. 'Easy-peasy.'

She'd keep it light and fun. No heat.

She blew out a breath. No sweat.

She strode along the corridor—chin up, shoulders back. She closed her eyes and dragged in a breath. She opened them and—

Oh! She skidded to a halt, coming within millimetres of slamming smack-bang into Liam's near-naked body as he emerged from the bathroom. And she had no hope of fighting back the heat that spiralled through her. No hope at all.

He wore a towel—nothing else. It covered the essentials, but only just, because it rode so low on his hips that, with an oath, he had to grab at it and haul it up.

Fresh from the shower, his hair gleamed darker, curling at his neck and behind his ears. She watched a stray droplet of water trickle down the strong column of his throat to his
collarbone and her mouth went dry.

Dark hair curled across his chest and her fingers itched to reach out and touch. That sculpted chest, the muscles in those shoulders and arms, were the result of hard physical labour. That deep golden tan told her that some mornings Liam did that hard physical labour minus his shirt.

Her limbs went languid. Her eyes followed the spattering of hair trailing down his stomach to disappear beneath the line of the towel—a flat stomach, lean hips…powerful thighs. She couldn't have summoned up a more outstanding example of masculine perfection if she'd tried. She had to grip her hands in front of her to stop from reaching out and touching. She knew what he'd feel like—firm and silken. And hot.

'Sapphie?'

'Hmm…?' She couldn't drag her gaze away.

'Sapphie!'

The sharp tone made her blink, forced her to drag her gaze up to his face. That wasn't any hardship. His face was as beautiful as the rest of him. Lean and hard, but beautiful.

He swept his hand over his hair. 'If you don't stop looking at me like that—'

She stared at his fingers, imagined them trailing a path over her body—discovering, teasing…pleasing. Her breath caught. It would be magic to—

'Sapphie!'

She forced herself to focus on his face again. She stared at him dumbly.

Yikes! What she was doing! She stepped back so fast she whacked the back of her head on the wall behind. She didn't even wince. She turned and fled to the kitchen.

Oh! She pressed her hands to her cheeks. She pulled them away to wring them. She turned in a circle. Caramel milkshakes—that was what she should be doing, making. She stared about the kitchen, but she couldn't seem to fix her eyes on a single item. She gave up and sped out through the living room's French doors to collapse on the bench outside. She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead on them, concentrated on slowing her breathing.

You want to talk about that?'

Sapphie practically jumped out of her skin. Her feet hit the boards with a thud as she spun on the bench.

Liam stood in the doorway.

The Cattleman, The Baby and Me is nominated for a R*BY, Australia's Romantic Book of the Year. It's one of the most exciting things ever to happen to me in my writing career! To be in the draw to win a copy, tell me have you ever won or been nominated for an award? Or if not an award, have you ever won a raffle, a lucky door prize or the lottery (now wouldn't that be nice)?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from The Army Ranger's Return by Soraya Lane will be posted!