Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Date of publication: September 25, 2018
Love runs wild at the Sagebrush Flats Zoo,
where a motley crew of big-hearted animals
helps the most unlikely couples find love.
When Katie Underwood discovers a litter of newborn cougar cubs, the last person she expects to come to the rescue is her former crush—and high school nemesis—Bowie Wilson. The worst part? He doesn’t seem to remember the trouble he caused her.
As a single father and owner of a cash-strapped zoo, Bowie struggles to balance budgets while raising his preteen daughter and a host of rascally animals. He considers himself lucky when Katie agrees to lend her talents to a publicity campaign in support of the zoo’s animal rescue programs—until he learns just what she’s planning…
This time, Katie is determined to resist Bowie’s charm. But a lovelorn camel, a matchmaking honey badger, and a nursemaid capybara have different plans. Can they and the rest of the zoo’s menagerie help Bowie break through the barriers surrounding Katie’s heart?
Love can’t be tamed…
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Enjoy this excerpt:
She knew one thing for certain, though. After publicly
humiliating her and effectively ending any chance of her dating anyone else in
high school, Bowie Wilson had simply and utterly forgotten her.
“Uh, ma’am? Where exactly are we headed?”
Ma’am? Really? Although she supposed it was better
than Katie Underwear.
“Up.”
“I see that, but where did the mother cougar leave her
cubs?” The patience in Bowie’s tone irritated Katie even more. How dare he act
like he was the rational one?
She whipped around to glare at him. Even in the harsh light
of the LED lantern, Bowie was a handsome man.
“We’re headed to a cave,” she bit out.
Twelve years ago, Bowie could have doubled for a teenage
heartthrob with the shock of jet-black hair that had always dangled over his
piercing gray eyes. Now, with that hair neatly trimmed and a five-o’clock
stubble dusting his jaw, he looked like a model posing for an outdoor magazine.
As an immature youth, he’d possessed a bad boy prettiness that appealed to
girls—even self-proclaimed geeks like her. The years had toughened his
features, hardening his male beauty into something more alluring and dangerous,
even to a woman who should have known better.
Much better. Darn the man if he still didn’t have the
capacity to make Katie’s hormones dance a happy little jig.
She steamed. If time hadn’t mattered, she might have taken
them on a more difficult path. Even then, she doubted that it would have fazed
Bowie. Despite never climbing on this particular rock face before, the man
moved like a machine. She could just imagine his muscular forearm extending as
he reached for the next hold. His bicep would flex as he hoisted his body…
Katie cursed at herself. Sometimes she found her vivid
imagination more of a burden than a gift. It had certainly brought her more
difficulties than successes.
Thankfully, they quickly arrived at the small cave. Katie
started inside, but a warm hand rested on her shoulder. Even through the fabric
of her T-shirt, she could feel Bowie’s heat and the strength of his fingers. An
unbidden shiver slid through her.
“Let me go first.” Bowie’s breath caressed the sensitive
skin on the back of Katie’s neck, and she had to fight to suppress another
shudder. “The mother cougar may have returned.”
Bowie dropped to his knees and used the light from his
headlamp to scan the cave before crawling inside. With his larger frame, it
took him a few seconds to wiggle through the narrow passage. As soon as Bowie
moved far enough into the alcove for Katie to enter, she crawled over to the cubs.
They moved clumsily about, searching for milk and their mother’s warmth. One
yawned. Its tiny whiskers flexed as it emitted a long squeak. The others
followed suit. Katie’s heart squeezed. She resisted the urge to gather the
little fluffs against her chest. She still didn’t know the protocol on handling
kits this small, and she didn’t want to harm one inadvertently.
“Their eyes aren’t even open yet!” she said.
Bowie nodded. “Nor are their ears at this stage. They must
be less than ten days old.” The awe in his voice caused Katie to turn sharply
in his direction. He appeared just as infatuated with the cubs as she was. Was
this the same man who’d once tied granny panties to the undercarriage of her
car along with the sign HONK IF YOU SEE MY UNDERWEAR?
Bowie reached for one of the mewling cubs and cradled it
against his muscular chest. The little guy burrowed against him, and Katie’s
hormones went crazy again. Just when she thought the scene couldn’t get any
sweeter, the kit yawned, showing its miniature pink tongue. Then with one more
nuzzle against Bowie’s pecs, it heaved a surprisingly large sigh as it fell
asleep. Bowie’s handsome features softened into a gentle smile as he stroked
the baby cougar’s spotted fur with one callused finger.
If Katie hadn’t suffered years of Bowie’s cruel teasing, she
would have found herself halfway in love with him. He’d appeared to be the
ideal boyfriend once before, but it had all been a veneer, the perfect trap for
a geeky girl with silly dreams of romance. And Katie, the woman, would not fall
prey to his outward charms again.
“Can I pick up one of the cougars too?” The cuteness of the
cub would serve as a nice distraction from her unwanted feelings.
Bowie nodded. “They’ll need to be hand-reared, so they’re
going to end up imprinting on humans anyway. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to
reintroduce them to the wild, but we can save them.”
Katie lifted one of the furry bundles, marveling at the
softness of its fur. The little guy emitted a small, contented sound and
immediately snuggled against Katie’s warmth. She could feel a cold, teeny nose
against her skin as the cub rested its head in the crook of her arm. And right
then and there, Katie fell in love. With the tiny kit. Definitely not with the
man.
Although she hated putting the baby puma down, she knew the
little trio needed more than just a warm cuddle. “Did you bring something to
carry the cubs back down the mountain with?”
Bowie grimaced and shook his head. “I didn’t know the climb
would be so steep.”
And, Katie realized, she hadn’t given him time to grab
something from his truck either. To her surprise, Bowie was too polite to
point that out.
“Do you want me to run back to the house to get a backpack?”
she asked.
Bowie shook his head. “We’ll have to improvise. I’m not sure
how long the cubs have been without milk, and we need to get them out of this
cave as soon as possible.”
Katie scanned the dirt floor of the alcove and saw
nothing—not even a twig. She turned back to ask Bowie what he planned on using
and stopped. He was halfway out of his shirt. Normally, Katie wouldn’t
blatantly ogle a man, but…those abs. And pecs. His biceps flexed as he ripped
his shirt down the middle so it made one thick band. Bowie Wilson might be just
as bad for Katie as an entire carton of rocky road ice cream, but he looked
just as temptingly scrumptious.
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