BRAVE, Episode Three - the Color of Danger by Melissa Shaw Page B

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A SNEAK PEEK AT PUPPY LOVE

    Here is a sneak peek at the first chapter of the Melissa Shaw's short story Puppy Love.

    Melanie Keller is engaged to a millionaire and happy as can be, until she meets the man of her dreams.  
    Liam, a local farmer with a wicked smile and muscles for days, helps her pick out the perfect Labrador puppy to take back to the penthouse she shares with her jealous fiancée, George. The only problem is, Sunshine, the puppy has a strange attachment to one of the horses on the farm and will do just about anything to get back to it. Even if it means running away from its new home.  
    When Sunshine turns up on Liam’s farm, Melanie has no choice but to return, even though George has forbidden it. What follows is a tempest of emotion as Liam and Melanie fight their feelings for each other, and George fights to keep her in his grasp.  

    * * * *

    PUPPY LOVE

    CHAPTER ONE

    “Come on, make a decision already. I’ve got a meeting in two hours, baby.” George fiddled on his phone.
    Puppies yapped and licked Mel’s ankles and she stifled a giggle. The barn floor was strewn with hay and the yellow Labs frolicked unashamedly in it. They were gorgeous, and they bounced around as if they’d been set on vibrate.
    “I have to pick the right one. There’s a trick to it, ya know. You have to really connect with ‘em.” Whenever she was in the country she switched back to loose talk. It was in her roots.
    She dropped to her knees and glanced up at George, but he hadn’t heard a word. Typical, he was always lost in some business deal or the other. He snapped his phone to his ear and snarled, “Yeah, what do you mean it’s not happening today? I specifically gave Harold the documents this morning so he could get it done.” He marched out of the barn, and the shouts faded.
    “Which one of you is the one?” Mel poked each puppy on the nose, with a grin.
    “I know.” A man spoke up beside her right shoulder, and she jumped a little.
    A strong, tanned hand reached past her and grasped one of the little lickers, and hoisted it up and out of sight.
    Mel turned and shuffled upwards. She drew in a sharp breath.
    This man was beautiful. Tan skin, short blonde hair, two-day stubble around his full lips. The Labrador wriggled in his muscular arms, scrabbling upwards to lick at his face, and he let out a throaty laugh.  
    “Easy.” He ruffled its ears and lifted his blue-eyed gaze to Mel. “This one’s all yours.”  
    She breathed in the tang of horse manure and fresh cut hay. “How do you know?” she whispered.  
    He stepped forward, and warmth spread through her chest and into her soul.  
    “You don’t,” he answered quietly, intimately even, “but I do.”  
    What the hell did that mean?
    He deposited the puppy into her arms with a knowing grin, and colour spread from her cheeks down to her neck.  
    “I’m Liam.”  
    Yeah, he was Liam, all right.  
    Liam. The name bounced around in her mind like… well, like a Labrador puppy. He reminded her of her first love. Of balmy summer nights on the porch, drinking lemonade with her father and chatting about the cows, the feed, the horses. He reminded her of home.  
    He reached out that gloriously tanned hand, covered in callouses of course, and she grasped it without a word. “And you are?”  
    Oh. Shit. Her name.  
    “I’m,” she started – what was her name again? She licked her lips. “I’m Mel.” There we go. Narrowly missed that small embarrassment.  
    She could just imagine what Caroline, her best friend, would say about that. Girl meets handsome farmer, girl forgets own name, girl dies of humiliation. Get real, baby shoes.  
    “It’s great to meet you, Mel. You from around here?” Honey. His