Jace - The Double Deuce Ranch is in trouble. The taxes have tripled over the years, and the repair bills and cost of supplies are more than the Douglas men can scrape together to save the ranch. Short of a miracle they are on the street. Maxon - Emma McBride loves working in the law firm, and hopes someday to hang out a sign that has her on name on it. But for now, she has some proving to do. By the time she is caught up for the day, it’s nearly ten o’clock. If this doesn’t help her make partner, she has no idea what will. Emma is going to her car when she hears someone coming down the lane she was in. Instead of getting in, being trapped in her car, she pulls out her gun…. Gerard - Gerard Douglas knew his brother had a new panther on the ranch, but wasn’t in any hurry to meet her. Heck, he barely had time to sleep as it was he was so busy. But when he caught sight of her at the river it was all he could do to keep his distance. She wanted him too, he could tell, but he’d never seen anyone so skittish. Darin - Darin Douglas is struggling to make ends meet as he opens his new bed and breakfast, The Douglas House. He has his first booking coming in in a few days and wants everything perfect, so he brings the family in to sample the first menu and to show off his new place. His brothers bring the already reluctant new Vet with them to dinner to meet the rest of the family, Darin and Zack. Darin met the Vet’s young daughter earlier that day and already loved the little girl, but he is surprised but not disappointed when his cat recognizes Mercedes as his mate. Logan -- Logan Douglas was bored. Everyone seemed to have something to do, a purpose, except him, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He needed to get out of town or get a life before he killed somebody. And if Mason made one more snide remark about him being available because he didn’t have anything better to do it was gonna be him. Zachery - Zachery Douglas was hosting the open house in the old Victorian. They’d had more than two hundred people tour the house so far which was far more than he expected. And when Tisha walked through the door, he knew what she was to him, and he’d do anything he had to do to make her his.

Zoey I meet him at my friend’s wedding. He arrives late, but Jace sweeps me off my feet from the very first moment. He’s an Army guy, just like my late brother. I tell myself to let go of my fears, to give what might very well be true love a chance. But when he confesses that he’s leaving for a deployment overseas in two weeks, I can’t do it. I lost my brother in combat. I can’t risk my heart in that way again, no matter how much I want to. Jace If I’d met the woman of my dreams one week sooner, I never would’ve volunteered for this deployment. Zoey lost her brother in combat, and I can’t blame her for holding back. I’m headed on a dangerous mission, and there’s always a chance I won’t make it home. I have less than two weeks before I head overseas. I hope it’s enough time to convince her I’m worth the risk. Sweet & Steamy short story instalove romance with an alpha military hero and younger curvy woman with an HEA. NO cliffhangers. NO cheating.

Emma McBride loves working in the law firm and hopes someday to hang out a sign that has her name on it. But for now, she has some proving to do. By the time she is caught up for the day, it’s nearly ten o’clock. If this doesn’t help her make a partner, she has no idea what will. Emma is going to her car when she hears someone coming down the lane she was in. Instead of getting in, being trapped in her car, she pulls out her gun…. Landon McBride owns the ranch next door to the Double Deuce. It is the largest ranch in the state. His health is failing, and he figures it’s time to sell. Lord knows, his son Dirk isn’t fit to run the ranch, and Landon can’t think of any person better to buy it than Mason Douglas. Mason is a good man and could manage the large spread better than he could. Mason is interested, sure, but knows he can’t afford a spread that large and tells Landon that. Landon jokes and tells him to marry his daughter, and he can have it for free. Mason isn’t amused. Although he’s never met Emma, he knows Dirk, and if the siblings are anything alike, it’s not no, but Hell no. Emma is more embarrassed than she is hurting, but the entanglement with those men did a number on her body--she hurts everywhere. Recuperating at her parent’s ranch seems like the logical thing to do, but with her brother showing his ass and getting kicked out, she’s wondering if she’s not better off in her apartment in the city. But when the man next door shows up and shifts into an angry cougar, all bets are off. The scent, the fear, and the smell of Emma are making Mason’s cat wild. He knows that he is scaring her--hell, he is scared himself…. He growls low, “She’s my mate. And hurt.”

Mercedes Crosby is a veterinarian and a damn good one. She’s just what Susie Douglas needs on her horse ranch, and Mercedes wants nothing more than to take the job and get out from under the thumb of her ex-husband, Nash Crosby. But trust in people is something Mercedes lost the moment Nash forced her to marry him at gunpoint. If the job sounds too good to be true, it probably is…. Darin Douglas is struggling to make ends meet as he opens his new bed and breakfast, The Douglas House. He has his first booking coming in in a few days and wants everything perfect, so he brings the family in to sample the first menu and show off his new place. His brothers bring the already reluctant new Vet with them to dinner to meet the rest of the family, Darin and Zack. Darin met the Vet’s young daughter earlier that day and already loved the little girl, but he is surprised but not disappointed when his cat recognizes Mercedes as his mate. Mercedes, on the other hand, is scared witless. She had found out a few hours before that paranormals really existed, and she was living among them. Now, this big handsome brute is telling her that she belongs to him and his cat…ah, hell no. Nash Crosby isn’t finished with his ex. They aren’t divorced until Mercedes and that brat of hers are dead….

Susie Benjamin had been denied nine jobs in three days. She had served five years for a crime she didn’t commit, and it didn’t seem to matter to these jerks that she’d been exonerated and wasn’t an ex-con at all, just a victim of circumstance. If she didn’t find a job soon, what little money she had left would be gone. Susie was a panther shifter, and no one had ever told her the rules of her kind. Mason Douglas was quick to bring her to task for her not reporting that she was in town to him, the local Alpha. She’d work her sentence off on the ranch, but then she’d be gone. She wanted to be as far away as she could get before her father could find her again. Gerard Douglas knew his brother had a new panther on the ranch but wasn’t in any hurry to meet her. Heck, he barely had time to sleep as it was he was so busy. But when he caught sight of her at the river, it was all he could do to keep his distance. She wanted him too, he could tell, but he’d never seen anyone so skittish. Susie knew from his scent they were mates. But he’d be better off without her because if her father found out, he’d kill them both….

Logan Douglas was bored. Everyone seemed to have something to do, a purpose, except him, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He needed to get out of town or get a life before he killed somebody. And if Mason made one more snide remark about him being available because he didn’t have anything better to do, it was gonna be him. Charlie Stone knew the meaning of being overworked and underpaid. That was the story of her life. If she hadn’t needed what little pay she got from the nursing home, she’d have quit a long time ago. Now, the police were shutting the place down, and she had nowhere to go. Logan had found his mate, Mary Shafer, when they were still children. They knew what they were to each other, but Mary had been killed by a drunk driver when she was only ten. As far as Logan was concerned, he’d lost his only shot at love. One mate in a lifetime, everyone knew that. But what Logan couldn’t understand was his attraction to the feisty beauty, Charlie Stone. She couldn’t be his mate, he’d already lost his shot at that….

Tisha Porter didn’t think she was going to make it. Convinced she would die from her injuries, she left a blow by blow account of what happened to her and who was responsible. The why of it was still a mystery. Thanks to Detective Harlan James, Tisha was on the mend, but she was ready to get out of her father’s house and back into a house of her own. She was anxious to see that recently renovated old Victorian home and buy it if she liked it. She wasn’t counting on the stress being too much for her still too weak body. Zachery Douglas was hosting the open house in the old Victorian. They’d had more than two hundred people tour the house so far, which was far more than he expected. And when Tisha walked through the door, he knew what she was to him, and he’d do anything he had to do to make her his.