Release Blitz, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway:
Sleigh Ride with Kellan by C.N. Marie writing as Sophia Nixs
Stranded at Christmas Series Novella
The North Avenue Live Guys #1
A rugged, bearded mechanic becomes my knight in shining armor.
Traveling three hours to make my twin daughter’s Christmas come true.
I never expected him.
We are the complete opposites and he infuriates me like no one else.
Love was never on the cards for me.
A blizzard holds up my plans and I end up staying the night with him.
Everything I never thought I wanted.
I thought being stranded at Christmas was the only surprise I was in for. How wrong was I?
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Eli’s words echoed in my head as he started the drive toward Ebony Cliff Inn.
I hope whoever’s got your girls is okay having them tonight because I can’t get you back there now.
My heart thudded quickly in my chest as the words refused to sink in. Why was he saying that he was taking me to a motel? He was going in the wrong direction of Manhattan. I had to get home to my girls. I couldn’t break my promise and not get myself back home to them. They needed me. I was the one constant stability in their lives, having never been away from them before. How could I stay here a night and not even prepare them? The girls may think the worst and assume that I’d abandoned them and thrown them straight back into the hell hole of a system and never want to be near me again. How the hell would that make me look? What if child protection services found out? I’d be labeled an incompetent fool and that could involve them putting an immediate strike through my application for permanent placement. I’d lose them both. How could I have been so foolish?
I dropped my face into my hands and mumbled under my breath, trying to hide my near breakdown from the sexy mechanic that was saddled right next to me. It was another complication that I couldn’t let my mind drift to.
I hardly knew the guy but that didn’t stop my cock from instantly reacting to the rugged, bearded guy who had snow speckled through it when I first laid eyes on him. I wanted him and I was struggling to hide my attraction to him, even though I was so worked up about Riley and Ana.
“Are you okay?” Eli asked as he kept his sole concentration on the road ahead. The snow was coming down so thick that each time the wipers cleaned the screen of his truck, it was soon covered again, partially blocking his view. I hated to admit it but the guy was right, there was no way I’d be managing a three and a half hour trip back home—that was on a clear day, too. “I know that we barely know each other…”
“I’m sorry. I was just lost in thought,” I began, not wanting to admit that he was one of the reasons why I was quiet. I couldn’t help the lingering desire I felt for the guy and I knew the more I spoke to him, the more likely it was that I’d say something I would come to regret. “I’m just hoping that Dee and the girls are fine. My sister was traveling today with her husband as well,” I rambled. I realized that I was trying to stop the silence between us from suffocating me. Safe subjects always helped. “I hope they are all safe.”
“I’m sure they will be,” Eli replied as he pulled the truck to a standstill. I looked up to see that we’d arrived at the motel and I quickly righted my length in my trousers the moment Eli climbed out of the vehicle before I followed behind, stopping to grab the crate from the back. I don’t think I’d have been happier if I’d tried at the prospect of getting settled out of this cold and jumping in a hot shower and getting myself out of these wet clothes. First though, I had to speak to Dee. “Let’s go and get you and Pip checked in, shall we?”
***
“Well, I didn’t see that happening,” I said as I climbed back inside the truck, alongside Eli, frowning as he slammed his door. “If you don’t mind dropping me at the shop that we passed, maybe I can get a few snacks and a blanket or two before taking me back to the car for the night?”
“No!” Eli snapped. He turned to face me and the anger on his face was evident at what I’d just said as his nostrils flared. “You’re not going to the shop and you’re definitely not staying in a car that has no heating for the night. It just isn’t happening.”
“If you haven’t realized, I haven’t got many other options to go on,” I declared. I blew out a breath before I waved my hand around in the air. “Ebony Cliff Inn is fully booked out, the snow is coming down hard and oh yeah, my car has broken down.”
“Don’t be clever with me!” Eli snapped back. “I am aware of that, so just let me think for a moment.” He pondered just as Pip yelped.
I grabbed the blanket that I had with me and unlocked her from the crate that she was in, wrapping her up close. At the same time, she climbed under my t-shirt. I didn’t miss Eli’s tongue peek out as he licked his lips before he dropped his head down low.
“Stay at mine,” he said in a low tone.
“You what?” I asked in confusion. I was certain that this near enough stranger hadn’t just invited me to come and stay at his home. “Did you just say—?”
“I said come and stay at mine,” he mumbled again with a little more certainty in his tone. It’s a pity that his scorned face looked like he was anything but happy about offering me a place for the night as his eyes squinted together and his brow furrowed, causing fine wrinkles to form.
“But…” I started.
“Kellan, like you just said, what other option do you have?” Eli bluntly put it. “I have the space and you need somewhere for you and Pip to lay your heads down for the night until I can look at your car. It makes sense.”
“You’re right. Thank you,” I said, slightly choking up at the generosity of this man. He barely knew me but fuck, what a kind gesture to do. “It really is appreciated.”
The only issue was that I had to keep my attraction to him under wraps for a bit longer and I wasn’t sure how I would be able to do that. I never knew that a guy with searing brown eyes that seemed like they could unlock my soul and a wiry unkempt beard could be what I desired in a guy but then here I was. When you combine that with the build of the guy, I could soon be a puddle of water on the floor, melting that snow away.
To celebrate the release of Sleigh Ride with Kellan, Sophia is giving you a chance to win a paperback copy of the book!
About the Author:
Sophia Nixs is a romance author from the United Kingdom that writes steamy contemporary MM romance.
