Hope “It’s getting bigger,” Harlan says, resting his hand atop mine. I let out a soft sigh. “Well, that didn’t sound too enthusiastic,” he murmurs against my ear. My laugh comes out watery. “I couldn’t be happier. It’s just… a big change. Not sure I’m ready for it yet.” “No?” he asks, his thumb working lazy circles into my stomach. “I’m still a little jealous about the time I get alone with you,” I confess. His lips find mine. Deep, penetrating, passionate. “Could say the same thing,” he says against my mouth. “But we’ve got time to adjust. At least nine months, right?” “More like eight probably.” He nods against…

Margot “Absolutely not.” Wade turns in the saddle ahead of me. “What?” “You said this was a trail.” “It is a trail.” I stare at the narrow strip of dirt winding across the mountainside. To our left, sagebrush. To our right, considerably more Nevada than I would like to fall into. “This is a suggestion.” His mouth twitches. “It’s a trail.” “There are rocks in it.” “We’re in Nevada, sweetheart.” “And a cliff.” “That’s not a cliff.” I look down. Far down. “Then what would you call it?” “A hill.” “Wade Barrett.” He laughs. The bastard actually laughs. Beneath me, Daisy flicks one ear backward as if she agrees with…

Beckett I know I’m in trouble when Rosie looks at my hair. Not danger trouble. Worse. She’s sitting cross-legged on the couch in our cabin, wearing those soft black pants that ought to be illegal and a sweatshirt that’s too big for her. There’s a beer on the table beside her, the fire’s going, and nobody in the world knows exactly where we are. Nobody needs to. That’s the difference. Last time I brought Rosie to Jarbidge, somebody was hunting her. This time, she came because I asked. Her eyes narrow. I touch the back of my neck. “What?” “You need a haircut.” “No.” “You absolutely need a haircut.” “Preventive…

Lyra There are certain sentences no woman expects to say in her lifetime. Bigfoot carried me to an alien. The mountain is actually a spaceship. My boyfriend is five hundred years old. And now, apparently… “Torin, you cannot glare at every man who hugs me.” “I did not glare.” I stop walking. Torin stops beside me. Around us, Manhattan keeps moving, utterly unconcerned with my relationship problems. Horns blare. Someone shouts from the opposite sidewalk. Music thumps from a passing car. A bicycle shoots between two taxis in a maneuver that should result in immediate death but somehow doesn’t. Torin notices none of it. He’s staring at me with the…

Willa The first thing Baby finds is a boot. She digs with all the determination of a dog convinced she’s discovered buried treasure while Amos stands beside me with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, watching dirt fly in every direction. “Baby.” She ignores him. “Baby.” The digging speeds up. I laugh, lifting my camera. “She’s making excellent content.” “She’s making a mess.” “Same thing.” He grunts. The boot finally comes free, attached to absolutely nothing. Just a cracked leather work boot that probably hasn’t seen a foot since Teddy Roosevelt was president. Baby proudly drops it at Amos’s feet. He stares down at it. “…Congratulations.” Her tail thumps…

Boone The pickup rolls through Hollister, passing tourists crowding the streets to see a real Wild West town. My eyes veer momentarily to Stonie’s. My hand tightens around Delaney’s. She stares up at me with those big, expectant dark eyes of hers, and I know she’s remembering it too. The dancing, the stargazing, the falling in love. “What are you thinking about?” she asks with that wicked smile of hers. “You and me at Stonie’s the first time.” She nods once, fingers squeezing back. “That was a life-changing night for you.” “For us,” I drawl. “More so for you,” she says, tipping the brim of my hat. I chuckle, vibrations…

Virgil ONE CHRISTMAS LATER The first thing I hear is barking. Tiny barking. Annoyed barking. The sort of barking that sounds entirely too big for the body producing it. I pause halfway up the porch steps, balancing a crate against my hip. “You make a poor surprise, you know,” I grunt. “You’re still supposed to be a secret.” Inside the cabin, Christmas music drifts through the screen door. Clara’s favorite station. The one that starts playing carols immediately after Thanksgiving and doesn’t quit until New Year’s. I know because I’ve listened to every excruciating minute, snowbound for several weeks now.   Has it made me less of a grump? Not…

Raven “You’re cheating.” I don’t even look up from the tomatoes I’m sorting. “Good morning to you, too, Blaze.” “You’ve got peppers hidden back there.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His boots crunch across the gravel path between the garden beds. I continue sorting tomatoes. Very professionally. Very innocently. A shadow falls across my worktable, and I finally glance up, tugging the brim of my straw cowboy hat lower to keep the sun out of my eyes. Blaze stands there in a faded gray T-shirt and jeans, arms folded across his chest, green eyes narrow and shadowed beneath his Stetson. Definitely suspicious. “Show me.” “No.” His jaw drops.…

Mara SIX WEEKS LATER My fingers curl into his cut, body pressed tight against his back. We move across the sand and sage ocean like one thing. Where the pavement ribbon veers off in another dirt road, Maddox slows the bike, following an ancient trail, cut from another time and place. I wear my own helmet now, even has my name on it. A gift from Maddox, an entry into the club. It means more than I probably realize, though I’m trying. At the bottom of a rocky outcropping, he leaves the bike and our helmets, grabbing our belongings and holding my hand as we pick our way up a…