Tennessee Bounty Bonus Scene
Diamond
ONE YEAR LATER
The lights are low now. The crowd’s thinned, leaving only the ghosts of laughter and the soft hum of the stills.
Colton and Stella said goodnight an hour ago. The McAverys never were ones for long speeches, but the way Colton gripped Murphy’s shoulder before he left said everything words couldn’t.
Now it’s just me and Murphy, tucked behind the tasting bar. The rebuilt distillery still smells faintly of charred oak and fresh varnish, like the past refusing to let go.
He leans on the counter beside me, the brim of his Stetson tipped low. His shirt sleeves are rolled up, corded forearms rippling. The combination should look rugged. But even more than that, it looks like home.
“Thought you’d be asleep by now,” he says, voice rough from too many toasts.
“Couldn’t,” I admit. “Too much excitement, seeing this place reborn.”
He chuckles, eyeing the distillery somberly. “Once upon a time, I thought this land would be my final resting place.”
A shiver runs down my spine. I hug myself tightly, memory washing over me of how we met, how close I came to losing him, and how we got to this place. “And once upon a time, I thought you were the bounty hunter turning me over to the devil.”
“Until you found out who the real devil is,” he grumbles, eyes searing into me.
I tilt my head toward the massive copper still in front of us. “Does it ever quiet down?”
“It hums when it cools. Like it’s breathing.”
“Huh.”
He looks at it, then at me. “Reminds me of you, Lovely.”
I raise a brow. “Because I’m loud?”
“Because you survived the burn.”
That stops me cold. My heart squeezes tight as I lean against the bar. “You mean we did.”
He nods slowly. The light from the still catches his scar, turns it gold. “We did.”
For a long moment, neither of us moves. Outside, cicadas sing. The world smells of whiskey and rain.
He reaches out, slides a finger along my jaw, down to my collarbone. “You know,” he murmurs, “every time I see that firelight hit your skin, I think about the night you walked into my sights.”
“That’s romantic,” I tease softly, though my voice comes out thinner than I want.
“Didn’t feel romantic then.” His thumb drifts lower, tracing the neckline of my dress. “Felt like standing too close to something dangerous.”
I whisper, “And does it still feel that way?”
He smiles that slow, dangerous smile that once scared me and now undoes me completely. “Hell yes.”
The distance between us vanishes. His mouth finds mine—slow, deep, a long claiming of everything we almost lost. His hands move to my hips, pulling me against him. The counter edge bites into my back, grounding me in the here and now.
The hum of the still deepens as if the metal itself remembers what it means to melt.
When he finally breaks the kiss, we’re both breathing hard.
“Murphy,” I whisper, “the doors are glass. Anyone could—”
“They won’t.” His hand cups my face, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth. “Let ‘em see what saving looks like.”
He says it like a prayer, and suddenly I realize he means it—not the kiss, not the heat, but the life we’ve built from ashes.
He reaches for a tasting glass, pours two fingers of the new blend—Rebirth Reserve. Passes it to me, then takes his own.
We clink.
“To second chances,” I say.
He grins. “To third, if we need ‘em.”
The whiskey burns, sweet and smoky. I lick the last drop from my lip and catch the look in his eyes.
“Careful,” he drawls, voice rough. “Keep doing that and I’ll forget I promised Colton I’d lock up.”
I take his glass, set it down beside mine. “Then forget.”
He laughs quietly, the sound rolling through the still room like thunder the night we met.
Outside, lightning flickers again over the hills.
Inside, his hands find me.
And somewhere between the hum of copper and the taste of Tennessee Smooth on our tongues, I realize this.
The wildfire didn’t ruin us. It forged us.
Stella & Colton
Ex-military cowboy and wounded warrior, Colton McAvery, founded Tennessee Smooth Distillery to give wounded veterans a second chance.
But in the heart of whiskey country, competing against industry titans exacts a heavy toll.
Enter Stella Wainwright, a marketing miracle worker with an ax to grind.
Competition breeds war, which quickly turns kinetic, threatening everything Stella and Colton have. But will the one thing they have in their corner—love—help them find a way?
Bijou & Rutger
When the opportunity of a lifetime comes Rutger’s way, he should be eager to cash in. It comes with a six-figure bounty and the chance to seek revenge on his almost-brother-in-law—great incentives.
But it also means crossing paths with the woman who not only got away but hacked out his heart in the process, his former fiancée, Bijou Lefevre.
As Rutger descends into a dangerous web of deceit, centered around a storied Creole family with organized crime ties and a smoldering centuries-old curse, the line between the hunter and hunted becomes razor-thin…
In the heart of Whiskey Flames Hollow, Tennessee, where the air is thick with the scent of oak barrels of whiskey and history, warring families clash in a blaze of passion and conflict.
If you enjoyed Tennessee Smooth and Tennessee Bounty, you’ll love the other steamy, sultry installments in the series. One-click now for another unapologetic journey into sin, surrender, and the kind of bliss worth burning down the world for.
Thirsty for more sexy cowboy mountain men and sassy curvy girls? Explore the entire Rough & Ready Country series, available for purchase or free in KU. One-click to start the bestselling series now.
