Taming Tanner

www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

Copyright © 2011 by Dréa Riley

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including but not limited to: printing, photocopying, faxing, recording, electronic transmission, or by any information storage or retrieval system without prior written permission from the authors or holders of the copyright.

This book is a work of fiction. References may be made to locations and historical events; however, names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), businesses, events or locales is either used fictitiously or coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only.

Published by

Beautiful Trouble Publishing, LLC

PO Box 61

Colfax, NC 27235

www.beautifultroublepublishing.com

Cover Art: Marteeka Karland,
http://www.marteekakarland.com/

Editor: Barb Wilson

Proofreader: Novellette Whyte

http://authorgurunovellette.blogspot.com/

Formatter: Jim & Zetta,
http://www.jimandzetta.com/

E-book Conversion:
Jim & Zetta,
http://www.jimandzetta.com/

ISBN: (e-book)
978-1-61788-227-2

To Raelynn: Thank you

DJ, 3J and Nikki: Best sisters ever.

CWB: Fist Bumps

And last but not least to my readers: you’re fantastic.

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OOKS

eBooks are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving away eBooks is a copyright infringement. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author or Beautiful Trouble Publishing.

CAVEAT

This work of erotica contains adult language and sexually explicit scenes, which are smoking hot. This book is intended only for adults, as it is defined by the laws of the country in which the purchase is made. Keep this book out of the hands of under-aged readers.

Chapter One

Tanner stood next to his cousin Jeramy and watched Sophia, or Soapy as he’d called her when they were growing up, as she daintily picked at the salad on her plate. She didn’t seem remotely interested in the mixed greens, but she held herself up right and staunchly refused to touch any of the delicious cake that was being passed around.

Tanner hoped she wasn’t still being self- conscious about her weight. She always had been, well, at least she was when he’d seen her last...some ten years ago now. Where she was worried that her shape wasn’t pleasing, Tanner knew all too well that they were and he worried
that he wasn’t the only man eyeing her voluptuous body.

In fact, he was so concerned with the fit of her clothes that he stopped paying attention to anything else as soon as she sat down across from him. He wasn’t even remotely sure what the hell was going on, because he’d tuned out the conversation the moment she walked in.

Sophia Lorenzo was everything her name claimed her to be. She called to mind the famous actress with all the beauty that had more than likely been her namesake, and then stomped that same image right to smither-fucking-renes.

Sophia was dynamite, and lots of it. The classic way her body dipped in just at her waist before racing into curves that any driver worth his salt would want to test out with the top down and the throttle wide open. Just the thought of having the top down brought his eyes back to her bosom. Oh yes, he could get lost in that. Lost and never found again. In fact, he’d kill the person who tried to rescue him.

He was contemplating murder, and almost acted on it when Jeramy called his name one more time.

“What? What, dammit, what? What could you possibly want that you keep calling my damn name? Can you not see that I am busy? I am—I was trying to—you—just what?”

Tanner stammered to a stop before realizing that he’d just made himself the laughing stock of the entire wedding party.

Everyone sitting at the table was motionless, a mouse could have farted in the deepest reaches of the Amazon and it would have been heard. That was until Jeramy, his wife-to-be, and every one her bridesmaids all burst out laughing. They were followed by the men in the group until the entire table was roaring. Some people held napkins to their faces while others fell into their plates or leaned back in their chairs with tears rolling down their faces. Everyone was laughing, except him and the object of his intense concentration. She had her head bowed, chin tucked into her chest and all he could think was how wonderful it would feel, smell, and taste to be snuggled there. How amazing she would look with their babies tucked against her shoulder, sleeping soundly after having nursed at her breast. No, scratch that, from a bottle—yeah, definitely from a bottle, because he so wasn’t sharing his breasts with any man—even his own son—well, at least not for long.

Sophia calmly put her fork down before taking a big breath and holding it while she counted to ten...three times over. Opening her eyes, she pasted a wide smile on her face and looked directly into Tanner Saldana’s piercing blue-green gaze.

“You haven’t changed at all, have you? We all know you were extremely busy guess-timating my breast size, Tanner,” she spoke in a low and husky voice that was so surprising to hear. The thick Latino accent often threw people in this area. Even though Sophia had skin black as coal and had grown up most of her life in Northwest Texas, she still retained her heavy south-of-the-border accent she’d learned from her parents. Granted, it was only ever prominent when she was aggravated.

And at this very moment, she was more than aggravated. Not so much at the fact that her childhood crush had caused the entire wedding party to break into laughter at her expense, but because he was eyeing her the way she’d always dreamed he would. Sophia had had a crush on Tanner for as long as she could remember, even though she knew he was way out of her league. The thought that he might actually be interested in her was disconcerting to say the least. Tanner Saldana could have any woman he wanted, so surely his feigned interest in her now was just him being his usual self, and trying to make her feel included like he’d done when they were in school together.

That pissed Sophia off. She didn’t need Tanner’s pity interest. Men hit on her regularly now, not that Tanner would know that. Damn him for embarrassing her. Well, two could flirt just as easily as one.

No matter which way she’d turned, her childhood-friend-turned-grown-up-heart-throb had been there, towering over her with his domineering six foot seven frame. She hadn’t minded the blatant way his eyes had traced her every curve. In fact, the more he was preoccupied with eyeing her, the more time she had to size him up and commit his visage to memory. She kept her voice pitched low as she leaned forward to give Tanner a good look at the cleavage he’d been eyeing all weekend.

Memories that were right up there with Tanner climbing out the watering trough butt-naked the summer they graduated high school. He’d been a lot slimmer then, definitely not the buff, gilded god that was seated before her now. She’d been ready to die and go to heaven when she glimpsed the golden globes of his ass. There hadn’t been a tan line, which told her he spent plenty of time in that trough without his drawers on when he was supposed to be mending fences on his uncle’s ranch.

Oh yes, these new images of him were memories she’d be taking back to East Texas to fill the long, lonely nights as she finished her apprenticeship with T’Zara Martin and earned the rights to be manager of the newest locale in the chain of Sweet Seduction storefronts.