Goddess Fish Presents: You Can Have My Heart, But Don't Touch My Dog

You Can Have My Heart, But Don’t Touch My Dog

by Dixie Cash

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GENRE: Contemporary Romantic Comedy

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BLURB:

After two divorces, Sandi Walker, entrepreneur extraordinaire, is on her own and loving it. As a devout animal lover, she has made a success of the only gourmet pet food bakery in Midland, Texas. She’s also a pet foster parent and has fifteen assorted abused and unwanted animals at home. When a golden-colored stray dog with an abundance of personality appears at her door, she can’t refuse him and she can’t keep from falling in love with him. She names him Waffle and gives him a permanent home.

General Manager of the Flying C Ranch, Nick Conway, has searched for months for his lost dog, Buster. Giving up on ever finding him, he looks for a new dog and finds a puppy at a pet grooming shop. While he went to the shop to see a puppy, he also encountered a beautiful redheaded woman he can’t put out of his mind. Little does he know that she found Buster in an alley and has now claimed him as her own. Sparks fly between Sandi and Nick when he steals Buster and sues her in court for custody. It will take a mouthy parrot, a sitting judge, the matchmaking skills of the Domestic Equalizers and Cupid himself to resolve this conflict.

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Excerpt:

Close to sputtering, all Sandi could manage was, “I love Waffle and he loves me.”

“Look, I apologize for coming across wrong. I got overexcited when I realized I’d found my dog.” His deep voice almost became a purr. Sexy and seductive. “I know that women who are alone tend to get involved with their pets, especially if they don’t have much social life or kids to take care of and—

“What? You know nothing about me. About my life.”

“Now don’t get upset. I asked the woman who gave me this puppy about you. She told me you’re divorced and don’t have any kids, so you give all your love to animals.”

Such a rage raced up Sandi’s spine her head might explode and her eyes might burst from their sockets. She squelched the powerful urge to grab her head with both hands in case that very thing happened. She would kill that Prissy dead, dead, dead the very next time she saw her. “Prissy Porter discussed me and my personal life with you?” Her voice had become as shrill as a harpy’s. “Why, in all my life, I’ve never—”

“Now, calm down.” Nick patted the air with his palm. “I didn’t mean to upset you. What I mean is, you said you were in love with a parrot, too. What that says to me is you throw that “love” word around pretty freely. Maybe you need a boyfriend or something.”

That was the last straw. “What?” She sank to the floor on her knees beside Waffle and wrapped protective arms around his neck. Summoning her dignity, she set her jaw and lifted her nose. “I’d like for you to leave my store, Mr. Conway.”

“But—”

“I’d hate to call the police, but I will.” She leveled a searing stare at him that said she meant business. But it was hard to be tough when she was sitting on the floor and he stood six feet tall above her. Their stares locked.

“Okay, I’ll leave,” he snapped. “But I’ll be back. Buster is my dog and you can’t refuse to give him to me.” He reached down and stroked Waffle’s head, putting only inches between her face and his. “Don’t worry, Buster,” he said to Waffle. “I’ll be back to rescue you.”

He straightened and stepped back. Waffle sprang forward. Even with all her strength, Sandi barely held him in check. She scrambled to her feet, still hanging onto his collar. “We’ll see about that. Have you ever heard possession is nine-tenths of the law?”

He glared at her. “Oh, yeah? Have you ever heard a picture’s worth a thousand words?”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Dixie Cash is Pamela Cumbie and her sister Jeffery McClanahan. They grew up in West Texas during the great oil boom, an era filled with "real-life fictional" characters who cry to be written about. Pam has always had a zany sense of humor and Jeffery has always had a dry wit. Surrounded by cowboys and steeped in country-western music, when they can stop laughing long enough they work together creating hilarity on paper. Both live in Texas--Pam in the Fort Worth-Dallas Metroplex and Jeffery in a small town near Fort Worth. Jeffery also writes steamy contemporary romance novels under the pen name of Anna Jeffrey.

LINKS

https://www.facebook.com/Dixie-Cash-342620327656/

https://twitter.com/dixie_cash

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4310.Dixie_Cash

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29427026-you-can-have-my-heart-but-don-t-touch-my-dog

https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-102073/dixie-cash

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