Secret Admirer’s Christmas Wish #2
Dariel Raye
Publication date: November 10th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

When a former ugly duckling and the former class heart-throb come together as adults, they find out they have more in common than they realized.

Glenda Shaw knows firsthand what it’s like to be an ugly duckling, and now, she is roped into helping to organize her tenth-year class reunion. The speaker this year is none other than Hunter Teegs, the object of her dreams since their sophomore year in high school. She’s a dedicated social worker with a heart the size of Texas, but her hectic schedule doesn’t allow much time for dating or entertainment.

Hunter Teegs is a self-made financial powerhouse with a boatload of charisma and a winning sense of humor. He’s also a notorious womanizer and heartbreaker. He has no interest in settling down any time soon, if ever. To make matters worse, he has recently noticed details from his childhood that cause him to question everyone and everything he’s come to believe.

When Glenda and Hunter are brought together again, fireworks nearly knock both of them off their feet, and not necessarily in a good way. Glenda knows more than one secret about Hunter, and sharing the most crucial one could mean the end of their relationship before it even gets started.

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EXCERPT:

Glenda froze. Hunter Teegs? She’d seen the number and deleted the accompanying voice mail messages before even listening to them, assuming the calls were from telemarketers or scammers. She never thought she would ever hear from this man again after high school, and she couldn’t figure out why she’d answered this time, but a jolt of excitement made her light-headed when she heard his name. Her voice was lost. Her face flushed. She swallowed and tried to get a word out, “Umm. Yes?”

“I’m calling about the high school reunion.”

She bit at her lip. She had received a text message about this, too, but she didn’t know it had been from him. “Reunion?”

“Yes, and considering you were Class Treasurer, it is expected that you will attend.”

“It is?” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her tone.

“Yes. I also would like you to help with arrangements and setting up the ballroom.” He was either completely oblivious to her tone, or he simply chose to ignore it.

Glenda pressed her hand to her chest. “I have a job, and I can’t imagine why attending a class reunion would be a requirement or an expectation for that matter.”

Silence.

“Well, this will be over the weekends. Do you work Monday through Friday?”

“Why?” Where was this coming from? It wasn’t like her to be rude or snarky. She didn’t think she was angry with him for being oblivious to her crush on him all those years ago, but maybe she was in denial. She couldn’t seem to stop herself.

He sighed. “Well, mainly because we only have a few months before the reunion, and if you don’t work weekends, we could—”

Glenda’s eyes narrowed and she interrupted him before she caught herself – another rude behavior she never practiced. “So, at last minute’s notice, you want me to give up all of my weekends for this?”

Silence.

“I tried several times to get a hold of you. Two weeks back in fact. I called, left messages, and even texted you a couple of times.”

“I don’t answer calls from unfamiliar numbers, and I’m not sure.” Yes, she had gotten the message at least 2 weeks ago, and she had seen the same number a few more times, but she never would have imagined it was Hunter.

“What are you not sure about?” he replied with sarcasm in his tone, nearly matching hers.

“About having time for this.”

“So, you aren’t up to it?”

Glenda’s eyes rounded. “I never said that.” She knew it was childish, her inability to ignore a dare, but she’d hated being dared to do anything, and his loaded question was clearly a challenge. She’d made her own way in life so far and no one could stop her and damn if someone was going to accuse her of…

“So, maybe you can meet me somewhere and we can see if we can work something out.”

Meet him? In person? Glenda halted. Her memory came alive with his image standing in the school hallway by his locker.

Tall, with broad shoulders even at 17 years old. Medium brown hair and dove gray eyes. A smile that made her toes curl in her shoes. What would he look like now? For years, she had fantasized about running into him, having coffee, chatting, getting to know him better, and now it hardly seemed real.

“So, are you available? I promise not to take up any more of your time than we need to get this reunion planned.”

Author Bio:

Dariel Raye is an animal lover, animal rights activist, a musician, therapist, and an award-winning, USA Today, and International bestselling author of powerful paranormal romance and dark urban fantasy with IR/MC (Interracial/Multi-cultural) alpha male heroes to die for, and strong heroines with hearts worth winning.

She is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and pianist who started singing with perfect pitch before she could walk, then fell in love with books and started reciting stories at the age of 3. Dariel plays over 11 musical instruments, including piano, organ, brass, and percussion.

Her stories tell of shifters, vamps, angels, demons, and fey (the Vodouin variety). Dariel is currently writing two series: "Dark Sentinels" (wolf shifters), and "Orlosian Warriors" (Vampire-like Nephilim).

For more about Dariel, follow her 'Musings' blog or visit her website. She also publishes a VIP Readers' Club newsletter. If you enjoyed one or more of her books, please post a review on review sites, and of course, click the follow button on Amazon to receive notifications about new releases. Join her VIP book club for updates, insider information, and access to early review copies of her books: https://darielraye.com/VIPbookclub/

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