Love on the Line (+Giveaway)

* Love on the Line
* By Kirsten Fullmer
* (Women at Work #1)
* Publication date: June 14th, 2017
* Genres: Coming of Age, New Adult, Romance, Young Adult

Andrea is an ordinary girl in an extraordinary situation.

She left her comfortable home and family to take a job building a pipeline with her estranged grandpa, Buck. She’s curious about his job, and why her mother dislikes the man. She didn’t expect to uncover buried family secrets, or for the job to be so difficult.

Rooster isn’t a bad guy. He respects women; he was raised by one of the best. But that new girl on the job is too small and feminine. She’s a distraction, plain and simple, and she doesn’t belong on a pipeline. This job is his chance to impress Buck Brennan, a pipeline legend, and no girly greenhorn is going to ruin it for him.

Will Andrea prove herself to her grandfather and forge a relationship with the old man, or will continuous disagreements and unexpected sexual tension between Andrea and Rooster derail their hard work?

Goodreads / Amazon

 Now here is an excerpt for your reading pleasure.

Without another word, Rooster led Andy away. He did take time however, to catch Nick’s eye, motioning down toward Andy with his head to indicate he would walk her home.

Nick nodded back.

Andy wobbled on her feet, so Rooster slipped his arm around her waist to keep her from tripping. Once they were out of hearing range, he held her at arm’s length, inspecting her face in the dim glow of the street light. “You okay?” he asked, his expression speculative. “You’re not gonna hurl, are you?”

          She mumbled and tried to push away.

          He kept hold of her, certain she’d topple to the ground if he let her go, and pointed her back toward the lane through the park.

          Finally accepting his arm around her, Andy staggered unevenly at his side, muttering under her breath about apples and pint jars.

          Three trailers down she tripped on a rut, nearly falling headlong into the road. Rooster grabbed her, wrestling her back to an upright position. They stood facing each other, with Andy swaying from side to side.

Rooster shook his head and moved his hands to circle her waist, to steady her.

She blinked up at him, looking beautiful, but so very drunk. “You’re gonna be sick as hell in the morning,” he murmured, unable to ignore the feel of her under his hands.

“I don’t feel so great now,” she slurred, trying in vain to focus on his face. “Where are we?” She flung her head from one side to the other, causing Rooster to tighten his grip in order to keep her upright.

“I’m walking you home.”

“Well.” She pointed back toward the party. “I live back there.”

“Why didn’t you say—never mind.” He turned her around to face back the way they’d come.

Andy’s feet dragged like a rag doll, and she giggled to herself. Feeling no pain, she broke into a rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, pronouncing the lyrics as ‘Trinkle, Trinkle.’

Rooster chuckled in spite of himself, working to keep her moving. “Come on, one foot at a time.”

She stopped abruptly, and her head kinked back as she gawked up at Rooster. “Why are we walking together?”

Taken aback at her ridiculous question, he wondered the same thing. “You need to get home.”

She regarded him; her head tipped to one side.

Fireflies winked behind her in the darkness. He waited.

Finally, her expression cleared. “You’re handsome, you know that?”

He didn’t reply, just took in her solemn expression. What was it they said, you were more honest when you were drunk, or was it…?

“No, I mean it,” she reiterated, flailing one hand. “I’ve always thought so.”

With a grin, he pointed her back down the drive. “Well, thank you. You’re very pretty as well.”

“Yeah.” She shrugged, being agreeable.

Amused at her shifting moods he tightened his arm around her waist. The girl was warm and soft and, to his chagrin, humming again. She hiccupped loudly, and he sighed. He needed to get her home. “Which trailer is yours?”

Andy ground to a halt and flung her head to the left, then to the right, causing Rooster to tighten his grip once again.

“They all kinda look the same.”

He sighed. “Are you sure your trailer is by Nick’s?”

Her attention returned to Rooster. “I don’t know where Nick lives.”

He shook his head in exasperation. Holding her by one arm, he watched her with concern, wondering how he’d figure out where she lived. Reaching up with his free hand, he readjusted his ball cap. This wasn’t going well.

                                      ***

The pancake flipped twice in the air then landed back in the frying pan. Rooster settled the pan back on the burner and turned to his friend. “I’m just sayin’, you should have watched her closer. She’s never had moonshine before.”

Nick moaned and placed his elbow on Rooster’s table, then gingerly lowered his forehead into his palm. “Why you gotta be like that? Don’t I feel bad enough today?”

Rooster glared at the pan as he checked the pancake. “I’m sure Andy feels even worse.” And a drunk woman on her own is always at risk, he added to himself. In truth, she was in no danger with the crew, but still.

Raising his coffee cup for a long, slow slurp, Nick groaned. A rusty mew from under the table caused him to lean to one side and peer, red eyed, at the kitten batting his untied bootlaces under the table. With a sigh, he carefully placed his coffee mug back on the table and tossed his friend a dirty look. “Sounds like you were watching her most of the night. Why didn’t you step in?”

The pancake was done so Rooster slid it expertly onto a plate. “Not my party,” he stated flatly as he poured more batter in the pan. He moved to the table and put the plate in front of Nick. “Besides, you’re her friend.”

“Oh, and what are you?” Nick asked, lifting his blurry eyes to meet Rooster’s.

Rooster plopped a bottle of syrup onto the table, making Nick wince. “I’m the guy who had to drag her all over the park, trying to figure out what trailer to put her in!”

***

          Kneeling in her tiny bathroom, Andy dropped her head onto her arm circling the toilet seat and moaned. Not only did she feel like all holy hell, but she remembered bits and pieces of the evening before.

She thought she’d done okay at the party, but the fragmented memory of Rooster helping her home made her wince. Never again would she drink moonshine.

She lifted her head, then groaned and dropped it back to her arm. A hazy recollection of Rooster helping her up the trailer steps flashed in her memory. She recalled slipping to one knee, obliging him to grab her butt, a cheek in each hand, in order to heft her up into the trailer.

“Damn,” she lamented, feeling every inch the fool.

 

Author Bio:

Kirsten is a dreamer with an eye for art and design. She worked in the engineering field, taught college, and consulted free lance. Due to health problems, she retired in 2012 to travel with her husband. They live and work full time in a 40' travel trailer with their little dog Bingo. Besides writing romance novels, she enjoys selling art on Etsy and spoiling their three grandchildren.

As a writer, Kirsten's goal is to create strong female characters who face challenging, painful, and sometimes comical situations. She believes that the best way to deal with struggle, is through friendship and women helping women. She knows good stories are based on interesting and relatable characters.

For more on Kirsten and her writing, contact with her on the following sites: 

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Do you enjoy stories where the female protagonist is put in situations that women aren't normally associated with such as pipeline workers?

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