Rock Star Kisses

By Verna Clay

At the age of twenty-two, Tessa Branigan has already been married and divorced, and entering into another romantic relationship is not an option. She's perfectly content working as receptionist for Tanner Veterinary Clinic, owned by Preston and Toby Tanner, twins she's been friends with since childhood. Preston Tanner has asked her to dinner more than once, but she always finds an excuse to beg off. Unexpectedly, Sean Barfield returns to town to spend time with his family for some much needed R and R. Tessa is not happy that her heart goes ballistic whenever he's around. She's known him since she was twelve and they palled around together. To keep her wayward heart in line, she avoids him as much as possible. Besides, what would a famous musician like him see in a small town girl like her?

Sean Barfield escapes the fast life to regroup in the town of Paxtonville in Colorado where, as a teenager, he visited his birth father for a few weeks each year. But if he's honest with himself, he's also returning to see the girl he first met when he was fifteen. He's always had a crush on her, so her marriage only a year out of high school came as a shock. But now she's divorced and living back in her hometown. The problem is, Tessa keeps avoiding him. When a job opening to work as a ranch hand for her father arises, he applies for the position and is hired. He'll even muck horse stalls to prove he's just a regular guy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verna Clay
• Release date: Dec 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311195432

Verna Clay

"2020 Finalist - Readers' Favorite International Contest (Paranormal Romance) for SOMEWHERE by the Sea.""2014 Gold Medal Winner - Readers' Favorite International Contest (Historical Romance) for Abby: Mail Order Bride."My perfect day: coffee shop; laptop; latte; characters demanding their stories be told; a plot that comes together; and hours to live in an alternate reality.Seriously, I have always loved reading, and now I love writing. As a preteen, I devoured Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Mysteries. When I reached my teen years, the romance genre became my favorite and that has never changed. After years of procrastinating, I tried my hand at writing and I've been doing so with a passion ever since. I have written over thirty romance novels and novellas in the genres of contemporary, contemporary western, historical western, fantasy, and paranormal. Because I hate saying goodbye to characters who have lived with me for months, I usually create a series so they can be revisited from book to book. I have also written a Young Adult novella titled "Fragile Hearts" using the pen name of Colleen Clay.

Book preview

Preface

It seems that most of the books in this series have had more than one romance in the storyline, and this book is no exception. When Freckles entered the scene, I knew I had to follow the same pattern. And what a kick she is! I'll not give a spoiler, but I will say that her hero is about to have his world turned upside down.

As for Tessa Branigan, it's about time the girl found her happily-ever-after. She's been through a lot in her twenty-three years. She also needs to overcome her complex about her weight and see herself for the beautiful, caring, and compassionate woman that she is.

I tried to bring many of the characters from past books into this one, which proved challenging. I had to go back and reread the stories and make charts to keep everyone straight. I calculated that the story time-lapse between the epilogue in Dream Kisses and the beginning of Rock Star Kisses is about twenty years. The actual years it has taken to bring this story from concept to book six, is about five.

Although somewhat unconventional, Epilogue Three at the end of this book introduces the characters for book seven, Forever Kisses. Because of physical challenges, life has not been easy for Dovie Juniper, so she's protecting her heart from falling for our hero. However, I don't think she's going to win that battle.

Verna Clay

Sequence of books in the Romance on the Ranch Series:

Dream Kisses

Honey Kisses

Baby Kisses

Candy Kisses

Christmas Kisses

Rock Star Kisses

Forever Kisses

Forgotten Kisses

Angel Kisses

The Last Kiss (2017)

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Smacked

Chapter 2: Back in Town

Chapter 3: Lucky It Is

Chapter 4: Off the Grid

Chapter 5: Bodygraph

Chapter 6: Old Friends

Chapter 7: Hired Hand

Chapter 8: Panic

Chapter 9: Festival

Chapter 10: Six Dogs

Chapter 11: Close, but no Banana

Chapter 12: Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Chapter 13: Puppy Love

Chapter 14: You Can Gallop, but You Can't Hide

Chapter 15: Prying

Chapter 16: Rockin' the Garage

Chapter 17: Flower Power

Chapter 18: Puppy Lost

Chapter 19: Queen Witch

Chapter 20: It's Her

Chapter 21: What the Hell!

Chapter 22: Groupie

Chapter 23: In a Moment of Time

Chapter 24: Seeing Red

Epilogue One

Epilogue Two

Epilogue Three

Author's Note

Dream Kisses (excerpt) Romance on the Ranch Series

Stranded in Oasis (excerpt) Oasis Series

Novels and Novellas by Verna Clay

Chapter 1: Smacked

Tessa Branigan sat at a window table inside Dixie's Cuppa Joe Coffee Shop and watched the comings and goings in her hometown of Paxtonville, Colorado. She had forty minutes of her lunch break remaining. She spooned a bite of yogurt.

She'd returned home five months previous after finally leaving her abusive ex. Even now she couldn't believe she'd been so blind as to marry the man who had taunted and teased her when they were children. After two years of marriage, she'd so despised him that in her divorce papers, she'd been adamant about changing her last name back to her maiden one. No way was she going to be saddled with the name of that low-life.

Cecelia MacKenzie, the owner of the coffee shop and a close friend of Tessa and her family stepped to her table carrying a tall, lidded coffee. Here's one for the road, kiddo. You can take it back to work with you.

Tessa grinned and shook her head. You know, don't you, that you wear invisible angel wings.

Cecelia laughed. Tell that to my daughter, Merry. Six years old and she thinks she knows everything. There are only two people she idolizes, her big sister and her father.

Tessa started to respond when movement outside the window jerked her to attention. Oh, no! she cried and jumped from her chair.

What's wrong? Cecelia called as Tessa ran toward the door.

Tessa didn't pause or respond. She was focused on preventing an accident. Vaguely she heard chairs scraping as patrons turned to see what was happening beyond the windows.

Outside, she shouted at a raggedy-looking dog, but he kept barging across the street. Flailing her arms at the approaching sports car, she tried to get the driver's attention. He appeared to be glancing at something in his passenger seat.

The scene became surreal when the dog stopped three quarters of the way across the road just as the driver returned his attention forward. He slammed on his brakes, but it was too late. The dog got smacked by the fender of the car.

Tessa squealed and raced to the large, reddish-brown animal that looked to be part golden retriever and maybe lab. She knelt beside the dog and assessed the damage. He was unconscious and his front leg appeared broken. She wanted to cry, but she could do that later. She reached into the pocket of her slacks for her cell phone and punched speed dial. Because she was usually the one answering the telephone at Tanner Veterinary Clinic, calls had been forwarded to voicemail during her lunch hour. So, instead of calling the clinic, she called Toby's direct line. Pick up. Pick up.

The man driving the car was now kneeling beside her but she kept her eyes on the dog and prayed that Toby would answer his phone. The guy reached a tanned forearm out to touch the pooch, but she placed her hand over his to stop him. She warned, Even though he's unconscious, he could awaken and bite you because he's hurt and scared. I'm calling the vet right now–

A voice sounded on the other end of her phone. Hi Tessa, what's up?

Toby, we've got an emergency. A dog was hit in front of Dixie's Cuppa Joe. He's unconscious and it looks like his right front leg is broken.

I'm on my way.

Tessa disconnected the call, stuck the phone back in her pocket, and turned toward the man. The vet's on his way. The guy was staring at her. Her mouth dropped open and she exclaimed, Sean, what are you doing in Paxtonville? Last I heard you were on tour on the east coast.

He replied, Hi, Tessa, and shrugged. I got a reprieve for a few months.

Tessa couldn't believe she was talking to Sean Barfield, her teenage friend, and now a famous rock star.

She asked, Are you staying with your parents?

I don't know. I just drove into town. His eyes moved back to the dog. I sure hope he lives. I didn't see him. It's my fault because I spilled soda all over and was trying to mop it up.

Behind them, Cecelia repeated Tessa's earlier question, Sean, what are you doing here?

Hi, Cecelia. I wanted to surprise you and Dad. I've got some R and R time and was hoping to stay with the family for awhile.

Cecelia knelt beside the animal, too. Of course, honey. You're always welcome.

One of Paxtonville's locals had started directing traffic around the scene and now motioned the vet's van around Sean's car. Toby Tanner braked and jumped out of the van, rushing toward the dog. When he saw Sean he said, Hi Sean, but didn't pause in his mission. He assessed the dog by feeling for his pulse and then opened his bag. His heart rate is good, his breathing is labored. I'm going to give him a pain shot and get him started on an IV. Tessa, you can put some of your training to use now, I'll need your help moving him onto the gurney.

Okay, Toby.

Toby worked quickly and was soon giving Tessa instructions on how to lift the backend of the dog onto an emergency board while he lifted the frontend. The board was then placed on a gurney. Since being hired by the Tanner twins four months previous, they'd been training her to eventually become a veterinarian's assistant. She loved animals and the job had been perfect after being on the receiving end of an abusive marriage. She could shower the animals with the love she had wanted to give her husband.

Chapter 2: Back in Town

Sean Barfield ran a hand through his shoulder-length mahogany hair. His publicist had wanted him to dye it blond, but he'd adamantly refused. If he let the overbearing woman dictate his appearance, it wouldn't be long before she was dictating other aspects of his life. In retrospect, he regretted having had a fling with her. Granted, it had been short and all about sex, but if he could do things over, he'd have run the other direction as fast as he could when she started coming on to him. Even after he'd nicely explained that he wasn't interested in anything long term, she'd called his cell phone so frequently he'd finally blocked her number from ringing and told his manager to get another publicist. His manager had been pissed and started lecturing him on contracts. His life sucked.

Watching Tessa help Toby lift the poor dog made him feel horrible. Actually, he felt horrible most of the time, but this feeling was worse than that. He had a soft spot for animals and if he didn't have to travel so much, he'd adopt a couple of dogs from a shelter and maybe a cat.

Toby and Tessa got the mutt in the back of the van and Tessa climbed in with him. After Toby had the dog stabilized, he shut the slider and jumped into the driver's seat.

Sean said, I'll follow you.

Toby nodded.

The emergency situation had halted conversation and now his stepmom hugged him. I'll call your father and let him know you're here.

Thanks, Cecelia. After I find out what's happening with the dog and pay the bill, I'll be over. Are you sure you don't mind me staying? My showing up is unexpected. I can check into a motel.

Cecelia frowned. I should box your ears for even suggesting that. Besides, once your presence was known, you'd have girls lining up outside the motel.

As if to verify her words, they heard a teenage girl squeal, Oh, my God, you're Sean Barfield!

Sean quickly kissed his stepmother's cheek. I'll see you later, he said, and raced to his car to catch up with the emergency van.

His stepmom called, Toby's office is across from Biggie's.

The veterinary clinic was only about a mile from downtown and easy to find since it was across the street from Biggie Bag-n-Save Big Mart. When Sean pulled into the vet clinic's parking lot, Toby and another woman were hurrying the gurney through a side door. Tessa was at the front door unlocking it. He sucked a breath and followed her inside. She had already disappeared into the back, so he sat and waited for