Book excerpt: They shared a love of all living things. He needed money to protect his sanctuary. She needed a soulmate who could accept her extraordinary secret. "I can't concentrate if you look at me that way, chere," Paul warned. "What way?" Caroline asked innocently. "Don't the men in Beverly Hills tell you how sexy you look when you dance?" "Oh, yes," she said, teasing him. "Lots of men. All handsome and wealthy." "So what are they doing while you're in Louisiana?" She smiled wickedly. "Crying." "Why? Afraid you'll come back?" "Oh, you're mean," she said, tapping his cheek playfully. Paul turned his head and caught her thumb between his teeth and nibbled for a moment before he turned her loose. Caroline's lashes fluttered, and he was irresistibly tempted. He knew she wanted him, and that he could win her over, but he needed time. And the band was starting to play a slow dance . . . Deborah Smith is the New York Times and Number One Kindle bestseller of A Place To Call Home, The Crossroads Café, and many other romance and women's fiction novels.