Book excerpt: The author of Give It All and Lay It Down reveals how it all started in this prequel novella to the Desert Dog series... Jeremiah Church and Raina Harper have been close since they were kids, back when life was all about hot Nevada summers spent running wild on the backs of their motorcycles with their friends. Now in their thirties, their lives are changing, and so is the way Miah looks at Raina—a sizzling tension has begun to smolder, impossible to ignore. Miah is a man of simple pleasures—after a long day overseeing his family’s cattle ranch, a cool drink in his hand and a barstool under his backside are all he needs. Except lately, Miah’s begun looking at his bartender differently. Raina is Miah’s polar opposite—she’s as hot-headed as he is self-possessed, as wild as he is steady. And though they’re a recipe for disaster, the mutual attraction brewing between them is too tempting to deny. But when bottled-up desires hit this hard, this fast, after so long, the results are positively explosive. And while the affair is hot enough set the badlands on fire, when the flames burn out, will their lifelong friendship survive, or go up in smoke? Praise for Cara McKenna “Gritty and compelling.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Maya Banks “Sweet, smoking-hot, standout romance.”—Beth Kery, New York Times bestselling author of The Affair “Very sexy.”—USA Today “Dirty and mesmerizing.”—Fiction Vixen