Her Dakota Man

From USA Today Best Selling Author Lisa Mondello - A new contemporary western romance series DAKOTA HEARTSShe needed to risk the truth to get a second chance...Poppy Erickson had spent the year wondering how all their lives might have been different after hearing the deathbed confession of her childhood friend. She'd left South Dakota years ago because she couldn't bear to watch the man she loved loving another woman. But now she knows the truth. She'll keep the promise she made to a friend, but will Logan understand when he learns the truth? More important, can they again recapture the passion that had been between them all those years ago?He needed to face the past to get the love of a woman he thought he'd lost..Everyone knows that the Dakotas didn't get the name Badlands for nothing. Harsh weather and rough living are a way of life. But single dad, Logan McKinnon, had seen more than his share of bad times after the death of his wife a year ago. The last thing he needs is Poppy Erickson, an old flame and his late wife's best friend, showing up unannounced to help after devastating floods nearly washed away their hometown. With no place to stay in town, he has no choice but to offer her a bed at his house. But can he live under the same roof with a woman he'd once loved passionately without feeling he's betraying his late wife?Excerpt: One look on Logan McKinnon's face told Poppy that his foul mood had very little to do with the devastating destruction all around the Badlands of South Dakota...and everything to do with her showing up in town after nearly ten years.She didn't have to be standing next to him to feel his anger simmering just below the surface of his composure. Sitting in her rental sedan was close enough. What the hell was she thinking coming back home? Why had she made that ridiculous promise to Kelly?She parked the car next to his truck and took a deep breath, mumbling under her breath as she pulled the door handle, "This may just turn out to be the stupidest thing you have ever done, girl."Truth was, even as pissed off as Logan looked, he was still an amazing sight to see. Part of her had hoped that she was wrong. That she'd gotten over him a long time ago. That she'd take one look at him, make sure he and Keith were okay, and be able to get back in her car and drive right to the airport in Rapids City.He turned to her, standing tall and proud. His thick dark hair blew in the March wind, fluttering around his face and making him all the more strikingly handsome.Yep. Stupid.He was taller than she'd remembered, and he'd long since lost that too-lean teenage body that had driven her crazy in her youth. He worked hard on his ranch and it showed in how much his arms and chest had filled with muscles.Despite the cold, he'd taken off his jacket while he worked in the yard and Poppy had a clear view of just how much his male body had filled out in places she'd dreamed of touching.Lord, help her. She was in trouble. And she hadn't even stepped out of the car yet. She pushed the door open and stepped outside to get it over with. It was either going to be the shortest visit on record...or a life changing experience she'd been dreaming of ever since she was a teenager."Hi, Logan."Logan starred at he for a long, agonizing moment. She read the emotional tug of war playing on his face as the sudden chill from the South Dakota winds bit into her exposed skin like a whipping.Then his expression turned hard. "What the hell are you doing here?"