The Billionaire's Christmas Bride (Big Bad Billionaires #3) - L. Steele Page 0,153
huffs out a breath, her hair messily arranged across her face.
I shove my hands into the pockets of my fitted pants, knees slightly bent, legs apart. Tip my chin down and watch her as she sprawls at my feet.
"You…dropped me?" She makes a sound deep in her throat.
So damn adorable.
"Your wish is my command," I quirk my lips.
"You don’t mean it."
"You’re right." I lean my weight forward on the balls of my feet and she flinches.
"What…what do you want?"
"You."
She pales. "You want to…rob me? I have nothing of value. I’m not carrying anything…except." She reaches for her pocket.
"Don’t," I growl.
"It’s only my phone."
"So you say, hmm?"
"You can…" she swallows, "you can trust me."
I chuckle.
"I mean, it’s not like I can deck you with a phone or anything, right?"
I glare at her and she swallows, "Fine… You… You take it."
Interesting.
"Hands behind your neck."
She hesitates.
"Now."
She instantly folds her arms at the elbows, cradles the back of her head with her palms.
I lean down and every muscle in her body tenses. Good. She’s wary. She should be. She should have been alert enough to have run as soon as she sensed my presence. But she hadn’t. And I’d delayed what was meant to happen long enough.
I pull the gun from my pocket, hold it to her temple. "Goodbye, Beauty."
To find out what happens next read Karma and Michael Byron's story HERE
Claim your FREE contemporary romance book. Click HERE
Claim your FREE paranormal romance book HERE
Join my newsletter and claim your free books here
More books by L. STEELE
Amelie's Recipes
Amelie’s Chocolate Pancakes
Prep:
5 mins
Cook:
8 mins
Total:
13 mins
Servings:
4
Yield:
8 pancakes
Ingredients:
•1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
•¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
•3 tablespoons white sugar
•¼ teaspoon salt
•2 eggs, at room temperature
•1 ¼ cups milk
•½ teaspoon vanilla
Method:
1.Add milk, water, eggs, flour, cocoa powder, and sugar to a blender in the order listed. Cover securely, the turn the blender on and process until completely smooth.
2.Heat a crepe pan or large round pan over medium high heat. Spray with non-stick spray, and add just about 1/3-1/2 cup of batter. Tilt it quickly but carefully, evenly distributing the batter over the pan.
3.Cook for about 1 minute until the bottom is dry and cooked, then flip and cook another 30-60 seconds until the second side is cooked. Exact cook time will depend on the temperature of your pan.
4.Repeat until all batter has been used and serve with fruit and whipped cream as desired.
5.Leftovers can be store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and reheat perfectly!
Amelie's tip: If you want a bigger chocolate flavor, drizzle them with chocolate sauce.
Amelie’s Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep:
15 mins
Cook:
10 mins
Total:
25 mins
Servings:
40
Yield:
40 cookies
Ingredients:
•1 cup butter, softened
•1 cup white sugar
•1 cup brown sugar
•2 eggs
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•1 teaspoon salt
•1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
•3 cups chocolate chips
Method:
1.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2.In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place them one inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4.Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Amelie's tip: Whisk coffee grounds or espresso powder into the flour and you'll score amazing mocha notes.
Or you can fold in your favorite snack food (hehehe – you know what mine is right? *smirk*)
Amelie's Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe
Prep:
15 mins
Cook:
25 mins
Additional:
10 mins
Total:
50 mins
Servings:
18
Yield:
12 muffins
Ingredients:
•cooking spray
•1 cup brown sugar
•6 tablespoons butter, softened
•6 tablespoons ground flax seed
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•2 eggs
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon baking soda
•3 ripe bananas, mashed
•1 cup chocolate chips
•1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Spray muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
3.Beat sugar, butter, flax seed, vanilla, and eggs together in a bowl until smooth and creamy.
4.Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together in a separate bowl. Mix creamed sugar mixture, into the flour mixture until fully incorporated and batter is stiff. Beat bananas into batter with an electric mixer on low.
5. Fold chocolate chips and walnuts into batter; spoon into the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 3/4 full.
5.Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Amelie's tip: Good when promptly served with vanilla ice cream; even better with dark chocolate ice-cream, yum!
Amelie's Apple Pie
Prep:
25 mins
Cook:
45 mins
Total:
1 hour 10 mins
Servings:
8
Yield:
1 - 9 inch pie
Ingredients:
•1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
•½ cup vegetable oil
•2 tablespoons cold milk
•2 teaspoons brown sugar
•1 teaspoon salt
•6 Fuji apples, cored and sliced
•¾ cup white sugar
•3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
•½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
•½ cup all-purpose flour
•1 cup brown sugar
•½ cup butter
Method
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.To Make Crust: In a large bowl, mix together 1 ½ flour, oil, milk, 1 ½ teaspoons sugar and salt until evenly blended. Pat mixture into a 9-inch pie pan, spreading the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Crimp edges of the dough around the perimeter.
3.To Make Filling: Mix 3/4th cup sugar with cinnamon, nutmeg, and 3 tablespoons flour. Sprinkle over apples and toss to coat. Spread evenly in unbaked pie shell.
4.To Make Topping: Using a pastry cutter, mix together ½ cup flour, ½ cup sugar and butter until evenly distributed and crumbly in texture. Sprinkle over apples.
5.Put pie in the oven on a cookie sheet to catch the juices that may spill over. Bake 45 minutes.
Amelie's tip: When I am baking at home, I often take a shortcut and use a frozen pie crust. Why not huh? Keep it simple.
Have your own recipe for apple pie? Share in my reader group HERE
Free Books
Hello, I'm L. Steele aka Laxmi.
I love writing about alphaholes.
I love reading about them even more, ha!
In fact, I LOVE smirky pants, possessive, growly jerkfaces so much...that I created my own group where I could talk about them all day long... No judgement! What happens here... Stays here... *swear* Want to join the fun and hang out with fellow ALPHAHOLICS like me *smirk*? JOIN MY READER GROUP HERE
Read my Books HERE
Claim your FREE contemporary romance book. Click HERE
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.