Free Heelin' — Diane Vallere

National bestselling author Diane Vallere delivers humor and charm in this prequel short story about the meet-cute of soon-to-be amateur sleuth Samantha Kidd and shoe designer Nick Taylor. Go back to Samantha's retail buying days and experience the chemistry (and complications) between these colleagues-turned-companions! ABOUT FREE HEELIN':In the beginning, there were shoes...Before she gave up her glamorous career, before she moved back to the town where she grew up, before she was suspected of murder, designer shoe buyer Samantha Kidd thought the only thing needed to do her job well was a professional attitude, a high taste level, and a little careful planning. But when she sets out on day one of market week, prepared to wow her boss, there was one thing she wasn't prepared for: the serial charm of shoe designer Nick Taylor.FIRST PAGE:It wasn't the sort of thing I usually did, but the temptation was too great.There weren't many people on the street at this hour, a few trucks and taxis scattered around the street, a few strangers getting their first cup of coffee like me. It was April in New York. Not a particularly pretty April, either. Dirty wet streets stained the hem of my pants regularly and an assortment of sidewalk grates kept my stilettos either chewed up or at the shoe repair on a rotating basis. Maybe that's why I was so drawn to the pair of shoes on the side of the street.Really, I was just being helpful.A stack of pristine white shoe boxes sat on the curb. The top box had fallen off the stack and lay on its side. One shoe had fallen out from between layers of milky white tissue paper printed with the words Put Spring in Your Step in opaque quite letters. The shoe itself was beautiful. It was a black strappy sandal with a delicate white leather poppy on the front. Tiny black beads of jet crystal were sewn to the inside of the flower. The sock lining was charcoal and white pinstripe. The whimsical combination of patterns–pinstripe and poppy, put a smile on my face. I picked up the errant shoe with one hand and the box with another and nestled the shoe back between the tissue paper. It was the right thing to do.If I didn't do it, it might get ruined. It might get dirty. It might get—It was my size.BOOKS IN THE HUMOROUS SAMANTHA KIDD MYSTERY SERIES:#0 FREE HEELIN' (short story)#1 DESIGNER DIRTY LAUNDRY#2 BUYER, BEWARE#3 THE BRIM REAPER#4 SOME LIKE IT HAUTE#5 GRAND THEFT RETRO#6 PEARLS GONE WILD#7 CEMENT STILETTOS#8 PANTY RAID#9 UNION JACKED#10 SLAY RIDE#11 TOUGH LUXE#12 FAHRENHEIT 501#13 STARK RAVING MOD#14 GILT TRIP#15 RANCH DRESSINGTRY ONE TODAY!