Molly Maddox

James:
My assignment is simple: go to the Cape and seal the real estate deal for my most important client. No problem. I’m good at my job, I know how to close a sale, and this time won’t be any different.

Until I meet Sawyer, the sexy young bartender I accidentally kiss in the broom closet. Turns out, he’s one of the owners I’m here to negotiate with.

Okay, so that complicates things. As does the fact that he doesn’t want to sell. Or that we can’t keep our hands off each other despite being on opposite sides. And most of all… that I might be falling for him even though I know better. I’ve made the mistake of falling for a younger man before and I won’t do it again.

Sawyer:
For me, family is everything, and nothing represents ours more than the Sea Sprite, the motel that’s been in my family for eighty years. Sure, others (cough*James*cough) may describe it as rundown or derelict or in desperate need of a wrecking ball. But I call it our legacy.

I’ve got plans — big plans to renovate the motel back to its vintage glory. The only thing standing in my way is James Allen, the fancy-shmancy lawyer from New York with his adorable smile, jaw dropping assets, and his client’s millions of dollars.

James seems hellbent on destroying my future.
But maybe there’s a way for us to build a new one together…

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Even as mad as I was at the man, I still wanted him. Which made me even angrier.

“You lied to me,” I hissed.

“I didn’t lie,” he said.

I started to argue, but he held up a hand. “But I wasn’t honest with you either. I’m sorry.”

The fact that he’d admitted that point took a little bit of the wind out of my sails. I opened my mouth to respond, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d come out here prepared for a fight, and here he was capitulating. “What the hell?” I asked, letting out a loud breath and dropping onto one of the wooden benches overlooking the wide strip of lawn leading to the dunes. The sea was calm today, which didn’t match my mood in the least.

I passed a hand down my face, trying to collect myself and rein in my rage. “Were you specifically keeping it from me in hopes of—”

“No!” He cut me off as if he didn’t want to hear me ask if he’d been using me. He sat next to me, close enough that I could feel his nearness, but far enough away that we weren’t quite touching. “I’m sorry, I… I just…” James’s eyes bounced from me to the green-blue waves in the distance and back. “I’m sorry.” He looked down at his clasped hands in his lap for a moment before chuckling softly and meeting my eyes.

There was an intensity in the way that he looked at me, as if I was the only thing that existed in the world at that moment. “I didn’t know who you were until you said your name at the end. I… I wasn’t expecting you.”

I let out a breath. While the sea was calm, my heart was anything but. It felt like the current was picking up, causing little breakers to crash here and there in my chest. Talk about unexpected.

And I almost fell for it. Almost let myself lean forward, drawn by those eyes and the smell of him that cut through the briny ocean breeze. Something warm and woodsy and inviting.

But he wasn’t here to flirt with me or fall prey to my seduction fantasies, I reminded myself. He was here to rip my family’s legacy out from under me. I didn’t have much time to change my uncles’ minds. There wasn’t a moment to spare, and I sure as hell couldn’t let this lawyer distract me.

I cleared my throat and stood, putting distance between us. Because otherwise I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from reaching for him. From running my fingers up the column of his throat and into his hair and pulling him closer until I could feel his ragged breaths against my lips and—

I took a step back. Then another. Shoved my hands into my pockets for good measure. “Um, same. So… I’ve gotta…” I looked around, desperate to come up with an excuse. I had a million chores on my day’s to-do list, and at the moment I couldn’t think of a single one. “A thing. That I have to do. Now. So… See ya.”

James called out for me, but I straight-up pretended like I didn’t hear him and bolted for the parking lot. It wasn’t until I was in my jeep and halfway to town before I realized that all of my stuff was still back at the inn. I slammed my hand on the steering wheel before turning onto Skaket Way and pulling to the side of the gravelly road. I leaned my forehead onto the steering wheel and blew out a trembling breath.

Focus.

About Lucy:

After enjoying creative writing as a child, Lucy didn’t write her first novel until she was over 40 years old. Her debut novel, Borrowing Blue, was published in the autumn of 2016. Lucy has an English Literature degree from Vanderbilt University, but that doesn’t hold a candle to the years and years of staying up all night reading tantalizing novels on her own. She has three children, plays tennis, and hates folding laundry. While her husband is no shmoopy romance hero, he is very good at math, cooks a mean lasagne, has gorgeous eyes, looks hot in his business clothes, and makes her laugh every single day.

Lucy hopes you enjoy sexy heroes as much as she does. Happy reading!

About Molly:

Molly Maddox is the pen name for a New York Times bestselling author who started writing at an early age because her older sister, Lucy Lennox, was a writer and Molly wanted to be like Lucy in all ways (she still does). When she’s not writing, Molly likes to cook, read, take pictures of her dog and cat cuddling, and finds an odd satisfaction in folding sheets so that the top sheet is indistinguishable from the bottom sheet.

She loves all things romance and is grateful every day she gets to write for a living.

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