Macey Burns is in Lost Beach, Texas for a fresh start after
her TV reporting career derailed. She’s hired by its tourism board to film
commercials to attract visitors to their beautiful island. Unfortunately,
things get off to an unsettling start when a woman is murdered, and Macey finds
out she’s renting the woman’s former beach cottage. Detective Owen Breda is
lead in the investigation and somehow, they keep bumping into each other, their
paths cross over and over.
Owen is drawn in by Macey from the start, but the murder
makes pursuing her difficult, especially when they need to keep a tight lid on
the investigation. However, they’re thrown together through the investigation
and Owen grows more attached with every encounter, their chemistry is palpable,
but he’d like to keep Macey out of harm’s way.
Even though Macey’s out of the investigative reporting gig,
it seems like she’s in the middle of this murder case left and right, and she
can’t shake the eerie feelings she has staying at the dead woman’s cottage. Macey’s vowed to make her film production
company her priority, making a success out of the business she’s sunk her
savings into, and having a romantic relationship is a distraction she doesn’t
want to have, and yet… Every time Macey thinks to rebuff Owen she doesn’t.
She’s so attracted to him despite her intentions.
Excerpt:
Macey blinked at the windshield, shocked. Her heart raced
as she tried to catch her breath. The car was tilted, and the headlights
illuminated a patch of weeds and a gravelly strip of shoulder.
Macey put the gearshift in park and shoved open the door.
She started to get out, but the seat belt yanked her back. Unbuckling it, she
slid out. Rain pelted her as she looked around in a daze.
What the hell had happened? One second she'd been driving
along and the next second it was like aliens had seized control of the car. And
she'd definitely felt a bump. Had she hit something?
Glancing at the road, she saw no other traffic. She
retrieved her cell phone and slammed the door. Her wet flip-flops thwacked
against the gravel as she walked around the front of the Honda and checked for
damage. No dents. No sign of an animal.
She stopped beside the front bumper. The right tire was
flat.
"Crap."
She switched on her cell phone's flashlight and aimed it at
the tire. Rain streamed down her face and neck. What now? She turned off the
flashlight and called Josh, but he didn't pick up, so she sent him a text:
SOS! Flat tire. Call me.
A car raced past and sprayed her with water. She yelped and
whirled around, but the driver didn't even slow. Cursing, she glanced up and
down the highway. This end of the island was fairly desolate-mostly campgrounds
and nature parks. She'd passed a marina, but that was a ways back.
When she'd planned her trip down here, she had wanted
seclusion. After weeks of scouring listings, she'd been ecstatic when a
long-term rental popped up on the island's north end, just footsteps from the
beach. The idea of being away from town, surrounded by sand and waves and the
soundtrack of nature, had been immensely appealing. But now she wasn't sure.
Maybe she should have followed Josh's advice and rented an apartment in town
for the summer.
Macey shivered and rubbed her bare arms, chilled from the
rain despite the warm temperature. Her tank top and jeans were already soaked
through, and she was out here alone and stranded.
I can handle it.
Ha. Famous last words.
She went back around the Honda and reached inside once
again, this time to pop the trunk. It was a new-to-her car, and she didn't know
the spare tire situation, but surely there was something in back. Macey had
helped a boyfriend change a tire in college once. Well, maybe not helped, but
she'd watched, and it had seemed pretty straightforward.
She tromped back to the trunk and slid aside the tripod and
the suitcase filled with camera equipment. After finding the corner tab, she
peeled back the layer of carpet.
Score! A spare tire, along with a heavy metal tool-a lug
wrench?-and what had to be a jack.
But the spare seemed . . . off. She frowned down at the
anemic-looking tire. Pressing her fingers against it, she confirmed her
suspicion.
The spare was flat, too.
"Crap," she said again.
Macey checked her phone. Still nothing from Josh. She hated
asking a man to rescue her, but it was freaking pouring, and she was out of
options.
Another lightning strobe, followed by a clap of thunder.
Then a jagged white bolt zapped down from above.
She looked up at the sky, awestruck. The ferocious beauty
of it reminded her of why she'd been attracted to Lost Beach in the first
place. She'd been lured by the film project, of course, which would pay her
bills while she got her life sorted. But beyond that, she'd been attracted by
the dramatic juxtaposition of nature and people. She'd been lured by the rugged
Texas coast and one of the last long stretches of untamed beach and twenty-foot
dunes.
Rainwater trickled down the front of her shirt, reminding
her of her plight. She stared down at the useless tire.
Her trip was off to a rocky start. She wasn't
superstitious-at least not usually-and she refused to take tonight as a bad
omen. She was here for the entire summer, and no matter what happened she
planned to make the best of it.
A flash of light had her turning around. A pair of
headlights approached, high and wide apart, like a pickup truck. The truck
slowed, and she felt a ripple of unease.
But maybe this was just what she needed-some Good Samaritan
here to help her.
The truck rolled to a stop and the driver's-side door
opened.
Macey squinted into the glare. Nerves fluttered in her
stomach as a man got out. Tall, wide shoulders, baseball cap. She couldn't see
his face, only his towering silhouette against the light as he walked toward
her.
As he got closer, she saw that he was very tall-six-three,
at least, and he easily outweighed her by a hundred pounds. Oftentimes Macey
liked being short because people underestimated her. This was not one of those
times.
"Need a hand?"
