Book excerpt

Coming back home to Haven Point was the last thing bestselling writer Elliot Bailey thought he’d ever do. But the book he’s writing now is his most personal one yet, and it’s drawn him back to the woman he can’t get out of his mind. Seeing Megan again is harder than he expected and it brings up feelings he’d thought were long buried. Could this be his chance to win his first love?

Elliot Bailey had always been fascinated by Megan Hamilton. With each passing day he spent living next to her, he was finding her irresistible.

There was something so enticing about her, something fresh and bright and genuine. In the mornings when he was running, he would see her from a distance as she greeted some of the inn guests or walked her grumpy-looking dog and he had the weirdest feeling, warm and soft.

At night, he would look over while he was working and see her lights on next door and he would remember what Verla Mc-Cracken had said, that she was a fan of his books. The idea of her reading the words he had written somehow inspired him to work harder. He had heard writers talk about their primary reader, the person they pictured while they wrote, imaging reading their work. Now that person was Megan.

This fascination with her had to stop. It was completely ridiculous. He had been telling himself that for years. She was not his type at all. He preferred professional, composed, intellectual women whose agendas closely matched his own. Not sweet-faced photographers who had once been in love with his brother.

It didn’t matter that he was drawn to her. The feeling was definitely not mutual. She made no secret of her dislike for him. She thought he was uptight, rigid, unfeeling. Mr. Roboto. If she only knew.

Added to that, now she was furious with him for digging into Elizabeth’s disappearance. He supposed he couldn’t really blame her. She was waiting for a response, he realized. It took a moment to remember the question.

“You asked me what kind of woman I think you are. I think you’re a caring, compassionate woman who loves her brother and is loyal to him. I respect that, Megan.”