If you haven’t read the prologue you can catch up. Here’s chapter one!

Feel Welcome

Nine months later

Jake let himself into the apartment above his parents’ garage. No one had lived in it since his father’s brother when Jake was a teen. Uncle Patrick’s wife had kicked his butt out for cheating and he had nowhere to go. Since it wasn’t the only time Uncle Patrick had been kicked out by his wife, it had been habitable on and off in the past ten years.

He looked around now at the fresh gray paint on the walls, the thick chemical smell in the air telling him his parents were trying to make him feel welcome.

Trying to give him a place to call his own when he had no idea where he wanted to be.

He flipped the lights on even though there was enough sunlight coming through the big window up front.

The place looked smaller now through adult eyes than it did when he was a teen and begging his parents to let him move in here.

They’d laughed and said no way. He’d never expected any different since his older brothers had asked, begged, and pleaded for a chance to live in the apartment and had been told the same thing, “You’re teens and too young to be on your own. We don’t care if it’s just above the garage, we don’t trust you enough.”

Since he and his brothers were typical teenage boys and caused enough grief at times, he couldn’t fault his parents for their opinion.

His phone went off in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see his mother calling him. He’d purposely planned it so he’d arrive while they were all at work, allowing himself the time to gather his thoughts before he saw them.

He silenced the phone and put it away. He wasn’t ready to talk to anyone yet.

Six months of traveling hadn’t cleared his head any. Everyone was worried about him, he knew, but the truth was, he was worried about himself.

Rob’s death hit him hard. He finished out his last tour and left. Staying at Air B & B’s hadn’t done much for the solitude he wanted. After years of being surrounded by his fellow soldiers…he thought the opposite was what he needed.

The truth was, he didn’t know what he needed other than it was time to come home.

Was he dreading that it was in time for the holidays? Not really. But he was here and he had to start making some decisions in life.

He took a deep breath and walked into the big room, saw boxes in the corner, his possessions that were shipped when he left the service. Traveling with clothes and anything else that fit in his SUV was enough for him.

As he made his way to the little galley kitchen that still had the same dingy white Formica counters, he pulled open the fridge to see it stocked with water, soda, and a six pack of beer. Thank you, Dad, he thought, reaching in and pulling out the bottle of chocolate coffee stout. It’d hit the spot on this chilly day.

He twisted the top and put the bottle to his lips. It was after lunch, just because he hadn’t eaten didn’t mean anything.

He moved to the other end of the space and pushed the door to the bedroom open with his boot. A queen-sized bed was pushed against the wall, a simple blue comforter on it. There were even curtains on the windows. He had his mom to thank for that.

A few more steps brought him to the bathroom. Yeah, it was smaller than he remembered, but would suit his needs with a sink, toilet, and shower stall.

He was walking back to the living room when he heard footsteps coming up the wooden stairs. So much for having time to prepare for family.

Though he was expecting his mother, even his father, it was his baby sister, Alexa, standing there.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” he asked her.

“Really?” she said, running forward and jumping into his arms. He missed this. He needed it. And he hugged her back and kissed her forehead. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”

As welcome homes came, this was pretty awesome. “I thought for sure Mom would be here.”

“She wanted to be. Everyone did. But it was decided everyone would wait and give you space.”

He laughed. “And yet here you are in my arms.”

“Have I ever listened to them before?” she asked, moving back and pulling the beer out of his hand, then taking a big swig of it.

“Are you even legal yet?”

She put one hand on her hip and shot him a look that almost had him taking a step back. “I’m twenty-four and you know it.”

“You still look ten to me.”

She wrinkled her nose adorably. He’d missed her more than he thought he would when he left home thirteen years ago at eighteen like the eager graduate ready to be a hero. He was no one’s hero now.

“How are you doing, Jake?”

Figures she’d cut right to the chase. “About what everyone expects, I’m sure.”

He moved away from her and back to the front door, deciding it was as good of a time as any to bring up his clothes. Maybe it’d stop the conversation.

It didn’t. She followed him. “That isn’t an answer.”

“It’s the answer you’re getting,” he said back, his lips twitching. It’d been a long time since he’d felt the need—or even desire—to smile.

“You always were the stubborn one.”

Alexa grabbed one of his duffel bags and flung it over her shoulder, the weight of it making her wobble a little. He wanted to pull it away from her but knew they’d get into a little tug of war until she got her way. She always got her way with her older brothers.

“Look who is talking. That bag probably weighs more than you.”

She snorted. “Can I help it if I’m the petite one of the group? It’s not fair Grey, Colt, and you got all the tall genes.”

“How are Grey and Colt doing?”

“They’d be here if they could,” she said of their older brothers.

“I’m sure Grey is in surgery and Colt in court,” Jake said. A doctor and a lawyer were hard to live up to, so he’d decided to not even try and went in the opposite direction. Stupid on his part when he thought of it now.

“Everyone will be here for dinner tonight.”

He fought the roll from escaping his eyes, barely. Part of him expected it, the other part wanted to avoid it like a skunk on his doorstep. Then he realized the sooner everyone saw him, the sooner they’d let him be.

“So why aren’t you working?” he asked her again.

“I took the day off. Someone had to be here to welcome you home and it was darn well going to be me.”

“I thought it was frowned on for teachers to take personal days,” he said, taking the bag off her shoulder now that they were back in the apartment. He’d followed her up to make sure the weight of it didn’t make her topple backward. If it did, he’d catch her before she broke her scrawny little neck.

“I don’t know where you heard that.”

His sister was an elementary school teacher and was probably close to the same height as some of her fifth grade students. “Guess I was misinformed.”

“Guess you were.” Alexa looked around the empty place. “Mom wanted to get some furniture in here for you, but Dad said no. That you’d take care of it yourself.”

“Yeah. The bed is good for now. I’ll pick up a couch and chair or something this week. I don’t need much.” He’d probably been the least needy kid of the four of them. He’d always been called simple and it was the truth.

“Is there a TV in one of those boxes?” she asked. “You’ve never been without a TV.”

He tipped back his beer that he’d been carrying with him like a pacifier. “I didn’t have a TV in the service when I wanted it. Times change.”

“You’re not in the army anymore, Jake.”

“No,” he said quietly. “I’m not.”

Her long brown hair was falling over her shoulder like it did when she was a kid. He reached forward and pushed it back. “You’re not okay, are you?”

“I’m getting there,” he said. What more could he say?

She took a deep breath like she wanted to argue with him. Or ask more questions, but instead said, “I’ll help you unpack.”

“Or you can go get me some lunch. I haven’t eaten anything yet today.”

“And you’re drinking?” she asked, grabbing the bottle from him. She finished the last bit before he could and he laughed.

“Lunch?” he said again.

“I’ll go to the house and make us both a sandwich and try to find some cookies or chips with it. Then I’ll come back and help you unpack. No reason you have to do it alone.”

He watched her walk out the door. Yeah, no reason to do it alone anymore, even if he wanted to.

If you haven’t read the prologue, you can do that now to catch up. Here is the first paragraph! Grab the book while you can for just 99 cents, then it’s going to $2.99!

So Infrequent

Three years later

Reed walked through the front door of the family construction firm that would be all his responsibility one day, past the receptionist who always waved and winked at him. She’d been there since his father started the business and was old enough to be his mother. Hell, she was there when he was born.

He grinned and nodded his head, then made his way down the hall to the accounting department.

He hated dealing with the paperwork on the builds, even the vendors, but he needed to know the cost of a generator that had been purchased and installed in a new build last month since the owners were complaining about it. He’d like to push the complaints off to someone else too, but the truth was, as big as their firm was and as wealthy as they’d all become, his father taught him to always deal with the customers one on one. It was that little something extra that allowed them to grow as they had.

“Taylor,” he said to the newest member of his team. “Do you have a second to look something up for me?”

Her head popped up from behind her computer monitor, she took her reading glasses off her face, and he had to stop the saliva from dribbling out of his mouth.

Clear blue eyes were now staring at him, a few freckles on her nose and high cheekbones. Her dirty blonde hair was falling over her shoulders and she was saying something to him.

“What?” he asked.

“I asked what you needed me to look up for you.”

“Oh,” he said, smiling. He’d been flirting with her for weeks, but she never gave him the time of day. Once in a while she’d grin or laugh, but it was so infrequent he didn’t really count it in his mind. “Can you pull up the cost of the generator for the Minkton build we did a few months ago? The owners are questioning the cost because they don’t like the generator.”

“Sure,” she said, “just give me a second.”

Her voice was soft, a caress that just washed over his body more times than it should. He’d look at her and heat would build in places his body loved to feel it. Too bad he couldn’t get her to feel it too.

Reed walked over and sat in the chair in front of her desk while she looked it up. He took that time to glance over the items on the desk and pinned to the wall. Nothing of a personal nature at all, giving him no clue to her life.

There was no ring on her left hand, so he suspected she was single but hadn’t asked yet. He wouldn’t until she showed some sign of being interested in him. Or even talking to him for anything other than work-related questions.

She’d only been employed here two months, so time yet to get to know her better. Until then there was no shortage of women he could entertain himself with for the night when the time arose. It arose often, but he didn’t give in to it much anymore. He found he didn’t enjoy the headache that came along with it now. Of course heartache was all he seemed to experience in the past few years.

“Here it is,” she said after she’d been clicking around on the computer, and now she swiveled away and opened up the filing cabinet. It gave him time to appreciate the view of her curvy backside in some nicely fitted jeans. He’d keep those thoughts to himself though. Then remember them when he was in bed later tonight.

She handed the invoice to him. He looked it over and said, “I’m just going to make a copy of this and then I’ll give it back to you.”

“I can do that if you’d like,” she offered.

“I’ve got it. Thanks.” He stood up and went to the copy room, ran it through the machine, and then returned the original to her.

She reached an elegant hand toward him, void of any polish or jewelry. Now that he thought of it, she was pretty simple at the heart of it.

She always had jeans on like every other employee in the building, but she didn’t wear a lot of makeup and the only jewelry he’d seen on her was a small pair of gold hoops in her ears when she pushed her hair behind her ears like she was doing now. He wondered if he made her nervous, but doubted it. Nothing seemed to ruffle her feathers, and though he’d hated that trait with Whitney—and most women—he found it kind of sexy on Taylor.

“So how do you like it here?” he asked. Anything to find a reason to stay a little longer and maybe find out something about her. Why? He had no clue, when he never really wanted to know more about a woman other than directions to her house after he picked her up in the bar.

“It’s nice. I like it a lot.”

“That’s good,” he said. “Are you getting used to the area?” He knew she’d moved here in February, just a few weeks before she started. At the time he’d interviewed her she’d relocated to the area, but he didn’t ask why, nor could he really during the interview.

“It’s a little cooler than what I’m used to, but I might enjoy the changing seasons.”

“There probably weren’t that many seasons in Florida other than warm, hot, and holy blazing hell,” he said, smiling at her. He at least saw that was where her last job was located on her resume.

“That about sums it up. But so far I’m enjoying spring. The tail end of winter wasn’t to my liking though. How hot will it get here in the summer?” Taylor asked.

He wanted to sit back down but didn’t as that might be pushing it. “Upstate New York averages in the mid-eighties, but it can get in the high nineties or low seventies. Nothing is really consistent.”

“I can work with that,” she said.

He nodded. “That’s good. I think you’ll appreciate it here.”

“I’ve got no plans of moving even if I don’t appreciate it,” she said dryly. He wasn’t sure what that meant and didn’t feel right asking just yet. Damn, there were so many things he wanted to ask her.

“Have a good day,” he said, saluting her and walking out.

***

“Isn’t he just so freaking hot?”

Taylor looked over at Wendy who shared the office with her. “Who?” she asked.

“Reed, silly. The guy that was just in here smiling and chatting with you.”

“Oh. I suppose,” she said.

The last thing she was planning on doing was looking at any man right now. She was firmly set against men in general. Damn Jack for making her life miserable.

“Are you blind?” Wendy said.

“So he’s good looking,” Taylor said. “If you like the rough around the edges type of guy. He strikes me as a player anyway.”

Wendy laughed. “He never used to be that way, but you hit it right on the head just now.”

Despite her best intentions, she asked, “What changed?” Wendy always wanted to talk or gossip and Taylor felt bad she never gave into it. She never spoke much about her own life and wanted to keep it that way. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to find out more about the owner since he always seemed to be popping up around her when she least expected it.

Wendy got up and walked into the hallway, looked up and down, and then came back. “I wanted to make sure he was gone,” she said with her voice lower than normal as she sat in front of Taylor’s desk now.

“Why?”

“Because no one wants to be caught talking about it if they can prevent it, but it’s not a secret at all. It’s just you weren’t here when it happened.”

“When what happened?” Taylor asked, her interest piqued. She knew Reed was in line to inherit the business from his father. A huge construction firm that built and sold hundreds of houses a year—and they weren’t small houses, but more like grandiose higher income houses—not to mention remodels. There were a lot of employees and Reed’s father worked out of an office rather than in the field, when he showed up to work at all.

She wasn’t surprised to learn Reed was in the field every day, as he didn’t fit the image of a man to sit behind a desk.

He was tall, just over six foot, dark hair, bright blue eyes that were often smiling, but cloudy at the same time. Like there were hidden emotions that he’d never want anyone to see or even ask about.

Guess she was paying more attention to her boss than she was letting on.

“Reed was engaged. Her name was Whitney Rhodes. A big time ladder-climbing attorney at McKafrey’s.”

“Really?” Taylor asked, not picturing someone like that with Reed. She could see him with airheads and bimbos. Maybe because that was what everyone said he spent his time with. Just because she wanted to stay off the gossip train didn’t mean it didn’t stop around her desk now and again.

“Yeah. Total opposites. Whitney didn’t come around here often. I think they might have been friends in high school or something and when Whitney came back to the area after law school the two of them hooked up and then ended up engaged. Something like that. Not sure the whole story there.”

Which was surprising because Wendy seemed to know the whole story about everything in this building even though she’d only been employed five years herself. “So what happened? Did they have a bad breakup?” She knew Reed wasn’t married.

“No. That might have been better.”

“I can’t believe a bad breakup is better than anything,” Taylor said, having known from experience. Damn Jack again for turning her world upside down. Not only her world but Angie’s too. Not that anyone here knew about her ex or her daughter because she didn’t want them to and had no plans of bringing it up.

“Whitney died a little over three years ago in Bali. She’d told Reed she was there for work and a hurricane hit. The devastation was horrendous. One of the largest death tolls they’d seen in years.”

“That’s horrible.” Taylor paused. “What do you mean she told Reed she was there for work? She wasn’t?”

“No,” Wendy said. “She was there on vacation with the man she was having an affair with. Both of them died when the hotel they were staying in suffered damage. The roof had been ripped off and the water damage and wind caused the structure to collapse. I think it was days before they found her body and that of the man she was with.”

“Okay, that beats a bad breakup,” Taylor mumbled and wondered how Reed could even smile now let alone be so friendly with everyone.

“Yeah. Reed was pretty dark and hard to be around for a good year. Then he slowly went back to the way he used to be, with one exception.”

“What’s that?” Taylor asked, but she had a feeling she knew the answer.

“Women. All he cares about is a good time. He makes it very clear and is upfront, but he doesn’t trust women, he doesn’t want anything to do with any woman who wants a relationship, and if you talk about relationships around him, he walks away. He doesn’t care or want to be around anyone who has what he thought he was going to get and never did.”

“More than sour then?” Taylor asked, surprised she and Reed had that in common.

“More sour than a mouthful of freshly squeezed lemon juice.”

The long awaited Hot Hunks-Steamy Romance Collection is going to start with my book! Reed’s Resolution.

Check out the Prologue

On November 30, 2016, Hurricane Nina hit Bali, Indonesia. In the aftermath of death and destruction, eight strong sexy men will realize it’s time for a change in their lives. A resolution of sorts. A contractor, personal trainer, a millionaire, a stuntman, a rock star, a thrill-seeker, an army veteran, and a trust fund prodigal will all find a way to conquer their loss and learn to love. This is Reed’s story.

Meanwhile in Albany, New York…

Reed spread the blueprints out on the makeshift sawhorse. “Josh, let’s just double-check things before we start cutting out for the windows.”

“You got it, Boss,” Josh said, smirking as he made his way closer.

Josh and he had been the best of friends since the second grade. Just because Reed was his boss now, it hadn’t changed their friendship. All it did was make Josh bust on him about the fact that his paycheck from Chapman Construction had Reed’s name on the bottom of it.

“I’m not sure why the Wilsons needed to have different sized windows in almost every room,” Reed said, shaking his head. “Some rooms, I get it, but it seems like they are doing it haphazardly.”

Josh scratched his chin like he always did when he was trying to figure out a diplomatic way to say something. Since Josh loved to gossip, there should be a raw spot on his face by now. “There is no accounting for people’s tastes, but as long as their money is green, then we’ll do what they say.”

Reed snorted. “We’ll see. So far I’ve been flexible with things, but at some point I’m sure I’m going to have to tell them no on something.”

“Just be happy they don’t want this house in the development.”

“They wouldn’t be able to. Even though my developments are more lenient than others, they know the guidelines, which is why they came to us to build out of the city limits.”

“I’m still surprised you agreed since we’ve got so many houses lined up for the development,” Josh said. “It’s not like you to take someone on when you’ve got such a big project in the works.”

Reed laughed. “Like you said, their money is green.”

And the Wilsons had a shitload more than most, allowing him to take a detour on filling up the development. He had enough crews to do all the work, but he was overseeing this one more closely.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, so he pulled it out, saw it was his sister, Rachel, then with no qualms at all, sent her to voicemail. He didn’t have time for her today.

After a few minutes, the two men verified everything and Josh went off to instruct the crew, so Reed pulled his phone out of his pocket to check Rachel’s message. “Call me now.”

Everything was always life or death in his sister’s eyes. He hit the button to call her back. “What’s up this time, Rachel?” he asked, preparing himself to hear the earth was falling out of orbit.

“Have you talked to Whitney today?”

“No. It’s hard with the time difference,” Reed said.

His fiancée, Whitney, was in Bali for work right now closing some business deal for the law firm she was trying to work her way up to partner with before she hit thirty-five. The eleven-hour time difference made it hard to talk.

Though you’d think they’d talk each morning since it was after dinner for her there. Then again, Whitney always put her job first and her personal life second. He was used to it now and it didn’t bother him as much as it once had. Not really.

“Reed,” Rachel said, her voice rising to a level that resembled nails scraping down a chalkboard. “A hurricane has been beating on Bali for hours. It’s been building for days. Don’t you watch the news? She hasn’t said anything to you at all? I just read on the internet that the streets are flooding, buildings are destroyed and the loss of life is mounting. They are talking about rain there for days on top of it.”

His heart started to pound so hard he thought it might burst out of his chest. “I haven’t talked to her since she landed there three days ago. She never said a word.”

“Why don’t you ever pay attention to those things when she is traveling?” Rachel asked.

“Because she is always traveling. I’m lucky I know where she is half the time.”

“I’ll never understand your relationship,” Rachel said. “Reed. You need to call her. Something isn’t right. I feel it deep down. You know how I get when I have these feelings.”

Drama was Rachel’s middle name so Reed wasn’t feeling quite as anxious as his sister, but he was starting to get nervous. “I’ll call her. I doubt she’ll answer.”

“Do you know what hotel she’s staying at? I found a news outlet that is listing areas the hardest hit in the city right now.”

“No, I don’t know. She never shares those details.”

“Why?” Rachel screeched.

“Because it’s details that she says mean nothing. We’ve got cell phones and computers,” he argued, but deep down he agreed with his sister. It always bothered him that Whitney never shared or talked about things when she traveled. She always argued she was busy and could be reached by her cell phone. The only problem was, Whitney never answered her phone when he called.

“Well, keep me posted on what you find out and I’ll keep following the news.”

“I’ll call her office right now,” Reed said. He hung up with his sister and then dialed Whitney’s law firm to see if they’d heard anything. If they had any news to share with him.

“McKafrey and Sons,” he heard. “This is Linda, how may I help you?”

“Linda, it’s Reed Chapman. Can you let me know the name of the hotel that Whitney is staying at in Bali?”

There was some silence and then, “I’ll see if I can find out, but I’m not sure anyone would know that here.”

“Why not?” he asked. This time his stomach was filling with dread. He’d felt something had been wrong for months and he couldn’t get Whitney to open up to him. Had she lost her job and didn’t want to tell him? No, it couldn’t be that. She’d been working an ungodly number of hours lately and the two of them had barely seen each other.

“She’s on vacation this week,” Linda said.

“What?” Reed asked, staring off into the distance. He knew he was busy, but that wouldn’t have slipped his mind.

“She said she was going to Bali with a friend. We’re all worried about her here. Someone was going to call you later today to see if you’d heard anything. The death toll has been rising for hours.”

“Thanks,” Reed said softly and disconnected the phone, then tried to call Whitney’s cell. He got a message that service was out.

He turned and walked back to his truck and left without a word, making his way to Whitney’s apartment that they didn’t share. She hadn’t even moved in with him officially, just stayed with him when she wasn’t traveling, if she had time. Lately that time was less and less.

He’d find answers there—he had to. The question was, would he really want to see what he found?