King and Mia aren't strangers. Everyone knows everyone in the small Maine town they live in, however, their age difference kept them from traveling in the same circle when they were growing up. Brief glimpses and encounters, a long-distance look, and their attraction was palpable but never acted on because of their marital statuses.
Twenty years have gone by, and this is the first time they are both single at the same time. That freedom allows them to pursue and act on their insane attraction, and nothing holds them back.
It's instant. It's hot. And it changes everything.
Excerpt
“Are you out of your f**king mind?” he yelled over the ruckus.
Mia looked at his lips as if she was watching them form the words, and King noticed a small smile grace her features. Did she recognize him? Probably not—it had been ten years since they’d last seen each other, and then it had just been in passing. But even so, he could not help but be drawn to her full, pouty lips and the dimples that accompanied them when she smiled. How had he forgotten those cute dimples?
He snapped his gaze back up to hers, still too enraged to acknowledge his unexpected reaction to her.
“My dog ran off!” she shouted back at him, tugging against his grasp. “I was trying to chain her up, and then she just got away from me.”
King scowled as he pointed out the danger of her current situation. “Do I look like I give a shit? My crew is cutting down trees in this area! You want to kill yourself?”
She surveyed their surroundings before answering, “No, I’m nowhere near where they’re working.” She pulled once more against his grip. “Precious is getting away from me.”
King couldn’t believe he was having a conversation with this woman about a dog named Precious, while trees were being cut down around them in plain sight. He could hear enormous branches snapping off trees and slamming to the ground with a resounding thud. At any moment, a tree could fall on them and crush them into the earth. In frustration, he grabbed hold of her flannel shirt in case she got it in her head to take off again.
“Let’s go.” He was done trying to reason with her, irritated that they were wasting time.
“No.” She dug in her feet and refused to budge.
With no other options, King did the only thing that made sense at the moment. A man who chose action over words, he bent down, picked her up in a fireman’s hold, and carried her out of the area to his truck. Mia protested loudly as he walked away with her dangling over his shoulder. King grinned, but he couldn’t make out her words until they were further away from the noise.
“Put me down, you neanderthal! You can’t do this!”
