Blue Beech

Dallas Barnes is tall, dark, and handsome. He's also scarred, rough, and broken down by burdens. A single dad. A widower. A lost soul. We found each other in the back of a dark pub. He brought the whiskey. I brought the bad decisions. He called it a mistake. I vowed never to speak to him again. That vow is broken with one test. Two pink lines have turned my life upside down. One night can change everything.

Running into an ex you haven't seen in nearly a decade is never a good time. Running into your ex while he's arresting you is humiliating. The handcuffs close around my fists at the same time he promises to hate me until he takes his last breath. I can't blame him. He pleaded for me not to walk away. He doesn't know leaving him broke my heart as much as it did his. It wasn't for me. Rather, it was for someone else.

Kyle Lane is the town's hottest cop. He's also the man I've despised since high school. Each morning, he stands on his porch with an annoying smirk on his perfect face. He's made it his life's mission to get under my skin. Until one day, he's no longer on his porch but on mine. He claims he wants to redeem himself for ruining my reputation. My instincts tell me to stay away, but with each morning he shows up, it becomes harder and harder to resist his charm. I was never supposed to fall in love with my neighbor and once he finds out my secret, we'll forever be enemies.

The first time I meet Maliki Bridges, I'm 18, and he kicks me out of his bar. Two years later, he does it again. He's the town's hottest bartender. He thinks I'm a spoiled rich girl. I think he has a stick up his ass. Once I'm old enough to drink, we become friends. Nothing more... Until we become roommates. It's a bad idea, moving in with him, but any opportunity I get to be around him I'll take. Consequences be damned.

The first time we spoke he tried to bribe me, and I called his bluff. That became friendship … then first loves. I steal his heart. He steals mine. But we keep that our secret, hidden in fear of ruining our friendship. Until one night, we cross a line. I have secrets I never want him to know. But he won’t allow me to push him away. He’s ready to become more than friends, but will that change when he learns what I’ve done?