Suddenly in Love (Lake Haven#1) Read Free Page B

massive renovation project of the historic Ross house Aunt Bev was trying to land.
    The former meant Mia’s well-meaning mother would be in her business 24/7 instead of the current 18/7, which she was able to achieve because Mia had also ended up in her childhood bedroom. In her old twin bed. Beneath some of her early attempts at painting and the dried-up corsage she’d pinned to the wall after the sophomore dance.
    The latter meant she was more or less out of the town’s eye, because the Ross house was up on a hill at the edge of town overlooking the lake. Someone had bought the historic landmark and wanted to redo it completely, from attic to basement. “I’m going to need someone up there every day to keep an eye on the workers and to accept deliveries,” Aunt Bev had said, confident that she’d get the gig.
    That didn’t sound very appealing to the artist in Mia, but it was work, and honestly, the fewer people around town who saw her, the fewer who would suspect her return to East Beach was not a triumphant one and, really, an Olympic-caliber dive into failure.
    Worse was that Mia was beginning to believe she’d never be anything but a failure. The interview with August Brockway had done a crippling number on her head and had filled her with self-doubt that was continuing to morph into something much larger and more sinister.
    Anyway, Mia had taken the job with Aunt Bev, and so far, she’d spent two days at the Ross house measuring rooms and taking pictures so they could firm up the bid.
    This morning, Mia was waiting for Aunt Bev to pick her up, because in addition to coming home without her mojo, Mia had also come home without a car. She was standing just outside Lakeshore Coffee with her tray of lattes when the John Beverly Home Interiors and Landscape Design shop van came rumbling down the road. Mia stepped off the curb to dart across the street. Thank God she glanced over her shoulder, because out of nowhere, a black roadster came screaming around the corner. With a shriek, Mia jumped back up on the curb. “Hey!” she shouted as the car pulled up outside the coffee shop. Mia stood a moment to catch her breath, to make sure she was all there and hadn’t spilled the lattes.
    The door of the black car swung open, and one long leg in tight jeans and Dingo boots appeared, followed by another one. A man jackknifed himself out of the car, pulled his ballcap low over his eyes, hidden behind dark shades, and started striding for the coffee shop.
    “Hey!” Mia shouted again. “Hey you !”
    The man paused. He slowly turned toward the sound of her voice . . . so slowly that Mia had the idea he was high. He was tall, and his hair, tucked behind his ears, almost reached his shoulders. Mia started toward him, and he swayed backwards with a groan before bellowing, “What?” as he threw his arms wide.
    Whoa. As if she’d done something wrong. “You almost hit me!” Mia said, her breath still short from fright. She pointed at his car with the tray of lattes.
    He looked at his car. Then at her. “But I didn’t hit you.”
    “You almost hit me!”
    “Fine, I almost hit you. Anything else almost happen?”
    “Are you kidding? You should be more careful!”
    “Baby, I should be a lot of things. But maybe you should stay out of the street.” With that, he turned around and strolled into the coffee shop.
    Mia was still gaping after him in disbelief when the blare of a horn startled her badly.
    It was Aunt Bev, who had pulled up across the street. “Get in, get in!” Aunt Bev shouted out the window, as if she were pregnant and about to give birth.
    “Oh my God, is that necessary ?” With her free hand pressed against her heart, Mia crossed the street and got into the van. She hadn’t even shut the door before Aunt Bev was taking off.
    Mia squealed when the door got away from her and swung out wide, then braced herself against the dash and caught it as it swung back in, pulling it firmly shut. “Aunt Bev,