Will their whispers of love be enough for one of them to change their life forever?
Seaside Whispers by Melissa Foster
Seaside Summers #8
Releasing Nov 30th, 2016
Having a mad crush on her boss’s son, Matt Lacroux—an intriguing mix of proper gentleman and flirtatious bad boy—is probably not the smartest idea for single mother Mira Savage. Especially when the company, and her job, is already on shaky ground. But as a Princeton professor, Matt’s life is hours away from Mira’s home on Cape Cod, keeping him safely in the fantasy-only zone. And as a single mother to six-year-old Hagen, with a floundering company to save, fantasies are all she has time for.With hopes of becoming dean off the table, and too many months of longing for a woman who lived too far away to pursue, Matt’s publishing contract couldn’t have come at a better time. He heads home to Cape Cod on a brief sabbatical, intent on starting his book, and finally getting his arms around sweet, seductive Mira.
A surprise encounter leads to white-hot passions and midnight confessions. The more time Matt and Mira spend together, the deeper their relationship grows, and the love and attention Matt showers on Hagen is more than she has ever dreamed of. But Matt’s sabbatical is only temporary, and Mira’s not saving his father’s company so she can leave it behind. Will their whispers of love be enough for one of them to change their life forever?
Mira lives in the seaside with her inquisitive young son and works for Matts father's hardware store. Matt lives in Jersey as a professor and is back at seaside for a sabbatical while he gets come writing done. But if he has to be honest with himself its to also see if there is anything between him and the lovely Mira. As things form they also need to keep in mind that his sabbatical comes with a end date and what goes from there is up to Matt.
Loved it. I loved watching Matt win over Mira and her son, Hagans heart. Even though I loved seeing that relationship between Matt and Mira, it was sweet seeing Hagan and Matt working together. I loved how Hagan always had a question for everything and everyone was so patient to make sure not to give straight answers but explain things to him. I also loved that he didn't fade in the background like many others books I've read where the children seem to disappear. I thought it was interesting getting to know more about Matt and his hero complex he seemed to have. As alway this author knows how to make interesting and unique love stories with a bit of steam.If you read this book trust me you will be hooked till the very end. Overall a great story I really enjoyed it!
Chapter One
MATT
LACROUX NEEDED a shower, a vacation, and to figure out what the hell
he was doing with his life—in that order. And sex. Sex would be
good. It had been a long time since he’d had a warm, willing woman
in his bed instead of a research project to work on, papers to grade,
or notes to coordinate on the book he was writing. In fact, now that
he was thinking about it, he might move sex up to the top of his
list—if he didn’t have someone else’s blood on his hands.
He tugged off his torn shirt, tossed
it in the hamper, and turned on the shower. He’d been back on Cape
Cod for less than three hours and had already broken up a fight
between drunken college kids over by the Bookstore Restaurant, where
he’d eaten dinner and thought
he would write for a while. Maybe he should have done what so many
other professors did when they took a sabbatical and gone to a nice
resort somewhere, or holed up in a mountain cabin. He could have
stayed at his cottage on Nantucket, but he missed his family, and his
father wasn’t getting any younger. Plus, his siblings’ joint
wedding was only two months away. It was taking place on their
mother’s birthday, to honor her memory. It was time to reconnect.
His mind drifted to the other person
he’d like to reconnect with, Mira Savage, his father’s employee
and the woman who had been occupying Matt’s thoughts since he met
her last summer at his younger brother Grayson’s engagement party.
They’d spent the entire day together with her adorable son, Hagen.
He’d seen her half a dozen times since, during brief visits home.
They’d taken Hagen to the park together and a few other places,
although they’d never gone on an official date. They’d exchanged
occasional texts over the weeks in between, but that was as far as it
had gone. It
being Matt’s attraction to a woman who lived too many hours away to
get involved with. Mira wasn’t the type of woman whose life he
could complicate with intermittent encounters. She was a selfless
woman who put her son and others first. The type of woman who blushed
when he got too close. The type of woman a man took the time to get
to know—almost a year,
that’s pretty damn long—to
show her she could trust him, a woman who should be taken care of and
protected but not smothered. And she was the only woman he’d like
to undress slowly, loving every inch of her incredible body until she
was trembling with need and slick as a baby seal. Keeping himself in
check had been like dancing on hot coals, but he’d never stopped
thinking about the sexy single mother and her inquisitive son.
He stripped off his slacks and
stepped into the shower, turning the faucet to cold now that he was
hot and bothered over Mira. He closed his eyes and exhaled a long
breath. One thing at a
time.
The water shifted from his head to
his back, and Matt looked up at the faucet, which promptly fell,
clipping his cheekbone.
“Ouch! What the—” He grabbed
his cheek and pulled away from the water spraying in all directions
from the broken spigot. Perfect.
Just perfect. He washed
the fresh blood from his fingers and quickly rinsed off.
He stepped from the shower and dried
off, eyeing the offending fixture. The damn thing had a crack around
the housing and rust on the inside. He’d rented his friends’
cottage in the Seaside community for the summer. The place was in
great shape, but things like showerheads were easy to miss when
renovating. It was after nine o’clock, and Amy and Tony had a
little girl. Matt wasn’t about to bother them about a freaking
bathroom fixture. He pulled on clean clothes and called his father,
who owned Lacroux Hardware Store.
“Hey, Pop. Is the electronic code
to your shop still Mom’s birthday?” His father had been talking
about retiring lately. The hardware store was meant to be the family
legacy, passed down to one of his five children, only none of them
wanted to take it over. But right this very moment, Matt had never
been so glad that his father was in the hardware business. The Cape
wasn’t big on chain stores. The closest Home Depot or Target was a
good forty minutes away.
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
“I need a showerhead for Tony’s
place.”
“Want me to run one up to you?”
Neil Lacroux would do anything for
his children—even though they were all grown up. Matt knew he’d
been lonely since their mother passed away unexpectedly from an
aneurysm a few years ago, which was another reason he’d chosen to
come back home during his sabbatical. He made a mental note to stop
by the store and visit with him.
“I’ve got it, Pop. Sorry to
bother you.”
The drive to Orleans took only a few
minutes. Even though Matt had grown up on the Cape, it always took
him a day or two to adjust to being out of the city. Slacks and
button-downs were replaced with shorts and tank tops, people moved at
a more relaxed pace, and no matter how far from the beach he was,
sand was ever-present. Sand in the grass, sand on the floors, sand on
the seat of his car—and he hadn’t even been to the beach yet.
He punched in the code to the
security keypad, and the minute he was inside the dark store, he
heard it. Tap, tap, tap.
He froze, every neuron on high alert, and listened. Tap,
tap, tap, tap, pause,
tap, tap, tap.
It was coming from his father’s office. His arms instinctively
flexed, preparing for a fight. He moved swiftly and silently to the
office door and listened to the incessant tapping. Dad’s
calculator?
He pushed the door open, and his
body flooded with awareness at the sight of Mira sitting at the desk,
her fingers flying over the calculator. Maybe this was his lucky
night after all.
Her hand flew to her chest. “Matt…?”
His name came out all breathy. “You scared me. I had no idea you
were in town.”
Because I made a point of wanting
to surprise you, although not exactly like this.
“Sorry about that, sunshine. I
just got in a little while ago. I came to get a showerhead.” He
walked into the small office, taking in the ledger on the desk,
illuminated by his father’s ancient single-bulb lamp, and the
family photos thumbtacked to the wall. He noticed a new photograph
front and center, a picture of Hagen holding a fishing rod with a
little sunfish dangling from the line. He knew how much Mira and
Hagen meant to his father, but seeing Hagen’s photo among their
family’s brought the full impact home. He shifted his gaze to Mira,
and as the shock of his arrival wore off, a beautiful smile spread
across her face. There it was, the brightness that had hooked him all
those months ago. The sweet look of innocence and rebellious
I-can-take-on-the-world confidence in her gorgeous eyes. She had no
idea what she did to him.
“Sunshine,” she whispered, and
shook her head.
“You can’t deny the way you
light up everything around you.” He’d given her the nickname last
summer because she had such a positive outlook on life.
“You should see me before I have
coffee in the mornings.”
I’d like that more than you
know.
“A showerhead? Let me show you
where they are.” She pushed to her feet, nearly bumping into his
chest in the close quarters. Her chestnut hair tumbled sexily over
her shoulders as she stood before him, one hand perched over his
chest, the other reaching up to touch his cheek. “What happened?”
Their attraction had been immediate
and intense last summer and had only grown stronger with each
subsequent visit—at least he knew it had for him. For months he’d
buried any hope of exploring their connection beneath classes and
research papers. Now, as she gazed into his eyes, all those heated
memories came rushing back.
“I was assaulted by the old one.”
“Ouch.” She grimaced, and the
spray of freckles on the bridge of her nose rose with the effort.
He hadn’t been able to get that
cute mannerism out of his head when he’d gone back to Princeton,
and damn, did he like seeing it again.
“You might need a stitch.” Her
fingers lingered on his skin, warm and soft.
He covered her hand with his,
pressing it to his cheek. “It’s nothing, really.”
She nibbled nervously on the corner
of her mouth. “I’ll just…” She pointed out of the office, and
her hand slid from beneath his. Her breasts brushed against his arm
as she walked away, stirring more of that same dark attraction.
There was no shortage of women vying
for Matt’s attention. From coeds to faculty, he could have his pick
back in Princeton, and the choices were just as plentiful here at the
Cape. But the only woman he saw when he closed his eyes at night was
heading down aisle seven of his father’s hardware store.
Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA
Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and
heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with
emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the
last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic, perfect beach
reads, and always family oriented.
Thank you for hosting SEASIDE WHISPERS today!
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I'm so happy you enjoyed Seaside Whispers! Thank you for joining the tour and for your review. I truly appreciate it!! XOXO
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