Page 59 of Her Property

“It’s my mom,” Jake said, his voice choked.

“And Alfred,” Cat said softly. “They’re so in love.”

As Jake held the photo, Cat’s head leaning on his shoulder, all he could think was,so am I.

Afterword

If you enjoyedHer Property, Book One of the steamy small town Jewel Lakes Series, please consider leaving a short review.

Next up in the Jewel Lakes Series is Book Two:His Build, available November 30, 2020. Read a preview ofHis Buildbelow.

Preview of His Build

What's the harm in a quick fling?

Graydon Mitchell doesn’t do love. Love means opening yourself up to pain, and Graydon’s had enough of that for one lifetime. All he wants to do is build beautiful homes in Jewel Lakes County and retreat to his lakefront cabin at the end of the day.

Lucy Fulham doesn’t do love either. As a New York City designer-turned-life coach, she’s busy executing her perfect life plan, which explicitly excludes relationships. Lucy knows what she wants, and it’s not getting her dreams stifled by building her life around a man the way her mom did.

But when one of Lucy’s favorite clients begs her to fill in on the interior design of his new lake house up in Jewel Lakes County, New York, she’s suddenly put in extremely close proximity with Graydon, the house’s skilled and way-too-sexy builder.

They’ve only got six weeks together, but there’s no denying the attraction. Graydon and Lucy are so hot for each other they’re liable to burn a hole through the framing.

A fling should get things out of their system, right? Or will these two relationship-phobes build themselves into a corner they can’t run away from?

Graydon

Graydon Mitchell stretched his arm out on the steering wheel of his truck as he took the corner of the country highway into Barkley Falls. He’d slept like a log after a long day of framing on his main job site last night. This morning, his muscles were paying for it. He was fit, but at 37, Graydon had to admit he didn’t recoverquiteas fast as he used to.

Let’s be real: he hurt.

But it was a good hurt.

Lifting a hammer was something he didn’tneedto do now that he was his own boss at Grayscale Residential Contracting. But it was no secret amongst his crew that he loved rolling his sleeves up from time to time.

Yesterday, Graydon’s second-in-command, Chris Slade, had called to tell him one of his framers had called in sick and he was having trouble filling the spot. Graydon had been up to his neck in paperwork at the office but had immediately offered to fill in.

“You sure, old man?” Chris had teased. He was four years Graydon’s junior and enjoyed reminding him of that. “Lotta heavy lifting for a pencil pusher.”

Graydon had growled. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

Even though Chris knew exactly what would happen when he called, Gray let himself claim the victory. Mostly he liked doing the hard labor because he didn’t want to forget how to do it. But part of him knew he was trying to fill some kind of hole he’d been feeling more acutely these days. Lately, something wasn’t quite fitting together right. But he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

A familiar comfort settled into Graydon's belly as Lakeview Lumber came into view. The low-slung building and long piles of wood outside in the gravel parking lot felt almost as much like home to him as his cabin nestled in the corner of Emerald Lake. He used to come here with his dad, a carpenter, back before…well, back when he lived with his mom and dad and little sister. When they’d been a family.

“Hey Graydon!” a female voice called as he stepped out of his truck. Graydon turned to see a dark-haired woman in a form-fitting shirt and a few too many batted eyelashes leaning out a car window stopped at the red light next to the lot.

“Y’alright, Shelby?” He smiled at her, hoping it wasn’t too flirty. He wasn’t in the mood for a roll in the hay, especially not when it hurt to walk.

More batting lashes. Shelby Baker had warmed his bed more than a few times over the years, though it’d been awhile since they last got together.

“I’m alright, Gray. How come you never call anymore?”

“Been busy,” he said.

Shelby narrowed her eyes. But Graydon was spared from elaborating when the light turned green and she had to move on, a red-nailed hand waving out the air at him. The truth was, he’d thought the fun he had with Shelby might fill the strange gap he had going on, but the last time they’d hooked up he left feeling more empty than before.

Graydon tried to shake the feeling off as he leaned on the cab of his truck, holding his phone out to check the text from Chris about what he was supposed to be picking up here. With the thing in his hand, he briefly considered texting Shelby to see if she wanted to get together this weekend. Maybe things were just off last time. Then he gave his head a shake. The Jones lake house was high stakes, both professionally and personally.

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