Excerpt of Meet Me At The Beach by V.K. Sykes

Lily sincerely hoped that some other team would pick him up. Aiden had always said that baseball meant everything to him, and from an early age, he’d focused like a laser on making a career in pro ball. She’d known with absolute certainty—because he’d told her with absolute certainty— that he would never fish lobster, and he would never live anywhere near his father.

“I’m sure that’ll happen soon,” she said.

Of course, she had no idea if that were true, because she knew virtually nothing about the sport. Even when it came to Aiden’s exploits, all she knew was only what the locals talked about. What was the point of following his career? From the moment he’d taken that final boat into Portland after graduating high school, she’d understood that dwelling on him would only bring her more heartache.

Aiden shrugged his broad shoulders. “I hope so. My options are starting to get pretty limited, though.”

He bent his long, powerful legs and deposited another trap squarely on top of the one already in the skiff. Lily didn’t even pretend to keep her eyes off his incredibly fit and gorgeous body as he worked with easy assurance. As an athlete, he might be losing a step, but as a man, he couldn’t be more in his mouth-watering prime.

“Could that mean your stay might be...” Lily almost said indefinite, then winced at how needy that would sound. She regrouped. “Um, longer than I’d first thought?”

After lifting another trap, he straightened and gave her a long, assessing look that raised the fine hairs on the back of her neck. “What exactly was your first thought, Lily?”

“Oh, you know, a few days,” she babbled. “Don’t forget I know better than anybody how you feel about Seashell Bay.”

He gave her a slow grin that sent a few tendrils of heat licking down between her thighs.

“Lily, I’d say you know a lot of things about me better than anybody,” he said in a voice that made her shiver. Then he took a step closer, crowding her a bit.

She eyed his broad, muscular chest, fighting the deranged urge to slip her arms around his neck and press against him. After all these years, that instinct was still so powerful it took her breath away. Everything about Aiden was familiar, from the burn scar on the inside of his forearm from a childhood accident to the lock of dark hair that dipped down onto his forehead. But he was different, too, excitingly so. He was a man, seasoned and experienced, with sexy laugh lines around his firm mouth and a knowing, sensual look in his dark gaze.

God, she’d loved him so much back in the day that it still made her chest ache to think about it.

Love. Lily gave her head a mental shake. As if a sixteen- year-old could truly understand what that meant.

When Aiden slid a big, warm hand onto her hip, she barely managed to stifle a gasp. “Aiden . . .” She raised her left hand and pressed against his shoulder, a halfhearted effort he saw through instantly.

“Have you forgotten how much you loved it when I touched you?” His voice was a low, thrilling combination of purr and growl that made her weak behind the knees. Oh, hell no. Not again. Lily tried to force herself to step away from him, but her stupid body wouldn’t obey the message her brain shrieked at her.