Grabbing his coffee mug—because cutting coffee out of his
diet was not going to happen—he walked out onto the deck and sat down. This was something
that really did relax him, and he had to admit, it was nice to be able to stay out here and linger
rather than rushing inside to get ready for work.
Exceptยcevery time he came out here, he looked for Sophie.
He was still kicking himself for the way theyยfd ended things
when she was here. It wasnยft his intention to make her feel bad or for her to leave the way she
had. But in that moment, he was feeling a little overwhelmed and he knew he hadnยft handled
things well. And in the process, heยfd hurt her feelings. While he wanted to apologize to her, he
wasnยft sure how.
Sure, he couldยfve gone to the water every time he saw her,
but every time he was about to step off the deck, he chickened out. Partly because he wasnยft
really sure what to say, and partly because he was afraid he had misread the situation and
maybe she was only interested in him asยcyou know, a patient.
And man, would that suck.
Then there was the possibility of calling her, only he didnยft
have her number. They hadnยft exchanged them when she was here and—
Wait a minute, he thought. She had interviewed at Montgomerys—or rather, the agency she worked
for had sent her to Montgomerys—and no doubt sheยfd filled out an application, so really, he
could call the office and ask Patricia for that information. It would simply be a matter of him
calling to thank her for her help—at least, thatยfs what heยfd tell Patricia.
With a nod of approval at this idea, Christian smiled and felt
a little bit better about the situation as a whole. Calling her would mean he wouldnยft have to
see the expression on her face if she was really only interested in him because of the whole
anxiety attack thing—he could apologize and not have this hanging over his head, consuming
his thoughts any longer.
With a big sound of relief, he relaxed in his seat and took a
sip of coffee. The thought of another day sitting around the house was beyond unappealing,
but what else was there to do? His doctor had recommended finding a low-stress hobby like
reading, but that wasnยft something he envisioned himself doing for hours at a time. No, he
needed to get out of the house so he wouldnยft be tempted to check his emails or watch the
stock market or anything related to the financial world.
Oddly enough, that got him thinking about Sophie again.
When theyยfd been talking over lunch, she had shared with him that sheยfd decided to take up
surfing as a distraction of sorts. It wasnยft as if sheยfd been dreaming of being a surfer her
whole life or anything, but once she arrived in town she figured it was a great way to meet
people and learn something new.
Christian really didnยft want to surf, but there were other
things he could try—other sports or activities. Standing up, he leaned on the railing and
looked out at the morning crowd. Most of them were surfers, but there was also a group who
did yoga on the beach, and there was a constant stream of joggers.
Now that he thought about it, heยfd been on the track team in
high school and college, maybe it was something he could ease back into.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a sassy red ponytail
and the curvy woman it belonged to. He needed to do something about this obvious attraction
he had for her. That meant he had to talk to her and apologize for his behavior and then feel
her out about seeing her again.
As usual, she didnยft look in his direction, so for the next
hour, Christian was content to watch her try to master the sport of surfing.
Which—oddly enough—was both entertaining and arousing.
(C) Samantha Chase, 2019, Sourcebooks Casablanca
Montgomery Brothers
Love is a sanctuary
Christian Montgomery is burnt out—the family business might be his entire world, but his
father's judgment means Christian never stops working. His only respite is gazing at the beach
and the carefree surfers riding the waves...especially the curvy redhead who's caught his
attention.
Sophia Bennington has just fled from her small Kansas town to California, where she's trying
her best to embrace her new beginning. Soon Christian and Sophia find one another, and it
feels like sanctuary. But when their difficult pasts catch up to them, will they run away from
each other?
Romance Contemporary [Sourcebooks
Casablanca, On Sale: January 29, 2019, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN:
9781492655930 / eISBN: 9781492655947]
New York Times and
USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance
writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan's Return, in November 2011.
Although she waited until she was in her 40's to publish for the first time, writing has been a
lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing
to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those
students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as
well.
When she's not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances,
playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her
husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.
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