Hidden in the Stars: Forbidden Lake Romance, #5

By Elana Johnson

She's the family lawyer and the baby of the Addler family. Her father didn't approve of her last boyfriend, and Mia broke up with the rockstar who'd helped her sister. But he's back in Forbidden Lake, and Mia has some very grown-up decisions to make...

Mia Addler has always conformed to family expectations. So when her father declares rockstar Declan Phelps too old for her, she breaks up with him and tries to find a way to enjoy her summer. But he can't stay away from her, and he stages a "chance meeting" at the beach to see if they can have a second chance.

Declan has traveled the world as a rockstar, earning more money than should be legal and doing everything he wants. When his sister dies, he cleans up his act and starts putting his money toward good causes. So when he meets Mia Addler, they couldn't be more opposite, but they have the same values and goals—to help others. Mia learns he has a crazy fan stalking him and devises a plan to sign him as a client. That way, if her father finds out she's been seeing Declan again, she'll have attorney-client privilege and not have to say what they talk about or what they do.

Declan readily agrees, and then he and Mia fly off on their first date. While they're gone, her family has a tragedy. She regrets being gone for it, and she can't tell anyone she was with her secret boyfriend. As she struggles to balance her family crisis with Declan and their forbidden relationship, Declan feels her slipping further and further from him. When Declan gets abducted by the crazy fan and realizes she wants revenge, Mia realizes all of her secrets are about to be blown wide open.

Will she admit how she really feels about Declan? Or will her family's wishes win out over her heart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AEJ Creative Works
• Release date: Nov 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781393054658

Elana Johnson

Elana Johnson wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to go, and have cool superpowers. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy. She lives in central Utah where she spends her time with many students, one husband, and two kids. Find out more at ElanaJohnson.com and follow her on Twitter at @ElanaJ.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Mia Addler let the last of the Michigan summer sun bake her, the warmth settling into her bones where she hoped it would stay through the winter. The forecast called for rain tomorrow, and that would be the beginning of the end of summer.

In some ways, she was glad. She worked hard on the family’s resort as a lifeguard, and when the lake closed, she wouldn’t have to deal with rowdy teenagers keeping families up at night, or drunk men trying to hit on her.

While flattering, Mia didn’t need a boyfriend, especially because the one she wanted, she couldn’t have.

Her father had made that much clear. Her mother, too.

She forced the image of Declan Phelps out of her mind, where it was wont to return in moments anyway. After all, he was easily the best-looking man in the country, maybe the entire world. Universe, even.

He had dark, dreamy, soulful eyes that every female on Earth had fantasized about. He could grow a beard over a weekend and show up at Mia’s to kiss her all sexy and scruffy.

Except not anymore. No more kissing Declan. No more letting Declan through the gate that led to the lane where all the Addlers lived. Nope, nope, nope.

He was too old for her. Too worldly, as her mother had said. Was it her fault he was an internationally renowned musician?

She almost scoffed as she lay on her towel on the beach. And he’s a rockstar, she muttered to herself. Not a musician. Though, technically, he was both. When he got asked questions about his rockstar status in interviews, he always corrected the person.

Mia smiled just thinking about those interviews. That dark hair he kept long to perpetuate his rocker persona, but secretly hated.

She hadn’t hated it. Hadn’t hated the way he pulled it back into a sexy man-bun, nor the way it slid through her fingers when she kissed him.

Enough, she told herself.

He was off-limits, and he’d left the country a month ago anyway. He hadn’t texted her. Hadn’t even fought her parents and their declaration that Declan was No Good For Mia.

Her chest felt a little hollow with that knowledge. She’d thought he liked her, but his willingness to simply leave her alone said otherwise.

She rolled over when she started to feel like the sun was crisping her skin a little too much. To her right, a group of teenagers played beach volleyball, clearly enjoying this last day of summer like everyone else.

The beach at Sunshine Shores Orchards and Resort was full today, and she supposed the fact that school started up again tomorrow after fall break played a heavy hand in that.

Then, there would be no teenagers. No families with screaming kids and crying babies. Just the miles and miles of beachfront her family owned, with the cherry orchards only a couple dozen yards from the shore.

The sweet scent of the fruit filled Mia’s nose for months, and she even went so far as to use cherry-scented lotions and body wash year-round. Yes, cherries ran in her blood, and she hadn’t been able to stand up to her parents and fight for Declan either.

She let her thoughts wander, finally deciding that she needed to get back in the dating pool. Tomorrow, she told herself. While she worked a lot at the family resort in the summer and fall, she also kept a job at the singular law office in the town of Forbidden Lake.

She did all the legal stuff for Sunshine Shores, and she consulted in town, and she did pro bono cases when they came up. Anything to keep her mind sharp, her boredom to a minimum. The two brothers she was closest to had girlfriends now, and Karly had been married for a while. Her baby was due by Christmas, and Mia couldn’t wait for another niece.

The sun continued to shine down as she dozed, the loud voices of the boys playing volleyball fading away and then coming back.

Except they weren’t the exact same voices. Sure enough, when Mia pulled herself from the edge of slumber and sat up, the group on the court had gone. Several new people had arrived, but they were much older, and they’d brought a Frisbee instead of a ball.

Mia didn’t understand Frisbees. They curved oddly in the air, and she’d never been able to throw one. So she watched as the five men threw the disc to one another, seemingly without any of the same issues she always had.

Her phone chimed, interrupting her observations of the men, and she glanced down to see her grandmother had texted. The older woman always made Mia chuckle and shake her head, because she really couldn’t seem to figure out texting. She still had the driving feature on, so every time Mia texted her while she was driving, she got an auto-response that Grams couldn’t respond.

Mia had been teaching her to use short phrases so the dinner tonight? was appropriate.

And Mia didn’t chuckle this time. She always went to the family dinner on Sunday nights. Why was Grams asking specifically if she’d be there?

Yep, she thumbed out and sent, returning her attention to the men. Maybe one of them would ask her out if she got up, went over to the water’s edge, stretched a little…. Mia wasn’t a flirt, but she knew how to flirt. How to get a man to look her way. How to let him know she was interested.

She knew how to do the opposite of those things too, and if she got unwanted attention, she could turn them away, no problem.

The red disc went flying again, and the recipient ran after it as it flew wide. He went in the lake, splashes coming up as he tried to run in water. His friends laughed, and even Mia laughed when he finally succumbed to gravity and went under.

He came up victorious with the Frisbee, a huge smile on his face. Mia got up, straightening the ties on her bikini bottoms and pretending like she was the only person at the beach that day.

She tugged her rash-guard over her head so her top half was covered and headed for the water. The game of Frisbee continued several yards to her right, and it seemed like the guys were only focused on that blasted disc today.

Fine.

Mia bent down and got her hands wet, working the little bit of water through her hair. She hadn’t showered in a couple of days, and the tanning lotion and sunscreen she used had left a sticky film on her skin and scalp.

She admired the view of the lake, imagining she could see all the way across it and into Canada. As a child, she’d wondered what it would be like to get on a boat and sail across the border and into another country. Would she find what she wanted there?

Mia sighed and turned around. She didn’t know if she’d find what she wanted in Canada, because she didn’t know what she wanted, period.

She’d always been driven, had gotten her law degree and gone to work. But now that she was thirty, she honestly had no idea what came next in her life. Was it simply the same thing, day after day, until she reached forty? And then what?

After returning to her staked out spot on the beach, she kept her rash-guard on so she wouldn’t get sunburnt and sat on her towel. Sure, it was fall, but the sun still spit out plenty of damaging rays.

With her legs out in front of her, she braced most of her weight on her palms and leaned her face toward the sky. Maybe the wind would whisper to her what she should do with her life.

Career. Marriage. Family. She wanted it all. But how, and in what order, and with whom seemed to elude her.

Heads! someone yelled, and Mia snapped her eyes open. She had no time to search for the flying object before the red Frisbee landed right next to her, spraying loose sand everywhere.

Everywhere, including her hair, her eyes, down her shirt, and in her mouth.

Instant fury shot to her head, and she jumped to her feet, narrowly grabbing the disc before the jogging man arrived to get it.

You should be more careful, she said, slapping the toy against his chest. He simply smiled down at her, but Mia was no longer interested. They’d had their chance to approach her when she’d made her sexy walk down to the water.

He put his hand over the Frisbee to keep it against his chest and backed up a step. He looked vaguely familiar, but Mia couldn’t place how she knew him. As he continued to back away, she squinted at him as if that would help, but it didn’t.

An apology would be nice, she called after him and that goofy smile he hadn’t taken off his face.

Hey, sorry about that, another man said, coming forward and passing the first man. Sometimes Frisbees can go astray.

Mia could only blink at the heavenly vision coming toward her. She knew that gait. Knew that voice. Knew those straight, white teeth, and how delicious that mouth felt against hers.

Declan, she said, pressing one palm to her pulse as she drank in the baseball hat and sunglasses—his disguise for being out in public. What are you doing here? She glanced around as if her parents had security guards watching her and would swoop in, separating Mia and this drop-dead gorgeous man.

She shook her head and blinked. Maybe he was a mirage.

But he kept coming toward her, very solid and