Break Away: Coogan's Break Series, #11

By Hope Malone

She spends her days designing and making jewelry. He also makes things, although he's happier with wood. Are they destined to build a life together, or will his past get in their way?

MACIE
I've always loved sparkly things, being a bit of a magpie when I was a kid. Hours spent combing the sand, looking for beach glass, each discovery more exciting than the last. If I was as lucky at finding love as I am, the opaque beauties that litter the beach after a storm, my life would be perfect.

Then life hits me with my very own storm. The first time I see Brad McKenna he's out cold and naked thanks to my backhanding him with a tennis racket. What can I say? I thought he was a burglar. I also think he's as hard and gorgeous as any beach glass I've collected.

BRAD
By heading west, I had hoped to leave my old life behind, and I would have but for an appalling twist of fate. Having done my time, I should have been free to get on with my life, but my old crew has other ideas. Ideas that will leave me in danger of going back inside, something I want to avoid at all costs.

The one thing in my new life that I don't want to avoid is Macie Hart, having fallen for her even before she introduced me to her vintage Slazenger. There's something about her that has me thinking I can be a better man, an honest one, one able to leave his past behind for good.

If you're short on time but long for romance, you'll love this series of steamy, curvy girl, opposites attract romances. They can be read in any order you choose, there's a guaranteed HEA with no cheating, and no cliffhangers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bad Birds
• Release date: Aug 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223931935

Book preview

ONE

BRAD

As I look around the kitchen at Eagle's Nest, I can't believe how much my life has changed. While the large Victorian on the cliffs north of Coogan's Break is like something out of a magazine, it's also homely and welcoming.

Only six weeks ago, I'd have been in the prison kitchen back in Florida. Stuck preparing meals for the prison's governor and whichever mover and shaker he was trying to impress.

My promotion to cooking for the top guy came about when someone saw I actually knew my way around food. That and I were the con least likely to poison the asshole, but mainly because he wasn't worth risking the extra time inside.

My skills in the kitchen weren't down to formal training, but to a mom who saw cooking as a punishment, mainly because she hated it herself. Add in that I was always in trouble because of my parents' strict regime, and I'd spent a lot of time getting dinner on the table. Only it wasn't a punishment, it was a joy.

It was overhearing what the governor and one of his cronies were planning next that led to my sudden and unexpected expulsion from the prison system. I'd also make sure the right people heard about it before the governor knew I'd caught on. His bad for thinking all of us were dumb asses.

There'd been no warning the day of my release. I hadn't even started cooking breakfast when I'd been called into the governor's office. It was there I was told I was being released early for good behavior.

Only it wasn't the governor, it was some guy I'd never seen before and I knew it was BS. Even the stranger knew it was BS, but either way, I soon found myself out front of the prison, a free man.

Perhaps the biggest tell was they didn't get me to sign anything promising I'd keep on the straight and narrow, with a list of crimes to avoid. They never wanted to see me ever again, something I was fully in agreement with.

Three years inside had been a small price to pay to ensure my parents' continued good health. It could have been longer, but all the cops could pin on me was receiving stolen goods. It was more a case of wrong place, wrong time, than wrongdoing, at least on that occasion.

Instead, here I am on the other side of the country cooking Eggs Benedict for Ethan Hunter and his wife, Lindsey. Of course, when we'd shared a cell, he'd gone by another name, only sharing his birth name after his release.

He'd dropped this on the back of a Coogan's Break postcard and sent it to me in prison. And if not for my recognizing his atrocious handwriting, I'd never have worked it out. It was thanks to that little card that I could head in the right direction after I got out.

As I take in the couple sitting at the large kitchen table, it's easy to see I'm not the only one whose life has changed beyond recognition.

The only thing left of my old cellmate is him still having that 'don't mess with me' attitude he'd had down to a fine art when we were inside. It was something that'd saved my ass more than once in the early days.

However, it was my bulking up courtesy of hours in the exercise yard, and hefting laden pots, that saw an end to the random beatings. These days, I'm more than capable of giving Ethan a run for his money in the 'you really want to go there, buddy' department.

On pulling up behind Ethan at the job site, I come close to driving into the back of his truck. I'm not concentrating, and who can blame me? All I can see of the woman is her ass as she loads something into the back of a Ford Woodie straight out of the 1960s.

What can I say? It's a fine ass, and one that could see me giving the station wagon some competition in the Woodie department. It's been too long, three and-a-half-years too long, and it has to stay that way. I don't dare start a relationship with my past still hanging over me.

And then she straightens, and all thoughts of leaving her the hell alone, flee. She's stunning, even in faded jeans and a yellow top. Curves where curves should be, and even where they shouldn't, but that I like just fine. A startling white pixie cut tops off this luscious gem of a body, in a combination the woman owns.

It's also one that draws attention to her eyes, and oh man, those bright red lips. What I wouldn't give to see those wrapped tight around my…

Ethan smacking the window right next to my head scares the crap out of me. Damn it, it doesn't matter that I'm no longer inside. I still need to keep my wits about me. While I'd escaped the east coast before my old gang knew about it, they wouldn't give up easily.

I need to keep my head down for six months at least, just long enough that they'll move on to easier targets. It'd helped that my folks moved out of state while I was inside, removing them from my life for good.

That they'd done so without bothering to provide me with a forwarding address said it was intentional. Perhaps they'd thought it would be a new start for all of us?

It's as well Ethan interrupted my thoughts, because if I'm making a go of my new life, I have to concentrate on the job at hand. With no formal qualifications, the only job I could get in a kitchen now would be one washing dishes.

Meanwhile, my goal is to learn everything Ethan has to teach. His new company, being this busy, says he's as good at woodwork as he ever was. All that aside, there's nothing I can do to stop watching the woman as she gets behind the wheel and closes the door with a solid thunk.

Not once during all of this does she take her phone away from her ear, laser-focused on the call. It's as if Ethan and I don't exist, which is probably for the best. I'm locking my truck when Ethan joins me in watching the station wagon as it disappears around the corner at the end of the street.

Brad, mate, you are not to go there.

What he's talking about only becomes clear when we walk into the house and I see a photo of the mystery woman on the mantelpiece. There's no missing that spiky silver hair, even from across the room. Does his warning stop me from walking over to have a closer look? Hell no, it doesn't.

If I thought she looked hot in runaround clothes, it's nothing compared to the photo of her in a fitted red evening dress. I'm unaware Ethan is right behind me until he speaks, again taking me by surprise. What the hell is it about this woman that has the world falling away?

Macie Hart, jewelry designer. He pauses before adding, And yeah, she's single. But she's also the client, and a friend of Lindsey's.

A friend of Ethan's wife? That has her firmly marked as a keeper and not someone to be treated casually. It's as well she's not around while we're working at her place, because despite all his warnings, I doubt I'd be able to ignore her.

Not for long enough, anyway.

Still not confident of my agreement, he stares at me until I eventually hold my hands up in surrender. A brief nod in acknowledgement, and he walks through the plastic sheeting put up to protect the main house from the building work.

On following him through the frosted barrier, I'm surprised at the size of the addition, with it almost as big as the living room. Designing jewelry must pay really well.

After completing a circle to take it all in, I turn back to Ethan. If she's single, why does she need all this space?

MACIE

On pulling up outside my house, I'm dismayed to see a new dumpster out front. Even in the dark, I can see it's bigger than the one here when I stopped by a couple of days back.

While I'm having fun staying with my friend Cara; it's not the same as sleeping