by Lucy Kevin
The last thing Joel wants is for Hanna to dredge up the past, but when he realizes she’s determined to follow through with her documentary no matter what, he knows he has no choice but to join her. Despite vowing to hold back his growing feelings for her, as Joel works with Hanna to unravel the mystery of what really happened between their two families, he soon begins to see that love is an unstoppable force…and that sometimes two people are meant to be.
Joel didn’t have time to straighten his tie before a woman pushed open the door to his office. Small and fine-boned, she was incredibly beautiful, albeit in a slightly unconventional way. Her blonde hair was streaked with light pink highlights, and her eyes shone out, blue and fierce from beneath her bangs. Even in cargo pants and a denim jacket it was obvious that she had a gorgeous figure.
As a high school quarterback, the son of the local shipping magnate, and then the director of the family business, Joel had had his share of relationships with good looking women. But there was something uniquely attractive about the way this woman strode over to his desk like nothing in the world was going to stop her from getting what she wanted.
Of course, by that point, two other things had become pretty obvious, both of which should have dampened the attraction Joel had felt in that first glance. The first was that she was probably only in her early twenties, which was far too young for him. But it was the second that was far more important.
She was a Walker.
Hanna Walker.
She might have been the youngest Walker sister, but she was no longer a little girl. Not even close.
“Oh, wow,” she said, her eyes widening as she stopped moving closer to stare at him. “You would look just great on camera.”
“Hanna—”
“You recognized me.” She sounded surprised. “I wasn’t sure you would. I’ve grown up.”
Yes, he thought, you certainly have. This close, he could smell the fresh scent of the sea on her and guessed that she must have only just come over on the ferry. He knew she was here to convince him to let her into the archives, but just looking at her beautiful face scrambled up his brain cells so badly that before he could put them back in order and let her know he wasn’t going to change his mind, she was moving closer…and scrambling his insides up more and more with every step she took.
“I just spoke to Mr. Neale, who told me that you’d said I couldn’t have access to the archives, but I figured that couldn’t be right. I mean, why would you do that? And since he’s very busy with everyone who wants ice cream today, I thought I’d come here and talk to you directly. And you know, you really would look great on camera. Maybe we could do a segment in the documentary with you talking about how the Peterson family is doing now, a couple of generations after the big feud? And we could also include a few shots of mussel farming, because though I know it isn’t totally relevant to our families’ stories, it is a really big part of the island culture and industry.” Barely pausing for breath, she added, “So if you could let Mr. Neale know it was just a slight mix up, that would be great. And it would be even better if you could talk to him today, because I need to get to work on my documentary immediately so that I can edit it together and submit it before the end of the summer.”
Joel was, frankly, stunned by Hanna’s passion. He’d hoped that her interest in the Walker-Peterson feud would be fleeting. But as she began to move even closer—close enough that he could smell the lavender scent of her shampoo in addition to the sea spray on her skin—he realized he had to stop this here and now. All of this.
“There is no mix up.” He pushed away from his desk, and made himself move across the room, away from all of her incredible beauty and passion. “I’m not going to give you access to the historical archives.”
“But why?”
How, he wondered, could she be this genuinely surprised by his response? “Hasn’t your grandmother told you why?”
For the first time since entering his office, she looked a little unsure. “I haven’t told Grams about it quite yet,” Hanna admitted. “The interview with her will be one of the main features of the documentary, and if I told her what I was doing too soon, it might spoil her natural reaction. It’s really important with documentaries to get people’s real reactions.”
“Oh, trust me,” Joel told her, “once you bring this up with your grandmother, you’ll get a real reaction. Surely, you know the details of the island scandal, don’t you?” Details of a feud that had been drummed into Joel’s head from as far back as he could remember.
“Some of them,” she replied, “although I won’t know everything until I’ve had a chance to look through the archives properly.”
“No,” he said again. “And once you speak with your grandmother, I’m certain you’ll understand why I can’t support your documentary project.”
Before Hanna could try to argue her case again, Margaret opened the door. “Joel, Frank Williams is here for your meeting. Do you need him to wait a few minutes?”
Hanna spoke first. “No, that’s okay. I need to go let my family know I’m back home.” Scrupulously polite now, and in direct contrast to the way she had barged in earlier, she said, “Thank you for your time, Joel.”
When she turned and walked out with her spine straight and her head held high, Joel couldn’t help but admire her beauty yet again. Working to shake her vibrant image out of his head as he shook hands with the head of the Mussel Farmers’ Union, Joel did his best to focus on the meeting so that he could understand the changes they wanted. But all the while his brain was somewhere else entirely.
Still thinking about Hanna…
…Excerpt from BE MY LOVE by Lucy Kevin © 2018
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BELLA ANDRE writing as LUCY KEVIN
Lucy Kevin is the sweet pen name of Bella Andre. Lucy Kevin books are fun, flirty and romantic—without the steamy scenes.
MARRIED IN MALIBU
The Beach Wedding
The Summer Wedding
The Barefoot Wedding
The Moonlight Wedding
WALKER ISLAND ROMANCE
Be My Love
No Other Love
When It’s Love
All For Love
Forever In Love
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FIASCO
The Wedding Gift
The Wedding Dance
The Wedding Song
The Wedding Dress
The Wedding Kiss
STAND-ALONE LUCY KEVIN NOVELS
Falling Fast
Sparks Fly
BELLA ANDRE BOOKLIST
THE SULLIVANS
The Look Of Love
From This Moment On
Can’t Help Falling In Love
I Only Have Eyes For You
If You Were Mine
Let Me Be The One
Come A Little Bit Closer
Always On My Mind
Kissing Under The Mistletoe
One Perfect Night
The Way You Look Tonight
It Must Be Your Love
Just To Be With You
I Love How You Love Me
All I Ever Need Is You
Every Beat Of My Heart
Now That I’ve Found You
Since I Fell For You
Sweeter Than Ever
The Best Is Yet To Come
Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You
You Do Something To Me
Every Time We Fall In Love
Falling In Love All Over Again
Your Love Is Mine
THE MAVERICK BILLIONAIRES
Breathless in Love
Reckless in Love
Fearless in Love
Irresistible in Love
Wild in Love
THE MORRISONS
Kiss Me Like This
Tempt Me Like This
THE BAD BOYS OF FOOTBALL
Game For Anything
Game For Seduction
Game For Love
THE TAKE ME series
Love Me
Take Me
STAND-ALONE NOVELS
Candy Store
Red Hot Reunion
Tempt Me, Taste Me, Touch Me
THE HOTSHOT FIREFIGHTERS
Wild Heat
Hot As Sin
Never Too Hot
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lucy Kevin is the pen name for Bella Andre. Having sold more than 8 million books, Bella Andre’s novels have been #1 bestsellers around the world and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists 85 times. She has been the #1 Ranked Author on a top 10 list that included Nora Roberts, JK Rowling, James Patterson and Steven King, and Publishers Weekly named Oak Press (the publishing company she created to publish her own books) the Fastest-Growing Independent Publisher in the US. After signing a groundbreaking 7-figure print-only deal with Harlequin MIRA, Bella’s “The Sullivans” series has been released in paperback in the US, Canada, and Australia.
Known for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice and have been translated into ten languages. Winner of the Award of Excellence, The Washington Post called her “One of the top writers in America” and she has been featured by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and TIME Magazine. A graduate of Stanford University, she has given keynote speeches at publishing conferences from Copenhagen to Berlin to San Francisco, including a standing-room-only keynote at Book Expo America in New York City.
If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, swimming or laughing. Married with two children, Bella splits her time between the Northern California wine country, a 100 year old log cabin in the Adirondacks, and a flat in London overlooking the Thames.
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