Spotlight: Eight Years Gone by Cate Beauman
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Release Date: September 20, 2023
A steamy second chance…
Jagger Tennyson never had it easy, but that all changes when Dr. Steven Evans knocks on his front door. Leaving poverty and hopelessness behind, Jagger creates a life he’s been too afraid to dream of. But tragedy strikes late one night, and everything falls apart. Jagger is forced to walk away, leaving the woman he loves.
Grace Evans grew up with wealth and privilege, but she’s no stranger to loss and pain. When she meets the gorgeous boy from the wrong side of the tracks, everything changes for the better. Grace has never loved anyone the way she loves Jagger. But he vanishes on the night that nearly destroys her.
Eight years later, Jagger comes home, and nothing is how it was supposed to be. Dreams were shattered, and trust was broken, but he wants to make things right. He’ll do whatever it takes to fight for Grace, but proving he still loves her won’t be easy.
When tragedy befalls Grace again, Jagger can help her pick up the pieces. But can Grace forgive the past?
Excerpt
Jagger settled his sunglasses in place as he stepped out of the shop’s short alleyway. He passed Simplicity’s storefront as Grace opened the big glass doors in anticipation of the day’s patrons.
She paused with her hand on the Open sign as their eyes met. Then she turned away, heading farther into the shop.
“Damn,” he muttered as he kept his pace steady on his walk down the pretty tree-lined stretch of Main Street, barely paying attention to the fall flowers decorating window boxes or the fact that a few of the stores along the block had changed hands since the last time he’d been there.
He exhaled a long, frustrated breath because the last twenty minutes had gone far worse than he’d expected. Cornering Grace had been a bit of a dick move, but he hadn’t known what else to do, especially after she’d locked him out.
This entire situation was boggy ground. Everything about the present was new territory.
Clenching his jaw, he flared his nostrils, remembering how Grace had looked at him while he followed her around the store—hostility and poorly guarded vulnerability. That was new, too, and he didn’t like it.
He’d watched her. When he pulled up at an empty spot by the coffee shop, he hadn’t realized she would be sitting by the window with Christy.
Initially, he’d planned to walk over to Maggie’s place and find Grace there, but he’d stared across the street instead, studying how easily Grace talked and laughed with her longtime best friend.
It was a shame when that had changed. He’d known the exact moment when she spotted him—when her eyes had grown huge with shock and her shoulders stiff with tension.
“Damn,” he said again because things used to be so easy between them. He and Grace had spent long stretches of each day together for the better part of five years.
Occasionally, they had argued or pissed each other off, but they’d never been able to stay mad at each other for long. Laughter and fun had always followed apologies and hugs—or a hell of a bout of sweaty makeup sex.
Clearly, those days were over. But he rubbed at the back of his neck because even as he thought it, he knew it wasn’t that simple. He’d seen the flash of desire in her eyes—had heard the breathiness in her voice after he’d touched her. Time had passed—years—but there was still something between them.
They needed to have a conversation, even if Grace wasn’t necessarily excited about the idea.
Is there really anything we need to say?
He shook his head as her last words to him stung. There was plenty to talk about because Grace had her hands full. When he’d left her behind, her life was supposed to have been better for it. She was supposed to have capitalized on her opportunities and made her dreams come true.
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About the Author
Cate Beauman is the multi-award-winning, international bestselling author of The Bodyguards of L.A. County series and the Carter Island Novels. She is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense and contemporary stories.
Cate’s novels have been named Readers’ Favorite Five Star books and have won the Booksellers’ Best Award, Maggie Award for Excellence, the Holt Medallion Award, two-time Aspen Gold Medal, two-time Readers’ Favorite International Gold Medal, three-time Readers’ Favorite International Silver Medal, and the Readers’ Crown Award.
Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband and their St. Bernard, Jack.
Connect:
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