GENRE: Romantic Suspense
BLURB:
Isabella
Colby has always yearned for normalcy. Now that she’s settled in LA, she
finally has it. Good friends, a pretty home, and her thriving career as the
Palisades’ top skincare specialist are a dream come true. Bella is content
until she meets her hunky new neighbor, but her attraction to the blue-eyed
cutie is the least of her worries when contacting her long-lost father
threatens to destroy her happy life.
Reed McKinley is more than ready to forget the
past. His seven-year stint as an NYPD detective nearly got him killed. His
wounds have healed and he’s starting over as Ethan Cooke Security’s latest
recruit. With sixty-hour workweeks and little time to himself, the last thing
on his mind is a relationship. Then he bumps into the gorgeous woman next door.
Reed and Bella become fast friends. Before long,
Reed discovers that Bella is keeping dangerous secrets. Bella may have the
answers to decades-old questions he’s been searching for. Reed will risk it all
to uncover the truth, but he soon realizes that the deeper he digs, the direr
the consequences.
*NOTE: While reading the series in order is
recommended, it is not necessary. Each story is a stand alone title featuring
new primary characters with limited overlapping secondary characters.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
Bella drew a heart on the back of a pale pink envelope while
she sat at the small table tucked in the corner of her room. Smiling, she set
down her lilac crayon, pleased that the shape of this heart hardly looked
wobbly at all. She studied the assortment of stickers Mommy had given her to
decorate her invitations with and picked the glittery fuchsia ones for the
corners. Locking her ankles, she kicked her legs back and forth and hummed
along with the music on the CD player, trying to ignore her parents shouting in
the living room. “Here is my handle, here is my spout,” she muttered, sealing
the envelope closed with a puffy star sticker. “Tip me over and pour me out.”
The yelling suddenly stopped, and footsteps stormed down the
hall. Bella jumped when Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom door slammed shut. Pausing,
she listened to the quiet, then picked up the next envelope and smiled again
when she recognized the letter ‘M.’ “Mary Rose.” She snatched up the sheet of
silly smiley faces and put one right below Mommy’s pretty handwriting, certain
her best friend would love it.
“Bella Boop,” Daddy called, giving a quick knock on her
door.
“I’m in here.”
The knob turned and Daddy walked in dressed in jeans and one
of the grease smeared white T-shirts he always wore to work.
Bella picked up a sky-blue crayon. She paused as she met
Daddy’s gaze and realized his brown eyes were red, the way hers looked when she
scraped her knees or got shots at the doctor’s office and cried. “Are you and
Mommy mad at each other?”
Daddy sat on the bed, wrinkling her Hello Kitty comforter
with his weight. “No. We’re not mad at each other.”
“Mommy yelled at you. Did you leave the toilet seat up
again?” She frowned, remembering the cold water she’d fallen into the other
morning. “I don’t want my tushy to get wet again when I sit down.”
He closed his eyes as he laughed, but it wasn’t his regular
laugh that always made her giggle.
“No, I didn’t leave the seat up.”
“Good,” she said with a decisive nod and got back to work.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked.
“Coloring my invitations. Mommy said we can bring them with
us to school in the morning. Everybody gets to have one—even the boys—so we
don’t hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“That’s my girl.” He winked.
She handed over one of the envelopes in her finished pile
for Daddy to admire. “This one is for Clara. See how it has a letter ‘C’?
That’s how I know.”
“What’s this?” Daddy pointed to the next letter in Clara’s
name.
“An ‘L.’”
“Smarty-pants.”
She grinned, always loving it when he called her that.
“Clara’s going to be five too. Her mommy’s bringing brownies to school next
week when it’s her birthday—just like you brought in the cupcakes for me to
share yesterday. Everyone liked them. Pink frosting is the best kind.”
“With purple sprinkles, right?”
“Right.” She took the invitation back and continued
decorating Mary Rose’s.
“I can’t believe my girl’s almost five. You’re not a baby
anymore.”
“I’m a beautiful young lady now, right?”
He sighed. “Somehow you are. Not all that long ago, I was
rocking you to sleep.”
“Beautiful young ladies have pierced ears and paint their
nails.” She beamed at him, thrilled that she had both after a trip to the mall
and a visit to the nail painter woman Mommy knew. “And young ladies go to
kindergarten when the leaves fall off the trees, right after the summer is
over.”
“I guess they do.” He blew out another breath. “Will you
come sit with me for a couple of minutes?”
She hesitated as she glanced from the stickers to Daddy’s
sad eyes. “Okay.”
He grabbed her under the armpits of her favorite Hello Kitty
pajamas and boosted her up, settling her on his thigh. “Here we go.” He wrapped
his arms around her and hugged her tight.
She returned his embrace, breathing in the familiar oil
smell of the garage where he fixed cars. “Is your tummy sick?”
“No, baby.” He played his hand through the curls Mommy had
made at the end of her long ponytail this morning.
“Did you get a boo-boo at work?” She picked up his stained
black fingers, checking for a cut.
“No, honey.” He clenched his jaw. “I have to go on a trip.”
She gasped her excitement and clapped. Daddy always took her
on the best adventures. “Can I come?”
He shook his head. “Not this time.”
“We could get ice cream at the Dairy Stop,” she said in a
singsong voice, hoping that would convince him to change his mind.
“I wish we could, Bella. I have to go on this trip by
myself.”
She pressed her cheek to his chest. “I don’t want you to go
unless I get to come too. I always come too, Daddy.”
His fingers moved through her hair again. “I know.”
“You can stay right here with me.” She leaned forward and
picked up her favorite book from the pile on the nightstand. “We can read
instead.”
He nuzzled his chin on top of her head, keeping her close.
She clung to him as her stomach started to hurt. Daddy never
went away. He and Mommy always read her books together and took turns bringing
her to school after breakfast. “Will you come back soon?”
He shook his head. “Not for a long time. Not till you’re an
even bigger young lady.”
Her lips trembled as her eyes filled. “But I’ll miss you so
much.”
“I’ll miss you too. I’ll think of you every day.”
“Daddy.” She sniffled. “I want you to stay.”
“I have something for you.” He grabbed something from behind
his back she hadn’t noticed when he walked in and held up a small snow globe.
She took the delicate glass and studied the pretty two-story
house surrounded by pine trees in the center—much bigger than the home she
lived in now. “It’s so nice.”
“When you look at it, you can think of me.”
“You’ll live in there?”
He looked at the ceiling as he swallowed. “Something like
that.”
She stared at the lights on in the cheerful home as the snow
fell to the ground. “Will you come out for my party in a couple of days and
sing ‘Happy Birthday’?”
“I can’t.”
Her shoulders sagged. “But you can come out at night and read
to me and tuck me in?”
He shook his head.
Her lips trembled again, and she blinked as tears fell.
“Don’t cry, Bella.” He wiped her cheeks with his thumbs,
like he always did. “If there was any other way… If I could be sure you and
your mom would be safe, I’d take you with me.”
“We could call the policemans. They’ll make us safe.”
“That’s an idea.” He swiped another tear away. “How about I
tuck you in and we’ll read?”
She nodded. “Can I sleep with this?” She gestured to the
globe.
“How about we put it right next to you on the table? I don’t
want it to break and cut you.”
“All right.” She leaned over and set it next to her lamp.
“There.”
Daddy stood, lifting her with him, and pulled back her
covers, then settled her in bed. “Here we go.” He tucked the blankets around
her and read the story she and Mommy had picked out at the library.
She giggled when the silly puppy got into mischief and
yawned, struggling to keep her eyes open as Daddy turned to the last page.
“The end.”
“That’s a good one.” She yawned again. “Maybe we can get a
doggy like the girl in the book.”
“Someday.”
“I love doggies.”
“I know you do.”
She rubbed her tired eyes. “Let’s read it some more.”
“You need to get some rest.” Daddy stood from his chair.
“Snuggle up.”
She rolled on her side and nestled her cheek on the pillow.
“Night-night, Daddy. I love you.”
“I love you too.” He knelt down and hugged her tight, his
breath shuddering in and out next to her ear. “I love you, Bella.” Clearing his
throat, he eased back and smiled. “I love you.”
She smiled too. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
He shut his eyes, swallowing several times. “Okay.” Standing
again, he turned off her light. “Bye, baby.”
“Bye, Daddy.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
International bestselling author Cate Beauman is known for her
full-length, action-packed romantic suspense series, The Bodyguards of L.A.
County. Her novels have been nominated for the National Excellence in Romance
Fiction Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Golden Quill Award, Writers
Touch Award, and have been named Readers Favorite Five Star books. In 2015,
JUSTICE FOR ABBY was selected as the Readers' Favorite International Book Award
Gold Medalist, while SAVING SOPHIE took the Silver Medal. SAVING SOPHIE was
also selected as the 2015 Readers Crown Award winner for Romantic Suspense and
FALLING FOR SARAH received the silver medal for the 2014 Readers' Favorite
Awards.
Cate makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, two
boys, and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack. Currently Cate is working on
Deceiving Bella, the eleventh novel in her popular Bodyguards series.
You can follow Cate on Twitter @CateBeauman
Contact
Cate
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