Synopsis:
Blair is determined to stay on course. Her reporting career is waiting for her if she can just make it through summer on the island.
Justyn knows not to get attached to tourist girls breezing through town for only a season.
Maggie wants to cherish her last few months of summer freedom. So what if she has to keep a tiny secret to make sure everyone around her stays happy?
Reid doesn’t have time for romance. His new business must succeed, no matter the cost.
This summer everything is about to change. All those carefully laid plans might shift faster than the tides. When these four start spending time together, the island nights get hotter than the sun-drenched days. Trying to stay untangled and unattached is easier said than done when the one thing you want is standing right in front of you.
Written In The Sand
by T.A. Foster & Mar Kathryn Craft
Maggie
steadied herself as she planted a foot on the dock. She held onto Reid’s
outstretched hand.
“Thanks again for the cruise,” she said,
looking up into his eyes. The dock light allowed her to detect their rich brown
hue.
“No problem. It’s always fun to
introduce new people to the island.”
Not only was this guy smoking hot, he
seemed nice. Maggie kept flashing back to seeing his naked torso on the beach
earlier that today. She couldn’t wait to let Blair know Reid was the mystery
guy she’d seen sanding the boat. However, now that she thought about it, maybe
by now Blair had figured it out. How many hot boat builders could one tiny
island have?
“So have you always lived on the island?”
she asked. “I know you said your family has a boat business here, but did you
leave for college or some kind of boat building school?”
“Nah.” Reid chuckled. “My cousin here
is the college boy in the family.” He slapped Justyn on the back.
“Shut
up, Reid. These girls don’t want to hear the complete Strait family history.
Boring.” Justyn was bending down tying a knot to the cleat on the dock.
When the rope was secure, Justyn walked
over to stand beside Maggie.
Blair, who had been heading toward the
house, turned around. “Strait, huh? So are you still in school, Justyn Strait?”
“Don’t let my boyish good looks fool
you. I graduated four years ago. Couldn’t wait to get back to the island,” he
said. “Reid, it’s time we head home. It’s starting to get choppy out here.”
Maggie wasn’t ready for them to leave.
There was more to these island guys than smoldering looks. “What about you
Reid?” She wanted a reason to make him stay. If only she could come up with a
way to make him touch her again. “Oh,
Reid here spent the last several years jumping out of helicopters to save
drowning fishermen in Alaska and crazy shit like that. One of the Coast Guard’s
best swimmers,” Justyn teased, but Maggie could tell he was proud of his
cousin.
“Wow.” She smiled at the sailor,
imagining what he looked like swimming shirtless through the waves. “I bet you
saw some beautiful beaches out there.”
“None as pretty as here,” he said,
looking into her eyes. Maggie felt a jolt from the intense stare and wondered
if he was really talking about the shoreline.
“What about you two?” Justyn asked,
stepping on the boat’s bow. “I thought I heard Shirley mention something about
you going to Carolina. It figures.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Blair
sounded pissed. And Maggie thought they had started to get along during the
cruise. It didn’t take much to ruffle her high-strung friend.
“Nothing, just that I’ve met your type
before. I met a Carolina girl or two in my day.”
“I’m sure you met girls all over the
ACC, what with all those baseball games and trophies,” Reid called across the
dock. These guys clearly liked to pick on each other.
“Again, Reid. Enough with the family
history. They don’t need to know about my baseball glory days. It’s time to
go.” Justyn cranked the engine.
Reid
headed toward the ropes. “Would you girls be interested in another cruise?
We’re going to be busy the next few days, but I’m sure we can show you Beaufort
one night.”
“That sounds fun,” Maggie answered for
them both before Blair could protest. “What’s your number? I’ll text you my
number and the house phone. Cell service seems to be spotty around here
sometimes.”
“Typical for this place,” Blair
muttered while Reid called out numbers.
“What Blair means is that the island is
quaint, but everyone’s been so friendly. “Thanks again for the offer,” Maggie
finished, tapping on her phone.
Reid
smiled and boarded the boat. She waved good-bye, watching the cute boat builder
push off from the dock. This hot Fourth of July had definitely lit a spark in
her summer.
T.A. Foster is a Southern girl whose heart and spirit are connected to the beach. She grew up catching rays and chasing waves along the North Carolina Outer Banks and now resides in the state with her adventurous pilot husband, two children and two canine kiddos.
Her long love affair with books started at an early age, and as soon as she was able, she transformed imaginative stories into words on paper.
T.A. has an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. When she’s not chasing her two-legged and four-legged children or trying to escape for date night, you can find her reading, writing or planning her next beach trip.
Mary-Kathryn Craft spent her childhood summers vacationing on Harkers Island, North Carolina. There she fell in love with the Cape Lookout beaches and learned about the power of a good story from the island old-timers. With degrees in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina, she now works in public relations in Columbia, South Carolina with her husband, daughter, and shiba inu.
Win a $20 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
