28. On a beach vacation, you dive into the water, but it turns purple and suddenly you're pulled under the sand. What's waiting for you beneath the surface?
34. Your new job requires an out of town overnight orientation, but when you check in, you run into someone from your past that you never thought you'd see again.
Casey (Cas) Galanis doesn't know whether to say she is a burn victim, or was, as it had been over a decade. While her body bore the evidence of her past, she was more than ready to leave every bit of the trauma from recovery and society behind her. Unfortunately, anyone back home that was still cruel about her looks wasn't going to change. They didn't want to see her as capable of caring for herself. The lowest point was her sister refusing to have her in her wedding photos, citing aesthetics.
The out she found was in the hospitality industry, specifically an older, privately owned hotel. True, people would continue to be cruel to her. Even if they brought up her looks, they would be more concerned that their room was clean, the TV worked, the pool was warm, and they made it in time for the complimentary breakfast. And most of that, as a maid, wouldn't be her problem.
That, and it came with a room that they couldn't be rented out. Which was odd for a hotel a short walk from the beach.
The first hurdle would be the Tuesday night orientation. The second would be if she could learn to love the beach and all it's exposure. But there would be more surprises in store-the doctor who helped heal her and the dead Egyptian god who consumed any free time she had. Because of the possibilities in two men, life wasn't lonely anymore.
Cover Art:
Photo by Austin J. Best from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-smoking-1205388/
Other elements are Wikicommons, mods are mine.
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I can only see half of his face, reflected in the mirror at the front of the bus, and part of that is obscured by the peak of the black company-branded cap he's wearing. But I can see enough to glean that there's a strong jaw covered in scruff. A wide mouth that looks like it would be prone to smiling. He's wearing glasses with trendy light tortoiseshell frames, and I can't quite discern the colour of his eyes from my position . . . but some weird intuition is telling me that they'll be hazel, and I wonder when my brain is going to catch up.
Because I *know* him, don't I? I'm almost certain of it.
And he seems to know me, too. Or at least he thinks he does. The way he's glancing over at me lets me in on that.
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Mirren Shepherd has *many* pet peeves. Top of the list, though? Staycations . . . And surprises.
So when her girls' trip abroad is cancelled at the last minute and she finds herself roped into a minibus tour of Northern Scotland instead, she isn't remotely happy.
And when she finds out who their guide is . . . It's yet another reason for her to dislike surprises. Because Owen Sullivan wasn't so much the one who got away . . . He was the one who just didn't return. And, after she finally got over him, she never expected to see him again.
Mirren would prefer to leave the past in the past, but Owen is determined to try to right his wrongs. Can she trust him? Can she trust *herself*?
Maybe, just maybe, this surprise - and staycation - won't be as bad as Mirren thinks . . .
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