Christie Ridgway: The Love Shack

Return to USA TODAY bestselling author Christie Ridgway’s Crescent Cove, California, where the magic of summer can last forever…

Globe-trotting photojournalist Gage Lowell spent carefree childhood summers in Crescent Cove. Now that he desperately needs some R & R, he books a vacation at Beach House No. 9—ready to soak up some sun and surprise old friend and property manager Skye Alexander. Their long-distance letters got him through a dangerous time he can’t otherwise talk about. But when he arrives, the tightly wound beauty isn’t exactly happy to see him.

Skye knows any red-blooded woman would be thrilled to spend time with gorgeous, sexy Gage. But she harbors secrets of her own, including that she might just be a little bit in love with him. And she’s convinced the restless wanderer won’t stay long enough for her to dare share her past—or dream of a future together. Luckily for them both, summer at Crescent Cove has a way of making the impossible happen….

Praise for USA TODAY bestselling author Christie Ridgway

“Kick off your shoes and escape to endless summer. This is romance at its best.”

—Emily March, New York Times bestselling author of Nightingale Way, on Bungalow Nights

“Sexy and addictive—Ridgway will keep you up all night!”

—New York Times bestselling author Susan Andersen on Beach House No. 9

“A beach-worthy seaside contemporary...[with] an adorable retro beach setting and intriguing supporting characters.”

—Publishers Weekly on Beach House No. 9

“Ridgway’s feel-good read, with its perfectly integrated, extremely hot and well-crafted love scenes, is contemporary romance at its best.”

—Booklist on Can’t Hurry Love (starred review)

“Sexy, sassy, funny, and cool, this effervescent sizzler nicely launches Ridgway’s new series and is a perfect pick-me-up for a summer’s day.”

—Library Journal on Crush on You

“Pure romance, delightfully warm and funny.”

—New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie

“Christie Ridgway writes with the perfect combination of humor and heart. This funny, sexy story is as fresh and breezy as its southern California setting. An irresistible read!”

—New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs on How to Knit a Wild Bikini

“Christie Ridgway is delightful.”

—New York Times bestselling author Rachel Gibson

“Sexy, smart, sparkling—say yes to An Offer He Can’t Refuse.”

—New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd

Dear Reader,

Summer is winding down at Crescent Cove but the magic is still alive and well at Beach House No. 9. Songs about surfing carry through the air, the scents of coconut sunscreen and salty ocean mingle on the breeze. Walk barefoot through the sand and lift your face to the warmth beaming down...another romance is ready to bloom.

Skye Alexander isn’t looking for love, however, even when the man she’s been corresponding with for months moves into No. 9. Gage Lowell’s only here for some brief R&R before returning to photograph danger zones overseas—so there’s no sense in getting dreamy over ever-afters. Gage came to the cove eager to get to know his pen pal in person, but pretty Skye might be messing with his impending plans. He never stays in one place for long, but when he leaves Beach House No. 9, might he be leaving his heart behind? I hope you’ll enjoy watching these two people come to terms with their feelings and their futures.

How much pleasure I’ve had sharing with you a summer of love in this enchanting place. I hope you carry with you all its tears and laughter, all its sexiness and fun, for a very long while.

Here comes the sun!

Christie Ridgway

The Love Shack

Christie Ridgway

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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To my mom, for all those summers filled with books.

Contents

Epigraph Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea, Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei; Over the streamlet vapors are borne, Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn. Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart, E’en as the morn on the streamlet and sea; Then will all clouds of sorrow depart, Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me! Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me! —Stanza 2, “Beautiful Dreamer” by Stephen Foster

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Epilogue

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,

Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei;

Over the streamlet vapors are borne,

Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,

E’en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;

Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

—Stanza 2, “Beautiful Dreamer” by Stephen Foster

CHAPTER ONE

FOR THE PAST decade, Gage Lowell had lived on risk the way other people sucked down caffeine. It had been his morning fix, his noonday pick-me-up, his after-dinner beverage with dessert. So the anticipation building in his belly as he approached beautiful but tranquil Crescent Cove didn’t make much sense.

It was no Durand Line, that porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan where he’d braved danger that ran the gamut from Taliban bullets to half-wild bulls. The natives were certain to be less suspicious than the Syrian rebels he’d photographed the spring before. And though the house he’d rented was situated on the sand, just steps away from the Pacific Ocean, not for a second did he suppose this vacation would end like the one he’d taken some years ago—with Gage running for his life and high ground, holding his cameras overhead.

Of course, that tsunami had come out of the blue.

But he really couldn’t see how this holiday would hold any such surprise.

Still, expectation continued to hum through his veins. “Stop here,” he said to his twin as the car turned onto the narrow road that led off the coastal highway. They’d come straight from the airport. “I’ll hoof it to the property management office for the keys. You drive my stuff to Beach House No. 9 and I’ll meet you there.”

Griffin frowned over at him. “What, I’m your bellboy now?” Though the sarcasm was typical brother bullshit, there was something in his expression that tickled Gage’s spine.

“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.

His twin braked the car but didn’t answer. Up ahead were the first of the fifty or so eclectic cottages that made up the beachside community where the Lowell family had spent every summer until he’d turned fifteen. The dwellings’ designs were a little bit funky and a lot colorful, nestled in lush vegetation—palm trees, hibiscus bushes and various other flowering plants—that had originally been planted so that the two-mile-long curve of sand could serve as a variety of backdrops during the silent movie era: deserted island, cannibal-infested jungle, ancient Egypt.