Linda Hope Lee - Her Summer Crush

She’s over her crush...isn’t she?

Luci Monroe is on top of the world. She’s just graduated from journalism school and she’s already landed her dream job in PR. Then Cody Jarvis saunters into her office. Nothing like finding out that your teenage crush, now a gorgeous, globe-trotting, freelance photographer, is going to be your staffer for the summer. Never mind. They’re both professionals. And she’s over him. Kind of. Anyway, he’s not interested. Cody is always waiting to disappear on his next assignment, and Luci needs someone stable. Someone who wants to build a life right here in Willow Beach...

“I’d better get back to my guests.”

“Thanks for coming, Cody, and good luck with your next assignment.”

He laid a hand on her arm. “Don’t say goodbye yet. I’ll be around for a while. In a town as small as Willow Beach, we’re bound to run into each other.”

Just then, Don came around the corner. “There you are, Cody. Been looking for you. Glen Thomas wants a word.”

Cody raised his eyebrows. “The Chamber of Commerce president wants to talk to me? Why?”

Don shrugged. “Don’t know. He didn’t say.”

“Okay,” Cody said. “See you later, Luci.”

“Sure. See you...later.”

Luci hugged herself as she watched Cody and Don head back to the party. She’d thought she was telling the truth when she said she was over Cody. But the moment she’d laid eyes on him tonight, all her old feelings came rushing back.

Dear Reader,

One reason I love writing a series is that even though a particular book ends, I don’t have to say goodbye to the characters. I can meet them again in the stories that follow.

I met Luci Monroe and Cody Jarvis in Eva’s Deadline, the first book in the Return to Willow Beach series. Luci was a high school senior interning at the Willow Beach Herald. I remember how enthusiastic she was about her chosen profession and also the crush she had on Cody, the Herald’s photographer.

Fast-forward four years to Her Summer Crush. Now a college graduate, Luci returns to Willow Beach to begin her dream job with the Chamber of Commerce. Then she learns Cody will be working with her. That’s okay, though, because she’s over him.

Or is she? Has her crush turned into something more serious?

But what does it matter, because at the end of the summer Cody will leave to follow his dream of traveling the world as a photojournalist.

Getting these two seemingly mismatched people together presented a challenge. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

You can visit my website at lindahopelee.comor email me at linda@lindahopelee.com. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter ( @lindahopelee).

Linda

Her Summer Crush

Linda Hope Lee

www.millsandboon.co.uk

LINDA HOPE LEE lives in the Pacific Northwest. She likes traveling to new places, especially to small towns that might serve as settings for her novels. In addition to contemporary romance, she writes in the romantic suspense and mystery genres. When she is not writing, she’s busy creating watercolor paintings or drawing in colored pencil or pen and ink. Another pastime is photography, which she uses as inspiration for her art and for her stories. She also collects children’s books and anything to do with wirehaired fox terriers.

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To Pearl, the new kid on the block

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Harlequin Heartwarming senior editor Victoria Curran and assistant editor Dana Grimaldi for helping to shape Her Summer Crush. Their expertise is invaluable and much appreciated.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Acknowledgments

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

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

“CODY JARVIS! What’s he doing here?” Luci Monroe stared at the man who’d just stepped out the back door of her parents’ home. “I didn’t see his name on the guest list,” she added.

Her sister, Francine, set a plate of crab cakes on the buffet table. “Maybe Don invited him,” she said. “Didn’t he say he had a surprise for you tonight?”

“He did, but I thought he meant the combo.” Luci nodded toward the musicians her older brother had hired. Their music provided a pleasant backdrop to the party celebrating Luci’s graduation from Seattle’s University of Washington and her return to Willow Beach.

“Cody’s spotted you,” Francine said. “Better put a smile on your face.”

“I’ll be okay. I’ve been over him for at least a year.” And yet, as she watched him approach, her heart was beating wildly.

“C’mere, Luci.” Cody opened his arms and swept her up in a warm embrace.

With a resigned sigh, she looped her arms around his neck and hugged him back.

He drew away and let his gaze rove over her. “Lookin’ good, Luci.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

And he did. She always thought the cliché “tall, dark and handsome” suited him perfectly, and that still held true. He’d let his hair grow a little longer, but she liked it that way. And his brown-eyed gaze was as sharp as ever.

Cody hugged Francine. “Hey, Fran, good to see you.”

“Hello, Cody.” Francine returned his hug.

Don joined them, carrying two bottles of beer. He handed one to Cody. “Here you go, buddy. Glad you could make it.” He turned to Luci. “How do you like your surprise?”

Luci propped her hands on her hips. “He’s a surprise, all right. I thought he was in Timbuktu or some other exotic place.”

Cody tossed his head back and laughed. “I’ll have to put that on my list. No, I just got back from Italy.”

“Still the freelance photographer?” Luci said, although she didn’t know why she asked when she knew the answer.

“Always.” Cody patted the camera attached to a leather strap slung around his neck. “And here you are, all graduated and degreed and starting a new job, I hear.”

The mention of her job brought a smile to Luci’s lips. “Right. I’m working for Glen Thomas at the chamber of commerce. Writing, of course. Articles, brochures, some PR, a little of everything. How about you?”

“I’ll be in town till I get another assignment. Then I’ll be off again. You know me.” He shrugged and sipped his beer.

“Nice you could come back for a visit,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound insincere. “Bet your mom’s happy to see you.”

“She’s here, too.” He nodded toward the back door. “I left her in the kitchen trading recipes with your mom. Something about sponge cake.”