Crashing Into Love

by Melissa Foster

  “That’s the hope,” Dex said. He took another swig of his beer and checked his watch. Eight forty-five and his body thought it was noon. He’d spent so many years working all night and sleeping late that his body clock was completely thrown off. He was ready for a big meal and the start of his workday. He stroked the stubble along his chin. “I worked on it till four this morning. I think I deserve a cold one.”

  Sage leaned in to him. “You’re not nervous about the release, are you?”

  Of his five siblings—including Dex’s twin sister, Siena, Sage knew him best. He was the quintessential artist, with a heart that outweighed the millions of dollars his sculptures had earned him. He’d supported Dex through the years when Dex needed to bend an ear, and when he wasn’t physically nearby, Sage was never farther than a text or a phone call away.

  “Nah. If it all fails, I’ll come live with you.” Dex had earned enough money off of the games he’d produced that he’d never have to worry about finances again, but he wasn’t in the gaming business for the money. He’d been a gamer at heart since he was able to string coherent thoughts together, or at least it felt that way. “What’s happening with the break you said you wanted to take? Are you going to Jack’s cabin?” Their eldest brother Jack owned a cabin in the Colorado Mountains. Jack was an ex–Special Forces officer and a survival-training guide, and he and his fiancée Savannah spent most weekends at the cabin. Living and working in the concrete jungle didn’t offer the type of escape Sage’s brain had always needed.

  “I’ve got another show or two on the horizon; then I’ll take time off. But I think I want to do something useful with my time off. Find a way to, I don’t know, help others instead of sitting around on my ass.” He sipped his beer and tugged at the neck of his Baja hippie jacket. “How ’bout you? Any plans for vacay after the release?”

  “Shit. You’re kidding, right? My downtime is spent playing at my work. I love it. I’d go crazy sitting in some cabin with no connectivity to the real world.”

  “The right woman might change your mind.” Sage took a swig of his beer.

  “Dex date?” Regina tipped her glass to her lips. “Do you even know your brother? He might hook up once in a while, but this man protects his heart like it carries all of the industry secrets.”

  “Can we not go there tonight?” Dex snapped. He had a way of remembering certain moments of his life with impeccable clarity, some of which left scars so deep he could practically taste them every damn day of his life. He nurtured the hurt and relished in the joy of the scars, as his artistic and peace-seeking mother had taught him. But Dex was powerless against his deepest scar, and numbing his heart was the only way he could survive the memory of the woman he loved walking away from him four years earlier without so much as a goodbye.

  “Whoa, bro. Just a suggestion,” Sage said. “You can’t replace what you never had.”

  Dex shot him a look.

  Regina spun on her chair and then swung her arm over Dex’s shoulder. “Incoming,” she whispered.

  Dex looked over his shoulder and met the stare of two hot blondes. His shoulders tensed and he sighed.

  “It’s not gonna kill you to make a play for one of them, Dex. Work off some of that stress.” Sage glanced back at the women.

  “No, thanks. They’re all the same.” Ever since the major magazines had carried the story about Dex’s success, he’d been hounded by ditzy women who thought all he wanted to talk about was PC games.

  Regina leaned in closer and whispered, “Not them. Fan boys, two o’clock.”

  Thank God.

  “Hey, aren’t you Dex Rem?” one of the boys asked.

  Dex wondered if they were in college or if they had abandoned their family’s dreams for them in lieu of a life of gaming. It was the crux of his concern about his career. He was getting rich while feeding society’s desire to be couch potatoes.

  “Remington, yeah, that’s me,” he said, wearing a smile like a costume, becoming the relaxed gamer his fans craved.

  “Dude, World of Thieves is the most incredible game ever! Listen, you ever need any beta testers, we’re your guys.” The kid nodded as his stringy bangs bounced into his eyes. His friend’s jaw hung open, struck dumb by meeting Dex, another of Dex’s pet peeves. He was just a guy who worked hard at what he loved, and he believed anyone could accomplish the same level of success if they only put forth the effort. Damn, he hated how much that belief mirrored his father’s teachings.

  “Yeah?” Dex lifted his chin. “What college did you graduate from?”

  The two guys exchanged a look, then a laugh. The one with the long bangs said, “Dude, it don’t take a college degree to test games.”

  Dex’s biceps flexed. There it was. The misconception that irked Dex more than the laziness of the kids who were just a few years younger than him. As a Cornell graduate, Dex believed in the value of education and the value of being a productive member of society. He needed to figure out the release date, not talk bullshit with kids who were probably too young to even be in a bar.

  “Guys, give him a break, ’kay?” Regina said.

  “Sure, yeah. Great to meet you,” the longer-haired kid said.

  Dex watched them turn away and sucked back his beer. His eyes caught on a woman at a booth in the corner of the bar. He studied the petite, brown-haired woman who was fiddling with her napkin while her leg bounced a mile a minute beneath the table. Jesus. Memories from four years earlier came rushing back to him with freight-train impact, hitting his heart dead center.

  “I know how you are about college, but, Dex, they’re kids. You gotta give them a little line to feed off of,” Regina said.

  Dex tried to push past the memories. He glanced up at the woman again, and his stomach twisted. He turned away, trying to focus on what Regina had said. College. The kids. Give them a line to feed off of. Regina was right. He should accept the hero worship with gratitude, but lately he’d been feeling like the very games that had made him successful were sucking kids into an antisocial, couch-potato lifestyle.

  “Really, Dex. Imagine if you’d met your hero at that age.” Sage ran his hand through his hair and shook his head.

  “I’m no hero.” Dex’s eyes were trained on the woman across the bar. Ellie Parker. His mouth went dry.

  “Dex?” Sage followed his gaze. “Holy shit.”

  There was a time when Ellie had been everything to him. She’d lived in a foster home around the corner from him when they were growing up, and she’d moved away just before graduating high school. Dex’s mind catapulted back thirteen years, to his bedroom at his parents’ house. “In the End” by Linkin Park was playing on the radio. Siena had a handful of girlfriends over, and she’d gotten the notion that playing Truth or Dare was a good idea. At thirteen, Dex had gone along with whatever his popular and beautiful sister had wanted him to. She was the orchestrator of their social lives. He hadn’t exactly been a cool teenager, with his nose constantly in a book or his hands on electronics. That had changed when testosterone filled his veins two years later, but at thirteen, even the idea of being close to a girl made him feel as though he might pass out. He’d retreated to his bedroom, and that had been the first night Ellie had appeared at his window.

  “Hey, Dex.” Regina followed his gaze to Ellie’s table; her eyes moved over her fidgeting fingers and her bouncing leg. “Nervous Nelly?” she teased.

  Dex rose to his feet. His stomach clenched.

  “Dude, we’re supposed to have a meeting. There’s still more to talk about,” Mitch said.

  Sage’s voice was serious. “Bro, you sure you wanna go there?”

  With Sage’s warning, Dex’s pulse sped up. His mind jumped back again to the last time he’d seen her, four years earlier, when Ellie had called him out of the blue. She’d needed him. He’d thought the pieces of his life had finally fallen back into place. Ellie had come to New York, scared of what, he had no idea, and she’d stayed with him for two days and nights. Dex had fa
llen right back into the all-consuming, adoring, frustrating vortex that was Ellie Parker. “Yeah, I know. I gotta…” See if that’s really her.

  “Dex?” Regina grabbed his arm.

  He placed his hand gently over her spindly fingers and unfurled them from his wrist. He read the confusion in her narrowed eyes. Regina didn’t know about Ellie Parker. No one knows about Ellie Parker. Except Sage. Sage knows. He glanced over his shoulder at Sage, unable to wrap his mind around the right words.

  “Holy hell,” Sage said. “I’ve gotta take off in a sec anyway. Go, man. Text me when you can.”

  Dex nodded.

  “What am I missing here?” Regina asked, looking between Sage and Dex.

  Regina was protective of Dex in the same way that Siena always had been. They both worried he’d be taken advantage of. In the three years Dex had known Regina, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d approached a woman in front of her, rather than the other way around. It would take Dex two hands to count the number of times he’d been taken advantage of in the past few years, and Regina’s eyes mirrored that reality. Regina didn’t know it, but of all the women in the world, Ellie was probably the one he needed protection from the most.

  He put his hand on her shoulder, feeling her sharp bones against his palm. There had been a time when Dex had wondered if Regina was a heavy drug user. Her lanky body reminded him of strung-out users, but Regina was skinny because she survived on beer, Twizzlers, and chocolate, with the occasional veggie burger thrown in for good measure.

  “Yeah. I think I see an old friend. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” Dex lifted his gaze to Mitch. “Midnight?”

  “Whatever, dude. Don’t let me cock block you.” Mitch laughed.

  “She’s an old…not a…never mind.” My onetime best friend? As he crossed the floor, all the love he felt for her came rushing back. He stopped in the middle of the crowded floor and took a deep breath. It’s really you. In the next breath, his body remembered the heartbreak of the last time he’d seen her. The time he’d never forget. When he’d woken up four years ago and found her gone—no note, no explanation, and no contact since. Just like she’d done once before when they were kids. The sharp, painful memory pierced his swollen heart. He’d tried so hard to forget her, he’d even moved out of the apartment to distance himself from the memories. He should turn away, return to his friends. Ellie would only hurt him again. He was rooted to the floor, his heart tugging him forward, his mind holding him back.

  A couple rose from the booth where Ellie sat, drawing his attention. He hadn’t even noticed them before. God, she looked beautiful. Her face had thinned. Her cheekbones were more pronounced, but her eyes hadn’t changed one bit. When they were younger, she’d fooled almost everyone with a brave face—but never Dex. Dex had seen right through to her heart. Like right now. She stared down at something in her hands with her eyebrows pinched together and her full lips set in a way that brought back memories, hovering somewhere between worried and trying to convince herself everything would be okay.

  Her leg bounced nervously, and he stifled the urge to tell her that no matter what was wrong, it would all be okay. Dex ignored the warnings going off in his mind and followed his heart as he crossed the floor toward Ellie.

  (End of Sneak Peek)

  To continue reading, be sure to pick up

  GAME OF LOVE (The Remingtons, Book One)

  Full LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES order

  Love in Bloom books may be read as stand alones. For more enjoyment, read them in series order. Characters from each series carry forward to the next.

  SNOW SISTERS

  Sisters in Love

  Sisters in Bloom

  Sisters in White

  THE BRADENS

  Lovers at Heart

  Destined for Love

  Friendship on Fire

  Sea of Love

  Bursting with Love

  Hearts at Play

  Taken by Love

  Fated for Love

  Romancing my Love

  Flirting with Love

  Dreaming of Love

  Crashing into Love

  Healed by Love

  THE REMINGTONS

  Game of Love

  Stroke of Love

  Flames of Love

  Slope of Love

  Read, Write, Love

  SEASIDE SUMMERS

  Seaside Dreams

  Seaside Hearts

  Seaside Sunsets

  Seaside Secrets

  Seaside Nights

  Seaside Whispers

  Seaside Lovers

  Seaside Embrace

  HARBORSIDE NIGHTS

  Includes characters from

  Love in Bloom series

  Catching Cassidy

  Discovering Delilah

  Tempting Tristan

  Chasing Charlie

  Breaking Brandon

  Embracing Evan

  Reaching Rusty

  Loving Livi

  More Books by Melissa

  Chasing Amanda (mystery/suspense)

  Have No Shame (historical fiction/romance)

  Love, Lies & Mystery (3-book bundle)

  Megan’s Way (literary fiction)

  Traces of Kara (psychological thriller)

  Where Petals Fall (suspense)

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  Acknowledgments

  Writing about Jake Braden was a challenge and a joy. Bradens are known for being gracious gentlemen, and Jake was so broken that he sort of lost that part of himself for a very long time. When I first met Fiona, I knew that the love she had for Jake would pull him back in to the man he really was, and I’m so glad I didn’t let his bad-boy side sway me from bringing Fiona to him. I hope you’ve fallen in love with each of the Bradens and their significant others, and thank you, dear readers, for reaching out and demanding that I bring you more Bradens. In addition to our new Harborside Nights friends and the Ryders, Steeles, and Stones, you can look forward to two more hot, wealthy, and wickedly naughty Braden families: The Bradens at Peaceful Harbor and the Bradens at Pleasant Hill.

  If you don’t yet follow me on Facebook, please do! We have such fun chatting about our lovable heroes and sassy heroines, and I always try to keep fans abreast of what’s going on in our fictional boyfriends’ worlds.

  http://www.Facebook.com/MelissaFosterAuthor.

  Remember to sign up for my newsletter to keep up-to-date with new releases and special promotions and events:

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  I am indebted to my amazing team of editors and proofreaders, whose meticulous efforts help bring you the cleanest books possible. Thank you: Kristen Weber, Penina Lopez, Jenna Bagnini, Juliette Hill, Marlene Engel, and Lynn Mullan. Thank you, Natasha Brown, for the gorgeous cover, and Clare Ayala, for formatting my work.

  And, of course, thank you to my husband, Les, who supplies me with a generous supply of chocolate, love, and hero pictures for my “wall of inspiration” without an ounce of jealou
sy. I love you, babe. You are my true-life hunky hero.

  Melissa Foster is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café, and when she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa also hosts Aspiring Authors contests for children and has painted and donated several murals to the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC.

  Visit Melissa on her website or chat with her on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event.

  Melissa’s books are available through most online retailers in paperback and digital formats.