Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
It didn’t take long for me to decide that if I helped Brax, I could easily throw him off the right track.
Despite my exhaustion, I smiled at myself in the mirror. It was a genius idea, if I did say so myself. Poor Brax. I was going to send him on one wild goose chase after another. It would be like taking candy from a baby. I’d feed Brax the wrong information, send him chasing after his own tail, and have a bit of fun while I was at it.
The first thing I needed to do was convince him that Ms. Seaside was on to him. That would be easy enough.
I headed back into my bedroom and picked up my phone. I sent Brax a text, figuring he’d have his phone on silent since it was so early in the morning.
Me: Do you want to meet at Seaside Grill this morning and put our intel together?
I couldn’t help but giggle. He had no idea what was in store for him.
I was surprised when I saw the three dots start moving. He replied almost instantly.
Brax: You’re up early. What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?
My heart dropped.
Me: So are you. And no problem sleeping on my end. I woke up to go for a run on the treadmill.
I closed my eyes and groaned at my impromptu lie. I didn’t run, but I knew Brax did. If he asked me to go running with him, what was I supposed to do? I’d die a quarter of a mile in. I hated running. Unless it was to get the special edition chocolate mousse cheesecake that Seaside Bakery made every so often. Or if my life was in danger of ending since some crazy person was chasing me with a knife or something.
Brax: Nice! I’m headed to the gym.
Me: Okay, well, do you want to meet up this morning?
I tried to push away the image of Brax working out. Sweating and grunting as he lifted weights.
“God, pull it together, Harlee Tilson!”
Brax: Sounds good to me. What time do you want to meet? I’m free all morning.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, you are.”
Me: Eight too early?
Brax: Not at all. See you then.
I chewed on my lip, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of seeing him.
It didn’t matter that once upon a time Brax had broken my heart; I still got butterflies when he smiled at me. My breath still caught in my throat when he walked into a room, and I still dreamed about our night together. It was one of those moments in your life that you wished you could do over.
It was both the best night of my life—and the worst.
The idea of working with Brax to uncover Ms. Seaside’s identity was both terrifying and thrilling. It meant I’d be constantly reminded that he didn’t see me as anything other than another notch on his belt. A reminder that I’d been too honest with him that morning after our night together, and he’d rejected me.
I had cried for days…maybe even weeks. Once I’d finally stopped having a pity party for myself, I’d vowed to never let another man make me feel that way again.
The hardest part was getting Brax out of my heart. Easier said than done. Oh, I’d dated and had even been in a serious relationship right out of college. I’ve had a few one-night stands and had learned how to take control of my own sexual desires. However, the heart wants what the freaking heart wants.
And mine, the stupid, lovesick fool that she was, wanted Braxton Bradley.
“Stupid, silly girl,” I whispered as I dropped my phone on the bed and headed to my closet. Regardless of the words I’d said aloud, I knew I would spend the next hour figuring out what to wear for breakfast with Brax.
I pulled up and parked behind Brax’s truck. He’d parked about half a block from his parents’ restaurant, the Seaside Grill. The walk would give me a few extra minutes to calm my racing heart. I’d always been fine with facing Brax when I knew other people would be with us. Talking to him alone was going to be difficult. I’d spent the last few years making sure I wasn’t ever alone with him.
“This will work, Harlee,” I said out loud. “You can throw him off the trail. You’ve been doing this a long time, and Braxton is not going to be the one to take you down.”
Brax’s intel about Ms. Seaside slipping her article in a crack in the wall of the lighthouse was laughable. I actually put it in a secret compartment that only a handful of people knew about.
During my research on our little town, I’d run across a journal that the old lighthouse caretaker had kept. Mitch, the great-great-grandson of that lighthouse caretaker, had been the one to let me read it. He knew I was a huge history buff who craved learning anything related to Seaside. He hadn’t read the journal himself, though, so he had no idea about the compartment.