Her secret or her second chance? It was her choice
Winning the lottery should have been a dream. Instead, Jessie Martinâs life is transformed into a nightmare. In order to protect herself and her family, she flees to Key West. But in a world where no one can be trusted, even paradise seems like a prison.
Breaking the rules of her seclusion to waitress at a local restaurant, Jessie suspects the ownerâs sexy nephew, Logan Nash, knows sheâs hiding something. Caught between the truth and lies, Jessie wonât risk anyone discovering who she really is. Even if sheâs falling for this one perfect guy...
âWhat do you want, Logan?â
âIâm just being friendly. Here.â
Logan offered her the bag. Jessie took it. Their fingers bumped. So did her pulse rate.
âWhy?â
He laughedâa low rumble of sound. âAre you always suspicious when people are nice to you?â
âYouâve made it clear you donât like or trust me. So why are you really here?â
âBecause Miriâs important to me, and she likes you.â
He tied off the kayak, then climbed onto the dock. His legs were long and tanned and lightly swirled with dark hair. Even his bare feet were sexy.
So he was attractive. Big deal.
That didnât mean she was attracted to him... Definitely not.
Dear Reader,
Have you ever dreamed of winning the lottery? I think most, if not all, of us have. We believe that a few million dollars will solve all of our problems. When I started reading the real stories of big lottery winners, I learned that isnât usually the case. Winning the jackpot is, in fact, a curse for most winners. Thatâs how this story began.
When elementary-school teacher Jessamine wins, her life is turned upside down. Sheâs forced into hiding and must reevaluate the things that are most important in her lifeâand those are not the material things she can buy. Then she finds a man she can love, but how can she ever be sure he loves her and not the fortune sheâs won?
I hope you enjoy Jessamineâs journey.
Emilie Rose
USA TODAY bestselling author and two-time RITA® Award finalist EMILIE ROSE lives in North Carolina with her own romance hero. Writing is her third career. Sheâs managed a medical office and a home day careâneither offered half as much satisfaction as plotting happy endings. Her hobbies include gardening, fishing, cooking and traveling to find her next book setting. Visit her website, emilierose.com, or email her at [email protected].
I thank the Lord for blessing me with this amazing career and for filling my head with characters and stories that need to be told.
CHAPTER ONE
JESSAMINE MARTIN TRIED to appreciate the fingers of peach and salmon creeping over the rooftops as she walked along the Key West boardwalk, but she was too busy waiting for the new pay-as-you-go phone in her pocket to vibrate to concentrate on which tints she could blend to attain those specific hues.
She missed her family and work. As noisy and chaotic as teaching art to elementary school kids might be, the routine was normal, comforting. This unrelenting solitude wasnât. She couldnât even keep track of what day it was unless she checked her watch. Monday. She used to love Mondays. They represented the beginning of a week doing what she loved. That had changed the day the school board demanded she leave.
She wanted her old life back.
Gulls squawked and waddled away as she passed, and fish churned the waters of Key West Bight, waiting for the tourists who werenât up yet to buy food pellets from the gumball machines and toss them into the water. After six weeks of walking this stretch, she could identify some of her nonhuman companions as regulars by their size, colors and scars. So sick of her own company and lack of purpose, she was almost desperate enough to talk to them.
The waterfront was quiet at the cusp of dawn. Only fishermen moved about, preparing their charter boats for a day of excitement and adventure, traveling out to the Gulf for fishing or to the Tortugas for diving. Her day would be filled with more of the same monotonous schedule sheâd adopted since arriving. Sheâd read another of the paperbacks sheâd picked up at the Key West library or do a little painting or sketching if she could rouse the muse. But even her muse yearned for the stark lines of South Carolinaâs rolling hills, bare deciduous trees and thick pines.
The phone buzzed against her hip. She snatched it up so quickly she nearly dropped it as she fumbled to find the right button to answer the unfamiliar device.
âIs everyone okay?â she blurted.
âAll good here. How are you, Liâl Bit? Enjoying your vacation?â