 by Kelly Elliott.jpg)
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)
January 3, 2023
On the Hook
Seasiders,
News on the beach is Braxton Bradley has caught the eye of Seaside’s very own darling, Harlee Tilson. Now, this might come as a shock to many of you, since the eldest Bradley sibling has been rumored to have made a vow to never marry. After all, his fishing charter has always been his number one love.
A little crab might have informed me that Braxton and Harlee were seen in a rather…intimate embrace only two nights ago on the Seaside Pier! The scandal of it all since Harlee is fresh off a breakup with Thomas Minor…who happens to be Braxton’s BFF! Did I mention scandal?
Could it be true? Could Braxton and Harlee be an item? One has to wonder what poor Thomas must think of this new development.
Stay tuned, my fishes…more to come!
Fair winds and following seas!
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Braxton (Brax)
Twenty-Five Years Old
I could tell the exact moment she walked into the bar without even seeing her. There was something special about Harlee Tilson, though I could never put my finger on what exactly it was.
Turning, I caught sight of her and smiled. Harlee was my sister Addie’s best friend. I’d like to say she was basically another sister to me, but that would be fucked up since I’d had a dirty dream or two about her over the years. Hell, I wasn’t blind, and the older she got, the more beautiful she became. I’d even had a major crush on her in high school and had only ended up dating one other person because my thoughts were always on Harlee. But she was off limits. The whole never date…or fuck…your sister’s best friend rule. I wasn’t really sure who’d made up that stupid rule anyway.
“Is that Harlee Tilson?” Thomas Minor asked as he stared at her. He was my best friend and like a brother to me. “Damn, that girl gets hotter and hotter every time I see her.”
I glared at my friend. Never mind that I couldn’t touch Harlee, that asshole sure as hell wasn’t going to even think about touching her. “Keep your eyes and your hands off, Thomas.”
He swung his gaze over to me. “Don’t tell me you’re interested in her?”
I laughed. “She’s like a sister to me, dude.”
Okay, half-truth. I don’t have sex dreams about my sisters.
I shuddered at the thought.
Of course, up until my senior year of high school, I had always thought of Harlee as a kid sister. Then she grew up, got breasts, and her body developed curves that even a priest would look at twice, and the whole kid-sister thing was thrown out the door. But that didn’t mean I had free rein to act on it. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt her. She meant a lot to Addie, to my whole family. She was an only child, and her father owned our local newspaper, The Seaside Chronicles. I was pretty sure she spent more time at our house than she did her own. That meant no matter how much I wanted to know what those pouty lips would feel like pressed to mine, it was best I kept my distance.
And if Harlee was off limits to me, she was off limits to all of my friends.
I watched as douchebag Roger walked up to Harlee and smiled at her like she was a piece of meat. He worked down at the docks and was nothing but a player, out for one thing and one thing only: sex. He held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to guide her to the dance floor.
Thomas grunted. “Well, looks like I’m too late anyway. Roger seems to have claimed her.”
A muscle in my neck throbbed as I watched him put his hands on Harlee. It wasn’t jealousy, no…no way it was that. It was the fact that he was a scumbag. There was no way in hell I was going to let him fondle her on the dance floor.
With my fists clenched and an anger that came out of fucking nowhere, I marched over to where Harlee and Roger were dancing and gave him a look that said, “Get away from her or I’ll break your neck.” Everyone in town knew Harlee and Addie were like sisters, and if anyone tried to mess with my sisters or Harlee, they’d have to deal with me.
Roger lifted his hands and took a few steps back. “Dude, it was only a dance.”
“Go find someone else to dance with,” I growled as I stepped between him and Harlee. When I turned and looked down at her, those steely blue eyes were staring up at me, wide with confusion.
“Why did you do that, Brax?”
I couldn’t help but stare down at her, take her in. Her shoulder-length, wavy hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She was wearing jeans and a light blue shirt that seemed to nip in at her waist, showcasing her luscious curves.