For this week’s Teaser Tuesday, here’s another snippet from Kieran’s Light, book 6 in my Trappers Cove Romance Series.
No worries if you haven’t yet read the other books in the series. Each novel and novella is a stand-alone story, so you can jump in anywhere, or
Grab the Complete Series and Save!Lighthouse keeper Kieran has invited Addy for a cozy, home-cooked meal and a little ghost hunting, but that’s not what spooks our military doctor FMC.
Before taking their dessert outside, Kieran went to the cedar chest to gather warm woolen blankets, and sent up a silent prayer that Addy wouldn’t ask him to start a fire. He and the lovely doctor were—his niece in Toronto would call it “vibing,” and he was eager to explore this new connection, but open flames plus ocean view? That combination was still a bridge too far. It had taken him a full year of living in the cottage before he worked up the nerve to light the fireplace.
After years of therapy, he’d finally learned to maneuver around his triggers and sleep through the night—mostly. Okay, sometimes. But he was so much better than the jittery mess of a man who came to Trappers Cove in search of a fresh start. Adding a woman to the mix would require rethinking…well, pretty much everything. The delicate balance of his new life might topple if he attempted an actual relationship.
But with Addy, there was no danger of that, a thought that landed in his gut with a sickening thunk. Even if she gave him a tumble, she was only in town for a week, and she’d be leaving Washington soon. Seems he’d just met “the one who got away.”
But she wasn’t gone yet.
Arms loaded with blankets, he lowered the chest’s lid, but it slipped from his fingers and slammed shut with a loud bang. Behind him, the dog yelped.
“Sorry, buddy. Clumsy of me.” He turned to find Snoot under the dining table, huddled with his mistress, who crouched on her knees and clasped her hands over her nape as if shielding herself from falling debris. The Lab nuzzled her hair and whined.
“Jaysus,” he murmured and dropped the blankets. Lowering himself to the floor, he crawled under the table, where the poor woman hunched, trembling like an aspen leaf.
“Addy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. You’re safe, I promise.”
Slowly, cautiously, she unfolded and raised her head. Her gaze was haunted, her tear-streaked cheeks ashen.
“Hey now, it’s okay.” He gathered her into his arms and held her against his chest until she stopped shaking. Finally, she released a long, trembling breath. “Sorry, Kieran. I’m not usually this jumpy. Sometimes, it just sneaks up on me, you know?”
His poor heart squeezed like a fist. “PTSD, is it?”
Her chuckle rang brittle as glass. “Helluva way for you to find out.”
He stroked her hair, pulled loose from its knot by the sudden scramble for shelter. “Fella in my therapy group reacted the same when the wind blew the door open.”
“I’m being ridiculous,” she muttered into his shoulder. “Startling like a scared rabbit. The combat soldiers I treated saw so much worse than I ever did. All I had to do was stitch up the aftermath.” Her voice hitched as she fixed him with wide, glassy eyes. “But there were so many I couldn’t save.”
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