After model and actor Mason Adams nearly died from a drug overdose and served time in rehab, his agent is convinced the quiet life is the perfect way to get his life and career back on track. So Mason rents a beach house for the summer in a seaside town to get away from his fast-paced, partying lifestyle in Los Angeles.<br><br>Mason, however, isn't sure the sedate life is for him -- until he meets his neighbor, crime fiction author John Harding. Forced to retire from the fire department after a career-ending injury, John has found a new life in a modest beach house as a best-selling novelist. Life is good, but quiet and not exactly exciting, until Mason comes to stay next door.<br><br>Unable to resist, they begin an affair. Once the summer ends, Mason knows he'll return to LA ... and he'll have to leave the man who has stolen his heart.

The Beach House

“You’re thinking I shouldn’t be drinking this beer, huh?”


He sighed. “Well, I figure having a beer once in a while isn’t going to send me running back to crystal meth. What do you think?”


His chest loosened just a little, making him realize how stiff and tight he’d been when the conversation began. “So, uh, do you want me to leave?”


That had John turning back from stirring the chili. “No. Why?”


“Some people don’t do well with addicts.” He shrugged. “Some people I thought, maybe, were my friends, well, they want nothing to do with me now.”


“Were they friends or drug buddies?”


Mason winced but answered. “Drug buddies, probably.”


“Yeah, I can see if you’re trying to be clean why they wouldn’t want anything to do with you. Not your friends to begin with.”


John returned his smile, which made a chink of ice melt off his heart.


Chapter 9