When they were teenagers, Quinn MacGregor and Aaron Larsen fell in love over the course of one magical summer. It ended in bloodshed and tragedy. Now, ten years later, Quinn is back in Spruce Creek, Nevada, to inherit his family’s criminal cartel. His cousin Jimmy has been making friends -- and enemies -- in dangerous places, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy to hand over leadership to Quinn. And Jimmy might not be the only one who wants Quinn out of the way for good, especially if Quinn’s secret comes out. Aaron Larsen is back in Spruce Creek to sell his former family home. Aaron lost a leg in Afghanistan, and he’s drinking too much and battling depression and PTSD. The last thing he needs is for Quinn MacGregor to drop back into his miserable life. But when Quinn is shaken by the news that he left more behind in Spruce Creek than his bad memories, he turns to Aaron like it’s old times, and Aaron doesn’t know how to say no. The events of ten years ago cast a long shadow, and in a town where they can’t trust anyone else, Quinn and Aaron just might have to learn to trust each other again.

A Desperate Man

She handed Aaron a menu. “You finally got out of the house, huh?”


“Yeah.” He glanced at the menu and then set it down on the cracked laminate tabletop. “Were you going to tell me you had a kid? With Quinn?”


“No, and no,” she said, lifting her chin. “Who the hell told you anyway? Did Sheriff Henderson—” And then she snorted suddenly. “It was Quinn, wasn’t it? He came by to see you?”


Charlie narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, as though she was searching for something in his expression. Aaron tried to keep his face expressionless, but Charlie widened her eyes and gasped. “Holy shit! You fucked him, didn’t you?”


“Keep your voice down!” Aaron hissed, looking around the diner, but the place was practically empty and the only other customers, an elderly couple engaged in conversation, were seated on the other side of the dining area.


Aaron wanted to crawl under the table and die. “He said I was still hot.”


Chapter 26