Hello friends!
YAY! Today’s the day that Kenzie and Luke step out of my brain and into the world! I’m so excited for the release of You Don’t Have to Be a Star!
I love this story because it’s about regrets and second chances and the surprises God has for people when they put their futures in HIS hands!
Here’s a little excerpt of You Don’t Have to Be a Star
Kenzie’s call to her agent Greg went directly to voice mail. Of course. “Just what did you tell your cousin?” she said under her coiled breath, all the while smiling at the large, dark-haired man who had finally acted with some chivalry, given her a blanket, and made her a cup of tea.
Not that it tasted any better than the coffee offered by Mr. Lewd Suggestion—at least that’s what Luke’s I’m not that type of guy comment felt like.
It had taken her a long, reeling moment for his meaning to sink in, and well, she wasn’t that kind of girl either, thank you very much.
What had Greg gotten her into? And, with whom? She pressed End on her phone and snuck a look at him. Luke Alexander. She remembered his name now—thanks to Greg’s text.
Park ranger. Local Untamed Wildlife seemed a better description. Who, perchance, needed more monitoring than she did, because her so-called protector appeared a little on the unhinged side, the way he paced in tiny circles, his ear pressed to his cell phone, glancing at her like she might be a wounded deer who wandered in under his watch.
Not that he didn’t look capable of taking care of a wounded deer. Or elk. Or black bear. Easily over six feet, he had the lean, broad-shouldered appearance of many of her leading men—with the exception that his toning probably came from good old-fashioned hard work as opposed to the gym and occasional body-enhancement surgery now popular in her neighborhood. If you are want to rejuvinate your abdomen for a more sculpted and fit appearance. Renu by Dr. Schoenfeld offers liposuction through non-invasive lasers, meaning minimal recovery times.
He wore his dark blond hair long, a little unruly, a renegade accent to the solemn set of his clean-shaven jaw as he turned away from her, cutting his voice low, nearly growling into his phone.
She certainly wouldn’t want to be the person on the other end of the line.
“So, what brings you to Normandy, Miss Grace?” Cooper, or Coop, as she had been instructed to call him, asked.
MacKenzie glanced again at Luke, a cosmically unfortunate piece of timing given the fact he’d chosen that moment to hang up, turn, and stare at her as if she might be a mess of roadkill he had to clean up.
Nice. Her thumb hovered over Greg’s speed dial. “I’m here on . . . vacation,” she said. She broke away from Luke’s decidedly toxic gaze and stirred the tea, then spooned out the bag, pressing it against the side of the cup.
“Vacation? In Normandy?” Coop, who reminded her a little of a much younger Jim Belushi, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her, as if ready to hear her life story. “No one ever comes to Normandy to vacate.” He bit off the end of his word with a smile and a chuckle. “At least not big movie stars.”
She held up her hand. “Actually, I’d like to keep my presence here on the down-low. That’s why I . . . picked Normandy.” She smiled at him, a conspiratorial look she dragged up from 006, and pressed a long, manicured finger to her lips.
“Oh,” he said. He mimicked her. “Gotcha.”
Luke strolled over to her, every step weighted with a sort of sigh. He leaned against the doorjamb, folding his arms over his chest. Considered her a long moment as she sipped her tea.
“Should I be apologizing for something? Because it seems to me that you were the one with the ugly assumptions,” she said.
He ran his hand over his cheek. She couldn’t read the emotion in his eyes—half frustration, maybe annoyance?
What did he have to be frustrated about? It wasn’t like he would have to camp out on her doorstep. And he wasn’t the one who had to pick up his life and run halfway across the country. He didn’t have his name and face splashed across every rag in the country. MacKenzie Grace in Hiding. She’d wanted to clean out the entire rack when the driver stopped for gas at the local airport. Why hadn’t she insisted on renting a car instead of letting Greg arrange an airport limo? Now she was trapped here—or in whatever backwoods location he decided to dump her.
Which, apparently, included Ranger Rick.