Blaze of Winter: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance Read Online Free

the beautiful, intelligent women who were happy to be on the arm of someone good-looking, well informed, and famous—in literary circles, that was. It had been exhilarating, and he’d gotten swept up in the crush. The collateral damage had been his writing. After a few strong years he’d just completely petered out, unable to even start his next book, which was already under contract.
    Without the writing, he didn’t know who he was anymore. But even before then, his life had started to seem like a glittery jewel—bright and shiny on the outside, but cold and empty on the inside. He was missing something huge, something he couldn’t put his finger on, even as he grew more and more disconnected, feeling like he was just playing a part in a badly written play. The last party he’d attended, in mid-September, had been the final straw. As he’d stood there, listening to everyone’s superficial natterings, seeing one friend suck up to another friend, knowing that as soon as they separated they’d pick each other apart, watching the woman he’d slept with the night before cozy up to an editor visiting from New York, he had the strangest feeling that he was living another life—a life that wasn’t his own. He tried to look objectively atwho he’d become, and he didn’t like what he saw: the man with the scotch in his hand and the artfully worn tweed jacket, leaning on a bookshelf with a jaded expression. Was he really that guy?
    Right then and there, a little voice started whispering in his ear, telling him to go back to Star Harbor for a while. That it would be good for him. And he listened. It made sense—by escaping the scene, he hoped he’d be able to come to grips with himself. Figure out who he was and where he was going. The next week, he’d made a plan. It took a couple of months, but he’d sublet his apartment, packed his bags, and headed to Massachusetts, leaving everything behind.
    Now that he had some distance from his old life, it was starting to seem farther and farther from the reality he wanted to carve out for himself. He knew it was more than just the writing. Being in San Francisco simply wasn’t getting him where he needed to be. Where he wanted to be.
    But where did he want to be? He couldn’t stay in Star Harbor permanently, could he? For the briefest second, a flash of bright red hair wicked its way through his consciousness. Theo grunted. Avery had put up her guard the moment she laid eyes on him—giving him that you’re going to play me look.
    Thinking about her, he was struck by an intense desire to see her again, to break down those defenses. He was shocked that he was even having that thought. Sure, he was attracted to her, but he couldn’t act. He wouldn’t act.
    But he’d be damned if he didn’t want to.
    Throwing the rest of his clothes in his bag, Theo zipped it up, suddenly feeling exhausted. Conversations with Val had a way of doing that to him.
    He slung the bag over his shoulder, then stepped up the stairway and onto the deck. Val and Cole were gone, so he was able to leave without further discussion, using one hand as a brace to hop over the rail and onto the pier. Mindful that there was ice on the wooden wharf, he carefully made his way back to the main boardwalk, which had been well cleared, and then up toHarbor Street. Would Avery be there when he got back? Damn, he hoped so. He hitched his bag up higher on his shoulder, then quickened his pace until he reached the front door of the Inn. Crossing his fingers, he swung the door open and stepped into the warmth of the front room.
    She was there behind the reservation desk, sitting primly in a small wooden chair as she pored over a binder, making notes in the margins. As soon as he stepped into the foyer, she scrambled, snapping the binder shut and standing up fast. For a brief moment, she looked unbearably sad, but her expression morphed into one of cool politeness so quickly that Theo wondered if he’d imagined