BLURB
They married in their teens. They haven’t seen each other in ten years. And now they have to fake a relationship to keep their land.
At seventeen, Katya Savage eloped with her lifelong best friend, Brodie MacGregor. Everything was perfect for two glorious years—until Katya became obsessed with her great-grandmother’s legacy. To be fair, who wouldn’t get excited about having a female bomber pilot in the family tree? Brodie, that's who. Because when Katya asked him to help her find a plane exactly like the one her great-gran flew during World War Two, he had a hissy fit and gave her an ultimatum—him or the plane. Yeah, that was a dumb move…
Anyway, now Katya’s back. With her plane. And all she wants to do is set up a scenic flight business on the land gifted to them both. Unfortunately, there are a few teeny tiny problems with her plan: 1. Brodie has his own ideas for the land that don’t involve her or her plane. 2. The family who gifted the land to them wants it back. 3. The only way to keep the land is to convince their families, the town, and a bunch of lawyers that they’re back together again.
Now, if they could just stop fighting long enough to act like they’re in love…
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EXCERPT:
It wasn’t every day you watched a World War Two Soviet fighter plane make its way up the main street of a small Highland town. To be fair, it was wingless and secured to a flatbed lorry at the time, not flying over the cobblestone road. Still, the sight was definitely out of place in among the crooked old white houses that made up the high street. Nor did it blend in with the green hills and blue loch that gave the town of Invertary its picturesque setting. In fact, the aircraft was such an oddity—in a town where oddities were commonplace—that it’d brought everyone out to watch the spectacle.
“So, she’s really come home then?”
At his younger brother Darach’s words, Brodie MacGregor grimaced. “It would appear so.”
“And she has the plane she went off to find.”
“Aye.” The self-same plane that was responsible for ending his marriage.
“I hear tell she’s a rocket in the sky. Can fly pretty much anything you put in front of her.”
Brodie cocked an eyebrow at his brother. “Where exactly did you hear that?”
“A wee bird told me.” The dickhead grinned. “Must make you feel like a complete arse, seeing as you told her she’d never make it as a pilot or find one of the planes her granny used to fly. In fact, some might say you had egg on your face from being so bloody arrogant in the first place.”
“If some were to say that within my hearing, it would be the last words they uttered.”
From the mocking smile on Darach’s face, it was clear he wasn’t intimidated by his brother’s threat. Idiot. Even though Darach had a couple of inches on Brodie, and some army training under his belt, the numpty still thought he could take him in a fight. Brodie knew better. Unlike Darach, he never pulled his punches with his brothers. It was the only way he’d managed to survive growing up as the middle child of seven boys.
“Did she give you a heads-up she was coming back?” Darach asked, lifting his chin toward the cab of the truck, where Brodie’s ex-wife sat behind the wheel.
“A letter from her lawyer.”
“So, she’s still pissed at you, then.”
“You could say that. I was charged for the postage.”
Darach burst out laughing. “I always liked that girl.”
Aye, and so had Brodie. Liking Katya was never the problem—living with her was.
When the truck sped past, he caught sight of Katya’s face as she stared straight ahead. And just like that, his jeans became uncomfortably tight while his stomach did a backward somersault. Almost ten years since they’d parted ways, and all it took was one glimpse to make him want to bed her. It came as a brutal blow to his ego to discover his Katya addiction hadn’t waned. And he’d just bet she would laugh her head off if she ever found out.
Darach elbowed Brodie to get his attention. “Does it bother you that she’s still calling herself MacGregor?”
“No.”
Sure, it’d been a slap in the face when she’d kept the name and dumped the man, but he could hardly blame her. MacGregor was preferable to Savage any day of the week. In fact, he’d often wondered if one of the reasons she’d been so eager to marry, despite them both being barely legal, was just to get rid of her family name.
But then, there were easier ways to achieve that than taking on a MacGregor.
“Do you think she heard about your plans?” Darach mused as they watched the plane disappear over the crest of the hill at the top of town.
“I’d be surprised. Her family doesn’t exactly live on this planet most of the time. Even if they heard the gossip, it probably didn’t register.”
Darach grinned widely. “Have to say, I kinda miss the family dinners we had when you two were together.”
Yeah, it was hard not to smile at those memories. Brodie caught his brother’s eye, and they both said, “Delia Savage’s dramatic monologues!” And burst into fits of laughter.
“But seriously.” Darach wiped at his eyes as he sobered. “What are you going to do if she has plans for your land?”
And just like that, all the humor in the situation was sucked right out. “I’ll do what I have to.” Both their names might be on the title, but he’d been the one tending the land for the past decade. Katya hadn’t set foot on it since she’d walked out on him.
“Eh, I hate to point this out, big brother, but you don’t exactly have a lot of options. Unless you split the land down the middle.”
Aye, that wasn’t going to work. Their plot of land was a long, narrow rectangle, with the best views lying on one of the shorter sides. Even if they halved it, neither of them would take the back section with the crappy views. And you couldn’t split it lengthwise, because they’d both end up with a strip that was too narrow to be of any decent use.
“She’ll just have to see reason.” Brodie folded his arms over his faded blue plaid shirt.
Darach nodded. “Because Katya’s well known for her ability to see reason. Like when you told her to do exactly that, right before she left you.”
“This is different.” It had to be. “We’ve both grown up since then. Surely now, we can act with civility toward each other?”
“The letter from her lawyer seemed really civil.”
Brodie glared at Darach as he wondered for the millionth time why he’d been cursed with six smart-arsed morons for brothers. “Are you trying to help here?”
“Mainly, I’m trying to ensure I get a ringside seat for whatever happens next. I know it’s going tae be helluva entertaining.” He mimed an explosion, with sound effects.
“Dickhead.”
“Entertained dickhead. One whose sister-in-law has returned to town and is about to drive my brother insane.”
Author Info
Janet is a Scot who moved to New Zealand fifteen years ago. Among other things, she’s been an artist, a teacher, a security guard at a castle, a magazine editor, and a cleaner in a drop in center for drug addicts (NOT the best job!). She now writes full-time and is working on her 19th book. Her books have won several awards, including the Daphne du Maurier award for excellence in mystery and suspense. When she isn’t living in her head, she raises two kids, one husband, and several random animals. She survives on chocolate and caffeine.
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