For the first timeย New York Timesย bestselling author Christopher Rice writes as C. Travis Rice. Under his pen name, Rice offers tales of passion, intrigue, and steamy romance between men. The first novel,ย SAPPHIRE SUNSET, transports you to a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their heart’s desires.
Logan Murdoch is a fighter, a survivor, and a provider. When he leaves a distinguished career in the Marine Corps to work security at a luxury beachfront resort, heโs got one objective: pay his fatherโs mounting medical bills. That means Connor Harcourt, the irresistibly handsome scion of the wealthy family that owns Sapphire Cove, is strictly off limits, despite his sassy swagger and beautiful blue eyes. Loganโs life is all about sacrifices; Connor is privilege personified. But temptation is a beast that demands to be fed, and a furtive kiss ignites instant passion, forcing Logan to slam the brakes. Hard.
Haunted by their frustrated attraction, the two men find themselves hurled back together when a headline-making scandal threatens to ruin the resort they both love. This time, thereโs no easy escape from the magnetic pull of their white hot desire. Will saving Sapphire Cove help forge the union they crave, or will it drive them apart once more?
New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice writes as C. Travis Rice to deliver the first in a contemporary romance series rife with passion and intrigue.
SAPPHIRE SUNSET is out tomorrow, but I’m honored to share a sneak peek with you today!
The last time Logan had been this afraid, he was in the midst of a training exercise off the coast of Camp Pendleton a few months after a CH-46 had gone down during similar maneuvers, drowning a Marine heโd been buddies with in the process. When heโd looked out the open door of his hovering Black Hawk and realized the sparkling Pacific was a lot farther down than heโd first thought, his stomach lurched and his head spun, like they were both doing now. Combat deployments had brought with them their own sense of persistent anxiety, but the IED that had knocked him out of his Humvee heโd never seen coming, and the few times heโd been fired on had come fast and furious too. Neither incident compared to the sudden terror of that moment high above the Pacific, the dread that came with staring possible disaster in the face.
Thatโs what he felt now as he rehearsed what heโd say to Connor.
Vertigo-inducing terror.
But he wasnโt high above the ocean. He was sitting at one of the tables outside of Laguna Brew, the one farthest from the teenage girls who were texting like theyโd lose money if their words-per-minute count dropped.
Then a car turned into the mini-mallโs parking lot. Loganโs heart lurched.
It wasnโt just a car.
It was a big, gleaming silver Rolls-Royce.
The teenage girls stopped texting at the sight of it. The mother and her three kids whoโd emerged from the yogurt shop next door stopped in their tracks, jaws agape.
The Rolls-Royce came to a stop, and Connor stepped from the back seat, looking as sparkling and perfect as the car itself. Dark blue, form-fitting designer jeans that plumped his perfect butt. A blue polo shirt with white trim on the collar and bicep-hugging sleeves. And the kicker: white leather shoes fringed with rhinestones that made it look like he was walking on air.
Baby blues and then some.
He looked like a shiny little piece of candy, and Logan wanted nothing more than to unwrap him.
Maybe thatโs why heโd stood up suddenly, like a shotgun had gone off.
Connor was walking toward him, his seductive smile lighting up his eyes. A draft of his citrusy cologne reached Logan before he did, inspiring a head-spinning memory of their perfect first kiss the night before. Heโd styled his hair so that the sides were gel darkened, but the top was still light and feathery. Just enough for Logan to run his hands through.
Oh, God. I canโt do this.
Connor took Loganโs extended hand, using it to pull them into an embrace. Quick, but firm enough to cause a stirring in Loganโs balls.
โThanks for doing this on such short notice.โ Logan patted Connorโs back three times in a row, like a coach congratulating his player.
Connor flinched. โOf course.โ
โCool.โ Logan couldnโt think of anything else to say. Pulling Connorโs chair out for him might send the wrong message, and sitting down would bring them another step closer to the moment he was dreading.
But Connor took his hand suddenly, and just as suddenly Logan was struggling to keep his balance as the force of nature pulled him across the parking lot.
Oh, crap. Heโs trying to get me in the Rolls.
Before he could protest, Connor opened the carโs door, which opened in the opposite direction from most normal cars. He knew the term for it, a suicide door, because mob guys couldnโt take cover behind it before hitting the pavement and opening fire. Suicide might be exactly what Logan was committing if he stepped into the suddenly open space between him and the carโs interior, but Logan entered it anyway. The display set up on the seat chased his breath away. Chocolate and peanut butter.
Cowboy boots. For line dancing, no doubt. It took a few seconds, then he recognized the shape the peanut butter cups were arranged in. The chevrons on a sergeantโs badge. Connor had remembered heโd been a staff sergeant. And Logan had mentioned that, what? Once? Had he put this together himself or hired someone to do it? Did it matter? It was both too much and more than enough at once.
His heart was racing like it had when heโd peered out that open Black Hawk door. But instead of the ocean far below, he saw the fear and need in his former street fighter fatherโs eyes the night before. A man out of options. Except for his only son.
โThatโsโฆโ But Loganโs voice left him.
โOh, no. What? You donโt like chocolate and peanut butter after all?โ
โNo, thatโs really amazing, Connor. I donโt know what to say.โ
โYou donโt have to say anything. Just, you know, get in the car and I can show you some other places that are as nice as the ones I showed you last night.โ
Summoning all the resistance he could manage, Logan straightened, backed away from the car door, and when he finally turned to face the man next to him, he saw it happen instantly. Saw Connor recognize the fear and uncertainty on Loganโs face and saw it dash something across the rocks inside of him.
โOh.โ Connor wasnโt pouting, but it was damn close. โI guess this was too much.โ
โNo, no. This is amazingโฆIโฆโ