Welcome back to Philadelphia, PA, and the Escape Club! This riverside hot spot is the place to find both great music and a safe haven if you have a problem that doesn’t fit within the framework of typical law enforcement.
Stephen Galway first appeared in Safe in His Sight, my debut book for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, and though I’ve written several novels in between, I’ve never been able to put this brooding man out of my mind. I’ve wanted him to have a happy-ever-after since the first moment he showed up on the page, grumbling at his brother.
Kenzie Hughes, a PFD firefighter, is in trouble and her options are dwindling when help comes from an unlikely source: Stephen. For some reason he sees right through her independent nature, which is currently propped up by little more than bravado and a big smile. Time after time he listens and then quietly steps up and does what’s needed and all without trampling her pride.
Life has dealt Kenzie and Stephen some serious challenges and alone they found unique ways to cope and compensate. But now that they’ve met, it’s time to make some hard choices about who they are, what they really need and how those revealing answers will shape their future.
Live the adventure,
Regan Black
For my friend Sam, a man who consistently stepped up as a sheriff’s deputy, as an author and as my inspiration for Stephen’s dad, Samuel Galway.
I am forever grateful for the light and laughter you added to my world.
Contents
Standing at a prep counter in the Escape Club kitchen, Kenzie Hughes stuffed the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and added her plate to the rack loaded for the dishwasher. She thanked the cook and slipped the strap of her backpack over one shoulder. Pausing at the doorway to the main floor, she scanned the empty stage, looking for Grant Sullivan, owner of the establishment.
The extra personnel Grant had brought on for the summer concert series were resetting for the evening show. Leaving them to cover her workload through the afternoon changeover didn’t sit well with Kenzie, but her landlord had called. She had only a few more hours to clear out whatever she didn’t want exposed to termite fumigation and the dust and debris from the repair process.
If she hustled she could get to her apartment and back again before the doors opened for the evening session. That would please her as much as it would please Grant. It wasn’t as if she had anything better to do with her time, other than finding an affordable place to crash for a couple weeks.
Though her pay from the Philadelphia Fire Department had continued during her current administrative leave, storage units and short-term room rentals added up fast. She’d asked both her union representative and her lawyer if she could visit her mom in Delaware while her apartment was out of commission, and been told she had to stay in Philly. Both the union rep and her lawyer implied that her leaving town could be perceived as an admission of guilt.
“Can’t have that,” she muttered to herself.
If there was anything Kenzie dreaded more than the potential outcome of her current legal trouble, it was having nothing productive to do while she waited out the process.
She had, in fact, been cleared of any wrongdoing during a PFD investigation that followed a complaint from a man she’d rescued from a fire. He’d claimed her incompetence had resulted in minor injuries that could have been avoided. Just when she thought she’d be back on the job, the victim had filed a civil suit against her personally. She knew she wasn’t guilty of any error in the process of saving his life. The victim disagreed. Loudly, publicly and constantly.
Stop, she ordered herself. Dwelling on the negative situation only fouled up her mood. The jerk didn’t have a case at all. If he had, the
