New HOT HUNKS series coming this fall ~ and an excerpt from mine!

 

Yes, I signed on to another Hot Hunks series for this fall ~ which is cool, because GHOST IN THE MACHINE releases October 1st with Logan's older brother Jack. Both brothers paired off in the same month! Love it!

I have one MacDonald brother left to pair off after this one, but he might not be suitable for this series so if I'm going to stick with this group, I'll have to come up with some new characters to torture, err, I mean write about!

Anyway, I'm excited about Logan's story, and thought I'd share the prologue - it starts off where his cousin Ed's story ends (ED'S BLIND DATE DILEMMA, available on AMAZON)

Please let me know what you think... email me or send me comments via my website at www.katie-osullivan.com

Prologue

August 2, twilight

Pleasant Bay, Chatham

 

Logan MacDonald leaned both forearms against the porch railing, the last rays of the day still warm on his perpetually bronzed skin. He’d need to dig a sweatshirt out of the truck soon, but for right now he welcomed the cooler breeze on his overheated body. If only it could also take the edge of the restless feeling he couldn’t seem to shake.

All day the feeling dogged him, no matter how hard he pushed himself. He’d gone for a five mile morning run with his buddy Jake, bicycled into downtown to meet a few friends for breakfast, then done yard work until it was time to hit the beach with his family for the afternoon. He’d taken his young niece for a sail around the bay and worked up quite the sweat paddle boarding with his cousins… the only strenuous activity he hadn’t tried yet was sex, but the night was still young. Maybe he’d head into town after the bonfire and hit the bars, hook up with friends and find a willing tourist looking to score with a local. Yeah, that might quench this feeling.

Of all the things Logan could count on during the summer, easy hookups topped the list. Not with the local girls whom he’d known since preschool. Chatham was a pretty small town, except in the summer when the population swelled with summer people and weekenders, all looking to escape their “real lives” back home, wherever that might be. He and his buddies were happy to oblige.

At twenty-five, he’d been around the bar scene long enough to know what the summer girls were looking for and he fit the bill to a “T”, if that “T” for tall, dark and handsome. Actually, all of his cousins fit that same description, especially his cousin Quinn who was currently the lead singer in one of the hottest rock bands on the radio. Of course, Logan had a few inches on all of them, being the tallest of the eight MacDonald cousins. But fuck all if he was gonna name drop Quinn to hook up with a tourist. He’d never hear the end of it.

Happy with his plan for late night to quench the last of his restlessness, Logan surveyed the scene at the bottom of the small hill. Friends and family gathered on the shore and around the fire pit. One of his cousins added more wood to the blazing flames while another helped pull the last kayak up onto the private beach that had been in the family for generations.

His aunt and uncle owned the sweet turn of the century farmhouse at his back, perched on a slight rise overlooking the shore of Pleasant Bay with a perfect view out to the Atlantic. Over the last hundred years it had been added onto several times, but luckily Uncle Grant was a contractor who knew how to best care for the now sprawling residence.

Someday, he thought.

Someday he’d own a house on the water. He’d majored in construction engineering in college and currently worked as a foreman for his Uncle Grant, earning serious bank. Logan had his eye on a piece of property in Brewster, the next town over, with gorgeous views of Cape Cod Bay. He heard it might be going up for auction the following spring. He knew the house, knew it needed substantial work, but he’d been honing skills with his uncle’s company for the last four years. Plus, he and his brother Jack pooled their savings a few years back to purchase a “practice” fixer-upper. Their house sat nestled in the trees, so no ocean views, but it was around the corner from his parents’ bed and breakfast and within walking distance of Pleasant Bay. Not the house Logan ultimately wanted, but it would do for the time being.

He’d renovated the kitchen and dining room first, and added a wide back porch to host parties. Food, friends, and family ranked high on his list of importance. Especially family. His father was one of four brothers who came over together from Scotland years ago. Logan was the youngest of eight cousins, most of whom still lived right here on Cape Cod. He loved spending time with his family, and enjoyed nothing more than hosting a get-together and cooking up a feast for whomever happened to be there. The house he shared with Jack was perfect for that.

Or rather, it used to. Now it seemed crowded.

Jack’s girlfriend Maggie moved in two months ago. She used to own a brownstone up in Boston, but it sold earlier in the spring. Ever since she and Jack met the prior fall, she spent much of her time living with the brothers. Not that Logan minded, not really. Mags was fun to hang around with, and she made Jack happy.

But… three can be a lonely number. Huh. Maybe that’s where this restless feeling is coming from.

He’d never felt lonely before, not in his entire life. His older brother was one of his best friends, in addition to the six other cousins, all guys, all around the same age. Always there when you needed a helping hand, a drinking buddy, or a wingman on a Saturday night. But in the last year or so, most of his cousins found steady girlfriends. Or wives. Quinn the rock star – of all people – kicked it all off in December when he married one of his bandmates. An avalanche of engagements followed.

Brendan got engaged on New Year’s Eve.

Brian married Caroline in June.

Dylan finally popped the question to Bella during the family Fourth of July party.

Now Jack had Maggie. Even Ed started dating again, after losing his high school sweetheart to cancer three years before. Only Logan and his cousin John remained single these days. And John barely came home to Chatham, preferring his city life up in Boston. Leaving Logan the odd man out at so many of these family events.

Hell, I’m only twenty five. Plenty of time to settle down later.

So why the nagging feeling in his gut that he was missing out on something?

“Hey bro! Got a minute?” Jack pushed a cold beer into Logan’s empty hand. They clinked the bottles together and Logan drank deeply, slightly worried by the nervous energy wafting off his brother.

He pressed the cold glass against his temple, watching Jack warily. “You have fun teaching Mags how to kayak?”

“Yeah, turns out she’s a natural on the water.” Jack picked at the label on his longneck, leaning his hip against the railing next to Logan. “So you remember how we talked about me buying you out your share of the house at some point?”

“Yup.” Logan figured he’d need that money eventually. Not to purchase the property in Brewster, since he made good money and had enough saved up for the downpayment. But the house on the bay needed a helluva lot of work. It might even be a tear down…

Jack’s next question pulled him from his musings.

“Do you have a plan? Like, if you want to buy a new house or where you might move to?”

Logan laughed. “Jack, you don’t have the cash to buy me out on your salary. I figure I’ve got time.” His older brother was a State Trooper, and while he had great benefits, the pay was half what Logan pulled in doing construction.

The silence stretched between them for a long moment until Jack cleared his throat. “Thing is, we do have the money.”

“We?”

“Maggie and me. She closed escrow on her place in Boston.”

Logan let out an inelegant snort. He knew her Beacon Hill brownstone sold for several million. “With that kind of money in hand, why buy me out? You two should look for something on the ocean.”

“Most of the money is already earmarked for the rehab facility she wants to open in honor of her sister. She’s been talking with Uncle Grant about the building plans all summer. And you know she loves how secluded our house is. And that it’s so close to family.”

How could Logan argue with any of that? Maggie was trying to turn her sister’s tragic death into something positive, and keep out of the spotlight at the same time. Plus, with no family left of her own, she’d formed a tight bond with his mother and was always hanging around the B&B helping out. Before he could formulate an answer, his cousins Ed and Brendan exited the house, arms laden with trays of hotdogs and hamburgers for the grill down on the beach below.

“Logan, mind grabbing the other tray from the kitchen counter?”

“Sure thing, Ed.” Logan turned back to Jack and shrugged. “Can we talk about this later?” His brother nodded in agreement, and Logan went into the kitchen to grab the additional tray of buns and condiments, his brain stuck on the fact that Jack wanted him to move out.

Not like he hadn’t seen it coming.

He just wasn’t sure what he was going to do about it.