More Than I Can Say — an excerpt

MTICS final cover image

 

More Than I Can Say was published in March 2018 by Solstice Publishing, and can be bought through Amazon or Solstice. Here is an excerpt:

 

Prologue

 

Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, Jackson started up the trail. The trail was 5.8 miles to the summit and he was looking forward to starting his training outdoors for the Spartan Race, instead of in city gyms.

At almost a mile in, he paused and adjusted his pack before beginning to jog again, happy that no one else seemed to be out this early on a Sunday morning. As he picked up his pace, he heard a noise behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a small blonde woman rapidly approaching. As she caught up, she shouted. “Stay left!”

“Huh?”

She pointed to the greenery on the right without breaking stride. “Nettles. You’re in shorts, you’ll get stung.”

He swerved left. “Thanks.”

As she ran past him, Jack got a view of her very shapely backside framed in running tights, her fitted tank top highlighting her curves, and a very distinctive tattoo of a star on her left shoulder.

In less than a minute, she was out of sight. He picked up his pace, trying to catch up.

As Jackson reached the wooden steps just below the summit, he heard her voice again. “Careful. Last step is cracked.”

He adjusted his stride as his foot was about to come down, then slowed as he came into the clearing at the top of the mountain. There she was, standing on a large flat rock, water bottle in her hand.

Seeing her face fully for the first time, he smiled. Bright green eyes looked at him curiously, framed by blonde hair pulled back in a severe ponytail, a headband keeping any wayward strands off her face. Jackson felt a surge of physical awareness as he realized how beautiful this stranger was. “Thanks for the warnings.”

Georgiana took a sip of water and tried not to stare, feeling herself react in a way that hadn’t happened with any man in a very, very long time. Dark brown hair swept back from his face, contrasting with the blue-gray of his eyes. Even from a distance, it was clear that he would tower over her, but then again, most people did. The long well-defined muscles in his arms and legs made it clear that he trained regularly. She wondered who he was, as by now, she knew almost everyone who ran trails in the area, but he was a complete stranger. “You’re welcome.”

Jackson snagged water from his pack. “Great trail.” He looked at his watch to gauge his time. “Do you run it often?”

“Yes.”

Her brief answer intrigued him, and it suddenly became a challenge to get her to say more. “Is it always this quiet?”

She nodded. “It’s closed for several months in the spring and early summer because the peregrines nest here. When it reopens, it’s usually pretty quiet because it’s steep and long. Not everyone’s up for the challenge.”

“True.”

She stood up and tucked the water back in her trail pack. “When you go down, stay to the inside on the steps. They wobble.”

“Wait. Are you training for something in particular?”

She grinned. “Yes.” She waved to him as she started toward the trail. “Have a great trip down.”

 

solstice_logo_1416608558__47017

 

More Than I Can Say can be found at:

Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BK8VHHK

Print: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1625267584