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The Big Break
Cara Lockwood
Sometimes you just have to dive in…Since the tsunami nearly ended his career a year ago, extreme surfer Kai Brady has kept a dark secret: he's terrified to get back on his board. With everything he's worked for on the line, Kai needs a miracle…and a kick-ass trainer. That "miracle" is single mum Jun Lee.Jun Lee can see that the heartbreakingly gorgeous surfer who'd selflessly rescued her son when disaster struck now needs to be saved himself. But the attraction between them proves to be a force stronger than the ocean, and just as dangerous.
Sometimes you just have to dive in...
Since the tsunami nearly ended his career a year ago, extreme surfer Kai Brady has kept a dark secret: he’s terrified to get back on his board. With everything he’s worked for on the line, Kai needs a miracle...and a kick-ass trainer. That “miracle” is single mom Jun Lee.
Jun Lee can see that the heartbreakingly gorgeous surfer who’d selflessly rescued her son when disaster struck now needs to be saved himself. But the attraction between them proves to be a force stronger than the ocean, and just as dangerous.
“There is no way...”
Suddenly, Jun felt the hopelessness of the debt she owed Kai. Her son’s life might have cost him his surfing career.
“I’m sorry, Kai.” It wouldn’t make things right, but it was the only thing she could think of to say. “It’s...my fault. Ours. It’s...”
“No, it’s not. Don’t ever say that.” Anger still simmered in his voice.
Kai took three steps toward her, and suddenly his mouth was on hers. He wrapped her up in his arms and pressed her into his body. She opened her mouth to receive him and felt the rage and the passion all at once in his lips.
He tasted like the ocean, salty and wild.
She was kissing him back, powerless to do anything more.
Dear Reader (#ulink_577e0db4-b819-555a-93c1-8fcef0310756),
I became obsessed with big wave surfing after reading Susan Casey’s The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean, which details how a group of fearless surfers decided to do the impossible: surf waves taller than ten- or even twenty-story buildings. One of the most dangerous breaks in the world exists in Hawaii. Called Jaws, the surfers regularly drown here as they search for the next, most extreme wave.
The Big Break focuses on Kai Brady, one of these extreme surfers, who’s trying to overcome a serious leg injury in order to make it back into his favorite sport. He’s haunted by the tsunami that injured him and struggles to get back into shape. It’s only when a strong-willed trainer named Jun and her adorable little boy, Po, come into his life that he starts to see that maybe surfing isn’t all there is to life. Maybe having a family, or ohana, as they say in Hawaiian, means even more than riding the perfect wave.
I love this story because Jun helps Kai see that healing can’t be forced, and the growing bond between them proves that the only thing more powerful than the ocean is the power of love.
I hope you enjoy this little trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, my absolute favorite place on earth.
Mahalo!
Cara
The Big Break
USA TODAY Bestselling Author
Cara Lockwood
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CARA LOCKWOOD is a USA TODAY bestselling author of eleven novels, including I Do (But I Don’t), which was made into a Lifetime Original Movie, and Dixieland Sushi, which was loosely based on her experience growing up half-Japanese in a multiracial family in Texas. She’s also the author of the Bard Academy series for young adults. Her work has been translated into several languages. She’s currently divorced and lives with her two daughters near Chicago, where she is hard at work on her next novel.
Contents
Cover (#uc2e9dac7-afc8-51e9-998c-65b00ccbeda8)
Back Cover Text (#uc8801893-ac3a-51a1-b7dc-be778d6673dd)
Introduction (#ue4eeda5f-1179-513f-8c26-04c273b383a2)
Dear Reader (#u2d103ebf-357f-54a9-a129-7957bc93bbf7)
Title Page (#u3658eba7-b025-5f4f-98c6-34fc77d62715)
About the Author (#ud37ecb58-13c6-53f4-98fb-e948b4ed852f)
CHAPTER ONE (#ue4e053e8-0e64-5602-ae6c-d965b281b4b7)
CHAPTER TWO (#u39ac79ce-115e-5615-bb17-04e40c91c760)
CHAPTER THREE (#u7d09f864-d67e-54b3-8e78-3ff61daddf78)
CHAPTER FOUR (#u0a6638f8-358a-5668-b388-d9311de45ce5)
CHAPTER FIVE (#uf336515e-d761-5c1d-a260-136b17e5190b)
CHAPTER SIX (#uf6c5f4ea-7c3e-5162-88b7-74faa2df3d4c)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ud3c3d2b5-ce94-54f8-8bee-373cba966b84)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_1992e285-13e1-5f1a-bab9-bc6a54d5aec9)
JUN LEE TRIED to steady her nerves as she walked up to the front door of Kai Brady’s luxury beachside villa on the west coast of the Big Island. Bright Hawaiian sunshine warmed her bare shoulders as she breathed in the scent of hibiscus, which grew in bunches along his pristinely manicured yard. Every local on the island knew Kai Brady—millionaire, entrepreneur, world extreme-surfing champ. Even his massive koa door was intimidating, not to mention the mansion itself: an impressive two-story glass-and-concrete structure that loomed above her, looking expensive and enormous.
Jun tried not to feel a pang of envy. She couldn’t afford to rent a single room in a house like this, much less own one. Not so for Kai Brady, gorgeous and wealthy, who ranked three years running as Hawaii’s most eligible bachelor in the local magazine, beating out even legendary rock stars who had taken up residence on Kauai. It was no wonder she was nervous. But she wasn’t a groupie, she reminded herself. She was here on a mission.
She rang the bell and waited. Her sweaty hands squeezed the handle of the bag holding the thank-you gifts she’d brought: two of her homemade aromatherapy candles, which she hand-dipped, and some crayon drawings her four-year-old son, Po, had made for him. Then there was the gift certificate for a free session of Tai Chi, not that she thought he’d use it, but she didn’t have much money, and lessons she taught fell into the category of the meager things she could offer.
She considered, for a minute, leaving the package on his doorstep, but she thought the candles would melt in the afternoon sun. Besides, she had it in her mind that she wanted to thank him personally. He deserved at least that. That was why she hadn’t just sent the gifts in the mail.
She glanced at her reflection in the glass door. Jun kept her pale skin flawless by applying excessive sunscreen and avoiding the sun like the plague. Her mother, born in Beijing, had been insistent on that long before anyone really knew about the benefits of SPF. She’d come before her shift as a personal trainer at the big local gym, so she wore her fitness-instructor outfit of yoga capris, flip-flops and an athletic tank top, her dark hair up in a high ponytail. In the shadow of Kai’s villa, she felt suddenly underdressed. Then again, what was the proper attire to wear when thanking the man who had saved your son’s life?
This week marked the year anniversary of the tsunami that had nearly drowned Po. If it hadn’t been for Kai Brady, her precious boy would’ve died.
She’d never forget that morning. Jun had dropped Po off at day care as usual, but then, when she was already at work, on the tenth-floor gym of a high-rise, the earthquake hit, the tsunami came ashore, wrecking much of the western shoreline, and she got the worst news a parent could receive: her boy had never made it to the evacuation center. He was missing.
Then, after a horrible day of waiting, she got a message on her Facebook account: friends of Kai Brady were trying to reach her. Kai had broken his leg saving her son, and they were both in the hospital. Po, thankfully, had only scratches. Thanks to Kai.
Jun’s heart constricted anytime she thought of that miserable day: the horror and bone-chilling fear when the day-care center told her Po was missing. Jun lived for her boy. He was her whole world. She’d had him at age nineteen, barely older than a child herself. It didn’t matter to her that he had been an accident, the result of a brief relationship with a football player on the island for the Pro Bowl, a father who wanted nothing to do with Po.
Jun never fought Dante Henley, Po’s father, for support. She wasn’t going to beg anyone for anything. She didn’t like the idea of being indebted—to anyone, for any reason.
Which was why, as grateful as she was to Kai, she hated the feeling that she owed him. One way or another, she was going to find a way to pay that debt. Right now the only thing she could think to do was honor him on every anniversary of that tsunami.
She told herself her preoccupation with the famous surfer had nothing at all to do with the fact that he had the kind of sculpted body and bright white smile expected of a Calvin Klein underwear model. Or that he had enough cash from endorsements to live in a place like this.
She rang the bell once more and peeked in through the wall of glass windows along the front of the house. All she could see was tasteful granite, smooth-finished wood and gleaming floors. Was that a lanai out back? The wall-less living room was bigger than her whole condo! It overlooked a glistening mirrored pool that looked as though it cascaded into the ocean.
Jun blinked rapidly and tried not to press her nose against the glass. This might be the most beautiful house she’d ever seen.
She saw movement inside and held her breath. Was he going to answer the door? Or was he too rich for that? Did he have a butler? Her stomach lurched. She fought the urge to smooth down her ponytail, to double-check her tinted lip balm in the glass. She didn’t know why she cared. As a single mom, she didn’t have time to date. She barely had time to sleep.
She heard the door lock click and the knob turn and Kai stood there, shirtless, clad only in swim trunks.
For a second, all rational thought fled her head. The words she’d been about to utter simply dried up on her tongue. All she could think was...tall...broad...chest. Miles of smooth tanned skin, a wall of rippled, strongly defined muscles and not a single ounce of fat anywhere. She tried to swallow, but she couldn’t. Her mouth was parched. He was so...tall. So...big.
Big muscles. Big, big muscles.
She felt as if she’d devolved instantly into a cavewoman. Big muscles. Me like.
The last time she’d seen Kai, he’d been recovering in a hospital bed, fully clothed, his hurt leg in traction. He’d been tanned and attractive, sure, but he’d been clothed. That fierce six-pack had been safely tucked away under a white hospital gown.
She realized she was staring at his perfectly formed abs, her fingers itching to touch them. How did he get such...definition? She worked at a gym and she was stumped just looking at them.
Also, she noted, he was a lot taller than she remembered. A lot taller. Her eyes were level with his chest. And, wow, what a chest.
His full lips curled up in an amused smile. “May I...help you?”
Oh, yes. Yes, you can. She immediately felt her face grow bright tomato red. She normally wasn’t this forward, even in her own head. She didn’t go around panting after men like a teenager. What was wrong with her? As if she’d never seen a man without a shirt on before. Get a grip, Jun. All those meatheads at the gym should’ve long since inoculated her against the power of the male form. And yet...clearly they hadn’t.
“I...uh...” Why couldn’t her mind form words any longer? She felt as though she’d been hit on the head. Could a person get a concussion from close proximity to Hawaii’s hottest and richest bachelor? He probably got this all the time: women who lost the ability to speak in his presence.
“Yes?” Kai asked politely. With great effort, Jun pulled her attention away from his physique and tried to focus on his face.
She found that was a mistake. His chest might be distracting, but his face was worse. He was all chiseled perfection up there: dark, intelligent eyes, expressive yet playful eyebrows, sensual mouth and the kind of just-there stubble on his square jaw. He slumped his broad, muscled shoulders against the doorframe and crossed his arms, patiently waiting her out. She had to say something. Why wasn’t her mouth working?
“Hi...” Say your name. Your name. “Jun.”
“June? Like the month?”
This was going even worse than she’d feared.
“No. I’m Jun.” Heat flared up the back of her neck. “Uh... Jun Lee. I...”
Kai’s face showed zero recognition. She felt a little pinch in her chest. It had been a year since she’d seen him and she didn’t have Po with her, and yet, somehow, she’d been hoping he’d remember her.
“Maybe you’d like to come in? Get out of the sun?” he offered, looking concerned.
Yes, because clearly she was acting like a sunstroke victim.
She just bobbed her head and stepped inside the cool interior, into the masterful space of a living room leading out to a huge terrace, the massive lanai she’d seen from the window. Cushioned couches filled out the open space, and what appeared to be a small wooden footbridge led out over a koi pond and to the patio surrounding a glassy square pool. Beyond that, there lay miles and miles of pristine blue Pacific.
This didn’t help. She felt like hyperventilating. She didn’t know what was sexier: his house or his body.
“So, Jun, how can I help you?”
“We met last year?” Jun said, now distracted by his expensive furniture and what had to be an $18 million view. At least. Eighteen, maybe even twenty.
“Last year?” He scoffed a little, staring at her blankly. Then he studied her, his dark eyes giving her body a slow, appreciative sweep. “Uh...did we...?” He trailed off.
Jun realized with a start he thought they might have hooked up.
“Oh, no. I mean, no, we didn’t.” Now her neck felt as if it were on fire. Even her ears burned. Not that I wouldn’t go for that. Right here on this gleaming wood floor. “We met at the hospital.”
