She hauled her ass out of New York so fast, no one saw it coming, especially Tim. You up and left without so much as a good-bye. Can we talk when you get back? I know you said you needed space but I don't get it. She slid her finger over the message button and pinched the bridge of her nose as she held the phone to her ear. A groan erupted from her lips as she squinted at yet another message from Tim. Taking a deep breath, she pulled her phone from her purse to check her voice mails. The promotion couldn’t have come at a better time. She caught the attention of the company’s C-Suiters who offered her a transfer to the Portland office, as most of her clients lived in the Pacific Northwest. Maddie soon morphed into M&J’s rep-in-demand. Her hard work had finally paid off when a couple of successful advertising campaigns catapulted her clients to the top of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists. After a few years in New York specializing in creating the marketing campaigns for a few B-listed romance authors, she hit pay-dirt. She’d earned the “New Yorker” title by spending her undergrad years at NYU before taking the job at Milano and Jones Public Relations. “Must be a New Yorker,” the cabbie muttered under his breath. “How about you keep your eyes straight ahead and take me to the airport? Thank you.” Maddie cleared her throat, covered the opening of her blouse and pointed toward the windshield.

“Not from around here, huh?” The cabbie’s grin reflected from the rearview mirror, his eyes darting about eight inches lower than they should’ve been stationed. She pinched and tugged at the placket of her blouse, allowing the sad excuse for the cab’s air conditioning to reach the inner depths of her sweat-soaked bra. “How do people handle this?” she asked the cabbie, sliding into the seat. She waved her arm in the air, summoning an old-fashioned checkered cab, which squealed to a stop at her feet. She hated cities, and Miami wasn't tops on her list. Cabs whooshed by, blowing steamy exhaust-laden air over her face. Her meeting had wrapped up sooner than expected and she’d hoped to grab an earlier flight back to Portland.

Moist air hit Madison Jacobs like a hot blanket as she attempted to hail a cab outside the Miami office building. I'm honored to be part of such a talented and supportive group of writers. To the wonderful women at Evernight Publishing. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

Bella Key by Scarlet Chastain