Excerpt: 'Back to Before' by Tracy Solheim

Tracy Solheim, sometime contributor to HEA and author of Back to Before, shares a scene from her new release.

Tracy: It's a new year and everyone knows what that means: time for new beginnings. Or, in the case of my latest release — Back to Before — it's a time for second chances. Gavin McAlister and Ginger Walsh are both stuck in the sleepy coastal town of Chances Inlet, North Carolina. For Gavin, it's the hometown he'd escaped years ago only to have fate call him back home. For Ginger, the small hamlet sits at the crossroads leading back to her life in the world of professional dance — a career that had been tragically derailed. Ironically, both are counting on the restoration of a centuries old mansion to get them back to their former lives.

Gavin, who was once Cosmo's Bachelor of the Month, is adored by the people of his hometown who just want to see him settled down within the bosom of their small community. Their favorite son has other ideas, however. He's agreed to star in a show documenting the restoration of an historic home so he can then sell the mansion, pay off his father's debts and return to his life in New York. Down-on-her-luck Ginger is reinventing herself once again as she bides her time working as the makeup artist for her best friend, the restoration show's producer. She thinks her time in the Chances Inlet will be idyllic. They both are about to find out that the town has an infamous power for second chances. They'll just have to decide which one they want.

EXCERPT

Ginger glanced down to where Gavin's fingers encircled her wrist. He had nice hands, strong, yet sensual. Sensual? Cheese and crackers, what was happening to her today? She'd applied makeup to men dozens of times before without ever experiencing anything close to the tension coursing through her body right now. Gavin was simply a man who had every woman in town wrapped around his finger. She needed to stop acting like his flirting meant something more. Diesel was counting on her to get the job down. "Right," she said with a decisive nod.

Gavin gave her one of his devastating grins before releasing her and settling back into the chair. "I'll just close my eyes and sit still while you work your magic. Maybe it would help us both relax if you told me a little about yourself. I'm not much of a soap opera fan, so the rest of Chance's Inlet has an advantage over me."

She picked up the sponge with one hand while reaching up to brush his damp hair off his forehead with the other. "That's probably something you should be proud of."

He grinned again and she forced herself to concentrate on her work instead of the satiny feel of his thick hair between her fingers.

"Start with your name—Ginger. Is it your real name or a stage name?" He seemed genuinely interested.

"My real name, unfortunately."

His eyelids snapped open. "Why 'unfortunately'? Because you're named after a cookie?" His eyes dilated briefly. "Or a stripper?"

She tried to scowl at him, but his teasing brought out that sexy dimple next to his lips and the heat in her belly ratcheted up a degree or two. "Neither. I'm named after Ginger Rogers, the dancer."

Ginger braced herself for the familiar laughter that usually accompanied the explanation of her name, but none came. He just looked at her expectantly.

"My mother emigrated from Russia with her family when she was a teenager. She and her parents were ballet dancers and they owned a traveling dance company. My mom still runs it today, in fact," she explained. "She grew up watching old movies of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and she vowed if she ever had a daughter, she'd name her Ginger."

"Don't tell me you have a brother named Fred who dances in the ballet company."

"No," she laughed as she dabbed the sponge along his jaw line. "Griffin hasn't been in a pair of tights since he picked up a camera when he was ten."

"Wait, are you talking about Griffin Walsh, the photographer? He's your brother?"

"Yep." She gestured to the sleeves of his blue button down shirt. "I'm going to need you to roll those up so I can put makeup on your hands."

He stared at her blankly.

"The director said he'll want some close-ups of your hands near the pipes today."

He heaved an exasperated sigh as though he thought this whole process ridiculous. "So neither of you chose to carry on with the family business," he asked as he carefully rolled his sleeves up. Ginger wasn't sure, but she thought she detected a bit of jealousy in his tone. From what he said before, he obviously resented having to take over his father's business, but, like her, he was close to resuming his life and his career. Ironically, both of them were depending on the restoration of a two-hundred-year-old mansion to achieve it.

"Mine wasn't a choice," she said as she brushed powder along his neat fingers. "I danced professionally all my life until I busted up my ankle and had to have surgery. Afterwards, I couldn't dance the same. Oh, crap." She stared at his neck, her eyes lowering to the smooth skin peeking out beneath the buttons of his shirt. Her hands were going to have to touch him there. They tingled at the prospect. "I-I should have done your neck before I did your hands. You'll get makeup on your shirt now if you unbutton it."

His lips turned up in a slow, seductive grin. "I guess you'll have to do the honors then."

ABOUT TRACY

After years of writing reports and testimony for Congress, Tracy Solheim decided to put her fiction-writing talents to better use. Tracy is the international bestselling author of the Out of Bounds series for Berkley and Southern novellas for Tule Publishing. She lives in the heart of SEC country, also known as the suburbs of Atlanta, with her husband and their two works-in-progress. When she's not at the barn with her daughter or working out with friends (i.e. lifting heavy bottles of wine), she's writing. Except for when she's reading, but according to her, that's just necessary research.

Find out more about Tracy and her books at www.Tracysolhem.com.