#NewRelease ~ Butterflies and Hazel Eyes by Katie Mettner #excerpt #books #readers #amreading #romance

 

When the Lady of the Lake speaks, she expects you to listen…

Never one to linger, computer security expert Charity Puck doesn’t expect to be romanced by the small-town charm of her latest job. But when her RV rolls into Plentiful, Wisconsin, nestled along the breathtaking shores of Lake Superior, she’s convinced nothing could be more alluring—until she gazes into the delectable hazel eyes of her new client.

Underestimated due to the crutches on his arms and braces on his legs, CEO and researcher Gulliver Winsome doesn’t expect his job to put his life in danger. But as he rushes to bring an eco-friendly pesticide to market, in an attempt to save the pollinators, he finds himself the target of a sinister plot—uncovered by the tiny blonde dynamo he hired to fix his servers.

Someone is trying to steal Gulliver’s research, and they’ll stop at nothing to bury the evidence. With feelings in bloom and the would-be couple’s lives in peril, it’s up to Charity to decipher the clues before they both end up in the Lady of the Lake’s cold-water castle.

Genres:

💗Romance

🔎Romantic Suspense

🦽Disability Romance

📣Own Voices

🦋 Environmental Romance 🌎

“What do you think of Plentiful, Mojo?” I asked my lumbering oaf of a dog as we hiked up the street. “It’s a quintessential small town, that’s for sure,” I answered since he didn’t. “What do you think? Should we stay here for a few weeks before we head to our next job?”

Honestly, Mojo couldn’t care less. As long as he was fed, had a place to sleep, and got an occasional hot dog, he was happy. Mojo is, well, a muttstiff. His mastiff lineage shows in his height and the shape of his back end, but it’s the rest of his lineage that earns him the mutt moniker. Mojo has the face of a collie, the ears of a Doberman, the feet of a sheepdog, and the hair of a schnauzer. Some would say he’s homelier than a mud fence, but I promise you, when he’s at my side, no one bothers me. Presently, he was staring me down, his eyebrows furrowed as if to ask, Are we there yet?

I rubbed his big head and checked the address on the sticky note stuck to my computer bag. I was searching for 100 Industrial Road, which meant nothing to me since the town consisted of a marina, a campground, a bar, a diner, and a small grocery store. Come to think of it, maybe this wouldn’t be such a great place to hang out for a few weeks. “Are we lost, Mojo?”

I spun in a circle, wondering how on earth I was supposed to find a place that didn’t exist. I’d done my homework and had indeed verified that a company called Butterfly Junction existed and was run by a Mr. Gulliver Winsome before I took the job. What the heck they did at Butterfly Junction, I had no clue, nor did I care as long as I got paid. Get paid to do what exactly? Some people like to call it hacking. I prefer to call it being a server patch technician. Sometimes it’s all about how you spin things.

While I did my homework on the man, I should have mapped the address on Google Maps before setting out. I grabbed my phone from my pocket while I searched the street signs for clues. I might have to ask Google about this one.

A woman was walking toward me and waved excitedly when she got closer. Mojo stood at attention in front of me, his protection mode activated.

“Hello!” she called from thirty feet away.

“Chill, Mojo,” I said before she reached us. He huffed and plopped his butt onto the sidewalk, bummed that I wouldn’t let him play guard dog.

“Hello,” I said to the woman when she stopped in front of me.

“You must be new here,” she said just as she noticed Mojo and took a step back. “Hello, doggy.”

I chuckled and motioned at him. “This is Mojo. He looks scary, but really he just wants to know if you have any hot dogs.”

The woman tossed her head back and laughed, the sound spreading out across the sky like a sparkle of happiness. “Not with me, but I do own the diner up the street. We have plenty of delicious treats there. Well, now I know the dog’s name. What’s yours?”

“Oh!” I said, laughing with her. “I’m Charity Puck,” I said, thrusting my hand out to shake hers.

“Nice to meet you, Charity. I’m Lucy Havens. My husband, Kevin, and I own the diner in town. You should stop in for the breakfast buffet. It’s to die for.”

“Now that’s something I can get behind,” I said, a smile on my face. “First, I have a job to do, and I can’t find the address. It’s 100 Industrial Road.”

Lucy’s brows went up. “Oh, that’s Butterfly Junction! It’s right there,” she said, her arm pointing out to her right. I followed her finger and spotted a brick building behind the marina that I hadn’t noticed before.

I put my hand to my heart with relief. “Well, I’m glad I ran into you, Lucy. I would never have found that without help. I thought that was part of the marina.”

She brushed her hand at me. “That’s a common mistake. Butterfly Junction is a hidden gem in more ways than one. I better let you get to work, but it was nice to meet you, Charity. You, too, Mojo,” she said, smiling at the dog. “Be sure to stop in for breakfast if you get a chance before you leave town.”

I promised to do just that and waved as she departed. Mojo and I trucked toward ours and discovered a beautiful piece of shoreline that swept to the right of the Butterfly Junction building.

“Lucy was delightful,” I said to Mojo as we trotted up to the door. “I bet she’d even give you a hot dog, big boy.”

I chuckled to myself at the image of Mojo sitting next to me inside the diner chowing down hot dogs while everyone looked on. Totally normal, folks. Carry on.

I adjusted my computer bag on my shoulder when I paused in front of the double glass doors etched with the words Butterfly Junction. “Time to work, buddy,” I said, patting his head.