Art
student Evie Austin has spent the last several years idolizing the
famous and elusive painter, Traevyn Whitelaw. After an agonizing final
report on the man, who also happens to be the most private and
secretive person Evie has ever tried to do research on, her professor
picks her for the once in a lifetime opportunity to be Traevyn
Whitelaw's apprentice for the summer.
Ecstatic,
Evie knows that her summer is going to be amazing, filled with lengthy
discussions on art and beautiful things with the man she admires above
all others. What she doesn't expect is to get stuck taking her sullen,
sarcastic, seventeen-year-old brother with her at the last minute, and
she definitely doesn't expect Traevyn Whitelaw to live in an isolated
Gothic mansion by the ocean. What's worse is that the man she imagined
to be so cultured and refined is no more than a sinister, snarling ogre
who acts like having Evie and her brother in his home is the worst
intrusion imaginable... He's also the most gorgeous man Evie has ever
laid eyes on.
There
is more than meets the eye to the dark, brooding artist with the
painful past, and spunky, outspoken Evie plans on finding out just
exactly what the man is made of.
Here is an excerpt for you!
She
guided her car down the winding coastal highway and turned onto the
remote dirt road that was practically non-existent. They were somewhere
in ..Big Sur.., hours and hours away from ....Ashland.....
She felt like she had been driving for eons and the last portion of it
had been on Highway 1, which was only a two-lane highway right next to
the ocean that twisted and curved for miles. She had been battling Seth
for control of the radio for half the journey, and he had appealed to
her about five times to let him go back home. She just wanted to get
where she needed to go so she could be away from her brother and away
from the road.
The
road took her down toward the cliffs overlooking the ocean, and the
trees began to get denser and more foreboding-looking, their thick
branches jutting out in awkward positions that looked like gnarled
fingers. Wisps of fog slithered through the branches like serpents and
Evie suddenly felt like she had ventured into a horror movie. She
continued to drive, the fog getting thicker as she went along.
"Dude, Evie, this is kind of creeping me out," Seth muttered.
Evie
rolled her eyes. "It's just fog." But she did have to admit, everything
felt dark and foreboding, and that was an ominous feeling.
Without
warning the road widened out and an enormous, Gothic-looking house came
into view. Evie gasped in surprise and slowed the car to a stop as she
stared at the structure. It was dark, nestled in a grove of eucalyptus
trees, sitting like a lonely sentinel. The architecture much resembled
that of a sixteenth-century manor and she briefly felt like she'd
traveled through time.
"Holy crap," Seth said. "What kind of guy is this? A friggin' warlock or something?"
Evie
shook her head to regain her senses and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Come
on, he's an artist. It makes sense that his home would be artistic."
But she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something horribly
lonely and tormented emanating from the dark edifice.
She
got out of the car and started toward the front door, shivering as the
eerie ocean breeze blew gently across her skin. She heard the forlorn
cry of a seagull as she approached and, behind it, the rhythmic
pounding of the ocean waves. The breeze rustled through the leaves of
the eucalyptus grove. Evie had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves
before she knocked on the heavy, oak door.
"Seriously,
Evie, let me go home," Seth whispered, stuffing his hands in his jacket
pockets. "I can hitchhike, or take a bus, or something. If you want to
stay here in Edgar Alan Poe land, that's cool, but I'd rather not if
you don't mind."
Evie
scowled and shushed him just as the door swung open. She raised herself
taller and prepared a smile, but it promptly faded upon seeing the man
in front of her.
He
was very tall and had thick, black hair that fell in shining strands
all the way past his waist. His hair alone made her stop and marvel.
She had never seen such long hair on a man. At least not on a man who
wasn't a sleazy, old biker, or a Native American. Then again, maybe he
was Native American… She wouldn't know… And his hair wasn't frizzy and
scary like those eighties rockers. It was shining ebony that looked
like it would feel like silk.
"Can I help you?" he queried.
Evie
opened her mouth, but nothing came out. He was absolutely,
breathtakingly…beautiful. Beautiful like art, like the covers of
fantasy books with the rugged, manly, yet gorgeous hero. His features
were harsh, all hard lines and sharp angles, undeniably masculine, but
there was a strange, elegant beauty around his sensual lips and light
green eyes that made Evie feel like she was looking at a living
masterpiece.
Seth
cleared his throat discreetly, which brought Evie out of her stupor,
and she gave a nervous cough. "Excuse me, I am looking for Traevyn
Whitelaw," she murmured.
His
facial expression remained impassive, and he merely shifted his weight
in a lazy manner. It was a languid movement, like a jungle cat
stretching. He sighed. "And you are?"
"Um…I—I'm Evelina Austin," she stammered. "I'm—uh—supposed to be studying with Mr. Whitelaw for the summer… As his apprentice."
His pale eyes seemed to look her over for a moment before they fixed on her own. "I am Traevyn Whitelaw," he stated.
She swallowed.
"Who is your companion?"
"Oh,
this is my brother, Seth." She flashed a nervous smile. "My parents
dumped him on me last minute. There was no one else to watch him all
summer. I called Professor Roth and he told me it should be okay if I
brought him with me."
His dark eyebrows drew together in a frown and he stood up straight. "Oh he did, did he?"
It was almost a snarl. Evie retreated a step as his presence seemed to suddenly fill the entire world.
"It is most certainly not okay,"
he spat, his voice a menacing growl. "Let me make one thing perfectly
clear to you, Miss Austin. This apprenticeship program was not my idea,
or my doing. Professor Roth approached me with it, and it was out of
respect and gratitude for him that I reluctantly accepted. If not for
him I would never have made it to where I am now. So, yes, you will be
my apprentice. I will teach; you will learn what you will. What you do
with that knowledge is entirely up to you. It is not any fault of mine
if you fall flat on your face in your desired career. Professor Roth
recommended you, so you must have some talent, but I want to get one
thing straight, Miss Austin. I have better things to do than entertain
a starry-eyed college student and her delinquent brother."
Seth frowned. "Hey," he protested.
"I am doing this out of obligation," Traevyn finished, "not by choice."
Evie
stared at him, dumbfounded. He moved quickly, making her jump, and
motioned her inside. She hurried to obey, grasping Seth's wrist and
hauling him in after her.
"Follow," Traevyn commanded, shutting the door.