The Write Bear (Highland Brothers 1) by Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers Page A

lights flash on the wing of the plane. She hoped she had packed enough for her Washington adventure. Shit! Her birth control was by the kitchen sink. She was in such a hurry she had forgotten she had left it there. It wasn’t a big deal. She had skipped so days throughout the month it would take her another cycle to get back on track. She blew a hot breath against the oval window. Not that it mattered. It had been a year since a man had been in her bed. Birth control wasn’t at the top of her priority list.
    The flight from Atlanta to Seattle would take five hours. Plenty of time to get research in. She flipped open her laptop and connected to the plane’s Wi-Fi. She typed Hudson Highland in the search engine.
    There were pictures of the handsome author, along with a few articles about his upcoming book tour. Riley chewed lightly on her lip. The man was gorgeous. A strong chiseled jaw, warm brown eyes, and a permanent five o’clock shadow. Holy shit, this was going to test all levels of restraint she had. Falling for a client was not an option. Completely out of the question. No matter how ridiculously edible he was.
    She scrolled through the links and clicked one about the Highland dynasty. Hudson was a member of a prominent Seattle family. There were three brothers total. She ogled at their pictures. How was it possible for three men to look like that?
    A flight attendant stopped the beverage cart next to her seat. “Care for a drink?” she asked, her bright red lips curling at the corners.
    “Diet whatever you have.” Riley scooted the laptop to the side to allow enough room for the plastic cup, and continued to read.
    If she was going to help him break through his writer’s block, the more she knew about the man the better. At least that’s what she told herself.
    From what she gathered, a team ran all his social media. There was nothing personal or insightful on any of his accounts.
    She’d have to get to know him the old-fashioned way. Find out what made the man tick. What inspired his words. What drove his creativity. And most importantly, what he needed to finish the damn book.

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    R iley looked at the blinking dot on her GPS. There was no way this was right. She steered the car on to the gravel road, bordered on either side by towering trees. In the dark the trunks looked like black rods jutting out of the ground as if lining the way to a fortress. She wished her first trip to the West Coast would have been during daylight, but she wasn’t about to let Hudson sit up here another minute without her help. The world was waiting on book four.
    The beams from the headlights were the only lights on the road. The gravel crunched under the tires. She had to turn on the wipers to clear the mist from the windshield.
    “Where in the hell am I?” she asked aloud. This was more than a writing retreat. This place was in the middle of nowhere—it was complete writing seclusion. She wondered how long the famous author had this place. “Probably after he made his first million,” she grumbled.
    Hudson’s books were always in the top ten. They were plastered all over the airport shops, neatly displayed in rows on display. Riley still couldn’t figure out how he could be stuck in the middle of a series. He ended book three with a serious cliffhanger. He had to have some idea how things were going to play out.
    She emerged into a clearing. The dirt road had turned to perfectly placed pavers and concrete.
    “Holy shit,” she whispered, looking up at the cabin in front of her. It was a mansion disguised as a cabin. Solid beams jutted from the wraparound porch. There had to be at least twenty rooms inside she guessed, sizing up the outside.
    The double garage doors were closed. She parked close to the sidewalk, killing the heat blowing from the vents.
    Riley grabbed her suitcase from the trunk and yanked it up the stairs. The mist had turned to rain. It was falling steadily now. She tried to run up the stairs before