SINK OR SWIM
By Tessa Bailey
Sink or Swim is the final
installment of the Beach Kingdom Series (following Mouth to Mouth and Heat
Stroke). Sink or Swim is Andrew and Jiya's story (friends to lovers!) and can
be read as a standalone title, although the characters are introduced in the
two previous series books.
BLURB:
Andrew Prince wakes up before
everyone else. He schedules the bar shifts, demands perfection from Long
Beach’s lifeguards—most of all himself—and makes sure the family debts are
paid. His unfaltering worth ethic might leave him exhausted, but it comes with
one advantage. It distracts him from the love he’s been harboring since
childhood for the girl next door—who he cannot have.
Jiya Dalal has dreams. To fly
a plane, see the world below…and prove irresistible to her best friend, Andrew.
But she needs to be a good daughter first, which is becoming an increasingly
difficult task, since her parents expect a good marriage and the man she loves
with all her heart refuses to pursue the blistering connection between them.
Just when she’s beginning to believe Andrew truly doesn’t want her, a moonlight
tryst on the beach exposes his true feelings. But an echo from the past kept
them apart before…and it’s only growing louder with every stolen kiss…
Excerpt
“We’re
dancing,” he rasped, his gaze slightly unfocused.
“You’ve
never danced with me like this before.”
His
gaze strayed to her lips, before he resolutely dragged them away. “Do you want
to stop?”
“No
and that’s the problem.” Come on, Mrs. I Don’t Play Games Anymore, bring up
the elephant in the room. It’s not going away. “You’ve been different with
me lately. Is it...” She took two bracing breaths. “Is it because I’m dating?”
He
started to deny it, then changed his mind. “Might be. Yeah. I know that’s
fucked up,” he said. “You’ve always been min—my best friend. We won’t have this
if you start dating someone seriously. If you...”
“Get
married?”
His complexion turned gray. “Mmm.”
Cement caked her insides, but
she was used to it by now. She’d loved Andrew since she was a child. She’d
waited patiently for him to love her back—as more than a friend—and he hadn’t.
He’d done nothing about it. So while she yearned to dissect his every word and
rejoice in them, ached for what he was feeling, she couldn’t do it anymore
without being a fool. “Ask me the question, Andrew. The one you ask me every
night.”
A
line formed between his brows. “Can I do anything for you, Jiya?”
“Yes.”
She took his face in her hands. “You can stay my friend. No matter what
happens. Fine, things are changing in my life. But I couldn’t bear it if I ever
lost what we have. Just stay my friend. Promise me.”
His
jaw bunched. “You know I’d cut my heart out before saying no to you, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then
you have your answer.” He wet his lips. “But we’re finishing the dance.”
Author Bio/Social Media Links
Tessa Bailey
Website: www.tessabailey.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mstessabailey
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.
Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eleven years and six-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.
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