Page 157 of Begin Again Again

Her heart jolted. Work? Family? Injury? “Is everything okay?”

He kissed her cheek. “Totally fine. It’s just Derek. He called me on the way here and asked to crash this weekend. I think he’s having a crisis.”

“Why?” Beth asked, alarmed at the idea of having Derek Hardiman in their spare room. “Is Calvin Klein trying to get him to take his whole dick out for an ad?”

Byron grinned. “Nah, I think it’s about a girl.”

“Seriously?”

He pulled her to her feet, sand pouring from both their bodies. “Let’s go get burgers. I’ll tell you on the way.”

“But I was going to cook,” Bethany protested.

“You’ve worked hard enough today. Besides…” He shot her a wide smile. “I’m making that footy money now, baby girl.”

Beth clasped her hands to her chest. “My hero. Although footy is and always will be rugby.”

“Fucking Kiwis…” Byron pulled her into a loose headlock. “You’ll respect the game eventually. I’ll make sure of that.”

“That sounds like a threat.”

“A sexy threat…”

Beth pulled out of his hold and grabbed her laptop and tote. “How sexy?”

“You’ll find out later.” Byron took her hand and they walked back toward the street together. There was still more to talk about, but it was a Friday afternoon by the beach. They were in no rush.

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Thank you for reading BEGIN AGAIN, AGAIN. You’ll be seeing Byron and Beth in the next installment of the Rebirth series, RETURN ALL. RETURN ALL follows Derek Hardiman as he attempts to reconnect with his childhood sweetheart, the mysterious and beautiful Mara Kennedy. In the meantime, try Eve Dangerfield’s bestselling novelACT YOUR AGE.

Praise forACT YOUR AGE

“Fresh, sexy and fun. Act Your Age is Australian erotic romance at its best.” - NYT bestselling author Kylie Scott

“A love letter to readers who’ve ever been made to feel weird for loving daddy kink. Dangerfield is a bold, brilliant, captivating voice who should be at the very top of your TBR.” - NYT bestselling author Tessa Bailey

“It’s 2am and this book is everything and I. Am. Dead. If you have to read one daddy book-read this one.” - NYT bestselling author L.J. Shen

Turn the page to read an excerpt fromACT YOUR AGE

Act Your Age Excerpt

Kate had no idea where she was. Most women would be distressed by that, but for her, it was as familiar as donning her old school uniform. When she was a teenager, drinking and smoking sticky lumps of weed was the only thing that numbed her boiling hyperactivity. She had been a fifty-five-kilogram girl with the drug tolerance of a Keebler elf, so she passed out a lot. Once, at a house party, she’d climbed the stairs to the guest bedroom and fallen asleep on the carpet. Brent’s mother had found her the next day and they’d both screamed fit to bring the house down. Another time she’d blacked out in the bathroom at a Chinese restaurant and had to be carried out by one of the cooks. Ritalin had proved itself a much better mood-modifier than vodka UDL’s or home-grown cannabis, but it lowered her alcohol tolerance even more.

She couldn’t quite remember why she’d decided to drink tonight, but it was clear her inner lightweight had decided to re-emerge. She prodded her face and body for injuries and found none. That was good. She was fully dressed. Also good. Her back ached. She felt around herself. She appeared to be lying on a ridiculously hard couch. But where? And for what reason? Had she gone out and crashed at some stranger’s place? As her eyes adjusted to the dark she realised the room seemed familiar, familiar and yet somehow new as well…

“Hotel room!” She sat bolt upright. “Bendigo! Hotel room! I was nervous because it’s my first work trip! That’s why I was drinking!”

She smiled into the darkness, quite proud she’d managed to remember where she was and that she’d found her way back to her hotel suite, safe and sound. But that didn’t quite add up. If she made it back to her hotel room, why was she on the couch?

A low grunting moan came from across the room. She looked over and gasped, a little theatrical gasp that sounded like it was for show. There was a man in her hotel bed, or an enormous woman. Or a really big dog.

The thing emitted another grumbling noise, a man, definitely a man. How had he gotten here? Kate patted herself on the head, willing the thoughts to return. Had she broken her years-long dry spell and hooked up? If so, why was she on the couch with all her clothes on? She tried to retrace her steps, think back to whether or not she’d met anyone, but she could only picture the pub; old and dingy with a faded burgundy carpet. She had arrived with the other GGS employees, sitting at the edge of the group listening to the men discuss what was better—chicken schnitzel or chicken parmigiana. Tyler Henderson had been at the head of the group, his face set and his hair gleaming gold. He said very little and drank a lot. He glanced away whenever she spoke.

That he didn’t like her always would have hurt. That he didn’t like her and she was so hopelessly attracted to himburned. In the kind of all-encompassing obsession she’d only ever read about in books, but unlike books, her obsession never went anywhere or did anything. She just got sweaty palms whenever she saw him and it made her work-life very awkward.

Her obsession wasn’t even original.Everyonehad a crush on Tyler Henderson. Women, gay men, straight men, more perceptive animals. It was like having a crush on a Hemsworth brother—it made you basic as hell.

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