Beauty: A Time Travel Romance FREE until 9/30

Time hopper Penelope is trying to stop her parents’ murder when she stumbles into an unusual location and meets a gorgeous stranger. Chase clearly knows her… even though she’s never seen him. She’ll have to trust him if she hopes to stop her parents’ killers – assuming he isn’t one of them…

He’s looking for his lost love… but she’s living in a different time period.

Chase Williams is desperate to find Penelope Jackson, and the only shot he has is by locating a specific mirror. Even then, his chances are slim. He can’t operate it, so she’d have to tumble through it to his exact time.

Penelope has been traveling through various years in her history in search of her parents’ killers. She’d been with the agency so long, she can hardly remember life before. She relies on her trusty mirror to take her to the times and places she needs to go.

Then one day, she stumbles out into a strange new place… and meets a man who clearly knows who she is. But she’s never seen him before—of that much, she’s sure. Unless her future self has? The possibilities are too numerous to count, and the implications could be disastrous. Is this man trustworthy or out to get her?

Giving her heart over could be the only way to find out for sure. Or it could lead to her ultimate demise. And maybe the destruction of time as we know it.

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Excerpt

Chase Williams set down the leather suitcase and glanced over at some people huddled around something he couldn’t see. Turning his back, he raked his fingers through his scraggly hair, which purposefully covered his eyes, then picked up a smaller piece of luggage. He pretended to study it while looking around the large parlor filled with elegant and expensive items.

The crowd lusted after object upon object, greedy for any good deal. Chase, however, knew exactly what he wanted—and he would pay any price for it.

He replaced the bag then meandered to a shelf of expensive knickknacks. Soft murmurs caught his attention. Picking up a watch and feigning interest, he focused on the hushed conversation while glancing over from the corner of his eye, using his wavy hair to curtain his attention.

Two girls, probably teenagers, huddled together and whispered. Kept glancing his way.

Chase’s stomach knotted. Did they recognize him? He hardly looked like himself with the long hair and beard. But true fans and serious haters alike could always pick him out no matter how he disguised himself.

He held up the watch at different angles, still focused on the two girls.

“You think that’s really him?” asked the blonde with too much makeup.

The curly-haired brunette glanced his way. “It’s Chase Williams! It’s really him.”

“He looks like a lumberjack.” The blonde’s mouth curled in disgust.

“Still hot as ever. That’s definitely him.” The brunette sighed dramatically.

“You should go over there and say something.”

The brunette’s mouth fell open. “No way! Just go over and talk to Chase Williams? What would I say?”

The blonde pulled out a mirror and puckered her lips. “Anything. It’s better than staring like a fool. At least ask for a selfie with him or something. People say he’s always nice to fans. Although, who knows now? Like I said, total lumberjack. He hasn’t been the same since—”

“He doesn’t look like a lumberjack! I can’t talk to him.”

Chase took a deep breath and turned away, setting the watch back on the shelf. In days gone by, he would’ve happily gone up to the girl, gotten selfies, and said something nice to her. But those were no longer the days he was living in. Everything had changed, including him. If he got the selfie, the picture could spread like wildfire on social media. He had his new look for a reason, and that was to stay out of the limelight. So far, he had managed to keep his new look from getting online.

And he intended to keep it that way.

The girls were still whispering. He took another long deep breath and considered bolting, but he hadn’t come to the estate sale for nothing. After he’d checked out all the furniture, he would leave. And once again, enjoy anonymity.

He picked up something else from the shelf and pretended to look at it, but his mind was too far away to even notice what he held. The girls’ whispers seemed to grow louder, grating on his nerves.

People were finally walking away from the furniture, so Chase sauntered over, pretending he didn’t hear their discussion.

It did no good. The blonde grabbed his arm.

Chase’s pulse raced and anger boiled in his chest. Didn’t the girl know better than to grab someone? He yanked his arm away. “What do you want?”

She stared at him, unblinking. “Are you Chase Williams?”

He grated his teeth. “It’s none of your business. Excuse me.”

“What a beast!” She glared at him. “You look like a wild animal.”

A series of insults raced through his mind, but Chase wasn’t about to talk like that to teenage girls. As much as being recognized annoyed him, they hadn’t done anything wrong. Even grabbing his arm wasn’t that bad. He’d experienced worse. Much worse. He stepped aside. “Excuse me.”

Chase made his way over to the furniture then looked around. Disappointment washed through him, as it always did. He was never going to find what he was looking for. He searched all the estate sales, garage sales, and secondhand stores in the area. It would do no good. Heck, he could check every single one in the nation and it wouldn’t matter. Looking for it was a lost cause.

Yet he couldn’t stop.

Other than time, he had nothing, anyway.

He ran his fingers along the back of a sofa, wandered over to a computer chair, then studied a framed painting. It looked like it was worth something, and it might fit into one of his rooms, but it wasn’t what he came for.

He didn’t see anything like that anywhere.

Gasps, giggles, and whispers sounded behind him. Chase spun around. Those two girls were snapping pictures of him with their phones.

Rage ran through him. The temptation to grab their phones and smash them was real. Everything took on a red hue. He clenched his fists, counted to ten, and considered his wording before he spoke. “Don’t post those, or you’ll find yourself with a lawsuit!”

“It’s a free world!” The blonde scowled at him.

He gritted his teeth. “You’ll be singing a different tune when my lawyer is done with you!”

She giggled and took more pictures, but the brunette put her phone away.

Chase’s fury was going to come to a boiling point with that snarky blonde. If he didn’t get outside soon, he would do something he would later regret. Especially given the fact that they were taking pictures of him.

He stepped closer, aware that all the attention in the room was now focused on him. “I’m asking you politely not to post those pictures. I’m staying out of the spotlight for a reason. I don’t want my current image online. If I get a selfie with you, will you promise to keep the photos offline?”

“Are you joking?” The blonde laughed.

“You’d really get a selfie with us?” The brunette played with a curl and sucked in her lower lip, bouncing from one foot to the other.

Chase nodded. “As long as you promise to keep the pictures to yourself until I go public again.”

“When will that be?” The blonde put her hands on her hips.

Chase frowned, took a deep breath, and raked his fingers through his beard. “I’m not really sure yet.”

“Not sure? When can we post these? You’re Chase Williams! Our friends will never believe us.”

He drew in an exaggerated breath. “It won’t be much longer. If you know anything about me, I’m sure you know I’m dealing with some things right now.”

She arched a brow. “So, what you’re saying is that we might never be able to post these?”

He shook his head. “Not never. I just don’t have a date yet. I’d appreciate you waiting. You can show your friends in person, just not on social media or email or anything like that.”

The girl squared her shoulders. “Give us a date.”

Why was she tempting him to lash out? He jammed his hands in his pockets. “I just need a little time. Grief doesn’t go away based on the calendar.”

The other girl stepped closer to him. “I promise I won’t put this on social media, not until you’re back online, I swear. I’d really appreciate the selfie. I can’t tell you how exciting this is to meet you.” She hesitated, like she wanted to say more.

Chase nodded. “I’d appreciate that. There’s something else you wanted to ask?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it and open it again, then looked away.

“Ask whatever you want.”

She smiled. “Well I just wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened with—”

Shrieking and exclamations sounded near the door. A group of five girls were running his way. He took the brunette’s phone, held it up, and put his arm around her. “Say cheese!”

Their image appeared on the phone’s screen. The girl smiled, and Chase tried to match her enthusiasm. Grinning, he snapped a few pictures before handing it back to her. “Pleasure meeting you. I have to go!”

He handed her back the phone, ducked behind a large armoire, and made his way outside, managing to avoid everyone.

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