Dream a Little Dream of Me

At seventeen, Lizzie Thornton left her hometown of Fair Haven to pursue her musical dreams—and to run from Trent Younger, the boy who broke her heart.

Now a successful singer, Lizzie returns to Fair Haven nine years later. When she runs into Trent at her brother’s wedding, she discovers he’s no longer the shy boy she left behind. He’s a sexy, confident man who knows what he wants—and what he wants is her.

When a night of passion results in unexpected consequences, Lizzie must grapple with prior heartbreak and with accepting that she still loves the one man she could never forget.

Trent Younger grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, and he fought tooth and nail to establish himself as one of the most successful restaurateurs in Fair Haven. Yet he’s never forgotten Lizzie Thornton, the girl he adored, the same girl who left him to pick up the pieces of his life after tragedy struck them both.

As Trent uncovers the layers of Lizzie’s guarded heart, he realizes that he doesn’t just want her in his bed. He wants her in his life—forever.

Yet even as love rekindles, their pasts threaten to drive them apart. Unless they confront their demons, Lizzie and Trent may jeopardize a love that has already withstood the test of time.

Lizzie Thornton grabbed her ex-boyfriend Trent Younger by his lapels and hung on for dear life as he kissed her, certain that she would either collapse at his feet or melt into a puddle from the heat of his touch.


Trent growled deep in his throat, something animalistic and rough, and it sent shivers down Lizzie’s spine. He smelled so good—smoky and cedary—and he kissed like a fiend.

He hadn’t kissed like this when they’d been teenagers, that was for sure. Back then, they’d both been tentative, learning how to kiss each other.


This Trent Younger, though? He was anything but tentative.
He licked at the seam of her lips, and she let her mouth fall open in surrender.

A tiny voice in her head whispered that she should push him away and end this, but that voice got smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely.
She pressed against him, running her hands through his hair.

He gripped her ass as he deepened the kiss.
“I want you,” he muttered, kissing down her neck. “God, Lizzie, I want you. Tell me to stop.”


She shook her head. “I want you, too.” Her hands shook as she ran them down his chest. She felt his heart pounding as fast as hers was. “Don’t stop.”


He groaned, swooping in for another kiss, and everything faded as they kissed like neither of them had kissed in ages. Like they’d needed each other for so long that kissing was necessary for survival, like breathing or eating.

A feeling both hot and overwhelming welled within Lizzie, but along with that feeling was the sound of the sweetest music drifting through her consciousness.


Trent’s kisses made her want to sing. There was no other explanation.


She and Trent had fallen fast and hard for each other their senior year of high school until it had all fallen apart. Lizzie had had to run away, because being around Trent hurt too damn much. She’d said she wanted to pursue her music, and she had.
If that also meant leaving Trent, her family, and her past behind? She’d told herself it was worth it.


“Come back to my place.” Trent leaned his forehead against hers. “Goddamn, Lizzie, I shouldn’t even ask you that, but I don’t care.”


She shook her head. “Too far.”

Grabbing his hand, she led him into the house—her parents’ house and her childhood home.
Everyone had gathered for Lizzie’s brother Harrison’s wedding, and the reception was still going strong.

Since Harrison was the eldest Thornton child, his wedding had been the greatest event in this family since he had become a full-fledged physician. He was also the one Thornton who’d managed to fulfill their parents’ expectations.


Lizzie sure as hell hadn’t. She’d wanted to be a musician despite her parents’ protests, and she’d done as she’d pleased. And now, she guided Trent through the darkness of her parents’ palatial home, secure in the knowledge that nobody would notice their absence at the reception.
Trent laughed a little when they got to the stairs.


“I remember the way,” he said quietly. “Although I distinctly remember climbing up a trellis more than once to get to your room.”


Lizzie smiled at the memory. “Do you want to climb the trellis?”


“Hell no. I’m not breaking my neck before I get you in my bed,” he growled in her ear, his hand squeezing her ass. He lightly spanked her cheek, which made her yelp.

“Get a-moving.”


She saluted him. “Yessir.”


Maybe it had been from the champagne, or from the darkness, or maybe it was that Lizzie couldn’t deny the connection she still had with Trent Younger, but she couldn’t be surprised at this development. Not really.