Runaway Road
Author: Mira Day
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: September 13, 2016
Synopsis:
Brett Myers needs a change; a soul searching move to another city. Walking in on your brother and girlfriend in bed together will do that. So after two weeks of sleeping on a friend’s couch, Texas is his destination. A new town and a new life. He’s ready to start over.
Mia Brown needs a change; a soul-searching trip to her past. More than ready to leave her controlling boyfriend and life in North Carolina, Mia uses this chance for a fresh start. There’s no plan. Just to hit the road, head out West, and never look back.
When their paths cross on a long stretch of Highway 85, these two strangers will learn just how much they need each other to heal.
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Mira Day is a Romance writer, born in the Carolinas with a passion for food. She loves the outdoors, NFL football and exclamation points! You'll usually find her working, writing or catching up with Friends on Netflix.
Mira has two Holiday Novellas published, Finding the Christmas Spirit and Choking Cupid and her debut novel, Playing House. After Runaway Road, look for her third book, Bourbon and the Midnight Show, coming Spring of 2017.
Excerpt:
“Excuse me?”
She jumps at the sound of my voice, giving me a faint
smile that strengthens my resolve to talk to her.
I stick out my hand. “Hi, I’m Brett.” She takes it,
timid but firm.
“Mia.”
“At risk of sounding like a creeper, we’ve been
following each other since Charlotte.” I lean against the gas pump. Mia takes a
look around me and her smile grows.
“You’re right.”
I run my hand through my hair. “I’m going inside to grab
a drink. May I get you something?”
She replaces the pump and tightens the gas cap on her
car. “Are you trying to pick me up at a gas station?” The humor is dancing in
her eyes.
“Well, yeah, I guess I am.” I shrug. “If we’re road
tripping, probably not smart to take you to a bar.I mean, I know its not
Starbucks, but--”
She brushes her long hair off her shoulder, the corner
of her mouth twitching. “A cup of coffee would be great.”
I push off the pump station and turn to replace the
pump. We lock our cars and walk toward the store.
“So Mia, where are you heading?”
“San Antonio. You?”
“Austin.”
Grabbing the door, she walks under my arm inside,
leaving a trace of vanilla and cinnamon behind. I could breathe that in all
day.
I follow her to the coffee machines, noticing her petite
frame. Her arms are smaller than they should be and a worry I can’t explain
overcomes me.
Without looking at me, she reaches for a coffee pot and
pours the liquid into a small cup. “Austin, huh?” I watch her full lips blow
the steam across the top and I have to remind myself that I’m in a public
place.
“Yeah, looking for a new adventure.” Her eyebrows perk
up. I grab a large coffee cup and rip open four sugar packets. Placing the cup
under the instant coffee dispenser, I hit the button for the vanilla cappuccino.
Out of the corner of my eye, she’s staring at me, mouth open.
“What?”
She blinks. “Nothing. It’s just…that’s a lot of sugar.”
She giggles as I stare at my cup. “How do you even taste the coffee?”
She laughs even harder as I scrunch my face. “Ugh! Why
would you want to taste that?” Her laugh is adorable and hearty. And
contagious.
I stir my cup and lean against the counter. “Don’t judge
my coffee.” Chuckles rumbling through my body.I take a sip and tip my head to
the snack aisle.
“Hungry?”
“Drinks and dinner? You sure do spoil a girl on a first
date.”
“I do what I can.”
We walk around the back side of a rack to the snack
aisle. I immediately grab a bag of gummy worms and beef jerky.
Mia’s bottom lip is clamped between her teeth, her shoulders
twitching with a laugh.
“What?” I give her a glare. “Are you judging my food
too?”
“I would never!” Her mock horror has me laughing along
with her.
“Whatever. Beef jerky is healthy. It’s protein.”
Her eyes twinkle. “Whatever you say.”
“What are you going to have?”
“Oh, no. I’m good. Maybe just a bottle of water.”
I purse my lips in disbelief as she starts to walk
towards the coolers. “Can you grab me one too?” I call. She whips her head
around and nods, giving me a small smile that makes me want to stay in this gas
station for a long time.
I finally decide on my snacks and realize that Mia isn’t
back. I walk towards the coolers looking for her. Rounding the corner, I see
her sitting on the floor next to a key chain display, laughing.
“What are you doing?” I squat next to her.
“Sorry, this caught my eye and I just kept reading them.
Here.” She hands me one of the key chains. It says
“Nothing like a good…” with a close up picture of a peach on it.
I chuckle as she laughs. “Well, they aren’t wrong.”
“I don’t know why I find that as funny as I do.”
I look up, noticing the trucker hats hanging on the
wall. “If you think that’s funny—” I grab a red cap with a girl’s silhouette on
it on all fours. “Booty hunter.”
Mia throws her head back as I model the hat. “That’s
amazing. You look like that fits you perfectly.”
“Well, what can I say. I have a good aim, if you know
what I mean.” I wink as her, sending her into another fit of giggles.
Standing up, she grabs a black one that says ‘I’d rather
be F___ing.’
“Yep, this is the hat for me.” She adjusts it on her
head and turns to model it, giving me the duck face.
“You’ll probably get some attention, that’s for sure.”
“Read the fine print, perv.”
I lean closer, that smell of cinnamon and vanilla wafting
through my senses. “Fishing? Shit, got me.” She laughs, taking the hat
off.
“God they have some tacky stuff in here.”
“You seem to be loving it.”
She nods. “Duh. How could you not?” She picks up her
coffee and checks her watch. “We might want to get a move on. Burning
daylight.”
“Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?”
“Liquid diet right now.” She holds up the coffee.
“So I’ll be prepared to stop in thirty
minutes when you have to pee?”
Mia pops my arm. “Or when your stomach turns on you.”
She eyes my snack selection.
“I have a steel stomach, Doll.” I pat my stomach as she
rolls her eyes.
Checking out, we walk back to our cars.
“I know this is weird, but can I get your number? If
we’re heading the same way, might be nice to have someone to talk to.”
Mia nods. “I’d love that.” She hands me her phone as I
hand her mine.
“Booty Hunter?” She laughs at the name I put in her
phone. I look down at mine and laugh with her. “F***ing Mia? Classic.”
As she climbs into her car, I lean into her door frame.
“Go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you. I forgot something in there.”
“Did you forget another candy bar?” Humor dances in her
eyes as she teases me.
“Shut it.”
Nervously, she plays with her coffee sleeve. “I can just
wait for you.”
I nod and stand back so she can close her door. “I’ll
just be second.”
Running back in, I grab the two hats from the wall,
along with the key chain. I don’t know why, but I want to collect as many key
chains with her as I can.
I nod to her as I climb into my Jeep. I’ll surprise her
with them later. An excuse to see her again.
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About The Author:
Mira has two Holiday Novellas published, Finding the Christmas Spirit and Choking Cupid and her debut novel, Playing House. After Runaway Road, look for her third book, Bourbon and the Midnight Show, coming Spring of 2017.
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