With a shake of his head, Brody continued out the door. I watched him walk to his truck and climb in. I pressed my hand to my stomach, drawing in a deep breath to settle the flutters there.
“He’s a friend who’s helping me out. It doesn’t mean anything,” I told myself.
It was the mantra I’d been repeating for the last couple of months. Brody had helped me with the house so much, fixing countless things. He’s painted, installed new floors, helped when furniture was delivered. And all the while, I’d been fighting the same attraction that had been there for as long as I could remember.
I smiled as I thought about how he’d even helped me stencil a saying along the top wall of my dining room. He’d been spending nearly every weeknight evening at my house, and some Saturdays as well. I was starting to get used to him being there—and that was something I had to put a stop to. I didn’t need Brody coming to my rescue every time something went wrong. And if I missed another Saturday lunch with Harlee and my sister, they’d start asking questions. That was the last thing I wanted.
Once he drove off, I turned and headed back to my lunch. I stared at my sandwich and mumbled, “You may not need him, Sutton. But you certainly want him.”
The bell above the door rang, and I quickly turned around. I let out an anxious breath when a customer walked in.
“Hi! Welcome to Coastal Chic,” I said, putting my lunch under the counter. Two more women walked in, and as I helped my customers select outfits for an upcoming boat party, I forgot all about Brody.
At least for now.
Two months later - August
I stood in my office, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. Life had been going great lately, so I should have known something bad would happen.
My older sister Addie had moved back to Seaside from Boston. She and Gannon were officially back together. My parents were over the moon, and my father was doing amazingly well. His heart attack earlier this year had really scared all of us and was one of the main reasons Addie had come back home. Well, that and the fact that Gannon was out of the Navy and had been home for a couple of years. Their story was a romance novel in the making. After all these years, fate had brought the two of them back together.
Soul mates.
I closed my eyes and cursed inwardly. Yep. Everything had been going far too well.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Now Jack was back in town.
On the surface, it was another good thing. It meant he could finally sell me his half of the boutique. But it was also bad. Knowing he was here made my skin crawl.
A light knock at the office door pulled me from my thoughts. I spun around and saw Harlee standing there.
“Hey, are you okay?”
I forced my voice to stay calm. “Yeah, just trying to figure out how to get things organized.”
“Are you really going to turn the back room into a…fun house?”
Laughing, I leaned back against my desk and folded my arms across my chest. I’d had lunch with Harlee and my sister Addie earlier, and Harlee had suggested I carry—of all things—dildos in my shop. Coming from her, it was funny as hell—and brilliant.
If the gossip column ever got wind of the naughty side of Harlee, the anonymous writer would be all over it. At the moment, they were focused on Addie and Gannon. Which was fine by me. When Jack and I were going through our divorce, we were the subjects of that column one too many times. It came out every Thursday, and even though people pretended not to care, everyone rushed to read it.
The last time I was mentioned, post-divorce, the writer had called me out for selling “old lady clothes.” I’d been angry and hurt at first…and then realized they were spot on. For years, I’d been so afraid of what Jack would say if I carried anything too sexy that I’d played it way too safe.
As soon as the divorce was final, I’d gotten in touch with a friend from college who was now a big fashion designer in New York. Together, we’d designed some new items for me to exclusively carry in the shop. They were mostly summer-chic outfits, but we’d played around with a few pieces of lingerie as well. I hadn’t really thought much about carrying a larger selection…until the conversation at lunch today.
“I think your idea of carrying sexier clothes, as well as toys, is a good one,” I said to Harlee.
Her eyes lit up. “Oh my God! You’re really going to do it?”
I laughed again. “I think so.”
Harlee pulled me away from the desk and hugged me. “I think that’s amazing, Sutton! And it’ll be good for you to get in touch with that inner goddess we all know is hiding in there.”
“Are you quoting the gossip column?”
She laughed. “I guess I am. But at lunch, I was being serious when I mentioned working here part time to help out. I’d really love it.”