Hailey Bond has it all. She’s worked hard to make her mark in a man’s world. Even in the Bond’s world. “I don’t need a man,” has come from her lips many times over. Only with all her cousins falling in love left and right, the chimes of her biological clock are almost shaking the island her family founded. The problem is…it seems no man she finds wants to live by her rules.

Rex Knight has worked hard for his wealth. It wasn’t handed to him and he takes nothing for granted. His ex playing games for years didn’t turn him sour. But finding someone who can understand his demanding career has been difficult. His charity date with Hailey Bond was a flop and he knew it. A chance to manage the Amore Island Trust puts him back in front of Hailey and this time he’s going to show her that compromise is the name of the game.

Prologue

“Emma. We’re going out to dinner tonight and you need to do something with your appearance.”

She looked at her mother and wanted to growl, then glanced down at her jean shorts, black Adidas slides on her feet with her multi-colored mismatching socks and Nike T-shirt with a swimmer on it. “What’s wrong with my appearance?”

She thought she looked the same as everyone else her age. Especially those that played sports. If she wasn’t swimming, then she was playing field hockey in the fall and running track in the spring. She was going into high school next year and working her butt off to get on the competitive teams to make her mother proud of her.

Thankfully her father had been paying for all the camps she’d been in. She’d wanted to do them for the past few summers, but her stepfather insisted they spend July and some of August in Mystic, Connecticut, where his sailboat was in the marina close to a house that his family owned.

“If it wasn’t for the long hair, most would think you were a boy,” her mother said with disdain in her voice. “You are going to high school next year and you need to start looking more like a woman.”

“I’m not a woman,” she said, getting sick of being told what she had to do or how she had to look. Especially from her mother who was on her second husband, but had a few boyfriends in between. Nothing was ever good enough for Janice Miller-Ellis-Cox.

With the amount of fighting that had been going on between her mother and husband number two, she figured that wasn’t going to last either. She was surprised they’d lasted three years.

“You’re going to be and no man wants to be with a woman that looks and acts like a man,” her mother said, lifting her nose in the air.

“Leave her alone, Mom,” her brother, James, said coming onto the boat. Richard’s family home wasn’t too far away, easy enough to walk back and forth to his boat. Every year now for three years, pulling her and James away from their friends, they had to spend time here.

“You’re no better,” her mother said to James. He looked fine to Emma. The two of them dressed about the same. They were on vacation during the summer and running around acting like kids. She didn’t get the big deal.

But everything was a big deal for her mother lately.

 “Whatever,” James said. “Richard wanted me to tell you that he’s making reservations for seven tonight for dinner. He’s finishing a call and will be here within the hour to go on the water.”

“He was supposed to be here an hour ago,” her mother snapped. “He’s never on time for anything.”

“He’s working,” James said. “I’m the messenger and I’m going back.”

“You’re not going to go on the water with us?” her mother asked her brother.

 “Nope. I don’t like it and you know it. I’m going to chill at the house,” James said.

Her older brother by two years walked off the bow of the boat and onto the dock, making his way back to the house where they’d be for another week. She couldn’t wait to get back home to Loudonville, New York, and see her friends again.

“I suppose you want to get out of going now too,” her mother said with her hands on her hips.

“Yep. If James doesn’t have to go, then neither do I,” she said, lifting her chin, some of it wobbling a little. She always found it hard to put her foot down with her mother.

The past few weeks had been short of hell in her mind. If her mother wasn’t complaining about the way she looked, then she was screaming at Richard in another room. She almost felt bad for the guy that she had no attachment to other than he was footing the bill for this vacation she hated.

“Fine,” her mother said. “This will give Richard and me time to talk.”

“Good for you,” Emma said, following the path her brother had taken.

She was at the end of the dock when she saw River Scarsdale. He worked at that marina and had last summer too. He was James’s age and they did hang out some. She’d tagged along because she had a wicked crush on the kid and thought he’d felt the same.

“Hi, River,” she said.

He dropped the rag into the bucket. He was cleaning a boat; that was part of his job. She knew his father was a mechanic here, working on the boats as needed.

“Hey, Emma. How are you today? Just saw James walk by.”

“I’m good. He went back to the house where I’m going too. Or I said I was.”

“You don’t look good to me,” River said, moving closer. “You look a combination of sad and annoyed.”

It was funny how he was always able to see that. Even when she tagged along with James when River was around, River would spend time with her.

She’d never told anyone that she’d sneak down here and talked to him while he worked either. She didn’t want him to get in trouble, so she’d hide where she wasn’t seen and keep him company.

It might be the only thing she didn’t hate about being forced on this summer vacation.

“Probably because I’m both,” she said, laughing.

He picked his bucket up and brought it back to the building where he got most of his supplies. She followed along. “Your mother again?” he asked.

She’d confided in him more than she probably should. She wasn’t one for airing out dirty laundry, but there was something about River that drew her young teen mind in and made her feel safe and comfortable.

“Of course. She says I need to start looking like a woman or no man would want me.”

She wasn’t about to tell River that she’d said she wasn’t a woman. She might be more on the athletic side, but she didn’t want him to think that of her. She wanted him to think of her more as a girl than a boy.

“That’s crazy,” River said. “You’re pretty. Who cares if someone wants you wearing a skirt and shoes over shorts and slides? Comfort means more.”

“See,” she said. “You get it.”

She moved closer to the wall where he was getting more cleaners. “I do,” he said. He walked over to her and stepped into her personal space. He’d done it a few times and it’d gotten her heart pumping and juices flowing in her body like she’d never experienced before.

A lot of her friends talked about kissing and who their first kiss was, but she’d yet to have that. 

Maybe her mother was right. Boys didn’t look at her like anything other than one of them.

But as River said, who cares?

Only she did care. She cared what River thought.

“Would it bother you if your girlfriend dressed like me?” she asked.

He laughed. “I don’t have a girlfriend, but the answer to that is no. It wouldn’t bother me. I’m not so superficial that I care as much about those things.”

She figured as much. He talked about not coming from the right side of the area. He and his family worked for the rich, they didn’t mingle with them. She hated that he said it let alone felt that way.

He was mingling now though and she was fine with it.

She’d never considered herself rich. Her father had a good job as an engineer, but it wasn’t enough for her mother who was married to an investment broker now. Every boyfriend seemed to have more than the last and her mother stopped working when she married Richard.

“That’s why I like you,” she said, trying to get her flirt on. She hoped the heat in her face was from the sun and not embarrassment.

“I like you too,” River said, inching closer. His hand came up and she was wondering what he was planning on doing. She was frozen in time, their eyes locked. His hand came to her cheek and ran down it. “You’ve got some dirt there.”

She let out a little laugh. Figures. That’s probably part of what her mother was complaining about in saying she looked like a boy. “Thanks.”

So much for thinking he was going to kiss her. 

She was ready to turn and get out of his way for him to go back to the boat, but this time he looked around. She followed his gaze. There was no one she could see, and his mouth landed on hers. It started out soft and sweet and then she opened her mouth hoping he’d get the hint she wanted a real kiss.

He did. His tongue sliding in. She wasn’t sure what to do and followed his lead. When they heard voices, he jumped back. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said, smiling.

“River,” she heard shouted. “Are you in the shed?”

“I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later or tomorrow?” he asked.

 “I’ll be here.”

Only she wasn’t. Her mother and Richard got into a huge fight and they all packed up and left the next morning, Emma never getting to say goodbye to the boy who gave her her first kiss.

Dr. River Scarsdale was born on the wrong side of the watery banks and many never let him forget it in the small town of Mystic. He busted his butt and proved that where you come from doesn’t stop you from where you are going. And that crush he’d had when he was a teen, the one for the wealthy stepdaughter of the man whose boat he cleaned? Yeah, he always wondered what happened to her.

Emma Ellis has watched her mother marry and divorce more than any teen should. Each husband brought more wealth and higher expectations of her children to follow in her footsteps. The minute she could move out and make her own choices she did. They were nothing like her mother’s and never would be. And if her mother didn’t like she was vacationing in the town they’d stayed in when she was a teen to revisit old memories, then that was just too darn bad too. If only she had more of a backbone to get her point across.

In the quaint seaside town of Mystic, Connecticut, love is in the air—and who knows where you might encounter a look, a smile, a kiss… that moment when you know your whole life is about to change. It could happen at the Seaport Museum, the Mystic Aquarium, at famous Mystic Pizza, or on a romantic sailboat cruise. Maybe even a Sunday outing at the Elm Grove Cemetery like they did in the late 1900’s, strolling in the salt-kissed breeze.

Eight hunky guys, each on his own path through life, navigate their way through the rich history of Mystic, discovering steamy romance along the way.

River’s Mystic Crush- Natalie Ann
Luke’s Mystic Romance – Suzanne Jenkins
Malachi’s Mystic Assignment- Jen Talty
Matt’s Mystic Connection – Katie O’Sullivan
Liam’s Mystic Passion- Alicia Street
Cael’s Mystic Reunion- Stephanie Morris
Ridley’s Mystic Roots- Reina Torres
Max’s Mystic Magic- Tamara Ferguson

Check out the PROLOGUE if you haven’t read it yet.

Chapter One

Wanted A Breather 

Cody McMillan looked around Fierce Engineering on New Year’s Eve and wondered again what he was doing here.

He wasn’t even comfortably moved into his one-bedroom apartment in Durham and he was starting his new job on Monday in a city he was trying to find his way around.

 If anyone told him last New Year when he was at his buddy’s house, throwing back a beer with some friends and then crashing on the couch, that he’d be living in Durham and starting a new life close to his sister’s, he would have dumped his beer on their head to a round of laughter.

But times change. Marissa was now married to his nephew Tommy’s father. The guy no one knew the name of last year.

Everyone was happy. Or so they said.

No, that was wrong. He knew Marissa was the happiest he’d ever seen her. Tommy too. But he had a hard time letting go and being almost five hours away was going to be difficult to handle for a guy that had been the “man” in his sister’s life until now.

What started as a joke that he was going to look for a job in Durham turned into reality. That he had a better job than the one back in Greenville was icing on the next stage of his life cake.

His sister was now part of the Fierce family and that meant Grant and Diane, Ryder’s parents, seemed to have taken him under their wing. Not only did they convince him to come to the firm’s party tonight, but dinner at their house tomorrow.

“Cody.” He turned his head to see Diane coming toward him. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek like she greeted her sons. His own mother didn’t do that. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Thanks for asking me,” he said. 

He was learning fast there was no telling a Fierce no when they made a request, but he wouldn’t voice those words.

He didn’t have to when Diane let out a little giggle. “I know we put you on the spot. But it will do you good to meet some people.”

He didn’t need another mother at this point in his life. “I’m sure I’ll meet plenty at work.”

“You will. And if you need anything, you make sure that my boys and the rest of the family show you around.”

He sighed. He didn’t need special treatment, but he knew having an in with the Fierces might have been one of the reasons he got the interview in the first place.

Diane’s son, Sam, was an oncology surgeon at Duke. Her nephew Wyatt was an anesthesiologist. Wyatt’s wife was an OR nurse. Then there was Brock James who was married to Wyatt’s twin, Jade. He was the Director of Security for the entire Duke campus. 

And let’s not forget Diane’s middle son, Bryce, was a professor at Duke and the Fierces were big donors. So yeah, if their name was tied to anything, you were at least getting an interview.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” he said. “But if I have any questions, I know who to reach out to.”

“You do that,” Diane said. “Oh, here comes your sister.”

“Hey, little bro,” Marissa said, moving next to him. “Diane isn’t trying to match you up with someone, is she?”

“Please, Marissa,” Diane said. “I had nothing to do with you and Ryder and you know it.”

Cody had heard the story. How could he not? Diane and her sister-in-law Carolyn had set up six of the seven kids. Ryder was the last one standing. He’d bet Diane would have found someone for Ryder if Marissa hadn’t been in the picture.

Nah, it was meant for his sister to be with Ryder. Everyone has said it. That Ryder wasn’t settling down and didn’t want any part of being set up. He’d like to believe it was because Ryder never got over his sister and now he didn’t have to worry about that.

Which still didn’t explain why Cody picked up his life and moved here knowing how happy Marissa and Tommy were.

Maybe it had more to do with the fact that watching over his older sister gave him a purpose, and with her gone, he felt lost. He’d spent most of his life watching over or looking out for people. There was no one else close to him.

Moving here, he could still do it. Or try to if he found someone else that needed his help. 

No, not going there. He’d been told a few times to stop doing that. 

To put himself first. 

Two of the women who’d said it were standing in front of him. Marissa and Diane Fierce.

At least he’d still be able to see his nephew as much living here and that made it worth it too.

“I don’t need anyone to set me up,” he said, turning to Diane. “I’m fully capable of finding my own woman.”

“Every man says that,” Diane said, shaking her head and moving off.

“She really won’t do that, will she?” he asked Marissa.

“I wouldn’t put anything past her. But you know how to say no. You’ve said it enough in your life.”

“I have and I can. Yet I still ended up here tonight.”

“It will be fun. Trust me.”

“I’m sure. It’s hard not to have fun around Ryder’s family. There are a lot more people than I thought though.”

“They come and go from the sounds of it. And here comes Ryder ready to pull me away and make more introductions. Sorry. I’ll be back, I promise.”

“I’m fine,” he said. He didn’t have a problem making small talk with people. He’d stay until midnight and then take his leave. Only a few more hours.

An hour later though, he was still nursing his first beer and looking around. He’d been talking with several people who recognized him from Ryder’s wedding. Ryder had been introducing him around too. But right now he just wanted a breather.

He looked over and saw Raina, Grant’s assistant, trying to inch away from some dude crowding her space. She was one of the first people he met. Ryder brought him over and made the introduction, then to a few more people on his team.

He knew when someone didn’t want to be here and it helped he wasn’t alone in that thought. 

There was something about her in her black pants and a gray sweater that told him she wanted to blend into the room and make a fast exit.

His eyes kept searching her out. She was a tiny thing and right up his alley in terms of attraction with her dark hair, wide innocent eyes, and shy smile.

He saw her shake her head and then move a step back, but the guy followed. Yeah, not happening.

Being protective was in his nature; he was going over to save her. 

“Sorry. I’m good. I don’t need another drink,” Raina said, backing up and hitting the wall.

“It’s not that long before midnight. If you need a ride home, I can take you,” the guy said.

“I believe she told you no,” Cody told the man who was dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. He wasn’t dressed up like others here so that made him think it was a coworker who stayed at the end of the day rather than going home to change.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“Brian, I’m good,” Raina said. “I don’t need another drink. Thanks.”

The dude…Brian…gave Cody the once over and moved away. He wasn’t here to start trouble, but he was bigger and no doubt meaner than Brian. Not that he had to be bigger because Cody knew parts of the body that would cause someone an extreme amount of pain with little effort on his part.

No, no. He shouldn’t be thinking that way either.

“Sorry,” he said to Raina. “You looked uncomfortable.”

“Thanks. I’m not sure why I came. I mean I was here and it was hard to say I had plans when I didn’t. I’m fully capable of getting myself another drink if I need it.”

He smiled. “I’m sure you are. Does he bother you a lot?” 

“No. He’s never talked to me until tonight.” 

Trying to score was probably the guy’s motivation. “Hopefully he’ll leave you alone now.”

“I’m sure with the look you gave him from across the room,” she said, smiling.

“What look was that?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. One that said you wanted to wipe the floor with him.”

***

“It’s great that all our kids are hooked up,” Diane said to her sister-in-law Carolyn.

“It is. And Mick and Lindsey are on their way. Jolene had to brag about how Devin proposed to Hope at Christmas. You know it’s all on your shoulders now. You said you were going to get to work on Cody.”

She laughed. “I shouldn’t be thinking much since he is going to be starting work this week and is barely unpacked. Tell me I’m nuts, but look over at Raina.”

Carolyn turned her head to look at Grant’s assistant. Raina had been employed with Fierce Engineering about eight months, was young and quiet. Almost reserved but very friendly and respectful. She was raised well, it was noticeable.

“Now that is interesting. Why do you think the two of them?”

“First off, Cody needs someone to look after and protect. He’s been that way with Marissa even though he’s younger. He moved here because he’s not ready to let her go,” Diane said. “My son doesn’t need the interference when he’s starting the life he lost nine years ago with Marissa.”

Carolyn laughed. “Ryder isn’t going to let Cody get in his way and you know it.”

“True. But my point is, Cody needs that in his life. He’s at loose ends and it’s noticeable. Raina, she’s shy. She’s quiet. And she’s been watched over by older brothers her whole life. She’s used to it,” she said.

“How do you know that?”

“Grant told me. He talked to her and she has mentioned she has two older brothers. I guess she’s brought it up in passing when Grant and Garrett talk about our kids and how close they are. She has that relationship too.”

“Okay. I see where you’re going with this,” Carolyn said. “If she doesn’t get annoyed over her brothers being that way…”

“I don’t know that. But look at Cody,” she said.

Carolyn turned her head and saw what Diane did. A coworker was talking to Raina and maybe leaning in closer than he should be. Raina moved a step back and the guy got closer. Cody was frowning and then moved away from the wall and walked toward them.

“Oh my,” Carolyn said. “We need to get closer and hear what might be said. Diane, the ball is in your court. Good catch.”

She walked away from Carolyn and made her way to Cody and Raina to see if she could find out what was going on. “Raina, sweetie. Sorry I’m just making my way over here.”

“You’re busy, Diane,” Raina said. “This is a lovely event.”

“Thank you. Grant, Garrett, Carolyn and I do enjoy throwing this celebration every year. I had to almost twist Cody’s arm to attend tonight.”

She watched Cody squint one eye at her. “Not quite that much.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard from Ryder that Cody relocated to this area to be by his sister. Isn’t that the sweetest thing? You know about brothers being close to their sister, don’t you?”

“More than most,” Raina said. “Sounds like something my brothers would do.”

“It’s a nice trait to have. Caring for your family and being there for them.”

“It is,” Raina agreed. “Until they get on your nerves with it.”

Cody laughed. “Been there myself a few times.”

Diane saw Jade waving her over, so she nodded and said, “I’m being called. You two have a great night.”

Once she got to the other end of the room where her niece was, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jade started to laugh. “You. Good lord, Cody probably isn’t even unpacked and you’re getting right to work. You’re almost as bad as my mother with Mick and Lindsey.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jade,” she said. “Oh look, the punch is almost gone. I better get that taken care of.” She made a fast exit before her niece could give her any more grief.

Yep, Raina was her target for Cody. This was going to be fun.

Prologue

“Wow, look at you.”

Raina Davenport took her seat at the table with the other single attendees for Ryder Fierce’s wedding. She hadn’t wanted to come, but working so closely with Grant and Ryder for the past eight months, she couldn’t find a way out of it.

She looked at Chloe who’d made that comment. At least she wasn’t the lone one without a date here and that was the only reason she’d talked herself into feeling like it’d be okay to come solo. “Thank you.”

“You should wear more colors like that,” Megan said. She worked in accounting and was a year older than Raina. They didn’t have a lot in common but found they were always eating lunch at the same time and started to bond.

Raina’s wardrobe mainly stuck to browns and blacks at work, at least on the bottom. Tops were dull grays or whites. Somehow her mother talked her into this hunter green dress when they went shopping a few weeks ago. It’s not like she had many dresses in her closet when she’d much prefer to blend in and not draw attention to herself.

At least not now. 

“It’s not too bold?” she asked.

There were a few laughs around the table. She knew some of the others’ names but not them personally. She kept to herself as much as she could. It was easier that way.

“Hardly,” Chloe said. She was an engineer at Fierce Engineering. She’d only been there a year and was around Raina’s age too. At least they sat her with most of her generation for this event. “The color is great, but the fit is better.”

Yikes. That wasn’t what she was going for. She thought it might be tight to her small frame, but her mother insisted it was made for her. Since she could move easily in it, she had to get over it. There wasn’t too much that was tight on her, but this had a belt that showed how tiny her waist was.

“Not too much?” she asked, frowning.

There was more laughter and Megan patted her hand. “Not at all. You look lovely. Loosen up. I can’t figure out how someone as stunning as you seems so unsure of yourself.”

She hadn’t always felt that way, but these women didn’t need to know that. Nor was it something she shared with many outside her family.

“I’m just quiet,” she said. Most accepted that. She talked when there was a conversation going on, but she didn’t always contribute much on a personal level.

“We’ll get you talking tonight,” Mandy said, waving her hand for the waitress to come back over. There was a bar in the back with waitresses moving around while the wedding party was getting pictures taken. “I’ll take a white wine.”

The waitress took the orders around her and then she said, “Diet soda.”

“That isn’t going to make you talk,” Megan said, winking at her. At least Megan wasn’t pressuring her like some of the others looked like they wanted to do when they groaned over her soda.

“No, but I’m driving.”

“One drink isn’t going to hurt,” Mandy said. “I hope you at least have the champagne for the toast.”

“Leave her alone,” Chloe said. “Not everyone likes alcohol nor do they want to drink, socially or not. If you don’t want your champagne, I’ll have it.”

“I will drink the champagne,” Raina said. Since she’d be watching it as it was poured from the bottles that would be brought around for each table. She knew the routine because she’d heard Grant talking about it in a meeting with Ryder. 

This was her first Fierce wedding, but some at this table had been to Drake’s and Jade’s also, who worked at the firm too. The Fierces did everything in style.

She listened to the conversations around her. Mainly about Ryder and Marissa and how their relationship was so fast. Considering Ryder and Marissa had a nine-year-old son, she didn’t think it was fast.

No, Ryder didn’t know about his son until earlier this year and there were a lot in the office who liked to gossip and figure out the whole story. But she worked with Ryder more than the rest of them and, though she’d heard all about him and his playboy ways prior to her start at Fierce, Marissa had been in his life since Raina’s employment and he seemed devoted and in love with his wife and son.

“So who was the guy paired up with Jade? Does anyone know?”

No one answered and then they looked at her. They knew she’d know the answer so she said, “Cody McMillan. That is Marissa’s brother.”

“Damn,” Megan said. “He is a treat on the eyes. Wonder if he’s single or not.”

She shrugged when they looked at her again. “No clue. It’s the first I’ve seen him too,” she said. She only knew who he was because Diane came into the office one day when she was working with Ryder and started to talk about Cody moving here and needing to get fitted for his tux last minute.

And as much as she wanted to agree with Megan’s comment about Cody, she was keeping her lips sealed. All she wanted to do was get through this reception and go back home to her apartment above her parents’ garage.

Not the life she’d thought she’d have, but it was the one she had. She was slowly finding her way and making changes to meet her dreams, but again, no one at this table needed to know that either.

The Fierce women are at it again! Jolene, Carolyn, and Diane have gotten their children settled and it’s time to move on to their nieces, nephews, and friends of their kids. Secretly…of course.

Cody McMillan hasn’t known much in life other than protecting and caring for others. It started in childhood when his closest friend was seriously injured, then his father’s accident, and finally watching over his sister. When his sister relocates to Durham to marry, he decides it’s best to follow her and made sure she’s fine. That’s what brothers do, right? Put everyone before themselves? That is until the Fierces get involved and make him see he should put himself first.

Raina Davenport had the unthinkable happen to her in college. She dropped out and returned home to land a job at Fierce Engineering. She is trying to move on with her life and thinks she’s doing a grand job of it. Men and relationships aren’t in her plans…until the Fierce’s get involved and make her see that baby steps are a start, but sprinting gets you there faster.

Check out the Prologue if you haven’t read it yet.

Chapter One

An Ulterior Motive

Thirteen years later

“Daddy, I want to get the pink ones. And purple. Oh, blue too. Aunt Zara loves blue.”

Zane Wolfe let out a sigh as his daughter, Willow, yanked him all over the flower shop on Main Street. He didn’t have time for this with work pulling at him faster than being sucked into quicksand. And quicksand was what it felt like when he moved from job to job trying to keep his head above the mess. But Willow wanted to get his sister flowers for teaching her how to tie her shoes and he found it hard to tell his little girl no.

He supposed he should be buying his sister all sorts of things for the work she’d done with Willow since he returned to Mystic almost three years ago.

“Why don’t we try to find one of the ready-made arrangements,” he said, nudging her toward a cooler in the back. If he let her start putting one together herself it’d look like rainbows threw up after a night out partying and give Blossoms a bad rep.

Willow let out an exaggerated sigh. “You don’t understand, Daddy. I know what Aunt Zara likes. You’re a boy. You don’t know anything about girl stuff.”

He narrowed his eyes at her brown pigtails when he’d heard a snort and laugh turned into a cough over by the counter. Guess the staff heard his daughter schooling him on all things girlie.

“I suppose I don’t,” he said. “And today isn’t the day to learn it. I need to get home and feed you. You know if you don’t eat you won’t grow. You don’t want to be that short your whole life, do you?”

Willow giggled. “Don’t be silly. I’m going to be tall just like you.”

He squinted one eye at her. “Maybe not that tall.” He didn’t know too many six-foot-three women and he didn’t want his daughter standing out anymore in life than she was going to, having a mother that abandoned her.

“Can I please pick out the one I like though?”

“Sure,” he said, knowing she’d probably go for the biggest and brightest arrangement in the case. Most likely the gaudiest too.

They moved to the back and he picked her up so she could get a view of the flowers on the top shelves. She was small for her age, but she was smart as a whip hitting all her milestones faster than the average kid. Or so Zara told him. She’d know, as a preschool teacher that had his daughter during the waking hours more than him.

“That one,” Willow said, pointing to the design on the second shelf. “The piece with the unicorn stick in it.”

Yep, rainbows and unicorns, bright and glaring and making his tired eyes burn. “Why do you want that one for Aunt Zara?”

“Because I like it,” she said.

“Do you like it for you or do you like it for Aunt Zara?”

He was grinning while he watched Willow concentrate on his question and prepared to buy the flower arrangement that was clearly for a child and not an adult.

“For me,” she said, “Can I have it?”

He backed himself right into the corner there. “Of course,” he said. He had no backbone with Willow when she was putting others first. “How about that arrangement right there for Aunt Zara. It’s pink and purple just like you said she likes.”

“That’s pretty,” Willow said. “We can get both.”

He put his daughter down and opened the door, then pulled out the small one with the unicorn for Willow and the bigger one with pink roses and purple and pink carnations—he knew that much at least—for his sister.

When he got to the front counter, the woman behind it was looking at the computer but glanced up. He was happy she didn’t ask if they needed help because Willow would have been all over starting up conversations like a lonely man on a park bench to anyone that walked by.

“Are you all set?” she asked with a smile on her face. A face he recognized. Lily Bloom.

“We are,” he said, waiting to see if she said anything to him. Why would she? He was just a guy that talked to her years ago in high school and wanted to get to know her better. She hadn’t been interested.

Both arrangements were rung up and the price was more than he thought. He supposed he should have looked at the tags. Who would have thought flowers would be so pricey?

He pulled his credit card out knowing he didn’t have that much cash on him and handed it over. Her long slim fingers reached out and shifted the machine in front of him. He remembered that about her in school. Long and lean. She was tall for a woman. Not six foot three like his daughter wanted to end up, but probably five foot eight or nine. With the high counter in front of her, he didn’t know if she was as skinny as she was in school, but she seemed thin enough.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t see it there.”

“No problem,” she said. “I’m a little cluttered here today. I’m not normally manning the store, but I’ve got someone on deliveries and another out sick.”

He nodded, not sure what to think of her comment about manning the store. Maybe she ran it now? He supposed it was fitting considering she was named after a flower. He remembered her sisters were too.

When the machine beeped, he pulled his card out and put it away, then signed his name on the pad. “Would you like the receipt printed or emailed?” she asked.

He didn’t expect a small place like this to have technology that up to date. “Printed is fine,” he said. He didn’t need any more spam in his email.

“Would you like a box for those arrangements?” she asked. 

He thought for a second. “Actually. If you’ve got one handy, that’d be great. This one,” he said, nodding his head to his daughter who was busy looking at some vases on a shelf. He better hurry up or she’d be asking him for that instead of the one arrangement he originally came in for. “Needs to be kept close.”

“Hang on. We’ve got a lot in the back.”

She moved off to the side and he got a better look at her in tan pants that were fitted to her body, letting him know that she was as he remembered. Now she had a few curves instead of the straight boy-like body from high school, but damn, it brought back memories.

 Her hair remained a light brown, straight and falling to the middle of her back. She didn’t have much makeup on, but she was more put together than she was years ago. 

“Daddy, this candle smells so good. Here, smell it.”

“Don’t pick it up,” he said to Willow of the glass jar. She’d probably drop it.

“But smell it,” Willow said.

He leaned down to indulge his daughter while he waited. It did smell good. He picked it up and saw it was lemon verbena and the jar had the name Blossoms on it. Must be their own brand. Then he glanced at another wall and saw a bunch of candles in jars lining shelves along with what looked to be lotions and soaps.

“Here you go,” Lily said, returning and putting the box on the counter, preventing him from checking out the rest of the inventory. He wasn’t sure why he was interested in it anyway. He was here for flowers and got them.

Once the arrangements were in the box, he picked it up with one hand, then grabbed Willow’s hand with the other and made his way to his truck out front.

It didn’t take long to get to his sister’s house. She didn’t live far from his little cottage by the water. The one he’d bought on a tax sale and fixed up years ago. It was the right size for him and Willow, but he was more interested in the land and barn that held all his tools.

“What are you doing back here?” Zara asked when he walked into her house. Her nursery school was in a building in the back. One he spent a lot of time in getting set up for her two years ago when she decided to go out on her own. Guess neither of them was meant to work for someone else.

“We got you flowers,” Willow said. “I picked them out.”

“Flowers?” Zara said. “Why is that?”

“A thank you for everything. But it was Willow’s idea to thank you for teaching her to tie her shoelaces. I should be thanking you for so much more.”

“It’s all part of my job,” Zara said, grinning. “But Willow doesn’t like Velcro. She has her eyes on a pair of sneakers she wants with laces on them.”

He snorted. “I should have figured there was an ulterior motive.”

“Girls and their shoes,” Zara said. “Better get used to it.”

“Willow is the only girl who is having shoes in my house,” he said.

“Zane. Come on.”

“Zara,” he said. “No. I don’t have the time so don’t go there.”

His sister was determined to set him up, but he’d said more than once he had no time or interest in it. A woman to warm his sheets was about all he was looking for. 

Lily, the woman he’d just seen at the florist shop, might have been the first girl who wasn’t interested in him and he didn’t take it to heart.

He didn’t expect all women to fawn over him. Or want to go on a date if he asked.

But he sure the hell didn’t expect the woman he had a child with to up and say she was done, that it wasn’t for her, forcing him to end the career he’d always dreamed of.

“Willow, why don’t you go play in the other room while your father and I have a talk?”

“Daddy told me he was bringing me home to feed me so I could grow,” Willow said. “I’m hungry.”

His sister lifted her eyebrow at him and shook her head. “Why don’t you have a banana.” Zara pulled one out of the fruit bowl and cut it up quickly to give to Willow and sent her in the other room.

“Now that you got rid of her, what is it you want to say? No, I’m not going on a date with one of your friends.”

“That isn’t what I was going to say. I wanted to say you didn’t need to do this. To bring me flowers, but I appreciate it. I love Willow like my own and everything I do for her I’d do for my own child. I don’t like seeing you working yourself into the ground.”

“I’m busy,” he said. “Business is booming and calls are coming in fast enough I’m having to turn people away or hire more. I’m not sure I want the liability of more than the three guys I’ve got.”

“That’s your choice,” Zara said. “But you know as well as I do, that turning business away isn’t always good either. You’ll figure it out.”

“I will. I always do,” he said firmly.

His sister started to examine the flowers more. “What did you think of Blossoms? It’s not like it used to be.”

“I don’t know. Looks like a flower shop to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been in it before. I did recognize Lily Bloom though. She waited on me and made some comment about not usually being behind the counter.”

 “I’m sure she’s not,” Zara said. “I’m surprised she was. I didn’t know you knew her.”

“She was a few years behind me in school. We talked for a period of time.”

“Ahh,” Zara said. 

“Don’t go there either. But you obviously know her to make the comment about her not being behind the counter. Does she manage the place?”

Zara laughed. “You are so out of touch. I guess you weren’t around when it all happened and there wasn’t a need to fill you in about things over the years.”

“What happened?” he asked.

“Lily owns Blossoms and she and her sisters are millionaires. That little flower shop was the start of their ecommerce empire.”

“You’re joking, right? I don’t remember much about her other than she and her sisters had names like flowers.”

“They do. Lily, Poppy, and Rose Bloom. A few weeks before graduation, Lily’s mother was killed when she was hit by a driver on one of her nightly walks. Lily ended up marrying the owner of Blossoms where she worked. Rumor has it the owner always had a thing for their mother, who worked there, and figured Lily was easy pickings in her grief. I mean the guy was older than her mother.”

“So she’s married?” he asked.

“A widow. He died about six years ago. She got the flower shop and her sisters were adults then and out of college. They went from barely having a roof over their head to extremely wealthy. Guess there is something to be said about being with an older man.”

He didn’t bother replying. Why would he? It was not his concern if Lily was just like most women he’d crossed in his life who used a man to get what they wanted or needed in life. Then they’d moved on when they were done or had no need for the guy anymore.

Prologue

Lily Bloom looked over the sea of gray tombstones lined up in their precise locations. She’d never come here before. Why would she? No one in her family had died that she knew of in her eighteen years.

Except now one of the most important people in her life did die. Her mother. Suddenly. Tragically.

Lily stood holding her younger sisters’ hands on each side of her. Poppy was sixteen, Rose fifteen. The three of them stared at the tiny marker on the ground. They couldn’t afford much and there would have been no casket or burial without the help of her mother’s boss, Carl Blossoms. Lily wouldn’t take advantage of his kindness and told him she was grateful for any arrangements he made. That and the donations coming their way for the three girls that were now orphans was the only way this small gathering could happen.

“Do you need another tissue?” she asked Poppy.

Her sister turned and stopped wiping her nose on the sleeve of her black shirt. It was June and hot, but the girls didn’t have a lot of clothes and certainly not dark clothing. The trickle of sweat between her shoulder blades reminded Lily she was actually wearing a black dress of their mother’s. Pulling it out of the closet this morning almost caused her knees to buckle.

She’d held it together because she had to.

“Yes,” Poppy said. Lily, being the oldest of the girls and the one who looked out for them when her mother wasn’t around, pulled a small packet of tissues out of her purse and handed one to each girl.

Rose shook her head and looked away. Her eyes were still dry, as she was holding it all in. When it came out it was going to be an explosion of epic proportions, Lily was sure. She just hoped she would be around to care for Rose then.

The priest that Carl had arranged spoke, but nothing he said registered. He was a stranger to the family. Not many knew the Blooms. Or they didn’t care that much about the single mother that lived above Blossoms Florist and worked there full time. Mystic was more a tourist area so those passing through were just that…passing through like most did in their lives.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Maggie said. She worked at the florist shop too. Nice older lady that was a part-time employee with Lily and her sisters. Carl was kind enough to give them all jobs and help out the best he could. She had no idea how old he was, older than her mother for sure, and single. She’d never known him to ever date that she could remember. Not that she paid much attention. Maybe he was gay. She’d heard the rumors but brushed them off. He treated her and her family well and that was all she cared about.

“Thank you,” she said to Maggie.

One by one, shop owners and employees that worked on Main Street and had the time to stop their busy day came over to the three girls and gave their condolences. It was a blur of voices and faces. As sad as it was, the only thing going through her mind was how she could hold her family together when she only worked part-time and was starting college in the fall.

Community college might not seem like much to many people, but it was more than her mother had and it was a start for her. Anything to get out of the working poor trap she’d been in her whole life.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Poppy asked. She was the most open and sensitive of the three of them. Rose internalized everything. Lily was just serious. She had to be. The stand-in mom had been her role for way too long.

“Let’s not worry about it now,” Lily said. “I’ll figure it out. I’m legally an adult, so until or unless someone comes knocking on our door, we are staying together.”

“Where?” Rose asked. “We don’t make enough money to pay rent and everything else we need.”

“Don’t worry about those things,” she said, running her hand over Rose’s dirty blonde hair. It was tied back, but the warm breeze had worked some strands loose and they were floating along her cheeks making her look younger and more vulnerable.

That was the word that was screaming in her brain over their current situation. Vulnerable.

“How can we not?” Poppy asked, starting to sniffle. The dramatic one, but if any time called for it, it was now.

“Leave it to me. I’ll figure it out.”

They got back into her mother’s car, Lily wondering when the next payment was due and how that was going to work too. Today couldn’t be the day for any of this.

When they were back in their apartment, she heard a knock at the door and went to open it. A few people had dropped off food already, which was going to be helpful.

“Carl,” she said to her boss. “Hi.”

“Can we talk?”

Great. Just what she needed. She’d bet this was when he told her they had to move out of the apartment. She wasn’t about to beg though.

“Sure,” she said, opening the door wider.

“Downstairs in my office would be best.”

She nodded her head. Carl looked more skittish than normal. He wasn’t much taller than her, probably just as skinny. His hair was thinning and there was some sweat on his brow. He looked nervous, which only made her more nervous.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Lily started as soon as he shut the door to his office. “Can you give me a little time to figure things out and then you can have the apartment back?”

“What?” he said. “You think I’m going to kick you out?” He looked shocked and almost hurt over her words.

“I figured you probably need the space to rent. But I want to see if I can handle the expenses and find a full-time job.”

“No,” he said quickly. “I’m not kicking you out. I mean not like you think.”

That sounded like having to leave to her. “So then what?”

“I know this is going to come out of left field to you. And some are going to talk and I don’t care. I liked your mother as a person. She was nice to me when a lot of people weren’t, even including me in holiday dinners. I’ve watched you girls grow and consider you a family of my own on some level.”

“Mom was that way.” Holly Bloom was a kind gentle soul who happened to fall in love with a loser that never wanted to marry her and then abandoned her to raise his daughters alone.

“She’d want me to take care of you girls. I want to do it. But I’ve got no legal tie to you or your sisters. I’m not sure how it would work. Guardianship takes time. I’ve never been through those channels. There would be lawyers involved. All sorts of things.”

“I appreciate that. Going through the courts might raise attention to us and I’d rather not do that. Maybe we can skate through for a few years until the girls are older and adults. I’ll try to find full-time work and pay the bills.”

“No. You wanted to go to college and it’s your mother’s dream that the three of you would. I think the best way to make sure you stay together and survive is that you marry me.”

“What?” Lily asked, not sure she heard him right. She turned eighteen a few months ago. She was an adult in number only. She should be able to keep her sisters…maybe. Well, definitely not on her own, but she had no intention of letting the girls know that.

“I know it sounds crazy. But it would solve a lot of problems and worries for you girls. You can stay in the apartment for now, but my house is big and empty and there is plenty of room. We could figure things out as we go. I won’t pressure you for anything. It can be short term. Just a few years if you want. I really mean it.”

 There was so much going through her mind, but the hard truth and basic facts were—Carl was the only solution she had. And she’d do anything to keep her family together.

At eighteen, Lily Bloom made a promise on her mother’s deathbed…to care for her two younger sisters and keep them together at all costs. So she did the only thing available to her to achieve that goal, she married the owner of the flower shop she worked at part-time. Now a widow at just thirty-one, she’s made a name for herself and plans on keeping it. Men? The last one she had was a necessity. The next? Nah, not worth it.

Zane Wolfe is a single father who had to cut his military career short when his ex decided parenting wasn’t for her. With no choice in the matter and not about to give his child up, he moved back home to start his own business and get the help of his family to give his daughter the life she deserved. Women? He has no time or need for them other than a physical release. Relationships? Been there, done that, and not crazy enough to try again…or is he?

Have you read the Prologue yet? If not check it out first.

Chapter One

Still Come True

Four years later

“You look tired,” Ryan said when he walked into her office.

“Do you talk to your wife like that?” Whitney asked, grinning. 

Ryan laughed. He was one changed man and she knew first hand that love could do that. He was still considered a newlywed, having gotten married two months ago over the summer.

“Never,” he said. “She is beautiful no matter how much sleep she gets.”

“Where is Ryan Butler and what have you done to him?”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t help it. I never thought I’d see this day. Shannon and I brought Jeffrey for his first day of school today. Shannon cried; Jeffrey pleaded with me to get her to stop. It was funny.”

“You wanted to shed a tear, didn’t you?” she asked.

“No. I know they aren’t my kids, but it feels like it.”

“They are yours now,” she said. “Jeffrey looks at you as his father and Maddie adores you.”

“It is a nice feeling,” he said, puffing his chest out. She wasn’t sure if he was aware he’d made that move. Ryan’s wife, Shannon, was a widow with two young kids when she relocated to Colonie fifteen months ago. Whitney was pretty sure the last thing Shannon thought she’d find here was love again so soon and a second marriage.

“So the question is, when will you have your own child?” she asked.

“Probably soon,” he said. He stopped to look at her. Really stare at her. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “I’m not.”

She didn’t need her brother to apologize to her for finding love and a family and wanting to add to that. “Yeah, but we all thought it’d be you with the kids by now. It’s been your dream.”

“And dreams can still come true. As we know, it wasn’t meant and it’s a damn good thing nothing is tying me to Kevin.”

“Asshole,” Ryan said.

“He was that. And many more choice words. But he’s out of my life for good.”

She’d thought for sure she’d have to buy him out, but during the divorce proceedings, she got her fast divorce and they went on their separate ways. The fact their biggest asset, their home, wasn’t in either of their names worked in her favor. They had a joint savings account that she only put part of her income in, they split it and divided up some things in the house and he was gone as if she’d snapped her fingers and he went up in a puff of smoke.

“Damn straight,” Ryan said. “Now you need to get on that horse again. Don’t let him hold you back.”

“I’m not,” she said. “We’ve had this conversation several times. I don’t hate men and never did. I’ve got too many good examples of them in my life to feel that way. I’m just more selective now.”

She wouldn’t admit trust was a factor with moving on completely, but she figured many assumed it.

“If Evan can find someone, anyone can,” Ryan said of their older cousin.

“Evan isn’t nearly as bad as you used to be and Parker is perfect for him.”

“You’re obsessed with Parker because she was on Survivor.”

Whitney did a little shoulder wiggle. “She was awesome. Girl power there. Sorry, reality shows are my guilty pleasure.”

“Just don’t sign up for any of those Bachelor shows.”

“Good God no. I’ve had enough drama in my life. Anyway, one of my backup smoke alarms was beeping last night and it kept waking me up and I had a splitting headache this morning. It’s fine now.”

“Does it need a new battery? Do you want me to stop over and check them out? It was cold the last few nights, your furnace kicked on fine?”

“I don’t need my baby brother to change a battery that I did this morning. After I figured out which one it was. It’s all good. And yes, my furnace is working.”

“Okay. I know you are all independent and everything, but if you need anything you can ask any of us.”

“And I do when it’s something I can’t figure out on my own.” She appreciated the help and support she got from her father and brother. No one lived that far from the other in Paradise Place. Her whole family lived there, except Christian who was always buying and flipping homes all over the area on the side.

“If you have a minute I wanted to go over some supply orders with you,” Ryan said.

“Pull up a seat,” she said. She was a jack-of-all-trades for the business. The office was fairly big and she ran it. She oversaw the staff and the building itself. She dealt with most of the new build paperwork that went through their realtor, Ruby Turner. She handled all the customer and vendor relations. Not to mention the website for the business and marketing.

Yep, she had staff under her and they were great and she could delegate, but her job was her baby at this point in her life. She used it as a substitute for motherhood.

Was it wrong? Yes, it was. But it was what it was since it was all she had.

Before Ryan sat, he moved over to her filing cabinet, opened it up and pulled out a package of Twinkies. She kept junk food in there for her brother and cousins.

“You’re never going to grow up, are you?”

“No way,” Ryan said around a mouthful. “I eat these here so Shannon doesn’t yell at me for setting a bad dietary example in front of the kids.”

“You don’t need this junk food when Shannon is always baking for you.”

He rubbed is hand on his flat stomach. “Don’t I know it. But you keep filling the cabinet and I know you won’t eat these. Got to keep my sister happy too.”

She smiled. Not too many other than family worried about her happiness in her life.

“And you do. I am happy.”

“You are,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen it for years. That is one good thing.”

It wasn’t like a flipped switch when she kicked her lying cheating husband out of the house. There were times things got even darker and her family saw it. 

She had secrets. Or Kevin did that she’d discovered. They’d hurt her. They’d burned her. They made her lose faith in men.

Until she realized that Kevin was his own brand of douche. She just wished she’d seen it before and hadn’t wasted so much of her life.

“It is.”

But she wasn’t so happy when hours later she got a call that her security system was going off at home and the fire department had been dispatched.

She pulled the cameras up fast to look around and didn’t see smoke, but couldn’t figure out what was going on as she rushed out the door without telling anyone the reason.

The office wasn’t that far from the development her grandfather had started over fifty years ago.

She pulled into her driveway at the same time the firetrucks arrived. “Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” one of the firemen asked.

“It’s my house,” she said. “There is no fire. I can see it on my cameras. There is no smoke either. I’d rather you don’t break a door down to get in.”

“Captain,” the guy yelled. “The homeowner is here. She says there is no fire inside.”

She turned her head to see the fireman in full gear coming toward her and felt her heart slam into her chest at the sight of her first love. The boy that broke her heart and pushed her into the arms of Kevin.

No, no. That was wrong. He didn’t push her toward another man. She went there on her own when the one she wanted discarded her.

“Trey,” she said, pulling her shoulders back. She wouldn’t let him know she was affected. She’d shed more than enough tears over him when she was seventeen. She wasn’t that young girl anymore.

He wasn’t that boy either that said he was going to be a fireman like his father and it scared her. No, this was a man in front of her. One she’d tried to push from her mind for years.

“Whitney,” he said. “Do you want to let us in, or just tell us to leave since there isn’t a fire?”

“Can I go in or do you have to go before me?” she asked. “I don’t see a fire on my cameras, but I’m not stupid enough to send you away without having the house looked over.”

“Let me see the camera,” Trey said. She pulled her security system up and handed her phone over. “I’d like to go in first, if you’re okay with it?”

She handed over the key. “Here you go.”

“Stay here. We’ll be right back. We won’t break anything, don’t worry.”

She cracked a grin. “I know a few men who could fix it if you did.”

He didn’t smile back. Not like the boy she used to know. Guess they’d both changed a lot.