Romancing My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens) Contemporary Romance (29 page)

“She’s coming along.” Pete had been refinishing a custom-built 1966 thirty-four-foot gaff-rigged wooden schooner for the past two summers. Working with his hands was not only his passion, but it was also cathartic. He’d spent the last two years pouring the guilt over his father’s drinking into refitting the boat.

“What will you do with it when you’re done?” Amy Maples looked like the girl next door, with her sandy blond hair and big green eyes, and acted like a mother hen, always worrying about her friends.

Pete shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll sail someplace far, far away.” He’d never leave his father, or the Cape, but there were days…

That brought Jenna’s eyes to him. Jesus, she had the most gorgeous eyes. They weren’t sea blue or sky blue or even midnight blue. They were more of a cerulean frost, and at the moment, pointedly icy.
What the hell did I do?
He racked his brain, going over the last two weeks, but he hadn’t seen Jenna for more than a minute or two. He couldn’t imagine what he’d done to warrant her attitude.

Jenna raised her eyebrows in Amy’s direction. “Time for
me
to go away.” She rose to her feet, bringing her red-string-bikini-clad body into full view. The tiny triangles barely covered her nipples and the bottom rode high on her hips, exposing every luscious curve.

Pete shot a look around the patio—every male eye was locked on Jenna. Jenna wasn’t even five feet tall, but she had a better body than any long-legged model.
How the hell can a woman have a body like that and not be one hundred percent confident at all times?
He stifled the urge to stand between her and the ogling men.

“Where are you going?” Bella’s eyes bounced between Pete and Jenna.

“I’m going to do what I came here to do. There’s a construction guy with my name on him over there.” Jenna lifted her chin toward the sky, and her pigeon-toed feet carried her fine ass off the patio, across the grass, and directly toward one of the young construction workers.

“What’s she doing?” Pete narrowed his eyes as Jenna approached a ripped construction worker. He expected Jenna to put her hands behind her back and sway from side to side like she did when she spoke to him—reminiscent of an excited girl rather than a sensual woman—adorable and confusing as hell.

“Oh. My. God.” Bella rose to her feet, her eyes wide.

“Nothing, Pete. She’s…Oh God.” Amy put Joey in Pete’s lap. “Take her. I um…Darn it.” Amy reached for Bella’s hand as they gawked, mesmerized by Jenna’s bold move.

Her shoulders were drawn back, her beautiful breasts on display—proudly on display!
What the hell?
She put one hand on her hip, and holy hell, Pete didn’t need to see her face to feel the slow drag of her eyes down that bastard’s body in a way similar to how she usually looked at
him
when she thought he wasn’t looking. But then she’d go all nervous when he’d approach.

What the fuck?

“Holy shit. She’s going for it.” Bella sat back down, as Jenna put her finger in the waistband of the guy’s jeans and shrugged. “She’s something this summer, isn’t she?”

Jealousy clutched Pete’s gut.

“Yes, and this summer’s rock fixation? What’s up with pitch-black rocks? She’s never collected them before.” Amy’s voice trailed off as she watched Jenna in action.

Pete made a mental note of the rocks Jenna was collecting this summer. He’d spent five years taking mental notes about Jenna. Every summer she collected different types of rocks—egg shaped, all white, gray, and oval. There was never any rhyme or reason that Pete could see for her rock selection, but she knew what she liked, and the ones she liked ended up all over her cottage and deck.

Jenna’s eyes were fixated on the guy.
That
was the Jenna Pete had hoped would talk to
him
, and now…Now he was getting pretty damn pissed off. 

“Those aren’t local guys; they’re contractors,” he warned. “They probably have women in every town around here. Want me to intervene?” Jenna wasn’t his to protect. They’d never even gone out on a single date, but somewhere in his mind, despite his confusion, she
was
his. Summers to Pete meant six to eight weeks of seeing Jenna, and over the last two years, while his father buried his troubles in alcohol, seeing Jenna meant even more to him. But until this very second, he never realized how much he wanted her, or how much she meant to him. Joey turned her tongue on Pete’s chin. Frustrated, Pete lifted his face out of reach.

Leanna shook her head. “God. Look at her go.”

Look at her go? You think this is okay?

“Pete, have you heard something bad about them? Should we worry?” Amy’s voice was laden with concern. “Bella, maybe we should…”

Pete watched Jenna take her phone from her pocket and type something. A second later the blond guy took his phone from his back pocket and nodded.

“She gave him her number. I can’t believe it,” Leanna said.

“She wasn’t shitting us,” Bella said. “Damn, our girl’s getting her groove on.” She settled back in her seat and petted Joey. “Oh, Pete…
tsk, tsk, tsk
.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He clenched his teeth so tight he thought they might crack.

“Nothing.” Leanna smacked Bella’s arm.

Bella set her eyes on him. “A woman like Jenna only comes around once in a lifetime.”

He was just beginning to realize how true those words were.

“Bella, don’t,” Amy warned.

Bella shrugged. “Just sayin’.”

He didn’t know what to make of the woman who was a wallflower around him and a sex kitten around a random dipshit in the street. Jenna sashayed back toward the table with a grin on her face. That was Pete’s cue to get the hell out of there before he was stuck listening to Jenna going on and on about that dipshit. He rose to his feet with Joey in his arms.

“Wait. Don’t leave,” Amy pleaded. “You didn’t get Joey her water.”

“I’ve got to get going.” With Joey in his arms, he headed off the patio. Jenna brushed past him without so much as a word, and it pissed him off even more. He couldn’t escape fast enough.

“Guess who’s going to the Beachcomber tonight? Oh my God. He’s even hotter up close.” Jenna’s voice echoed in his mind as he crossed the street to get Joey a bowl of water from Mac’s.

Holy Christ. Like I needed to hear that shit
.

(End of Sneak Peek)

To continue reading, be sure to pick up the next

LOVE IN BLOOM release:

SEASIDE HEARTS,
Seaside Summers

Love in Bloom series

Writing about the Bradens is one of my greatest pleasures, and while that probably stems from coming from a large family, it’s bolstered by the support and encouragement of my readers. Thank you for insisting that I continue to bring more loyal, sexy characters into the fray. I look forward to eventually bringing you Hal and Adriana’s story, as well as Catherine’s, and catching up on all of the Braden clan.

I’d like to thank all of my supportive friends and family for their endless patience and encouragement. You’re an inspiration to me on a daily basis, and I appreciate your efforts.

It takes a village to bring a book to publication, and I’m so very thankful for the skills and efforts of my editorial and publication team. My editorial team and proofreaders make my work shine with their superb skills. Thank you: Kristen Weber, Penina Lopez, Jenna Bagnini, Juliette Hill, Marlene Engel, and Lynn Mullan. My cover designer, Natasha Brown, deserves accolades beyond anything I can imagine, as she has yet to bonk me over the head with a hammer for my never-ending tweaks and changes. Natasha, you’re a treasure, both in your design skills and your friendship. The technical process behind each publication is something that takes precision and meticulous care, and I am indebted to Clare Ayala for both her friendship and her mad formatting skills. If I had gold stickers, each of these women would be covered in them.

Last but never least, thank you to my husband, Les, and my youngest children, Jess and Jake, for allowing me the time to create my fictional worlds and being interested enough in what I do to talk with me about it on a daily basis. I love you to the moon and back. Twice.

Melissa Foster is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling and award-winning author. Her books have been recommended by
USA Today’s
book blog,
Hagerstown
magazine,
The Patriot
, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café, and when she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa also hosts Aspiring Authors contests for children and has painted and donated several murals to the Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC.

Visit Melissa on her website or chat with her on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Melissa’s books are available through most online retailers in paperback and digital formats.