Jett gave her a love bite on her shoulder and finally released her. She quickly put on her sandals. “We’re so late!”
“Come on, beautiful.” He snagged her hand and led her out of the bedroom. “We have to explain to your sister’s family and our parents how you couldn’t keep your hands off me.”
“What? You better not!”
He flashed a cocky grin.
“Paybacks are hell, you know,” she said as they went out the front door of the cottage. “You’d better think long and hard about opening that mouth of yours.”
It was a warm, slightly cloudy morning, and Tegan had made arrangements for a tent, just in case. But she’d tossed a silent prayer up to her uncle, hoping he could pull a few more strings and convince the sun to come out. The house renovations would be done by the end of the year, and then tents would no longer be necessary.
“I’d rather think about something long and hard in your mouth.” He tugged her into his arms, kissing her again.
“What has gotten into you today?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. He had gotten home from a business trip two days ago, and he was always insatiable after they were apart.
“Just you, baby.” He draped an arm over her shoulder as they walked through the yard and along the side of the big house. “I hate being away from you.”
He still traveled, but never for more than a day or two here and there now that he’d realized the value of virtual meetings. He was also delegating more, which allowed him additional time for mentoring and for Tegan. While she loved that extra time together, she was even happier that he and his family had made enormous strides, and they were getting closer every week. They’d attended the foundation dinner and had a wonderful time. She’d enjoyed getting to know his brother Doug and Doug’s wife, Susie. Doug and Susie had stayed with his parents while they were in town, and Tegan and Jett had visited them every day. They’d even been spending more time with their friends. Tegan had discovered that Jett was some kind of baby whisperer. Not only did Hadley love him, but he had a magical touch with Desiree and Rick’s new baby boy, Aaron, too.
Jett stopped walking to glance at the amphitheater and gardens, which were in full bloom and bursting with color. “Soon the setup crews and caterers will be here, and my girl will be on that stage with her business partner and introducing their very first show. This is your special day, Tegs, and I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you. I’m proud of myself, too. It’s hard to believe my uncle’s been gone for a year. In that time, my entire life has changed.”
Jett drew her in his arms and said, “Jock told me that Harvey always believed you’d find happiness here. After everything you and Jock have said about your uncle, I think he brought you here to help me find happiness, too.”
“I love how you think.”
“And I love everything about you.” As he lowered his lips to hers, her nephew, Billy, ran around the corner of the house giggling up a storm.
“I didn’t do it!” Billy hollered as he ran toward them with his arms outstretched, clutching something in his fists. The fishing hat Jett had given him in May when her family had come for the opening of the children’s program flew off his head. His shirt and shorts were covered with sticky notes.
“Billy, don’t!” Melody yelled, chasing after her little brother. Her long dark hair flew out behind her. She was a skinny little thing, all legs and arms, and much to Cici’s dismay, she had very little fear. “You’re in so much trouble!”
“Uh-oh.” Jett ran toward Billy as Cici and Cooper sprinted into the side yard around Melody. Billy was laughing so hard he had drool dripping down his chin.
“William Wild, stop right now!” Cici hollered, making Billy laugh even harder as he dodged Jett’s attempt to grab him.
“What is going on?” Tegan yelled as Billy led them on some kind of mad-goose chase.
Cooper caught Billy seconds before he reached Tegan and lifted him over his head. “You little rascal! What did we tell you?”
“You are in big trouble, Mister!” Cici said, grabbing her side and trying to catch her breath. “I’m sorry, Jett.”
“Sorry for what?” Tegan asked.
“Tegan! Tegan!” Billy yelled, shaking his hands at her.
Tegan headed for him and said, “I’m right here, buddy.”
Billy’s fists shot out, and everyone else yelled, “No!” as he opened his fingers, sending sticky notes flying through the air.
Tegan had no idea what everyone was so panicked about. She didn’t care if he’d gotten into her office supplies. She tried to catch the sticky notes, but Cici and Jett knocked her out of the way, scrambling to pluck them from the air and the grass.
Tegan threw her hands up and exclaimed, “You’re all crazy! I’m going inside.”
“Bills!” Cooper settled Billy on his hip and said, “Why would you do that?”
“I told him not to, Daddy! I tried to stop him!” Melody shouted as Tegan walked by.
She spotted sticky notes scattered on the ground up ahead, and as she bent over to pick them up, Jett dove past her. His big body hit the ground with a thud, sprawled out over the sticky notes. Now she had to figure out what was going on. She spotted another one a little farther away and snagged it. Her eyes connected with Jett’s for half a second before he ran after her. She shrieked and sprinted toward the front of the house, clutching the note and laughing hysterically. Cici and her family were running after them. Melody and Billy hollered her name, but she wasn’t about to slow down. Jett snagged the back of her shirt, but she broke free and ran around the corner of the house and into the front yard as Jock and the rest of their families came out the front door. Tegan stopped cold at the sight of a car in the driveway covered with sticky notes, and her world went silent. Everything went silent save for her thundering heart. She’d know that car anywhere, but she couldn’t believe her eyes.
Berta?
She looked down and opened her fisted hand, trying to make sense of what was going on. She uncrumpled the note, surprised to see Jett’s blocky handwriting spelling out, Your fancy foods. She was confused and moving on autopilot as she stepped onto the driveway toward Berta. When she got closer, she realized he had written on every single one of the sticky notes. Goose bumps prickled her limbs as she stood beside Berta—Berta!—reading them.
The way your smile lights up the room.
Your sighs.
Your adventurous spirit.
Your love for me.
The way you see the good in everyone.
Your laugh.
The sounds you make when we make love.
She felt her cheeks burn, and her eyes sailed over what had to be hundreds of notes covering the car. Her heart felt like it was going to crawl out of her chest. She turned and said, “Jett? What’s all thi—”
Her words were lost in the shock of seeing him down on one knee, looking at her like she was his sun, his moon, and his stars.
JETT HAD NEVER been more nervous in all his life as he knelt before Tegan holding the ring he’d had made for her and saw their future in her loving eyes. Melody and Billy stood with their parents a few feet away, looking like they were going to burst. Cici looked like she might cry. Jock and the rest of their families were watching them from the porch.
Jett drew in a deep breath, and his mind went blank. Shit. He’d practiced this speech for the last two months, and now he couldn’t remember a word of it. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “This wasn’t exactly the way I saw today playing out,” he admitted, silently praying he wouldn’t screw this up and earning chuckles from their families. “But you taught me to trust my heart, so I’m going for it.”
Tegan touched his face with a trembling hand. He covered it with his own, and her touch brought his words back to him.
“I watched my brothers and my friends fall in love, and I never wanted that for myself,” he said, lowering her hand so he could hold it. “I didn’t trust that I could be a good boyfriend, much le
ss a husband. Then you showed up at the gas station like a ray of sunshine on the wickedest of days, and again at the café, like the world was guiding me to you. And then you took one look at me, and you knew I was hiding. You saw what no one else ever had, and you loosened my tie, trying to strip off everything I hid behind so you could see the real me. Then you saw me, the real me, the good, the bad, and the lost. I thought for sure that was it, but instead of turning away, you looked deeper. You were insightful, funny, confident, and so damn beautiful and smart, I thought I’d dreamed you up with your circle drawings and pepperoni, cheese, and olive cracker sandwiches. Baby, when you loosened my tie, you untangled the strings to a heart I didn’t even know was capable of opening, much less loving someone like I love you. You spread your light over me and suddenly you were all I saw, all I wanted to see.”
He rose to his feet, brushing the tears from her cheeks as his own eyes dampened, and said, “You showed me it was okay to trust and to love, and you showed me a world so vast and wonderful, I never want to leave it. This love we’ve created is bigger and truer than anything I’ve ever known. I don’t want to imagine living a day without you by my side. I love you, Tegs, and I want a forever adventure with you. I want to make your tomorrow better than today, and every day thereafter I promise we’ll shine brighter, love harder, and laugh louder than we’ve ever imagined possible. Will you marry me, sunshine? Let me be the man your uncle always wished you’d find?”
Tears flooded her cheeks as she nodded, choking out, “Yes!”
Cheers and applause rang out as Tegan threw her arms around him, her salty tears slipping between their lips as they said I love you in their kisses.
The cheers quieted as he slid the ring on her finger and said, “Canary diamonds in the shape of the sun because you are my sunshine. You can read all the reasons why when we clear off Berta to take her for a ride.”
“Berta,” she whispered through her tears.
“I’ve had her completely refinished, top to bottom. She’ll last another fifteen years, and then we’ll get her fixed up again, because when you told me you wanted to bury her in the garden, I knew just how much you needed her by your side, too.”
A symphony of congratulations, whistles, and cheers rang out as he gathered her in his arms, and the clouds opened up. A streak of sunshine hit them like a spotlight, and as he lowered his lips to hers, he knew Harvey Fine was smiling down on them.
Ready for your next TWO Bayside books?
Continue reading for information about Daphne and Jock’s, and Chloe and Justin’s, love stories! In case you haven’t read Tegan’s sister, Cici’s, book, I’ve included details on that, too!
Your Next Bayside book is set on Silver Island!
Jock and Daphne find heart-meltingly beautiful and toe-curlingly sexy forever love in the first book in The Steeles at Silver Island, a Bayside Summers spin-off series.
A man who’s lost it all and carries a torturous secret, a divorced single mother who has everything to lose, and the little girl who helps them heal.
Buy TEMPTED BY LOVE
Justin and Chloe finally get their happily ever after!
Set on the sandy shores of Cape Cod, the Wickeds feature fiercely protective heroes, strong heroines, and unbreakable family bonds. Fun, sexy, and emotional!
What do a cocky biker and a businesswoman who has sworn off dating bad boys have in common? According to Chloe Mallery, not much. But Justin Wicked has had his eye on her for a long time, and he is sure the inescapable heat between them runs far deeper than just physical attraction. Could their difficult pasts be drawing them together, or will his protective nature be too much for her independent heart to accept?
Buy A LITTLE BIT WICKED
Have you read Tegan’s sister, Cici’s, love story?
Four years ago, Cooper Wild turned Cici Fine’s world upside down in the span of one deliciously perfect week. They returned to their own hometowns with promises of forever. But Cooper disappeared, and Cici was left to raise the daughter he never knew about alone.
Cooper is finally thinking straight after years of being lost in grief from the tragedy that killed his father and left his mother blind. Now he’s on a mission to find the woman he left behind—the only woman he’s ever loved.
Buy WILD BOYS AFTER DARK: COOPER
BINGE-WORTHY READS
If Bayside Fantasies was your first Bayside Summers book, you have many more Cape Cod love stories to catch up on. I suggest starting with Seaside Summers which leads into the Bayside Summers series.
Start reading *FREE with SEASIDE DREAMS!
(*Free in digital format at the time of this publication. Price subject to change without notice.)
Buy SEASIDE DREAMS
Have you met Tru Blue & the Whiskeys?
If you think you know everything about bearded, tattooed men, get ready to be surprised—and to fall hard for Truman Gritt. A love story like no other.
Buy TRU BLUE
Fall in love with the fun, feisty Montgomerys!
When a midnight party brings Grace and Reed together, passion ignites and old wounds are reopened. Grace sets down the ground rules—No touching, no kissing, and if she has it her way, no breathing, because every breath he takes steals her ability to think. But Reed has other ideas…
Buy EMBRACING HER HEART
Love in Bloom FREE Reader Goodies
If you loved this story, be sure to check out the rest of the Love in Bloom big-family romance collection and download your free reader goodies, including publication schedules, series checklists, family trees, and more!
www.MelissaFoster.com/RG
Remember to check my sales and freebies page for periodic first-in-series free and other great offers!
www.MelissaFoster.com/LIBFree
More Books By Melissa Foster
Love in Bloom Romance Collection
LOVE IN BLOOM SERIES order (FREE Ebook)
Love in Bloom Series Guide (Detailed Ebook)
Love in Bloom Series Guide (Black & White Print Book)
Love in Bloom books may be read as stand alones. For more enjoyment, read them in series order. Characters from each series carry forward to the next.
SNOW SISTERS
Sisters in Love
Sisters in Bloom
Sisters in White
THE BRADENS (Weston, CO)
Lovers at Heart, Reimagined
Destined for Love
Friendship on Fire
Sea of Love
Bursting with Love
Hearts at Play
THE BRADENS (Trusty, CO)
Taken by Love
Fated for Love
Romancing My Love
Flirting with Love
Dreaming of Love
Crashing into Love
THE BRADENS (Peaceful Harbor, MD)
Healed by Love
Surrender My Love
River of Love
Crushing on Love
Whisper of Love
Thrill of Love
THE BRADENS & MONTGOMERYS (Pleasant Hill – Oak Falls)
Embracing Her Heart
Anything for Love
Trails of Love
Wild, Crazy Hearts
Making You Mine
Searching For Love
BRADEN WORLD NOVELLAS
Daring Her Love
Promise My Love
Our New Love
Story of Love
Love at Last
A Very Braden Christmas
THE REMINGTONS
Game of Love
Stroke of Love
Flames of Love
Slope of Love
Read, Write, Love
Touched by Love
SEASIDE SUMMERS
Seaside Dreams
Seaside Hearts
Seaside Sunsets
Seaside Secrets
Seaside Nights
Seaside Embrace
Seaside Lovers
Seaside Whis
pers
Seaside Serenade
BAYSIDE SUMMERS
Bayside Desires
Bayside Passions
Bayside Heat
Bayside Escape
Bayside Romance
Bayside Fantasies
THE STEELES AT SILVER ISLAND
Tempted by Love
THE RYDERS
Seized by Love
Claimed by Love
Chased by Love
Rescued by Love
Swept Into Love
THE WHISKEYS: DARK KNIGHTS AT PEACEFUL HARBOR
Tru Blue
Truly, Madly, Whiskey
Driving Whiskey Wild
Wicked Whiskey Love
Mad About Moon
Taming My Whiskey
The Gritty Truth
SUGAR LAKE
The Real Thing
Only for You
Love Like Ours
Finding My Girl
HARMONY POINTE
Call Her Mine
This is Love
She Loves Me
THE WICKEDS: DARK KNIGHTS AT BAYSIDE
A Little Bit Wicked
The Wicked Aftermath
WILD BOYS AFTER DARK
Logan
Heath
Jackson
Cooper
BAD BOYS AFTER DARK
Mick
Dylan
Carson
Brett
HARBORSIDE NIGHTS
Includes characters from the Love in Bloom series
Catching Cassidy
Discovering Delilah
Tempting Tristan
Standalone Books by Melissa
Chasing Amanda (mystery/suspense)
Come Back to Me (mystery/suspense)
Have No Shame (historical fiction/romance)
Bayside Fantasies (Bayside Summers Book 6) Page 41
