Weekend Fling

by Claire Kingsley

  I finish my cake while the DJ starts playing music. So far, Madison’s wedding has been fantastic. They got married in a park overlooking Lake Washington, with the sun setting right as they said their vows. The reception is at a nearby hotel, and if I know Madison and Eric, it’s gearing up to be quite the party. There’s a full bar, and people are already dancing beneath a disco ball and colored lights that are straight out of a nightclub.

  A slow song comes on and Finn grins at me, holding out his hand. “Want to dance?”

  I put my hand in his and we walk to the dance floor. He holds me close, clutching one of my hands against his chest. We sway to the music, and he leans his head against mine.

  After a moment, he pulls away and looks at me, his brow furrowed.

  “What?” I ask. “Is something wrong?”

  “No.” He keeps staring at me. “I was just thinking about something.”

  “Yeah? What are you thinking about?”

  “That I want to marry you.”

  My heart skips and a zing of electricity races through me. “What did you say?”

  “I said I want to marry you.” He licks his lips and smiles. “I guess I should have planned this a little better. I don’t have a ring. But I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I want you, Juliet. I don’t ever want to be without you.”

  My lower lip trembles and I gape at him. Is he really saying what I think he’s saying?

  “Are you sure about this?” I ask.

  “I’m completely sure. Being here with you tonight made me realize I can’t let this chance go.” He puts a hand on the side of my face. “I’m sorry, I know you probably wanted a big proposal. And maybe this is too soon. You don’t have to answer me now. I can ask again when I can do it right. I just… I want you to know how I feel.”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head.

  “No?”

  “Wait, not no to what you just asked,” I say. “I mean no, it’s not too soon, and no, I don’t need a big proposal. I don’t need that at all. And we can get a ring whenever. I don’t need any of that. I just need you.”

  A wide smile spreads across his face, his dimples standing out beneath his stubble. “Is that a yes? You’ll marry me?”

  “Yes,” I say, my eyes stinging with tears. “Yes, I will absolutely marry you.”

  He brings his lips to mine and I wrap my arms around his neck. I’m giddy, ready to burst. Nothing with Finn has been what I expected, or could have planned for.

  It’s been better.

  Number of times I’ve regretted falling in love with Finn: zero.

  And I never will.

  Ready for more Jetty Beach? Turn the page for a taste of Becca and Lucas in Good Girl Next Door.

  Good Girl Next Door: Chapter 1

  Becca

  My hands tremble as the host hands me a menu. I’m trying so hard to act like I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do. I know. The night has finally arrived. Brandon is going to propose.

  I’m wearing my favorite dress—dark blue with a sweetheart neckline and an A-line skirt. Really, it’s Brandon’s favorite dress, but that’s the point. My blond hair looks perfect, for once, and I dabbed on a little extra makeup, opting for soft pink lipstick and a little shimmer in my eyeshadow. I almost put a clip in my hair that has a white silk flower, but I changed my mind at the last minute. Maybe wearing the white flower—so much like a wedding flower—to my engagement dinner would make it too obvious that I know.

  Brandon looks so nervous. I’m a bit overdressed compared to him, although he’s still handsome in a dark green sweater with his shirt collar showing. In my fantasies, he’s always wearing a suit when he gets down on one knee. But that’s okay. I don’t need every detail to be perfect.

  I look up at Brandon and smile. He puts down his menu and wipes his palms on his thighs. He keeps doing that. I’m nervous too, but it’s an excited kind of nervous, all these little pings of electricity running through every nerve. We’ve been dating for four years, and living together for almost eight months. I’ve been expecting a proposal. There have been a few times I got that fluttery feeling in my tummy, like it might be coming. Last Christmas, when we were with his family. Or when we took that trip to Victoria. But he still hasn’t popped the question. I’ve told myself he wants it to be a surprise, so a family dinner or a weekend getaway are too obvious. He must want to keep me in suspense so I don’t see it coming.

  Tonight, I’ll act totally surprised, even though I’m onto him.

  I almost told my girlfriends Madison and Juliet, but since I didn’t, there’s no evidence I suspect anything. They’re always on my case about Brandon. They don’t understand why we’re not engaged yet, like there’s some sort of dating time limit before you have to either take the next step or break up. There really isn’t. Juliet’s engagement was so out of the blue, none of us saw it coming—least of all her. But her relationship with Finn was that way from the beginning. And since Madison got married, she’s been obsessed with the notion that the rest of us need to get married too.

  But just because my two best friends are now married or engaged, and I’ve been with the same guy for four years without a ring, does not mean there is something inherently wrong with our relationship.

  I’ve always assured Brandon that there’s no pressure. I’ve made it clear I’ll be happy when he does propose, and the answer will of course be yes. He doesn’t have anything to be nervous about there. But he’s skittish about marriage. I’ve never pressed him about his past, but I don’t think he was ever serious about a woman before me. In fact, I hate to admit it, but I’m pretty sure there were a lot of women coming in and out of his bedroom before I came along.

  But we’ve been happy together, and I’ve been fine with not rocking the boat. I can be patient, because I know it’ll be worth it in the end.

  “So, Becca.” Brandon presses his lips together and runs a hand through his blond hair. “There’s something I’ve been needing to talk to you about.”

  I take a careful breath so I don’t seem too excited, and set my menu in front of me. “Yes?”

  “Well,” he says, and folds his hands together. “We’ve been together for quite a long time now.”

  I nod. “We have.”

  “And I think there comes a time in a relationship when we have to make decisions about the future.”

  My heart beats faster. “Yes, of course.”

  He pauses, and I wonder where he’s keeping the ring. He’s not wearing a jacket, so he can’t produce it from an inside pocket. Maybe he gave it to the waiter, and they’ll bring it out on a little plate. Or in a glass of champagne. I’m surprised he’s doing it before we’ve ordered, but maybe he’s so excited, he can’t wait any longer.

  “Becca…”

  I lean forward, the word yes already on my lips.

  “I think we should break up.”

  For a second, the words don’t register.

  Did he just say break up? My lips part and I stare at him, dumbfounded. His brow furrows, and a look of guilt passes over his features.

  “Becca?”

  “I’m sorry, I think I just hallucinated. What did you say?”

  Brandon winces, and the waiter chooses this moment to come over to take our order. I don’t look up. My eyes are locked on Brandon. What the frick is even happening?

  Brandon tells the waiter we need another minute and looks back at me. “I’m sorry, I guess this is kind of sudden.”

  “Sudden?” My chest constricts and I feel like I can’t get enough air. “Sudden?”

  He puts up a hand. “Okay, don’t freak out.”

  I look at him in disbelief. Freak out? Why would he think that? I never freak out about anything. “What? No, I just… I don’t understand. You’re breaking up with me? Why?”

  He lets out a breath. “It’s not you. You’re a great girl. I’m just in a place in my life where I need something else.”

  My stomach starts to churn and a cold sweat b
reaks out on my forehead. “Something else? Or someone else?” By the way Brandon winces again, I already know the answer. “There’s someone else?” I put a hand to my mouth.

  “Yes, but no,” Brandon says. “Nothing happened with her, I swear. I’ve never cheated on you.”

  “But you want to cheat on me,” I say, my lower lip trembling.

  He opens his mouth like he’s going to argue, but he looks away without saying anything.

  “I thought you were going to propose tonight,” I say, my voice weak. Immediately, I wish I hadn’t said it. I feel so stupid.

  His brow furrows again. “You thought what? Oh god, Becca.”

  “You never wanted to marry me,” I say. “I thought you needed time, but you knew, didn’t you? You knew you didn’t want me forever. You knew I wasn’t the one.”

  “I’m really sorry,” he says.

  My stomach turns again and there’s a burning sensation in the back of my throat. I don’t understand. How could this have gone so wrong? Why didn’t I see this coming?

  Brandon starts talking again, but I’m not sure what he’s saying. Something about it wasn’t meant to be, and now you can find the right guy. Does he think he’s doing me a favor? My vision goes blurry, the tablecloth turning into a hazy mass of white.

  “Becca?” He leans forward. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

  I shake my head slowly, my eyes on the table. I spent most of the last four years believing I was with the one. The guy I was going to marry.

  He never felt the same way.

  I suck in a breath and try to clamp a hand over my mouth, but it’s too late. The contents of my stomach come racing up my throat, and before I can even think about running to the bathroom, I vomit all over the table.

  And all over Brandon.

  I snatch the cloth napkin and cover my mouth, my eyes wide with horror. Brandon’s face is contorted with revulsion as he looks down at his soiled sweater. The people at the tables around us go quiet and stare.

  I think I might die.

  I get up so fast my chair falls backward, and I run out the front door.

  Keep reading Good Girl Next Door

  Afterword

  Dear reader,

  After finishing Hunter and Emma’s story, I knew I wasn’t finished with our favorite beach town. I had an idea for a trio of friends who meet at the local Irish Pub, and those would be my three new heroes—one of them being Gabriel Parker.

  But this isn’t Gabe’s story, you say. This is Finn!

  I know. I started writing Gabe’s story (he’s Emma’s brother, and Clover’s boss). I was going to start with him, and move onto his two good friends, Finn and Lucas.

  And then Finn happened.

  I couldn’t get Finn out of my mind. The image of him leaning against the bar, running a clean white towel across the shiny surface, grinning at the poor girl whose weekend got derailed…

  So I decided I needed to write Finn’s story.

  I knew it was going to be a whirlwind romance—something that took both characters by surprise. And what better way to make a whirlwind romance more intense than by pairing easygoing, no-worries-for-the-future Finn with a type A planner who always worries about the future.

  Juliet shares one key characteristic with me—her overthinking. I’m an expert overthinker. I taught her all she knows. In other ways, she’s a very different person from me, but in that, I feel her pain. Meeting Finn, and falling for him so fast, gave her a lot of overthinking fodder.

  Finn had a couple hard lessons in life can suck, and he’s made some big decisions about his future based on those experiences. That clashes with Juliet’s need to know what the future holds, and these two almost walk away from the best thing that ever happened to them.

  Fortunately, they both wise up and realize they can meet in the middle.

  The chemistry between these two was probably my favorite part about this story. They’re so hot for each other so quickly. And Finn’s, ahem, proficiency in certain areas certainly doesn’t hurt. But their physical chemistry goes crazy, and leads them on a roller coaster of emotions neither of them were expecting. It was a lot of fun to write.

  There are at least two more Jetty Beach stories coming. Lucas and Becca are in for a wild ride soon, and then yes, finally, I will come back to Gabriel Parker. Gabe’s story is going to have to be something else. I’ve made him (and you!) wait an awfully long time for it.

  Thanks for reading!

  CK

  Also by Claire Kingsley

  For a full and up-to-date listing of Claire Kingsley books visit www.clairekingsleybooks.com

  The Bailey Brothers

  Steamy, small-town family series. Five unruly brothers. Epic pranks. A quirky, feuding town. Big HEAs.

  Protecting You: Series Origin Story

  Fighting For Us

  Unraveling Him

  More Bailey Brothers coming soon!

  The Miles Family

  Sexy, sweet, funny, and heartfelt family series. Messy family. Epic bromance. Super romantic.

  Broken Miles

  Forbidden Miles

  Reckless Miles

  Hidden Miles

  Gaining Miles: A Miles Family Novella

  Dirty Martini Running Club

  Sexy, fun stand-alone romantic comedies with huge… hearts.

  Everly Dalton’s Dating Disasters

  Free Faking Ms. Right prequel

  Faking Ms. Right

  A hot fake relationship romantic comedy

  Love According to Science

  A hot enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy

  Bluewater Billionaires

  Hot, stand-alone romantic comedies. Lady billionaire BFFs and the badass heroes who love them.

  The Mogul and the Muscle

  A billionaire and her bodyguard hot romantic comedy.

  The Price of Scandal, Wild Open Hearts, and Crazy for Loving You

  More Bluewater Billionaire shared-world stand-alone romantic comedies by Lucy Score, Kathryn Nolan, and Pippa Grant

  Bootleg Springs

  by Claire Kingsley and Lucy Score

  Hot and hilarious small-town romcom series with a dash of mystery and suspense. Best read in order.

  Whiskey Chaser

  Sidecar Crush

  Moonshine Kiss

  Bourbon Bliss

  Gin Fling

  Highball Rush

  Book Boyfriends

  Hot, stand-alone romcoms that will make you laugh and make you swoon.

  Book Boyfriend

  Cocky Roommate

  Hot Single Dad

  Remembering Ivy

  A unique contemporary romance with a hint of mystery.

  His Heart

  A poignant and emotionally intense story about grief, loss, and the transcendent power of love.

  The Always Series

  Smoking hot, dirty talking bad boys with some angsty intensity.

  Always Have

  Always Will

  Always Ever After

  The Jetty Beach Series

  Sexy small-town romance series with swoony heroes, romantic HEAs, and lots of big feels.

  Behind His Eyes

  One Crazy Week

  Messy Perfect Love

  Operation Get Her Back

  Weekend Fling

  Good Girl Next Door

  The Path to You

  The Jetty Beach Box Set Books 1-4

  Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases, as well as exclusive content, the Ask Cooper Miles advice column, and more!

  About the Author

  Claire Kingsley is a Top 5 Amazon bestselling author of sexy, heartfelt contemporary romance and romantic comedies. She writes sassy, quirky heroines, swoony heroes who love their women hard, panty-melting sexytimes, romantic happily ever afters, and all the big feels.

  She can’t imagine life without coffee, her Kindle, and the sexy heroes who inhabit her imagination. She’s living out her own happily ever
after in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and three kids.

  www.clairekingsleybooks.com

  Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases, plus exclusive content and the Ask Cooper Miles advice column. Cooper’s very good at advice. Trust him.

  Join Claire’s Facebook reader group Alpha Ever After for book talk, man candy, inappropriate humor, exclusive teasers, and lots of shenanigans.

  You can also join Claire’s Spoiler Room on Facebook for book talk with all the spoilers.