by Meredith, MK
If he didn’t see this town as significant, he wouldn’t care less about its small, local paper.
“What did you think you’d find, coming here? Bonanza?” She narrowed her gaze. “This town is filled with hardworking professionals who aren’t afraid to get dirty or meet a challenge head-on.”
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he smirked. “I’m sure the local professionals are challenged.”
With level-headed poise her grandfather would be proud of, she set her plan in motion. “Cute. But this town isn’t afraid of anything. Our North Cove Plunge proves it.”
He raised a brow. “Are we done here?”
Shit. He wasn’t taking the bate. Disappointment raced through her like Moby had the park.
“So, this North Cove Plunge. What is it exactly?”
And just like that, her day turned around.
Chapter 4
What did he think he’d find?
Parker set the wine glass down on a nearby bussing table, then grabbed another and downed it in one swallow.
Even thrown back, that was one helluva good wine.
He studied the iridescence in Sage’s eyes. It was as though they were made of glass and the dark chocolate of her iris reflected light instead of absorbing it. He clenched his jaw in the hopes of crushing his wayward thoughts with the effort. Holy Christ. The last thing he needed was to let any of the romantic bullshit of his new sexy and distracting friend get inside his head.
He sure as shit never imagined he’d find a hopeless romantic in Tiny Town who could make his dick stand tall and sing the national anthem, but one feel of her soft, giving body under his and it was like he was sixteen again and Sally Rogers let him get to second base. It had been over before it even started, and the little debacle a moment ago wasn’t really any better.
Who was he kidding? It had been great.
Sage’s curves had snuggled into him as if he were home, and God help him, if it hadn’t taken every ounce of effort he possessed to keep from kissing her or feeling just how silky her skin was above the lace of her fancy bra peeking out from the V-neck of her sweater.
For a moment, he’d been sure she might even kiss him.
But when she brought attention to it all with her attempt at humorous innuendo, his body shot to attention like a damn cannon, knocking a little sense into him.
Tangling the sheets with the granddaughter of his grandfather’s best friend was the last thing he should do. Even thinking about it sounded complicated. He was here for a job. One that he was more than qualified to do. And he’d kick ass and do it without giving his grandfather any more reason to throw his judgments around. In the end, the old man would have to acknowledge Parker’s success, even if he was too proud to admit it.
But Parker would know.
Once and for all.
And then, he’d let the man go.
If he didn’t want Parker in his life, the reason for staying in the old man’s became less and less clear.
“Sage Mathews, we need your help.” There was no mistaking the wisdom in the voice, nor the do-as-I-say tone.
Sage stiffened next to him. “Oh God, I don’t like the sound of this at all.”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“I don’t either yet, but I’m afraid we will.” Sage waved at two older women pinning them down with determined looks in their eyes. “Hey there, Grandie Evette, Miss Maxine.”
Parker did a double take as he took in the two women dressed in matching bright black bustiers over striped black and wine colored, fitted skirts. He’d never seen so much cleavage from someone called Grandie before—or Maxine, for that matter—though, he had to admit, it gave him hope for his seventies.
“Grandie?” he asked.
Sage smiled. “She’s my great auntie by way of marriage…Grandie.”
“But wouldn’t that be more like Grantie?”
She rolled her eyes. “I nicknamed her when I was four, okay?” The strain in her voice almost made him chuckle. Something was up.
“We need your help.” The two ladies stopped side by side.
“Parker, this is my great auntie, Evette Kingsley. She’s the owner of the North Cove Confectionery on the corner opposite the Flat Iron Coffeehouse, and this is her best friend, Maxine Van Buren...you can guess her significance.” Then, gesturing toward Parker, she continued, “Grandie, this is Parker Edwards. He’s Banon Edwards’ grandson.”
Evette sucked in a breath, and for a moment, he was afraid she was going to pass out from asphyxiation. “Banon Edwards? That old coot?”
Parker winced.
Sage stared at Evette as if she didn’t recognize her for a moment. “And the gentleman responsible for saving the Tribune.”
It was interesting that, though Sage said the words, it was loud and clear she didn’t believe it. What would it take to convince her that he had the paper’s best interest in mind? In the end, it really didn’t matter. The job would get done and get done right, then, he’d be hightailing it back to New York where everyone did not, in fact, know his name—just as he preferred it.
And where brown-eyed girls with hearts floating above their heads didn’t give him a hard-on. He needed to get back to the land of sanity—STAT.
The mission of the day was to tread carefully and placate Sage as much as possible just to ensure no more gorillas named Edward popped up in the paper. Then, he could get back to doing the job he was hired to do.
“Edwards, why does that name sound so familiar?” Evette patted her smoot, looking like a pin-up Olive Oyl.
“Grandie, I just told you.”
Evette skimmed the front of her bustier. “No, no. That’s not it. By the way, how do you like my advertising for Blayne? We thought of asking you and Alora to do it, but Lord knows how the two of you get all atwitter when we mention sex. So, of course, Maxine was a no-brainer.”
Maxine waved her jeweled fingers with a suggestive grin.
Parker coughed in his hand. Maybe it hadn’t been an innuendo when he and Sage were on the ground after all.
But Sage’s look of mortification cleared up any confusion. “Grandie!”
Evette poked her finger in the air. “Your comic. That’s it. I think you got a winner with that one. That gorilla, Edward, is hysterical.”
Parker rolled his eyes as Sage raised her brows with an agreeing nod. “It really is,” she answered, grabbing on tight to the change in subject if the forced smile on her face was any indication.
“Anyway, we’re wasting time. Which us North Cove Mavens don’t like to do.” She tsked. “We need you for the kissing booth.”
Sage glanced over one shoulder, then the other, until a look of pure horror crossed her face. “Me?” she squealed quietly, pointing at her own chest. Shaking her head, she brushed past her great aunt. “Oh, heck no. I am not doing that.”
“Just for a short bit.” Evette hooked her arm through Sage’s and led her on down the path with Parker and Maxine hot on their heels. “Maxine will throw in some of her moonshine.”
Moonshine? This was going to be good, and there was no way in hell he was missing a second of it.
As it was, the two looked ridiculous with the struggle it took to keep Sage in line with Ms. Kingsley’s heaving bosom almost popping out of her top. So much cleavage for such a thin woman.
“Jade Dawson’s on her break, the other two triplets are out of town, and Larkin and Claire are off-limits. Blayne might agree just to drive Jay crazy, but she had to run over to her store and meet with Alora. You’re the only other single lady I got right this second.”
“No way. Grandie, I am not sitting in Eclectic Finds Kataclysmic Kissing booth.”
“I told you she’d be a negative Nelly,” Maxine said. “Who’d of guessed the younger generations would be the prudes of our town?”
“Hey!” Sage threw her hands up.
They arrived at the booth and Parker whistled. It was decked out in some of Eclectic Finds newest romantic additions, and the thought t
hat Sage should model the goods instead of doling out kisses popped in his head before he could stop it.
Evette placed a hand to Sage’s cheek. “But the proceeds go to the Cape’s Coping through Art program. You know how much this would mean to Claire. Besides, where would you be if Horace hadn’t introduced you to your love of art?”
Sage’s eyes widened like a sad cartoon character’s where the light reflected and wobbled in the corners. The sight hurt his feelings, and he almost stepped in to volunteer. But just in time, clarity returned, and he found his balls again.
Fuck, he’d lose his man-card before escaping this town if he wasn’t careful.
“Fine.” She stomped behind the booth. “But you owe me.”
No sooner had Sage stepped behind the counter, and it seemed just about every guy in town bee-lined their way to the booth as if their dicks had honey radars. The hell he’d let any of these clowns get one taste of that full mouth.
And he’d deal with why in another century.
He slid up to the booth and slapped a hundred-dollar bill to the counter. “This should cover you.”
“Well, isn’t this interesting,” Evette yelled, not even trying to be subtle. “Hey, Maxine. See what we got here? I wish Janice was here to see this.”
Parker ignored the watching women. For some reason, seeing Sage kiss a line-up of different men made his gut twist. Did it make sense? Hell no, but what did in this damn town?
Sage leaned toward him. “What are you doing?” she asked in a fierce whisper. “Don’t you think my humiliation is bad enough as it is?”
He’d let her hurtful words pass; she was reacting under stress and hadn’t been privy to a kiss from Parker Edwards before. Well, he was about to make her day. Actually, he just wanted to save her from having to lock lips with every Tom, Dick, and whoever the Harry-hell else was lined up behind him. “I’m trying to help you, you spoiled brat. Don’t you think a hundred dollars should cover your friend’s break?”
Sage glanced down at the money under his hand. “A hundred dollars, are you crazy?”
He’d never thought so, but since stepping foot into Tiny Town, he now had serious doubts.
“Well, get on with it already. There’s a line,” Evette demanded.
Sage’s eyes grew wide, and her mouth parted in a small “o.”
He winked at her. “Let’s make it a good one. Give your paper something to talk about.”
A mischievous twinkle lit her eyes, and her mouth widened in a grin.
Dropping a hundred-dollar bill might look like a sacrifice, but he bet those lips tasted like a reward.
Snaking his hand beneath her hair, he gripped her neck and dropped his mouth gently to hers. He’d been wrong, her lips tasted more like a celebration, one that had the potential to never end. She was sweet with wine and possessed a slick heat that made his body snap to attention.
He’d had every intention of pulling away, but her arms snuck up around his neck, and she dove in like she’d just discovered scuba diving—and he was going with her. She angled her head, sliding her mouth against his, and as she broke away just enough to sample from another angle, he grasped the opportunity to take a deeper taste.
When his tongue touched hers, her body jerked and her arms tensed, all but pulling him over the counter, and he wanted nothing more than for the crowd to disappear so they could see where this was going in private.
Because he sure as hell liked the direction
“What the hell is going on here? Is this a festival or a damned orgy?” Banon James Edwards I stood in a wide stance, his arms crossed at his chest, and condemnation on his face. Pretty much his usual look.
Parker drew back from Sage, then stepped between her and his grandfather like a protective wall. She didn’t need any of his shit directed at her. “Sir, you know that’s uncalled for.”
“What I’d say is uncalled for is embarrassing our family’s name.”
Evette Kingsley sashayed around the booth with her head held almost as high as her bosom, then stepped between him and his grandfather, with Maxine at her side, like two love sentries. “Now, you listen here, old man. Your grandson just donated one hundred dollars to our youth art program. What exactly have you done?” She poked a bony finger to his chest.
Parker had never seen his grandfather uncertain, but at that moment, the old man looked like he wanted to run, and he couldn’t make eye contact to save his life.
“Her eyes are up there, Edwards.” Maxine poked her pointer and middle fingers toward her friend’s face.
“Excuse, me. I was—”
“Yes, you were what…here to tell your grandson ‘nice work?’ Here to make a donation? Or here to ask me out on a date?” Evette questioned casually as if she had similar conversations every day.
Parker all but choked on his own tongue as his grandfather’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. No one had ever spoken to the old man like that, none that ever survived anyway. Parker never thought he’d see the day, but there his grandfather was, given what for by a woman dressed in her street corner best and all the poor guy could do was stare.
Banon Edwards cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Evette laughed and shook her head. “I’ll be waiting. You know where to reach me. I’ll save you a cupcake.”
She turned toward Parker and Sage with a self-satisfied grin and the devil in her eyes. “He wants me.”
“Grandie!” Sage pressed a hand to her mouth, looking from Parker to her aunt as if she were trying to figure out who to run from first.
Maxine nodded in pure appreciation. “Now, that’s how a Maven hunts its prey.”
A tiny blonde with a friendly grin and even friendlier eyes joined them. “I’m back.” She hugged Sage while she inspected him from head to toe. “Thanks for the help, Sage. Looks I’ve got my work cut out for me.” A look of challenge accepted crossed her face as she examined the long line of suitors.
She crooked her finger toward Parker. “You can be first.”
Sage stepped up and grabbed his hand. “You got your hands full already, Jade.”
He glanced down at Sage, surprised by the strong tug in the other direction. Waving at the ladies, he let her lead him away. “In a hurry?”
“To get you away from a Dawson Triplet?” She scoffed. “Yes.”
The idea that she didn’t want him kissing the woman named Jade made him feel a shit-ton better about his donation. Though, if they were both feeling it, the reality was, he had more of a problem than he thought.
They made their way through the crowds of tasters with Sage not letting up on her grip of his hand. And he didn’t mind—which was weird as hell. He’d never been a hand-holder, even with women he’d been dating a couple of weeks, much less a couple of days.
Shit.
He and Sage weren’t even dating.
Watching her out of the corner of his eye, he noted the perfect tip of her nose, and how she was the perfect height for him to see just a bit down her shirt, and how her smile left his chest tight. The afternoon was not at all what he’d expected, starting with how caring of a person Sage was right down to how good she tasted. The fact that his grandfather just got hit on by a corseted septuagenarian couldn’t even register. He shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” Sage whispered.
“For what?”
“This isn’t exactly how today was supposed to go. And your grandfather seemed really mad.”
That was an understatement. Monday would be a long day of ass-chewing either by his grandfather or the board. He had some fast-talking to do to make sure they didn’t replace him. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well. He’s not my greatest fan. But I owe Evette a big one. I’ve never seen the man run scared in my life. It was fucking awesome.” The last statement was punctuated with a fist pump, and Sage jumped.
“Oh!” She continued with a fearful look in her eye, “Don’t tell Grandie you owe her, the reality of her payout migh
t give you nightmares. She’ll consult with Maxine.” Laughing, she shook her head. “Family is as terrifying as they are beautiful.”
But that was just it. He didn’t know beautiful, not when it came to family. Though each day spent in this town was giving him a glimpse of what being a part of a larger whole could really mean.
It was another reason to finish this job and hightail it far away. No sense in sampling something he could never have.
But despite his best efforts, he couldn’t look away from the gratitude and joy shining from those damn chocolate eyes.
Chapter 5
Just as the sun was rising, the next day, Sage stood on the north side of the cape and clapped her hands together in feigned excitement. “Are you ready?”
She tried to keep her voice casual against the bubbling sensation of glee rising up her throat. She hadn’t thought he’d take the bait, but he hadn’t been able to help it. And that’s what she’d counted on.
But she hadn’t counted on how affected she’d be after that damned kiss.
And now, faced with the one responsible for her night of tossing and turning with dreams she wouldn’t even share with Alora, she almost wanted to fess up to the prank she was about to pull off.
Almost.
“Look, if you all can do it, I can do it,” he said.
She held back her eyeroll. Parker needed a reminder that her town was relevant, powerful, and not insignificant just because it wasn’t a metropolitan. In fact, it was more so. The intimacy of a town like this allowed them to work more closely in business. Which left them with some of the most successful commerce on the east coast.
It was time to loosen him up a bit, show him not to underestimate her because she was a small-town newspaper cartoonist.
He jogged in place trying to keep warm as the waves of the Atlantic rushed upon the shore in a bubbling froth. Six a.m. in March was not the warmest time to go for a swim.
Sage couldn't wait to see his face. That is if he actually went through with the challenge.
“I'm as ready as I'll ever be. So, I’m supposed to dive into the freezing ocean. That’s it? Not quite a challenge if you ask me.”
