Love Promises
Book Four in the Sully Point Series
by
Nicole Smith
Copyright 2012 by Nicole Smith
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, characters, events, locations, or businesses is purely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Maggie Carter pulled her fingers through her short curly hair, adding to a general look of disarray. She stomped across the floor of her new apartment in Sully Point, kicking a pillow in a high arc over the sofa.
"What I need is a man," she said aloud to the room. And not just any man. A man that would get her whole family and the town of Sully Point off her back. Between the busybodies in town and her well-meaning family, she'd been introduced at various lunches and dinners to numerous single men in the past few months. And none of them, not one, had been her type.
She sighed and flopped down onto the green velvet, asymmetrically curved sofa. Gazing around the room, she decided that she'd finally gotten the right look for it. A comfy, overstuffed chair covered in cream-colored brocade sat across from the fireplace, diagonally to the sofa. Small tables, that did not match, were placed beside each seating area. A Tiffany-style lamp in jewel tones decorated a roll top desk, while a fringed gold lampshade covered the light nearest the chair. A free-standing bookcase, with glass doors on the front, stood against one wall, filled with science fiction novels. A painting by her sister-in-law Anna, abstract and swirling with deep greens, blues, and purples, hung over the fireplace.
Maggie stared at it and thought. Over the past couple of years, there had been a rash of marriages in the Grainger family. Maggie was the sister of Sam Carter, who was married to Anna Grainger. Now it seemed all the Graingers were determined that she become just as blissful as they seemed to be. Even her brother Sam had gotten into the act this last time.
She'd just gotten home from a dinner at Sam and Anna's house. They'd provided a companion in the form of Willie Wilcox. He was an accountant. A good accountant. And probably a good man, too. A man who had discussed either numbers or fishing the entire meal. He was a native of Sully Point, and evidently deep sea fishing was his passion. It certainly wasn't Maggie's passion. How Sam could have thought she'd find Willie Wilcox interesting was beyond her comprehension.
She knew Sam worried about her, about how she hadn't had a boyfriend in quite a while. How could she explain to him that she wasn't looking for safety, for some man to take care of her? He was her big brother. He just assumed she needed looking after. And yes, there had been the tennis pro when she was eighteen, and the artist a year later, both of whom had crushed her heart. But she'd learned her lesson and was much more careful about her choices now at the age of twenty-two.
The problem had become that there just weren't any choices out there for her that she liked. Now she was looking at the upcoming holidays, knowing what she really needed was a date for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. If she didn't find one on her own, she would be inundated with offerings of men that weren't to her taste.
Somewhere, somehow, she had to find a man she could tolerate for a couple of months. It was just that simple. Yeah, simple. She threw a pillow across the room.
* * * *
Eric Stanton sat on the stage at the Lobster Shack playing guitar and singing. He was having a blast. The audience was into the music tonight, clapping along. His shoulder-length dark brown hair fell forward as he bent his head while picking the strings very fast.
He'd been happy to get the gig here, playing two nights a week for the next month. The Lobster Shack had a laid back vibe, and excellent food, so the customers usually made a receptive crowd. Eric hadn't known just what to expect when he arrived in Sully Point last week, but he'd expected there would be live music played in a resort town. Granted, with the advent of cold weather, there wasn't much tourism going on at present, but he didn't care. His stay in the small town was meant as a time to relax and enjoy himself.
As the song ended, he looked up to see a young woman enter the restaurant. She had an arresting face that looked as if it was made for quick grins. Instead, she was frowning and an air of gloom hovered around her. He began playing the next song, a slow one all about a broken heart. To his surprise he saw two big desserts delivered to her table, where she proceeded to dig into both of them. How could such a little thing begin to tackle those rich desserts? She had a petite, perfect body wearing black leggings, knee high boots, and a snug turquoise cabled sweater.
He reached the third verse of the song and realized she'd set her fork down and was watching him closely. Maybe the music had reached her, he thought. He finished playing and was rewarded with a nice round of applause. Announcing he was taking a break, he left the stage and headed backstage to get a glass of water.
"Hello," a voice said behind him.
He turned to discover the young woman in the turquoise sweater standing there. "Hello. Do you have a request?"
She smiled at him, the quick grin he'd expected to see on that heart-shaped face. "Yes, I do have a request. When do you get off work tonight? It might take a while to explain."
"I meant a song request--but, if you have another kind of request I'll hear you out. I have one set left, the short one, so I'll be done when the restaurant closes in an hour."
"Cool. I'll stay and finish my dessert and listen to you play. You're good, you know. Your voice is easy to listen to."
"Thanks, Miss--?"
"Carter. Maggie Carter." She held out a hand to him.
"And I'm Eric. Eric Stanton," he said as he shook her hand. He watched her carefully, but saw no sign of recognition at his name. That was good.
"See you later then, Eric," Maggie said, and walked away.
Eric drank his water slowly, thinking he hadn't ever met anyone before who had violet eyes. Her big eyes in that gamine face, along with her small size, gave her an almost elfin look. He was intrigued by her, definitely intrigued.
* * * *
Maggie worked her way through the Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae as she listened to Eric play. There was only one word to describe him--scrumptious. Dark waves of brown hair falling to his shoulders, with deep emerald eyes framed by thick black lashes, were enough to capture her attention. Then the smile, a totally sexy smile, a smile that promised all kinds of devilment, had her wanting to know more. And there was more. What appeared to be a muscular body with broad shoulders and a height of around 5'10" enticed her. With her height of 5'2" she was never quite comfortable with men six feet or taller. It felt to her like they loomed over her. But Eric's height was just right.
He had a smooth baritone voice that he put to excellent use on ballads and love songs. She was slowing down now on her dessert eating as she really listened to his singing. She wondered if he sang love songs to his girlfriend--then hoped for her sake that he didn't have one. Although, how likely was that with his good looks? Still, she had to give it a try.
Once his set was completed, he made his way over to her table. She was just finishing up the Apple Crumb Pie with Whipped Cream, and licking her spoon.
"I can't believe you ate both of those desserts," he said, sitting down.
"I love desserts. Whenever I'm down or angry I especially love desserts. I figure as long as I keep up my workouts, I can indulge myself every now and then," she replied.
"What kind of workouts do you do?"
"Taekwondo, Tai Bo, and lately I've started up with Tai Chi."
"I'm sensing a theme. I usually run and lift weights. But I'm not sure I could eat that much sugar in one sitting."
She gave a littl
e laugh. "I was fairly frustrated tonight. Stress brings out my sugar cravings. But you might be able to help me with that."
He quirked an eyebrow at her but said nothing.
"First, I need to know if you're married or with anyone at the moment."
"I'm not sure what concern that is of yours, but no."
"Why not? You're a hunk," Maggie said, and then felt herself blushing.
"I've been busy doing other things," he said easily. "But why do you need to know?"
She ran a hand through the curls on her head and said, "It's a bit of a story. And they're closing up here. How about we go for a drive?"
He stared at her and seemed to be weighing this suggestion rather heavily. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, but I'll drive."
"Sure, no problem."
He gathered up his guitar in its case and they left the restaurant together. In the parking lot, she motioned to a very old Chevy Malibu. He shook his head and said, "Let's take mine."
His turned out to be a vintage navy blue Lincoln Continental.
"Wow," Maggie said. "That is a big car."
"Yeah, they don't make them like this anymore. It rides like a dream. How about we take the beach road?"
"Okay." She slid into the car with its real leather seats. In moments they were on the road, and she realized he was right. The car was so smooth on the road she wanted to just fall asleep.
"Now, what's this about," Eric asked.
"I need a man."
He glanced over at her, amused. "I see."
"Not that way! You see, I have a lot of family in town, along with busybody gossips, and they all are trying to play matchmaker. Seems everyone feels it's time for me to join in the state of wedded bliss they all enjoy. And I'm tired of it! I keep getting men pushed on me that are boring, or who clearly want to get married right away. With the holidays approaching, I'm getting desperate. So I figured, why not hire someone to play the role? That way I get them all off my back, and I can relax."
"There's a lot of wedded bliss around here?"
"I'll say. It started with my brother Sam Carter, and his wife, Anna Grainger."
"Wait a minute, I think I heard about them in the news a while back."
"Yeah, about three and a half years ago now. Don't get me wrong, I love Anna, and Sam is a wonderful brother. I could probably have handled it if it was just them. But then, Julia and Cody got married--Cody is Anna's brother. Cody Grainger. Then Holly--the other Grainger sibling fell for Jason and they just got married a few months ago. To top it all off, the head of the Grainger family, Frank, married his long-time love Betsy, who is also the bank president. Suddenly, there were all these people in love and married, and for some reason I became their focus."
He chuckled. "It does sound like you are surrounded by well-intentioned happy people. But you don't want any of what they have?"
She sighed. "Maybe, someday. I'd like to find the love of my life just like they all did. But right now I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing with my own life. You see, I've been working in public relations but I don't like it and want to do something different. The question is what? That doesn't really matter in this discussion however. What matters is that I show up for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve with a boyfriend. That will get everyone off my back, and I can just relax. I'd be willing to pay you a flat fee for the whole thing. How about it?"
They had pulled off the road onto a viewing spot that looked out at the ocean. Moonlight scattered on the waves rolling in. Maggie undid her seatbelt and turned in her seat to face Eric.
His dark green eyes bored into hers. "Wait a minute. You're really serious about this? I thought it was some kind of practical joke or something that the guys back at the restaurant cooked up."
"No, no joke. I'm absolutely serious."
"And you want to pay me to date you? Doesn't that make me some kind of gigolo?"
She felt herself blush again. "I didn't mean it that way. I just wouldn't expect anyone to give up their time, especially at the holidays without compensation."
"Hmm. Let me think about this for a minute."
Maggie sat back in her seat and felt a bit of nervousness in her stomach. Now that she had asked him, she realized that this whole thing was a bit unusual. It wouldn't do for him to misinterpret what she wanted.
"And you realize I don't actually want a boyfriend. You'd just be playing a role."
Eric nodded.
Maggie let the quiet go uninterrupted this time, and looked at Eric who was looking out the window at the waves. He really was so delicious-looking. He reminded her of a man in one of the historical romances she liked to read for relaxation. That long hair, all wavy and shiny, begging for someone to run their fingers through it. A handsome face, one with character, dominated by the emerald eyes that seemed to see into her very soul. She'd pay money to have black curling lashes like he had. And his hands. Maggie knew she had a thing for men's hands. His were strong-looking, with long fingers that had delicately played the strings of the guitar, but had also given her a firm handshake.
Eric cleared his throat and made her look up from his hands. "I'll do it," he said.
"You will?" she asked, voice squeaking a bit.
"Yes, but only under one condition."
She looked at him with some trepidation. What could he want? "Okay, what's the condition?"
"No pay. I won't take money for this. If I do it, I only have one request and that is to be shown around Sully Point and introduced to people here. You see, I'm thinking of settling down in this town, but I don't know anyone. You'd be doing me a big favor, just like I'd be doing you one. So it would be a fair trade."
She frowned. "I'm not sure that would be a true fair trade. Seems like I'd be getting the easiest part of the bargain."
He smiled, a slow smile that held the promise of something. Something that made flutters inside, around her heart. "Believe me, my part of the bargain won't be difficult. Sounds like fun. I was going to be alone on the holidays this year anyway. My parents just left on a very long cruise, so I won't have family to be with. It will be nice to be around people."
"Your parents are on a cruise?"
"Yes. My father and mother always wanted to one day cruise to Europe and see all the sights. They'll have an extended stay over there before returning."
"Sounds nice. What do you do, by the way?"
"Right now, I'm a musician, singing for my supper. I'm currently between jobs. So I have plenty of time available. I'm only on stage a couple nights a week. The rest of my time will be yours."
Maggie smiled back at him. "That's wonderful. Not, I mean, that you are out of a job. But that you have the time to do this."
"How do we start? And shouldn't we plan to spend some time together alone first?"
"Alone? What do you mean?"
"We'll need to learn about each other, know stuff about each other, if we are going to make this be real. Or else people won't believe it."
Maggie nodded. "Yes, of course, you're right. Could you come over to my place tomorrow morning? Say, around nine? I'll provide coffee and pastry from the bakery. I'd suggest a later time, but I have work to do tomorrow afternoon."
"All right, that sounds good. We'd better head back if we plan on being up in the morning."
Eric drove the car out of the turnaround and back onto the beach road. Maggie sat quietly, feeling satisfied by her plans, but also a bit excited. Eric was such a man. Just being next to him like this, she felt his presence, his maleness. He exuded a kind of sensuality that she wasn't used to feeling from the men she'd met recently. In fact, in the quiet of the inside of the car, she felt something building between them, something almost touchable. A kind of magnetism. Finally she couldn't tolerate the suspense of it.
"Where are you living, Eric?"
He glanced at her with that damned smile again. With that one look, she knew he'd been as aware as she had been of the growing tension. "In one of the beach cabins. I got a good deal on o
ne since it's past tourist season."
"Yeah, I'd imagine you would at this time of year."
"How about you? I'll need to know where you live to meet with you tomorrow."
"Oh, right. Do you know where the bakery is on the town square?"
"Yes."
"I live upstairs from it. There is an apartment on the second floor. Come around to the back of the building and you'll find parking spaces there. Then you'll see a stair going up to my apartment."
"You live over a bakery? Aren't the smells distracting?"
Maggie sighed. "The smells are wonderful."
Eric chuckled as they pulled into the parking lot of the Lobster Shack. "I guess that would be enticing for someone who is into desserts."
"Yes. I have to limit myself severely on my intake of treats. But the smells are divine. Thanks, Eric, for agreeing to my plan. I'll see you tomorrow."
"You're welcome, Maggie. Sleep well tonight. We have a lot to accomplish tomorrow."
She stumbled getting out of the car, affected by the look in his eyes. "I'm okay!" she said as she quickly moved away, face flushing in the darkness. She heard that deep chuckle again, coming from the driver's side window.
"See you later, Maggie."
She got in her car and managed to drive off without any more mishaps. She wondered for a moment at the wisdom of using a man like that in her plan. He did seem able to have an effect on her far beyond what she was used to. The main thing was, she thought with optimism, she was on her way to a peaceful, relaxing holiday season. She smiled all the way home.
* * * *
Eric walked into his cabin and set his guitar down. He poured a brandy and sat in a chair at the bay window, looking out into the night. Maggie. What an utterly fascinating woman she was! It had been ages since he'd been drawn to someone like what he'd felt tonight. He wasn't sure if he'd ever had such a pull to be with any woman. And she'd felt something too, he knew. In the car, there had been a definite something.
However, she seemed pretty adamant about not wanting to be involved with anyone. For himself, he liked the idea of getting to know someone without them knowing about his money. It had been a real accomplishment to develop his computer software and grow his company to the point that the big boys finally stepped in and wanted to buy him out. He'd taken the deal, ready for some time off after five years of intensely hard work. At twenty-seven, he had reached the pinnacle of his profession, and had the dollar signs to prove it.
Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) Page 1
