Ten first dates, p.40
Ten First Dates, page 40
She had no right to be jealous, or possessive, and yet she was both. He had been hers for four weeks, three years ago. And she’d never gotten over him.
Now she was here to make things right.
Which apparently started with going to the marina. She turned in a circle and realized it was across the road. Well, that was easy.
She heard the party before she saw it. Loud laughter, clapping, and the clink of beer bottles.
When she turned the corner, she saw Josh right away. He was sitting in a chair, tilted back against a railing. Unlike her, he wasn’t dressed for winter weather. It wasn’t really winter here, not for them. It was spring, technically. Just.
She was freezing her butt off.
He was in dark jeans and a black zippered hoodie. Beneath it she saw a flash of a white t-shirt, and memories of their first night together spiralled through her mind.
But that was where the similarities ended between this stranger and the man she’d fallen in love with. When his gaze landed on her, he didn’t break into a curious grin. Instead, he stood up so fast his chair clattered to the deck.
Another man, closer to where she stood at the edge of the deck, turned and smiled. “You look like you need a drink.” Everyone else on the deck fell silent, noticing Josh’s hostile approach now. The smiling man seemed oblivious. “I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Trent. And you are?”
“Get away from her,” Josh snarled at the same time as she said, “I’m here to see Josh.”
Someone who looked enough like a Kincaid that she guessed it was one of his brothers jumped between them, stopping Josh from shoving the other guy—Trent—way from Monica.
Josh sidestepped his brother, who was trying to diffuse the situation, but clearly the other men didn’t understand just how badly she’d fucked everything up.
Nothing would stop him from telling her to get out. She knew that. She was prepared.
And then he was in front of her, and everyone else faded away.
She’d once dreamed of this man being hers. Of a normal life with a mechanic husband, and babies who teethed rubber wrenches. But she hadn’t been strong enough to fight for that dream, and so it shattered before it could really take shape.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Josh asked, his voice low. Her traitorous heart leapt at having his attention again after so long, even if he was vibrating with rage.
Trent grabbed his arm. “Hey, you can’t talk to her—”
Josh shook him off, but his gaze stayed glued on her. “Don’t fucking tell me how to talk to my wife,” he growled.
And the whole deck erupted in noise.
It was no match for the klaxon siren in her head. Because as far as Josh Kincaid was concerned, she wasn’t his wife. Their marriage had been annulled three years ago, and when he left California, he didn’t look back.
She hadn’t heard from him, not even once. She’d grieved all of her mistakes, and missed him with every part of her broken heart.
And now she needed to have one final, brutally painful conversation with him. Because she was his wife, still, and that needed to be dealt with so they could both move on with their lives.
The annulment hadn’t been registered properly.
She swallowed bitterly around having to explain that to this angry, hurt man glaring at her.
And now she needed him to sign divorce papers.
Josh and Monica’s second chance marriage renewal romance can be found in Rebel at Heart. Angsty hate fucking, sweet friendship renewal, and drag racing country-boy style all play a part in these two dummies finding their way back to each other.
Visit Zoe’s website for the playlist for this story, and more information about the Kincaid brothers: https://www.zoeyork.com/books/kincaids-of-pine-harbour/rebel-at-heart
Welcome to Pine Harbour!
ABOUT ZOE YORK
Zoe York is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of steamy military and small town romance. When she’s not writing, she’s planning the next excuse to get on an airplane and visit somewhere new. You can find her on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and her VIP reader newsletter.
MOMENTS WITH HIM
MOLLY MCLAIN
A Cole Creek Prequel
I wasn’t supposed to fall for the cute boy I met under the stars.
I wasn’t supposed to go back summer after summer and share even more stolen moments with him either, but I did and I don’t care if it was wrong.
He was the one who picked me up when my world fell apart, and though he could only promise me two weeks, he gave me so much more than his time.
What follows is our beginning...
And I refuse to believe it's the end.
Copyright © 2022 by Molly McLain
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
The (Not So) End
Also by Molly McLain
About Molly McLain
CHAPTER ONE
“I swear to god they’re real.” Madison holds her arms out, a plastic cup of beer in one hand while the other gestures proudly to her boobs. “Feel ‘em if you want. I don’t care.”
Logan snorts and backs away carefully, likely because Kelly is staring flaming daggers into his head. Touch her and I’ll end you, his girlfriend’s dark gaze says, and I bite back a laugh.
That is, until Lane–my boyfriend–steps forward without an ounce of hesitation and palms both of Madi’s boobs. And no, it’s not a simple squeeze and leave–it’s a full-on feel ‘em up and tweak her nipples kind of display that makes the half a beer in my stomach suddenly feel like molten lava.
“What the hell, Lane, seriously?” I slam my cup down on the counter and spin on the toes of my flip-flops. He calls after me, laughing because apparently groping another girl in front of me is hilarious, but I don’t stop until I reach the sandy beach by the lake.
My great aunt left the cabin and the property on Amber Lake to my mom a few years ago when she passed away, and I’ve spent most of my summers up here in Cole Creek since. The cozy northern Wisconsin town is a quiet retreat from Green Bay, and it’s been something of a sanctuary for me for a long time now.
I should have known that inviting Lane and a few of our college friends into my safe space was a bad idea.
Lane and I have been together for nine months now, but sometimes I wonder if he was a bad idea, too.
Sighing when it’s obvious he’s not going to come after me, I find a clear spot in the sand and sit. It’s nearly midnight, and the obsidian water is calm. The music from the cabin thumps in the distance, but I’m far enough away that I can’t make out the words or the party going on without me.
A warm breeze skips across the lake, carrying with it the soul-cleansing scent of fresh water and wildflowers, and I smile as I turn my face up to the sky.
“Kinda late to be out by yourself, isn’t it?”
I startle at the masculine voice coming out of the darkness before a familiar and rather handsome local guy comes into view. His name is Jesse, and I know this because my older sister has been hot after his older brother Aiden for years.
“If I were a child maybe, but I’m clearly not,” I reply with a bit of snark. I just wanted a few minutes to myself, not to make late night chit-chat with a frat boy who’s probably drunk.
He drops down into the sand beside me, his big body bumping mine, and I pull away with exasperation.
“What are you doing?”
“You look like you could use some company,” he says easily, those stunning eyes of his seeming surprisingly clear given he mostly likely came from the house across the lake where all the guys were hooting and hollering and lighting off fireworks earlier.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Though it would serve Lane right to find me talking to another guy. Revenge isn’t my style, but if I was going to pick a guy to rub in his face, Jesse Enders would be a good choice. He’s cute with muscles for miles. And those eyes. Did I mention them yet? I think they’re blue, but it’s hard to tell in the dark. Regardless, they make it hard to breathe when I look into them longer than I should.
“You and lover boy have a tiff?” he asks, and I snort.
“A tiff? Have you been hanging out with my seventy-five-year-old grandmother?”
“Shit, you caught me. I mean, she does make some hella good cookies.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “The peanut butter ones are the best, but you probably knew that.”
“Yep.” He flashes a smile that makes me sigh and also wonder why the heck he’s having such an effect on me. Maybe I’m the one who’s drunk.
“I’m Hayden, by the way.”
“Jesse.” He slips his hand into mine, and I stifle a shiver. “So, what are you doing out so late?”
“Just needed some time to myself.”
“Peaceful, isn’t it?” He glances out over the water, and I curl my arms around my knees.
“Very.” That is until a frog in the distance gives a loud, uncomfortable croak. “Ouch! That sounded painful.”
“Yeah, it did.” Jesse chuckles. “He probably swallowed a big ass mouse.”
“Eww!” I pull back and shove at his arm.
“Circle of life.” He shrugs and flashes another of those swoony smiles.
“So, you’re staying across the lake, right? With Sam?”
“Yeah, we spend a lot of time there during the summer, but you probably knew that.” He mocks my earlier words and I blush.
“Did I hear correctly that a few of you just graduated from college?”
“You been keeping tabs on us?” He waggles his eyebrows, and I roll my eyes.
“It’s a small town.”
“Uh huh, sure.”
“Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, working? Instead of living it up like a bunch of frat boys?”
He scoffs. “What’s wrong with living it up? You don’t seem to have a problem with what’s going on up there.” He tips his head toward my cabin and my good mood fades.
“There’s a reason I’m out here and not up there.”
“Lover boy too much to handle tonight?
Ugh. “Don’t call him that.”
“Did you break up?”
“No.”
“Then he’s your lover. Unless you’re still a virgin.” His expression drops, and even in the moonlight, his eyes go a little hazy. “Holy fuck, the very thought.”
“Jesse!” I punch him again, and he laughs as he gets to his feet. “Come for a walk with me.”
“I don’t take walks with frat boys.”
“Good thing I’m not one. In fact, not only was I never in a frat, but I also have a job. A damn good one. And in case you didn’t notice, it’s Saturday night. Actually, Sunday morning now. And I’m off the clock.”
I eye him skeptically. “What kind of job?”
“I’m gearing up to take over the family business.”
“The excavating company?” Holy crap.
“Yeah. You’ve heard of it?”
“It’s hard to miss the gigantic sign in town.” And from what I can tell, it’s one of the more prominent businesses in Cole Creek. I’m impressed.
He thumbs humbly toward the trail that runs around the perimeter of the lake. “Come on. It won’t take but a half hour.”
“It’s late.”
“You got something better to do, city girl?”
“Ugh, you’re a pain in my ass.” Still, I take his hand and let him pull me up before he starts ahead to the trail. “So, why are you on my side of the lake anyway?” I call out to him.
“Steve started playing that same hip-hop shit you’ve got going. Couldn’t take it.”
“Is that all? Psshh. Besides, isn’t that what frat boys listen to?”
He laughs. “Try again.”
“Hmm.” I purse my lips and begin to walk faster to catch up. “If not hip-hop, then pop for sure.”
“Not a chance.”
“No boy bands? I mean, you look like you could be in one, so...”
He spins around with his hands over his heart and groans. “You wound me.”
“Definitely dramatic enough.” Finally catching up, I poke his chest and look up. Way up. “Jesus, you’re tall.”
“Maybe you’re just short.” He cocks and eyebrow, and I swear to god, it should be illegal to be so good looking.
“Remind me why I’m giving you the time of day again?”
“Because someone pissed in your Cheerios, but like an angel in the night, I arrived to make you smile.”
“I hate Cheerios.”
“And I’m no angel.”
Oh, Jesse, I have no doubt about that. “Rock music,” I say out of nowhere. “The Southern stuff is what you crank the loudest in your truck.”
He narrows his eyes. “How do you know I have a truck?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Favorite band?”
“38 Special.”
“Holy fuck, will you marry me?”
I laugh. “I’ve seen you in the truck at the Cole Stop, and you might’ve had the music on full blast.”
“Ah, so you’ve been stalking me.”
“You’re hard to miss.”
He waggles his eyebrows. “I like that you paid attention.”
“I have a boyfriend, remember?”
His lips twist into a knowing smile. We both know I shouldn’t be here with him and yet I am. “He’s the one who pissed you off, though, right? What’d he do?”
“Got drunk and decided to feel up one of his brother’s friends.”
“A dude?”
“A girl.” I scoff. “With boobs twice the size of mine.”
His gaze drops to my chest as he licks his lips. “I find that hard to believe.”
“You haven’t seen her. Trust me.” I begin walking again, this time taking the lead. “Why do guys think it’s okay to do stupid shit when they’re drinking?”
“My guess is he wasn’t actually thinking at all,” he says behind me.
“But what if he was?”
“Did you ask him?”
“No. It was all I could do not to cut his dick off.”
I feel a gentle hand on the small of my back before he steers me toward a smaller path heading down to the water. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
“I’m not making out with you.”
“We already established that, but I like that you’re thinking about it.”
What is with his ego? And why is it so damn attractive? “You’re something else, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” He takes my hand and tugs me toward the water. I go willingly. “See, you do trust me.”
“I’m actually thinking about drowning myself,” I say dryly.
“That would be a shame.”
“It would solve my problems.”
“Maybe, but it would sure as fuck complicate mine.”
I laugh again as he leads me down an embankment to a small beach. The trees that crowd the banks bow away from the opening, clearing out even more up top and giving way to a wide, unrestricted view of the majestic midnight sky, lit up by a million stars and a full, silver moon.
“This is stunning.” I press a hand to my chest, slightly breathless. “I can’t believe I’ve never seen this spot before.”
“It’s pretty nondescript in the daylight. But at night, it becomes this.”
I tip my face to the sky as the night washes over me, calming the chaos in my head for the first time all night. “I haven’t seen this many stars in forever.”
“Sounds like you need to get out more.”
“Too many lights in Green Bay. It’s hard to find a view like this.”
“Then maybe you should come here more often.”
“Maybe I should.” I flick a glance his way and watch the stars sparkle in his eyes. “I feel like I should make a wish, but I’m not sure which star I saw first.”
“Eh, that’s only a nursery rhyme. Just pick one.”
“What if I have more than one wish?”
“No rules for that, either.” He chuckles softly.
“Hmm.” I close my eyes and try to decide when he shifts behind me and takes one of my wrists in his hand, lifting it into the air.
“Keep your eyes closed, and when I tell you to, open them and focus on the star right above your index finger.”
“Um, okay. Give me a minute. I have to choose my wish.” And pretend I don’t feel him pressed up behind me. He isn’t being inappropriate, but he’s there, nonetheless. And it feels good. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Eyes closed?”
“Yep.”
He lifts my hand a bit more and uses one of his fingers to straighten one of mine. “On the count of three, open your eyes.”
“O-okay.” My voice trembles, my nerves suddenly rising.
“One...”
I shiver and goose bumps flash over my bare skin. There’s nothing wrong with this, but...
“Two...”
Why does it feel so intimate?
“Three.”
I open my eyes and claim my star just as it bursts into silver light and streaks across the sky. “That was mine!”
“Was it?” Jesse releases my hand and steps back, making me immediately miss his touch.
