Be the one, p.1
Be the One, page 1
part #1 of Fireweed Harbor Series Series
Be The One
Fireweed Harbor Series
J.H. Croix
Contents
1. Quinn
2. Kenan
3. Quinn
4. Kenan
5. Quinn
6. Kenan
7. Quinn
8. Kenan
9. Quinn
10. Kenan
11. Quinn
12. Kenan
13. Quinn
14. Quinn
15. Kenan
16. Quinn
17. Kenan
18. Quinn
19. Kenan
20. Quinn
21. Kenan
22. Quinn
23. Quinn
24. Kenan
25. Quinn
26. Kenan
27. Kenan
28. Quinn
29. Kenan
30. Quinn
31. Quinn
32. Kenan
33. Quinn
34. Kenan
35. Kenan
36. Kenan
37. Quinn
38. Kenan
39. Quinn
40. Quinn
41. Kenan
42. Kenan
Epilogue
Find My Books
Acknowledgments
About the Author
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2023 J.H. Croix
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Najla Qamber Designs
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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. No part of this book may be utilized for training for any form of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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Chapter One
Quinn
“I invested everything, and now we’re on track to be the most profitable start-up in…”
“Blah, blah, blah, blah…” That was basically all I heard.
This guy had dominated the conversation so thoroughly that he’d become that voice from the cartoons that faded into unintelligible repetitive sounds.
This guy had matched with me on a dating app. I didn’t even remember which one at this point. I thought this night would never end. Reaching a point of a bored kind of panic and restlessness, I kept crossing and uncrossing my legs under the table.
“Quinn?” the man prompted.
I had to mentally scramble for his name. Oh right, this was Brad.
“Yes?” I replied, my tone perfectly polite as I pasted a tight smile on my face.
Brad cocked his head to the side. He was handsome enough, objectively speaking, with straight, short blond hair and brown eyes with sharp features. I felt nothing, not even a glimmer of a spark. Dating apps were shit. I should’ve known I didn’t need to waste my time on this guy or any guy.
Yet I was trying and trying and trying to find someone. Dating in the tiny fishbowl of Fireweed Harbor, Alaska, my hometown, was limited. Pickings were slim enough to blow away with a puff of air.
“Did you even hear what I said?” he returned sharply.
“I’m sorry, I’m a little distracted.” It wasn’t like I needed this date to go anywhere. I figured I might as well be honest.
Brad nodded. “Fair enough. Shall we split the check?”
Just then, I felt a prickle of awareness chase up my spine. And I knew, I knew, without knowing, that Kenan Cannon was somewhere nearby. Which was insane. Because I was in Seattle, and he should’ve been back in Fireweed Harbor.
Seconds later, he stopped beside the table, his alert eyes landing on mine. “Hello there, Quinn.”
Kenan was one of my closest friends. I’d never, repeat that never, been attracted to him until a few months ago when this weird thing happened one night. I was still convinced it had been a fluke, except that stupid flare of chemistry was now simmering between us like molten lava.
My belly fluttered, and my pulse kicked up its heels before taking off at a fast gallop.
“Oh, hi!” I squeaked, silently cursing as soon as my voice came out. I didn’t squeak.
I gestured to Brad. “This is Brad. Brad, Kenan Cannon.” My hand swung toward Kenan. I scrambled inside, trying to think of some reason Kenan was here.
Brad’s brows hitched up, a calculating glint entering his eyes. He stood quickly, holding out his hand. “Hi, nice to meet you. Brad Smith. I’m heading up…”
My brain turned up the static. I was so very weary of listening to Brad talk about his business.
“I heard Fireweed Industries moved their headquarters out of Seattle,” Brad was saying as I forced my brain to focus again. He released Kenan’s hand.
Kenan nodded. “We did. Like Quinn, I’m traveling. We still keep a small office here. I’m kind of the do-everything guy for our corporation.” His gaze caught mine. “Quinn’s here handling a legal matter for us, and I’m coordinating with a few of our distribution warehouses.”
Brad nodded along. “Well, I’d love to set up a meeting. I know you all invest in various ventures, and I’d love the opportunity to explain ours to you.”
It was all I could do not to groan aloud. Just when I thought this date would end, Kenan had to show up and make the guy want to linger.
I felt Kenan’s gaze on me. I almost snorted when I saw the knowing look in his eyes. He totally knew I was ready to get the hell out of here.
He glanced at Brad. “I don’t have time tonight, but you can send me an email. It’s on our website. I’ll follow up if it looks like something we might be interested in. Meanwhile, I don’t want to interrupt.”
Oh. My. God. Instead of saving me from this endless, boring date, he was going to excuse himself? What the fuck?
I stood so fast that my thighs bumped into the table, jostling my now empty glass of wine. “We were just about to get the check,” I said swiftly.
Kenan’s eyes met mine again, and I battled to keep my cheeks from burning up. Between my hormones doing gymnastics and my annoyance with Brad, composure was nowhere to be found. Conveniently, the server was walking by and heard what I said. He stopped beside us. “I’ve got the check right here. Are you—”
I cut in. “Two checks, please.”
His expression didn’t even twitch. He had heard Brad running on every time he stopped by the table, so I sensed he took pity on me when his eyes met mine. Lifting a handheld tablet, he quickly tapped on the screen, then printed out a receipt and handed it to me. I paid right there on the spot while Brad continued to try to chat up Kenan.
I mentally excused myself from being rude. “Nice to see you tonight, Kenan. Good to meet you, Brad. You take care now.” I nodded at them both.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if dust kicked up behind my heels as I walked away from the table. I didn’t hear Kenan say goodbye to Brad, but I knew he was behind me a moment later because I could feel him. The damn man.
Normally, I would’ve been relieved to see him. I wanted to vent to him about my nightmare of a date and lament my poor dating prospects in Fireweed Harbor. But lately, every time we spent time together, it ended with me flustered and spun tight inside with arousal. It was disconcerting and maddening, to say the least.
Chapter Two
Kenan
Minutes earlier
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Quinn Blackthorn stared at me beside the table, her eyes practically shooting sparks. I couldn’t believe my luck. I would never, fucking ever, admit to her that I had seen her seated at this table through a window outside and couldn’t resist coming in. Even from a distance, I’d known she was annoyed with this Brad guy. I knew Quinn well, maybe too well. The set of her jaw and the boredom written all over her face had given her away.
I would also never, fucking ever, admit to her that I had a thing for her. I didn’t know what the hell to do about it, and I kept telling myself it would pass. Crazy drumbeats of lust kicked up every time we were near each other. It had only been a month since it happened, and I was convinced it was a fluke.
Fortunately, I was a busy guy, and Quinn was a workaholic. Even though we usually got together at least once a week or so, I’d been successfully avoiding her and hoped she hadn’t noticed. Somehow, seeing her here in Seattle—on a date, for crying out loud—had been irresistible.
A moment later, Quinn had spun away and was disappearing with swift strides through the restaurant. I was pretty sure she was trying to shake me. She was out of luck on that count. I had a room beside her at the hotel. I walked briskly to catch up with her.
I met her and slowed my stride to match her pace. Quinn came to a stop and blinked when she looked up at me. Yet again, I noticed how thick her eyelashes were. Until recentl
I shifted on my feet, hoping against hope that Quinn had not noticed my arousal. Lately, it was a war of wills between my brain and body whenever I was around her. Which was seriously fucking inconvenient because she was my best friend.
It had all started at Blake’s wedding. Something misfired in the universe that day. I’d seen Quinn at the reception afterward, a perfectly normal and expected encounter. In a matter of mere seconds, it felt as if lightning had shot down from the sky and set my body alight with a sizzling need for her.
She was practically family. I didn’t remember not knowing her. Although we’d always been friendly, after we’d both moved away for college and so on and returned to our small hometown, we’d become close friends.
She was the friend I turned to when I needed to talk. I could talk with her in a way I couldn’t with anyone else, even my family. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my family. It was more that sometimes you just needed someone who wasn’t in the thick of it. Lord knows, being one of seven siblings with a few tangled family messes in our past, something was always going on.
When she stopped at the intersection to look up at me, that feeling slammed into me—it felt like a fist thudded into my chest and sent sensation outward in a blast. Electricity flickered between us, tightening every cell in my body as they fired with anticipation and restless need.
Quinn was stunning, and she was annoyed. Her gorgeous hazel eyes narrowed. I loved the way her nose turned up at the end and her bow-shaped lips. They were just, well, kissable was the only word that came to mind. And holy hell did I want to kiss her.
I was relieved when the light changed, and we resumed walking. Because I was that fucking close to kissing her.
Her fitted skirt flared just above her knees, and she’d paired it with tall boots. No heels for Quinn. She was too practical for that. Her jacket hung open, and I noticed, yet again when we stopped at another intersection, that she was wearing a silky blouse. I could see the lace of her bra peeking out at the edge when she lifted a hand to brush her hair back impatiently.
Fuck me. I wanted to unbutton her blouse. With my teeth. To peel it back and see what lay hidden behind it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know Quinn had curves. I’d just never paid attention to them. Now, I was dying to know how the weight of one of her plump breasts would feel cupped in my palm. I wanted to know how pink her nipples were and how she might sound if I teased her and sucked one into my mouth.
“Kenan?” Quinn waved a hand in front of my face.
I’d completely spaced out and had no idea what she’d just said, if anything. I decided to play it off. “Light changed,” I said quickly. “Race you to the hotel.”
Moments later, we were both out of breath when we stopped in front of the hotel. She leaned over to tug her skirt down a little, giving me a revealing glimpse of the shadowed valley between her breasts. I could see the curves, and my cock swelled.
Fuck. I needed to get a grip and fast.
Chapter Three
Quinn
“Where did you meet Brad?” he drawled, his tone teasing and sly.
We’d called it a tie with our impromptu race to the hotel entrance. We’d just caught our breath and waited inside the crowded area outside the elevators.
“Dating app,” I ground out. “We matched, and I thought I might see how it went.”
“And how did it go?”
I turned to look up at him and rolled my eyes. “Awful. He’s really into himself.”
Kenan chuckled, and the sound sent a hot shiver chasing over my skin. “I’ll look forward to his email. I could put in a good word for you. He seems handsome enough,” he offered with a shrug, his tone drier than chalk.
“Oh my God. Do not put in a good word for me,” I muttered. “I do not want to go on another date with him. Ever. I don’t like dating apps, but I do like how you can only communicate in them at first. He doesn’t even have my number. Now, because you showed up at our table, I’m worried he’s going to try to stay in touch because he thinks I’ll be a good connection with Fireweed Industries.”
“Didn’t he know you worked for us?” Kenan prompted
“I didn’t tell him. I just told him I did corporate law. That was enough information.”
“Hmm,” he replied vaguely.
I was resigned to my fate. Kenan was going to want to get a drink together, and then I’d be stuck with him and wrestling with my annoying attraction to him.
A few minutes later, we stepped into the elevator together. “Which floor?” he asked.
Glancing up, I tried to call on my old indifference. Well, not indifference specifically. He was one of my closest friends. I didn’t feel indifferent, but there had been no spark before, like zero, zilch. I had never, ever, expected to feel anything when I looked at my friend. His sharp, perceptive blue gaze held mine.
Kenan was one of seven siblings in the vaunted Cannon family from my small hometown. The Cannons were, by far, the wealthiest family in town. They were all nice. Kenan was smack in the middle with his twin brother, Adam. They weren’t identical twins. Unlike most of his siblings who had dark blond hair and gray eyes, Kenan had inherited his mother’s almost black hair and startlingly bright blue eyes.
Because life was fucking unfair, he was also handsome. He had sharp cheekbones and a straight nose, paired with full sensual lips that always looked as if he was on the verge of a smile.
As if to agree with my point, one corner of his lips kicked up, sending my belly into a dizzying flip. “Quinn? What floor?”
“Seven,” I said, my voice coming out a little raspy.
For God’s sake, the man was making me breathless. I didn’t get breathless. I had all but given up on thinking I’d ever have anything like romance in my life. Oh, I dated, or I tried. I’d struggled since high school to shake the cloak of being the class nerd, too bookish for anyone to notice.
Kenan had been popular in high school. Not an asshole, but very popular and definitely a catch. Somehow, we’d ended up friends. To this day, I wasn’t really sure how. I had enough sense to know my friendship with him likely protected me from too much teasing back then. We had a few classes together, and our parents were friends because my father had been one of the main lawyers for Fireweed Industries back in the day. I’d slipped right into the same role after my father had decided to cut back on his schedule.
“We’re on the same floor,” he said with an easy grin.
“I didn’t know you were going to be down here,” I replied.
Kenan tapped the button on the elevator. “I didn’t either. Rhys was supposed to come, but something came up, so I offered to come in his place. We have two new distributors down here, so paperwork and meetings. All that stuff that you love.”
His grin was sly when he glanced over. He’d been teasing me more than usual lately about working too much. It typically wouldn’t get to me, but I was feeling sensitive about it. I loved my job. I legitimately enjoyed it, but I wanted to start a family. More than marriage, I wanted children. I finally started doing the dating app dance because I figured I had two options. Find a man and have children that way, or try in vitro fertilization via a sperm donor. After tonight’s date with Brad, I was pretty sure I was ready for door number two.
