Temptation on ocean driv.., p.1
Temptation on Ocean Drive, page 1
PRAISE FOR JENNIFER PROBST
“For a sexy, fun-filled, warmhearted read, look no further than Jennifer Probst!”
—Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author
“Jennifer Probst is an absolute auto-buy author for me.”
—J. Kenner, New York Times bestselling author
“Jennifer Probst knows how to bring the swoons and the sexy.”
—Amy E. Reichert, author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake
“As always, Jennifer Probst never fails to deliver romance that sizzles and has a way of tugging those emotional heartstrings.”
—Four Chicks Flipping Pages
“Jennifer Probst’s books remind me of delicious chocolate cake. Bursting with flavor, decadently rich . . . very satisfying.”
—Love Affair with an e-Reader
PRAISE FOR LOVE ON BEACH AVENUE
“Probst (All Roads Lead to You) opens her Sunshine Sisters series with an effervescent rom-com. The characters leap off the page, the love story is perfectly paced, and an adorable dog named Lucy adds charm. Readers will eagerly await the next in the series.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Love on Beach Avenue was such an adorable, funny, emotional, and wedding-y enemies-to-lovers New Jersey beach town love story! Just beautiful!”
—BJ’s Book Blog
“The perfect enemies-to-lovers, best-friend’s-brother romance! I laughed, smiled, cheered, cried a few tears, and loved Carter and Avery!”
—Two Book Pushers
“There’s a reason Probst is the gold standard in contemporary romance.”
—Lauren Layne, New York Times bestselling author
“Love on Beach Avenue is a three-layer wedding cake of best friend’s brother, enemies to lovers, and just plain fun. Another yummy confection by Jennifer Probst!”
—Laurelin Paige, New York Times bestselling author
“I could feel the ocean breeze on my face as I turned the pages. Love on Beach Avenue is chock full of magic ingredients: a dreamy seaside, a starchy hero with a tiny dog, sparkling wit, and fabulous female friendship—a must-read romance!”
—Evie Dunmore, author of Bringing Down the Duke
“Love on Beach Avenue is the perfect enemies-to-lovers romance with well-developed characters, sexy banter, and so many swoon-worthy moments! Jennifer Probst knocked it out of the park with this book! Looking forward to the rest of the series!”
—Monica Murphy, New York Times bestselling author
“Fantastic start to a brand-new series from Jennifer Probst! Love on Beach Avenue is beautifully heartfelt and epically romantic!”
—Emma Chase, New York Times bestselling author
PRAISE FOR ALL ROADS LEAD TO YOU
“Funny, sexy, emotional, and full of scenes that make your heart swell and the tears drop, All Roads Lead to You is a beautiful story set in hometown America and one you will want to read again and again.”
—A Midlife Wife
“Harper’s story was everything I wanted it to be and so much more.”
—Becca the Bibliophile
“Ms. Probst has a way of writing that I can’t help but be 100 percent invested in from the first page!”
—Franci’s Fabulous Reads
“Jennifer Probst expertly blends humor, sexiness, and emotion, keeping the reader delightfully addicted. She entwines these elements, evoking a hope that fate will align and bring love and happiness between two characters that seem to be at once perfect yet ill fitted for one another. I enjoyed this story; its plot, backdrop, characters, and romance gave me the warm fuzzies.”
—TJ Loves to Read
“Jennifer Probst shines when she talks about her animal rescues in real life, and the saying is true: write what you know, and it will always be the best story. The same goes for this one; it’s one of her best stories to date.”
—AJ’s Book re-Marks
“JP writes beautiful words, and I just loved this story. There was enough action, adventure, passion, and swoon factor, not to mention romance.”
—The Guide to Romance Novels
“A read that will not only fill your emotional romance need but will fill your heart with the fulfilling need to care for a goat that needs to be hugged and to be besties with a horse to feel safe.”
—The Book Fairy
PRAISE FOR A BRAND NEW ENDING
“A Brand New Ending was a mega-adorable and moving second-chance romance! I just adored everything about it! Run to your nearest Amazon for your own Kyle—this one is mine!”
—BJ’s Book Blog
“Don’t miss another winner from Jennifer Probst.”
—Mary from USA TODAY’s Happy Ever After
PRAISE FOR THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD
“The must-have summer romance read of 2018!”
—Gina’s Bookshelf
“Achingly romantic, touching, realistic, and just plain beautiful, The Start of Something Good lingers with you long after you turn the last page.”
—Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author
OTHER BOOKS BY JENNIFER PROBST
The Sunshine Sisters Series
Love on Beach Avenue
The Stay Series
The Start of Something Good
A Brand New Ending
All Roads Lead to You
Something Just Like This
Begin Again
Nonfiction
Write Naked: A Bestseller’s Secrets to Writing Romance & Navigating the Path to Success
The Billionaire Builders Series
Everywhere and Every Way
Any Time, Any Place
Somehow, Some Way
All or Nothing at All
The Searching for . . . Series
Searching for Someday
Searching for Perfect
Searching for Beautiful
Searching for Always
Searching for You
Searching for Mine
Searching for Disaster
The Marriage to a Billionaire Series
The Marriage Bargain
The Marriage Trap
The Marriage Mistake
The Marriage Merger
The Book of Spells
The Marriage Arrangement
The Steele Brothers Series
Catch Me
Play Me
Dare Me
Beg Me
Reveal Me
Sex on the Beach Series
Beyond Me
Chasing Me
The Hot in the Hamptons Series
Summer Sins
Stand-Alone Novels
Dante’s Fire
Executive Seduction
All the Way
The Holiday Hoax
The Grinch of Starlight Bend
The Charm of You
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2020 by Triple J Publishing Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781542018647
ISBN-10: 1542018641
Cover design by Caroline Teagle Johnson
For Layne—a.k.a. Lauren Layne . . .
Thanks for the advice, the laughs, and the support along the way in this crazy journey.
And the cocktails, of course.
CONTENTS
Start Reading
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
EXCERPT: FOREVER IN CAPE MAY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
It’s time to start living the life you imagined.
—Henry James
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Chapter One
“Mommy, do you like my outfit?”
Bella Sunshine-Caldwell finished stacking her daughter’s lunch box, water bottle, and folder into her Fancy Nancy backpack and gave one final time check. Thank God. She despised lateness and usually did well with her organization skills, but the winter months were difficult to get both of them out of bed. Something about the lazy darkness and biting cold made her want to snuggle back under the blankets and beg for five more minutes. She’d even missed her normal morning run, sacrificing exercise for sleep, and stil l found herself behind. What if they missed the bus? She’d have to drive Zoe to school, and she didn’t want to be late for her appointment.
“You look beautiful,” she said, barely glancing over. Where were her brown boots? How could she keep losing things in such a small space? She rummaged through the cramped closet, dragging one out of the pile of discarded shoes and pulling it on. “Let’s go, pumpkin. Coat on.”
It was the sound of Zoe skipping across the floor that alerted her to trouble. Bella did a few hops to work the tight leather over her calves—was she gaining more weight?—and finally studied her five-year-old daughter, who tugged on her bright-pink jacket.
“Hold it, young lady.” She snapped her tone into disciplinarian mode, shaking her head. “What do you think you’re wearing?”
“My pink dress. You said you liked it.” The defensiveness in her daughter’s squeaky voice pegged her guilt. She knew better, but chose to ignore the rules.
“Zoe, that’s a summer dress. It has no sleeves, and I packed it away. We agreed if it’s in your closet, you can wear it. And you are not allowed to wear white dress shoes in the winter.”
Stubbornness tilted her chin. “I found it on the bottom of my closet in a garbage bag with the shoes, so that counts. I want to look pretty today. We have show-and-tell, and Emma said she’s wearing a pink dress and we could be twins. This is the only pink dress I have.”
Bella reached up into the cloud and grasped for patience. Sometimes the cloud was full, like it had rained overnight and spilled out gifts like humor, positive attitudes, and flexibility. Other times, it was empty and dried up, and the only things it contained were frustration and PMS.
Bella prayed for the gifts.
“Our deal was for clothes hanging up in the closet,” she corrected. “It’s twenty degrees out, and you’ll get sick if you go out like that. Why don’t you wear your pink stretchy pants with the white sweater?”
Zoe’s lower lip trembled. “It has to be a dress! We pinkie promised—please, Mommy!”
Zoe rarely had tantrums. They were more like intense discussions, which allowed Bella to be reasonable when something seemed important. She mentally clicked through various options to solve the problem as quickly and painlessly as possible. “Okay, go put your long-sleeved white shirt on under the dress. I’ll get you some tights, and then you can wear those pink boots I just bought you.”
Zoe’s eyes widened. “You said they were for special ’casions.”
“Well, I declare show-and-tell a special occasion. But from now on, no more sneaking out summer dresses. They stay packed up. Deal?”
“Deal!”
“Good. You have to move fast or we’ll miss the bus.”
Zoe rushed back into her room, and Bella hurriedly ripped open a new package of pink tights. When they went on sale, she bought them by the bucketload. With deft motions, she helped re-dress her daughter, grabbed her stuff, and rushed out the door.
Stomping on the accelerator, she got to the end of the road as the bus was beginning to pull away. She honked, practically fell out the car door, and ran out, scissoring her arms wildly in the air. The bus screeched to a stop, and she caught the dirty look the bus driver shot her. “Thank you!” she yelled, giving Zoe a quick kiss and watching her cross the street to board. She waved as the bus pulled away and disappeared.
A sigh spilled from her lips. Just another day in the life of a single mom.
Oh, Matt, I wish you were here.
She listened for a sign like she always did—a whisper in the trees, a honk of a horn, a shiver of cold awareness—anything to feel that he’d heard her and was here, but there was nothing.
Rolling her eyes at her drama, she trudged back to the car and pumped up the heat. Her husband had been taken way too early, but it had been five long years since he passed away, and she’d learned to do things on her own. God knew she’d made plenty of mistakes, but with the help of Bella’s sisters, Zoe was a happy, stable child. Bella had learned after losing Matt to be grateful for all the good, and her daughter was a gift that allowed her to love a piece of Matt for the rest of her life.
Shaking off her somber thoughts, she headed toward Sunshine Bridal to meet with her coworker Gabe. Her two sisters were away for a few days, so she and Gabe were in charge of the Royal wedding, and she needed to be sharp, not mooning for a life with her late husband she’d never have. Eloise Royal demanded a postholiday celebration to rival the gaudiest Christmas imaginable, and Bella needed to impress. Her oldest sister, Avery, had been the driving force behind their family’s successful wedding-planning business, but now that she was getting married and taking some well-deserved vacation time, Bella intended to step up and take over more of that role.
If only she didn’t need to work with Gabe.
Why was she the only one suspicious of his intentions? He’d been a full-time assistant for years, mostly working with Avery, but lately, he’d been pushing for a bigger stake in the company. Just last month, everyone had agreed to give him a promotion so he could take on his own clients. Bella knew he deserved it—he was well respected by vendors and clients, and he worked hard—but part of her was a bit resentful because he wasn’t family. Bottom line: she didn’t trust him not to bail one day. Maybe try and open up his own business elsewhere and become their competition—which would break her sisters’ hearts and Zoe’s. Her daughter was crazy about him. Hell, there wasn’t a woman on the planet who wasn’t crazy about the man, which made Bella even more leery.
She made her way through the streets of Cape May, the usually vibrant New Jersey beach town mostly shut down for the winter. Holiday lights were still strung happily around trees and lampposts, illuminating the colorful bed-and-breakfast cottages throughout town. The water was a simmering gray monster, moody under the low-slung clouds, but a few residents still braved the boardwalk for their regular breakfast and morning run.
She pulled up to the familiar yellow-and-pink scrolled sign announcing SUNSHINE BRIDAL and gathered her stuff. Of course Gabe was already there. The man was as much a workaholic as Avery. She hurried up the stairs and headed straight to the conference room, following the scent of strong coffee.
“Morning.” The deep, velvety voice drifted in the air like smoke, caressing her ears. “I picked you up coffee and a yogurt parfait.”
She studiously ignored the sexy pitch of his tone and wondered why some men got all the sex appeal. Was it a gift from God at birth? Did he zap his fingers at certain males and bestow all the traits to make women drop to their knees? Even worse? Gabe was nice. He was always thoughtful and willing to do what was necessary to make everyone happy. At first, she’d believed it was part of him being a good assistant, but over the years she’d learned it was just his personality. He was a bit of a caretaker.
Bella tucked away the thought and deliberately chose the seat across the table so there was plenty of distance. “Thanks. I was running a bit behind today.” She focused on getting her laptop out and set up, giving her a few moments to put up the usual barriers before risking a full stare.
“I hope you didn’t rush,” he said, sounding concerned. She imagined a frown between those strong brows, his carved, defined lips pursed a bit in thought. “No reason we couldn’t have started a half hour later. How’s Miss Zoe?”
She shook her head with a sigh. “Insistent on wearing a sleeveless pink dress to school today.”
His laugh was rich and filled the air with life. “Ah, was it show-and-tell?”
She jerked her head up too soon. Her gaze crashed into his, and those dark eyes pulled her in tight, the sooty depths flaring with a focused intent that threw her off. “How’d you know?”
“She’s got a thing about dressing up for big occasions. How’d you win the argument?”
“The art of compromise—the foundation of my existence. I let her wear her brand-new pink boots, and she allowed me to winterize her dress. I can’t believe I forgot to get her a pink winter dress for Christmas. Purple and red won’t cut it.”
“She got everything she wanted on her list and more. You gave her an amazing holiday.”
She nodded, accepting the praise that meant more than he could imagine. She was always trying to make up for Zoe not having a father, especially around important holidays. Though she tried to remind herself her daughter had an extended family that gave her all the security she needed. “Thanks.” Her next words were uttered grudgingly. “She’s still crazy about that American Doll you gave her. The others have been neglected, but she plays with yours all the time.”
