by Alina Jacobs
After Her Flowers Petals
A Second Chance Romantic Comedy
Alina Jacobs
Contents
Other books by Alina Jacobs
Synopsis
Mailing List
1. Meghan
2. Hunter
3. Meghan
4. Hunter
5. Meghan
6. Hunter
7. Meghan
8. Hunter
9. Meghan
10. Hunter
11. Meghan
12. Hunter
13. Meghan
14. Hunter
15. Meghan
16. Hunter
17. Meghan
18. Hunter
19. Meghan
20. Hunter
21. Meghan
22. Hunter
23. Meghan
24. Hunter
25. Meghan
26. Hunter
27. Meghan
28. Hunter
29. Meghan
30. Hunter
31. Meghan
32. Hunter
33. Meghan
34. Hunter
35. Meghan
36. Hunter
37. Meghan
38. Hunter
39. Meghan
40. Hunter
41. Meghan
42. Hunter
43. Meghan
44. Hunter
45. Meghan
46. Hunter
47. Meghan
48. Hunter
49. Meghan
50. Hunter
51. Meghan
52. Hunter
53. Meghan
54. Hunter
55. Meghan
56. Hunter
57. Meghan
58. Hunter
59. Meghan
60. Hunter
61. Meghan
62. Hunter
63. Meghan
64. Hunter
65. Meghan
66. Hunter
67. Meghan
68. Hunter
69. Meghan
70. Hunter
71. Meghan
72. Hunter
73. Meghan
74. Hunter
75. Meghan
76. Hunter
77. Meghan
78. Hunter
79. Meghan
80. Hunter
81. Meghan
82. Hunter
83. Meghan
84. Hunter
85. Meghan
Sneak peek
I Really Lilac You
1. Meghan
2. Hunter
Read I Really Lilac You
Family Tree
Acknowledgments
About the Author
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright ©2021 by Adair Lakes, LLC.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Created with Vellum
Other books by Alina Jacobs
Check out other books about characters mentioned in this one on my website:
http://alinajacobs.com/books.html
Synopsis
Hunter
Five years ago, I royally screwed up, lied, and broke the heart of the woman I love.
A sane man would buy her a nice present and grovel.
Guess I must be crazy.
I love Meg more than anything.
So why am I running against her for mayor of Harrogate?
Meghan
That lying, scheming, son of a *bleep!*
He handed me a bouquet, smirked, and asked if I liked having his hands on my flower petals.
Next thing I know, I’m homeless and penniless, and Hunter’s trying to steal my job!
After imploding my life five years ago, I swore I was going to get over him.
That’s kind of hard in a small town where he’s schmoozing people at every meeting and somehow crashing all my dates.
I love my town and care about the people in it.
I’ve been the de facto mayor since I moved back.
And I’m not letting some entitled billionaire waltz in and take my job.
Hunter might think he’s going to win—after all, he is the most eligible bachelor in our small town, with his washboard abs, billions, and fast cars.
All the women want him.
Except me.
Nope. No way. I swear.
All’s fair in love and small town politics
I’m not going down without a fight.
I know Hunter’s still hung up on me.
A low-cut top and a push-up bra, and he’s a drooling idiot at the first debate.
The election is as good as mine.
As long as I don’t let Hunter and his panty-melting promises of—ahem—stress relief distract me.
I’m going to win this mayoral race.
As long as I remember not to lose my heart.
This standalone, full-length romantic comedy has no cliffhangers but does have a swoon-worthy HEA! It features plenty of steam, the largest selection of hot brothers to ever grace your e-reader, and second-chance romance that is long overdue!
To everyone who loves Hunter and Meg as much as I do and has been waiting FOREVER for them to get it together!
Mailing List
Read the short romantic comedy, I REALLY LILAC YOU, along with other novellas and short stories for free when you join my mailing list!
alinajacobs.com/mailinglist.html
1
Meghan
“I cannot believe he brought her here,” I hissed.
“He does have terrible taste in women,” Susie agreed. “Except you, of course.”
“Guests of guests don’t bring guests,” I said, scowling.
Susie reached over and jabbed me in the forehead. “You’re going to be sad when you get wrinkles. Besides, she’s a plus-one,” Susie drawled as the fit, toned young woman clutched at Hunter’s suit sleeve, giggling loudly over the chatter of the crowd.
We were throwing an eightieth birthday party for my great-uncle Barry at the Harrogate city hall. In addition to a large portion of the town, the Svensson brothers were in attendance. They were all tall, blond, and entitled, and Hunter, with his toy girlfriend, was the worst.
“I need a snack.”
“You need a drink,” Susie corrected.
I tried to concentrate on the delicious food my younger sister Hazel was serving: deep-fried squash blossoms, grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches on bread she had baked herself, and cheddar, bacon, and potato soup. Though tasty, it wasn’t enough to make me forget about how smug Hunter looked with his new girlfriend.
“I thought you were over him anyway,” Susie reminded me as we loaded our plates. “You both agreed to mutually move on.”
“Yeah, but not like that,” I seethed.
Over the past few months, Hunter had paraded svelte, ditzy models and bosomy young actresses through Harrogate.
“He’s doing it on purpose,” I said, angrily eating a lobster puff.
“Yeah, but you totally hate him,” Susie reminded me.
“I do,” I agreed around the food. “I despise him. Look at him. He ruined my life, yet now he’s over there with some Instagram thot, and the best I’m able to date is Chance, who has
all those feral rabbits living in his apartment.”
“Are you still going out with him?” Susie asked apprehensively.
“No. His chunky rabbit gave birth in my purse, then I had to fight with her when she tried to eat the babies.”
“Lord have mercy.” Susie snorted, then went over to talk to a fellow police officer while I glared at the side of Hunter’s head.
As if he knew I was watching him, he turned. Gray eyes caught mine, then Hunter swaggered over to me. His date trotting next to him, not taking her eyes off the handsome billionaire, the smile huge and crazy on her face.
“I hope she slashes the tires on your expensive fancy fucking car,” I whispered.
“Now, Meg, voicing such violent thoughts is unbecoming of the deputy mayor of Harrogate.” A smile played around Hunter’s mouth.
“Oops, did I say that out loud?” I said flatly.
Hunter cocked an eyebrow. “You’re supposed to give my girlfriend a big small-town welcome.”
“Food’s back there—mind the feral cats in the parking lot—and you used to be able to buy sex toys from that lady over there, but one of her products almost killed a gal, and the company was sued into bankruptcy. But the giant vegetable festival is going to be in a few more months if you can hold on. I know Hunter has his charms, but nothing beats a big cucumber.” I stuffed two more lobster bites in my mouth.
Hunter scowled. His date was shocked.
“Fleur, this is Meg,” Hunter said. “She’s trying to block my big residential development. Meg, this is Fleur. She’s a fitness model.”
“I run a Pilates class!” Fleur told me brightly. “Online. You can sign up and pay, or I do a free one every Tuesday. We have a lot of heavier-set people in the class, so you should feel right at home!”
If I didn’t want to eat my cheddar, bacon, and potato soup, I would have drowned her in it.
“I also have a meal plan,” she continued.
Crunch. I noisily ate my grilled cheese.
Fleur made a face. “My meal plan doesn’t include dairy.”
“That’s a bummer,” I said. “I like to add butter to my steak when I cook it. You know, grease up the meat.”
Hunter narrowed his eyes at me.
“My meal plan doesn’t include steak either. It’s all vegan,” Fleur replied brightly.
Hunter’s scowl turned into a grimace. “You’re vegan?”
“Yes, sweetie!” she chirped.
“Yeah that’s not going to work for him. He’s from Wyoming, so he eats meat with every meal. Come to think of it,” I said, taking a spoonful of my soup then slowly sliding the spoon out of my mouth, “so do I.”
“Men can change when they have the influence of a good woman,” Fleur insisted, her grip a little tighter on Hunter’s suit jacket. She tilted her face up at him. “I’m going to make you some fantastic health food, babe. You’re going to be vegan before you know it!”
I smirked as Hunter squirmed.
“Unfortunately,” I told Fleur, “some men can’t change. But enjoy your kale and mushrooms, Hunter.” I chuckled as I turned to go grab a plate of parmesan truffle french fries and a cocktail. I hid behind a column to eat them before the townspeople accosted me.
Eating secretly and dealing with the small-town characters was all that my life consisted of at this point. During the first few years after moving home to Harrogate, I had chafed at being stuck in a small town. But by now I had resigned myself to my existence. In addition to doing my job as deputy mayor, I also did a good portion of Mayor Barry’s work. Between my busy schedule, taking care of my sisters, and fighting the Svenssons as they tried to screw over the town at every turn, was it any surprise that I stress ate?
I peeked around the column. Speak of the gray-eyed devil. My younger sisters Rose and Minnie were flirting with two of the teenage Svensson brothers.
My situation might have been endurable if only Hunter wasn’t here. He made my life a thousand times worse. Years ago, he had broken my heart then hadn’t even had the decency to go back to Manhattan to live out his fancy billionaire lifestyle and leave me to my fried food and small-town politics. Nope. Instead, he moved to Harrogate permanently to care for his dozens of little brothers and to make my life miserable.
“Meg! Yoo-hoo! There you are, Deputy Mayor!” Ida, with her gaggle of fellow senior citizens, hustled up to me. I stuffed another handful of fries in my mouth then downed half my drink.
“I want to propose a new idea for the town,” Ida declared.
I took a deep breath.
“It’s amazing!” Ida chattered on. “Hear me out. I know this gal, Dorothy, great gal. She has a naked yoga franchise—”
“We are not doing naked yoga on city property,” I interjected.
“Now wait a dang minute!” Ida put her hands on her hips. “We have a public health crisis in this city. People are eating too much fatty food. Not to mention the drinking.”
“I have to drink,” I mumbled in my glass.
“Yes, but everything in moderation,” Edith Roberts insisted. “We need an activity to motivate people to be active and moving.”
“Keep Harrogate mobile!” Ida shouted.
“Can’t you do regular yoga?” I asked.
“We do,” Bettina said, “but no one shows up. If we had naked people, then everyone would show up!”
Dear lord. Why was this my life?
“Just think about it,” Ida said.
I gave them a noncommittal statement then grabbed another drink and joined my sister, who was helping Uncle Barry onto the stage. The mayor was wheezing as he climbed up the three short steps. He stood leaning on his cane while I stepped up to the microphone.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate Mayor Barry’s eightieth birthday,” I announced. I raised my glass and turned to my great-uncle.
Uncle Barry smiled wanly at me. A large man, he was normally red-faced and loud, if not particularly mobile. Now he looked a bit pale. He took a sip of the drink Hazel handed him.
“Mayor Barry, or Great-Uncle Barry, as my sisters and I know him, took us girls in after our parents passed away.” And never gave us the inheritance, but hey, I’m not bitter… “He has always been here for us and the town. Let’s all raise a glass to toast Harrogate’s esteemed mayor!”
The crowd cheered as Mayor Barry waved.
“I’d like to say a few words,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath as I handed him the microphone.
“Serving my fellow citizens of Harrogate has been my greatest—” He didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he blinked, let out a wheezing breath, and then collapsed on the floor.
2
Hunter
I had been trying to figure out how to dump Fleur without her trashing me in the tabloids when Mayor Barry collapsed. The fire and police departments were at the party, and several first responders rushed onto the stage while others ran to their trucks to fetch a stretcher. Meg and her sisters clung to each other while Susie did chest compressions.
I wanted to go to Meg to comfort her, but she was surrounded by people. Besides, with all the chaos as they rolled Barry onto a stretcher to cart him away, the last thing the now concluded party needed was my excessively large family adding our own special blend of bedlam to the mix.
I whistled to my brothers. “Let’s go.”
They ignored me.
I curled back my lips and hissed out a breath.
They all came hustling over. Well, the younger ones did at any rate. While all of us were the products of a polygamist cult-leader father and his many wives, my little half brothers—the cute preschoolers, the obnoxious middle-schoolers, and the teenagers who I refused to allow run wild in town—were all controllable. The adult ones were my full brothers and were barely civilized.
Remington—Remy for short—was the oldest and sported a bushy beard and scars, physical and psychological, from his time in the Marines. He was one of my favorite brothers, and the fact that he had even atte
nded the party was a bit of a relief for me, because that meant he was starting to move past his war experience.
Yours truly, i.e., the only person keeping the family afloat, came after Remy. Then came Gunnar, who, with his shaggy hair and stoner attitude, was a reality TV producer. The Great Christmas Bake-Off was popular, and now he was busy with various reality TV spin-offs, none of which I was allowing any of our brothers to participate in.
The next oldest were Archer and Mace, the twins. Leif Svensson’s genes were strong, and he also only took blond women as his wives. As a result, my brothers and I all looked eerily similar, but Mace and Archer were identical. Though they were twins, their personalities were polar opposites. Mace was the CEO of PharmaTech and was straitlaced, deliberative, and irritatingly risk averse. Archer was covered in tattoos and slept until two in the afternoon.