by M K Lansbury
The
Business of Attraction
A Secret Sweet Romance
Book One
MK LANSBURY
www.mklansbury.com
This is a work of fiction. All names, places and characters are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people, places, or events is entirely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Copyright @ 2019 MK Lansbury
All rights reserved. Except as authorized under U.S. copyright law, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author.
Cover designed by Ares Florencio
Book formatted by Nadene Seiters
Website designed by Danny Everett
Special Thanks to Anthony Del Col
Also by MK Lansbury
Under the Same Roof: A Small-Town Romance
The An Angel in Disguise Series
Falling: Book One
Rising: Book Two
Fighting: Book Three
Living: Book Four
Boxset
The Stranger in the Fields Series
New Earth: Book One
Planting Seeds: Book Two
Harvesting: Book Three
Crossroads: Book Four
Boxset
For all info (and a free book) go to:
www.mklansbury.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One: The Montauk Escape
Chapter Two: Who Needs A Heart?
Chapter Three: Team of Two
Chapter Four: To Chase, Or Not To Chase?
Chapter Five: Bygones
Chapter Six: The Beta Soul Mate
Chapter Seven: Dating Landmines
Chapter Eight: The Secret Called Lance
Chapter Nine: Fate, or Coincidence?
Chapter Ten: Love, and Conflict of Interest
Chapter Eleven: Liaison with the Competition
Chapter Twelve: Rumor Mills and Lies
Chapter Thirteen: Dance with Me, In the Rain
Chapter Fourteen: The Big Red Button
Chapter Fifteen: Competitor, or Confidant?
Chapter Sixteen: Distracting Lance
Chapter Seventeen: The Sky Is Falling
Chapter Eighteen: Soul Mate, and the Soulmate
Chapter Nineteen: Love Happened; Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Man
Chapter Twenty: Doomsday
Epilogue: Where We Met . . .
Dear Reader
Preview of Secret Sweet Romance Book 2
“Love never grows when it’s secretly lock in our hearts. Love will only find its fulfillment when it finds its way out and dwells in the heart of that person destined to keep it.”
Unknown
“A good friend keeps your secrets for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets.”
Lauren Oliver
ONE
The Montauk Escape
Zara Rodriguez stared at the small, slightly older house across the beach from where she was sitting. The peeling brown paint had probably been white once upon a time. The small windows let in only a small amount of light, and the stairs to the porch had seen better days.
Sandwiched between the large, bright blue-and green-painted beach houses, with top-of-the-line security systems and the latest in solar-powered energy systems, her friend Chet’s family beach house stood out like a sore on the Montauk beach. Shabby and out of place.
Just like me.
The sun was burning Zara’s shoulders. She sat up on her blue-and-white striped beach blanket, reaching for the small orange bottle of sunscreen that her friend Ally had brought along.
Zara had suggested this escape to Montauk earlier in the week. She wanted it to look like it was on a whim, but really it was in an effort for Zara to be Ally’s knight in shining armor.
Zara and Ally had had each other’s backs for as long as Zara could remember. In fact, from even before she could remember anything. Zara and Ally had heard the story from Zara’s mom so often she knew it by heart.
Zara, an only child, was so terrified of her first day of school that she’d thrown up within minutes of getting there. Little Ally, silent and smart, had witnessed that. Instead of screaming eww and yucky and bolting away from Zara like mosquitoes from repellant, she’d walked right up to a sobbing Zara. Pulling a spare sweater out of her little penguin backpack, she’d offered it to the girl to hide the stains on her t-shirt.
And they’d been best friends since.
That moment in a small elementary school in Valentine, Nebraska, had now lasted over twenty years. Zara loved Ally like the sister she never had, and Ally loved Zara more than she did her own sister, Melissa!
They were inseparable through all of their years in Nebraska. They sat together in class, did homework together, and spent their weekends together. They even convinced their families to let them bring each other along on trips to Disney World and relatives' houses. And they relied on each other to get through everything. First dates, first boyfriends, heartbreaks, and awkward school dances.
Even when tragedy struck, they were there for each other.
Zara and Ally were in grade six when Ally’s mom passed away from cardiac arrest. Ally had been so close to her mother, and it naturally hit her hard. She cried in bed for days, not allowing anyone in to see her, even her father. Zara was the first person allowed in her room and helped her through that traumatic time with cheesy movies, boy band music, chocolate chip cookies, and, of course, hugs.
When Zara’s Persian cat, Dumbbell, ran away from home, Zara decided to set up camp in the front yard to wait for him. Ally was the one who kept Zara company. They did their homework in the front yard, ate lunch and dinner, played scrabble, waiting for him to find his way home. After three weeks, it was Ally who spotted a dirty, grimy Dumbbell across town and brought him home.
They were as close as two friends could be.
“From A to Z and Z to A,” they would often repeat to each other.
And now, at twenty-nine years old, Zara had started growing increasingly worried about her friend. Ally was in a funk. She was spending all of her days and nights in front of her laptop. She was bailing on friends and skipping social events, even a friend’s wedding. Her replies to Zara’s text messages were becoming more infrequent.
All in the name of a startup that Ally had worked on for three years, a dating app called Soul Mate. Ally was so close to getting the necessary funding, but it just wasn’t happening. And the more rejections she received, the more obsessed Ally had become.
Wanting to get Ally away from, well, herself, Zara had called up some of their old friends from college and made arrangements for them to stay at this Chet’s old family beach house.
But what Zara didn’t want to tell anyone—especially Ally—was that she needed the escape just as much as her best friend did. Maybe even more.
Zara was in a rut. She had moved to New York to pursue a career in digital marketing. After working at a number of smaller companies, learning the ropes, she had snagged a job at Big See Consulting. It allowed her to work with small startup companies and help them craft their launch and branding strategies. She had created a number of successful marketing campaigns that put the company on the map. It was great, and she loved it there.
Until she decided to date a coworker.
Stewart Wong was a kindred spirit
. He was smart, funny, and handsome. He and Zara had worked together on a number of client accounts and had similar tastes in films, TV, music, and comedy. They knew something was there, but it took a while for Stewart to actually work up the courage to ask her out.
Every morning for the next seven months, he would send her a text message wishing her good morning and telling her to have a great day, even though he would see her an hour or two later. It always put a smile on Zara’s face, and she started to think they had something special.
And then he’d sent a text message two weeks ago that was completely different. It didn’t make her smile. Instead, it was a punch to the gut.
“Hey, Z. I think we should take a break. We’re both super busy and maybe it’s not the best time for us to be together. I hope you understand. I’m sorry.”
No. Zara didn’t understand. Not at all.
Dumped over text message?
Yeah, Zara took the day off, citing the flu. But she had to go in the next day for some meetings. She had to suck it up and go in, pretending that everything was normal. And the first person she saw at the office? Stewart, of course.
Of course.
He smiled at her as if nothing had happened. As though the last seven months had been some sort of dream of hers which had now become a nightmare.
Then he casually strolled into his office and shut the door behind him.
It felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Had Stewart been replaced by some sort of alien creature? Had his memory been deleted like a hard drive? It didn’t feel real.
And all her attempts to speak to him the rest of that week were ignored. He wasn’t replying to her texts or phone calls and treated her like just anyone else at the office.
As the news spread around the office that she and Stewart had broken up, there was a cringing pair of eyes every way she looked. The sympathetic stares, the pitiful stares, the spiteful stares. And just when she thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, Anne-Marie Johnson, a young intern oblivious to everything, admitted something to Zara.
She and Stewart had been dating for the last three months. Yes, while Stewart had been dating Zara.
He always had been a great multi-tasker.
The workplace she’d so enjoyed being a part of was sucking the life out of her.
And that’s where Montauk was supposed to help out. She hoped that the fresh air and calm beaches would provide her an opportunity to get some fresh perspective.
But the trip wasn't exactly coming along like she’d expected.
Zara had come for the sun, the silence, and the solace. The sun part was definitely there, but silence and solace? They had been replaced by conflict and crowds. All in the house they were staying at.
Chet Morrissey was cool. His parents owned the beach house, and when Zara had suggested the end-of-summer getaway, he was on board immediately, offering the use of his parents’ place.
He subsequently invited Christy, Spence, and Anna to come along. They, along with Zara and Ally, had all been a “gang” at Colgate University. The “Colgate Crew.” She loved them all to bits, and they had been through a lot in those four years in Hamilton, New York. But now? Well, they all seemed to think they were still school coeds, and this weekend was a party. All the laughing? Noise. The crazy jokes? Childish. The silly arguments and disagreements? Sending her brain cells to an early grave.
The only thing that made her feel at home was the beach house they were staying at.
Chet apologized profusely for the state of the place. The beach house had been in the family for a number of generations, each one deferring renovations to the next. But Zara loved the place when she first saw it and thought it would be the perfect spot for them. Grateful, she’d hugged Chet as soon as they arrived, and the shy, out-of-shape man very quickly blushed.
Out of everyone in the Colgate Crew, outside of Ally, of course, Chet was the one that Zara liked best. He was fun to hang out with and had a huge heart. But he was really insecure and had zero self-confidence, a result of being his parents’ punching bag over the years. Chet’s siblings were a corporate attorney, a cardiac surgeon, a Senator’s chief of staff, and an investment banker. And him? He bounced from job to job, never finding a company or profession that could live up to the rest. And his parents reminded him of this at every opportunity.
He’d spent the first day at Montauk periodically reminding the Crew about how happy he was to be included in the getaway weekend. Even as all of them relaxed at the beach, he kept checking on everyone. Did anyone need a drink? Did anyone need more sunscreen? Was anyone hungry?
Zara peeled her gaze off Chet’s face as she thought she heard Ally mention money . . .
Uh oh.
Ally looked a little stressed as she talked to Spence. “. . . I'm still waiting to hear back from the three possible investors. If the financing comes through, I’ll know where I'm headed.”
Instantly, Zara swept her own misery aside, turned to Ally’s conversation with Spence. Zara needed to get Ally away from thinking about startup financing, coding, and distribution, and now Spence was bringing everything back up.
“Ally, if the funding doesn’t come through for Soul Mate, what's your backup plan?”
Zara glared at Spence. How dare he ask such a question? He knew fully well that Ally was on a cliff of confusion about her future. He didn’t really have to shove Ally off that cliff before her time.
Soul Mate, Ally’s brainchild, wasn’t meant for hookups but instead for finding that one true person you could spend your life with. It was a good, wholesome twist on the conventional swipe left or right for a one-night stand culture. Soul Mate was a true reflection of Ally’s hard work and her tech genius, as well as a reflection of the hopeless romantic she was.
Ally had devoted most of her last three years to make Soul Mate a reality. From the moment she conceived of the matching algorithm to the coding sessions, the tests, and everything else, she was a woman obsessed.
And now she was staring at a huge roadblock. If she couldn’t raise the funding, Ally wouldn’t be able to bring the app to market.
Ally cleared her throat as she searched for words to respond to Spence’s heartless question without falling apart. “I’ve got a few options I haven’t tried yet.”
Spence chuckled.
The sound made Zara gape at him and fantasize about the wonderful moment when her fist connected with his pompous nose. And the urge to do exactly that only grew as Spence spoke.
“Let me get this straight. You're just sitting back and waiting for someone to throw you the cash? What if they don’t like it? You can’t give strangers that kind of control over your future, Ally.”
Ally’s back stiffened. “I need the seed capital to develop and bring the app to market. I need coders, and we need to run alpha and beta tests. Not to mention the extensive marketing campaigns.”
“I don’t know, man. As my Dad always says, only your money is your money. Can’t expect anyone else to run the show for you.”
Zara straightened, her anger bubbling to the surface. “Ally isn't asking for money to fund her next big beachside party like the ones you crash every weekend, Spence. She's going to be making money for the investor. That’s how business works.”
“Trust me, I know how business works, Zara. My dad owns a real estate development company.”
Zara tilted her head to the side, squinting at Spence’s face. “You and he are real estate agents. How exactly does that automatically translate to you being a startup genius?”
“We’re a small business.”
Zara chuckled, imitating the throaty, condescending sound Spence had thrown at Ally a minute ago. “Yeah, started and run by your father. The only thing you’ve earned from that business is enough pocket-money to afford your new and improved crack habits.”
“Okayyy!” Ally shifted between Zara and Spence, her arms spread out. Zara had found herself in situations like t
his before, giving Ally experience in cooling things off.
“Are you thirsty? Are you, Spence? I know I’m thirsty. Why don’t we get some drinks?”
Zara took great comfort in seeing Spence at a loss for words. She had no sympathy for him. Having a family business to fall back on wasn't a bad thing, but measuring other people’s abilities and expectations on that standard was ostentatious. He was reaping the rewards of being Joshua Montgomery’s only son. How dare he call out Ally?
If he had any business sense, he would see the potential of Soul Mate and invest whatever money he and his father had. But his father credited enough money in Spence’s account every week to keep him in relative comfort, so Zara didn’t blame him for his lack of ambitions. But running his mouth about raising capital? Unacceptable.
“What are we doing tonight, by the way?” Ally was still stubbornly holding an arm up between Spence and Zara, almost as if expecting Zara to pounce on him.
It wouldn’t work. Ally was a tiny human. At five feet tall, she was eight inches shorter than Zara, and about twelve inches shorter than Spence. Zara chuckled and leaned back on her blanket, almost daring Spence to start. Zara might not be an aggressive or confrontational person, but cross Ally one more time, and Zara would make Spence cry. Zara would fend lions off Ally with her bare hands if she had to.
Not that Spence was a lion. He was a little kitty. Zara could take him.
Christy—a budding model with a business degree and a phenomenal body—finally lifted from her facedown position on the blanket. She had lain there for most of the afternoon. No wonder her gorgeous figure was tanned a deep, beautiful golden.
“Let’s not argue over things we don’t understand, guys,” Christy added sweetly. “Spence, since Ally is smart enough to build an app from scratch, she’s smart enough to know how to figure out investors. How about we go to that party the guys at the café invited us to?
The guys actually hadn't invited all of them. They’d invited Christy. Everywhere she went in the world, she attracted men like moths to a flame.