Sweet Heat at Bayside (Sweet with Heat

by Addison Cole

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I KNOW, CHLOE!” Serena said into the phone. “I’m over-the-moon excited. Once you told me to take M-O-M out of the equation, everything fell into place.”

  “You know if you were doing this for Drake, it would be okay, right? You’re not Mom. You could never be her.”

  Serena nodded, even though they weren’t on a video chat. “I know. Thank you. Listen, I gotta go. Justine and I were on the phone forever, and I’ve been trying to reach Drake. He’s not answering my calls or my texts.”

  “He’s probably at the music store or out for a run.”

  “Maybe, but he was pretty upset with me. He wanted to have a PI check out Gavin and I was…less than okay with it.”

  “You’re so frigging bullheaded. He was only trying to look out for you.”

  Tears burned in Serena’s eyes. “Yeah, I know. I gotta go.” She ended the call and tried Drake again. It rang three times before sending her to voicemail. She didn’t leave a message this time. How many times could she plead for forgiveness?

  She called the music store, and when that went to voicemail, too, she realized she was an idiot. If he wasn’t answering his phone, why would he answer the music store phone?

  She called Mira next, and the second she answered, Serena said, “Have you seen Drake?”

  “No. Why?”

  “We had a fight. I’ve been calling him for almost an hour and he’s not answering. If you see him, please ask him to call me.” She pushed the gas pedal to the floor, needing to get rid of her frustrations.

  Less than two minutes later, red-and-blue lights appeared in her rearview mirror. She threw her purse over the bottle of champagne on her seat. “Just perfect.”

  By the time she reached Bayside, she was a teary-eyed, angry mess, and so relieved to see Drake’s truck, she nearly kissed it. She sprinted up the stairs to his apartment, hearing music vibrating through the closed door. She didn’t even slow down to knock. She pushed open his door and stormed through his living room.

  “Drake!” she shouted. “We’re supposed to be celebrating, not fighting!” There was no way he could hear her with the music blaring, and he only played music that loud when he was angry.

  She plowed into the bedroom, stopping cold at the sight of her clothes neatly stacked inside a suitcase. Tears sprang from her eyes. She clutched the champagne bottle in one hand, the cookie box in the other, feeling like a freaking idiot. Why had she argued with him? Why was she so darn stubborn?

  “Serena.” Drake’s deep voice boomed through the blaring music as he strode out of the bathroom in a towel, his toiletries bag in one hand, shampoo bottle in the other.

  “I’ve been trying to call you,” she shouted over the music. “I’m sorry. I know I’m stubborn and a pain in the butt. I shouldn’t have argued with you about Gavin. You’re right, Drake. I should have checked him out. Oh, please don’t end us because I’m an idiot.”

  He tossed the toiletries bag and shampoo into the suitcase and closed the distance between them. “I hate fighting with you,” he shouted. “But that’s who we are, Serena. Two bullheaded people.”

  Tears slid down her cheeks. “But we can make it work! I’ll be less stubborn. I promise.”

  He cupped her face, shaking his head. Breaking her heart one move at a time. His thumb brushed away her tears, but it did nothing to slow the river of sadness consuming her.

  “You can’t be less stubborn, and I don’t want you to,” he said loudly.

  “But you packed my stuff! I don’t want you to pack my stuff. I want our stuff together. I can learn to shut up.”

  He shook his head again with a disbelieving smile. “No, you can’t.”

  “Oh gosh…” Tears blurred her vision, and the music vibrated inside her chest, making her ache with grief.

  “Your unwillingness to sell yourself short or step back for anyone is what makes you so strong!” he shouted. “And my unrelenting need to protect you is what will ensure you won’t get hurt. Don’t you see, Supergirl?” A genuine smile curved his lips. “We are perfect for each other. We were each other’s first loves, and we’ll be each other’s last.”

  “But…?” She looked at the suitcase, trying to process his words against his moving her out.

  “I was packing our stuff, coming to Boston to be with you until you moved here. I called Reggie, and he said he’d have a report on Gavin tomorrow. I wanted to be there with you when Justine called to accept your offer.”

  Happy sobs bubbled out, and Serena lifted the champagne bottle and the cookie box. He took them from her and set them on the bed. Then he lowered his lips to hers, healing her shattered heart one loving kiss at a time. His body was warm and damp from the shower. The deeper they kissed, the hotter he became.

  “Drake! Turn it down!” Mira’s voice approaching from down the hall pulled them apart. “Serena’s trying to reach—” She appeared in the doorway.

  Drake moved behind Serena, and she couldn’t suppress her giggle.

  Mira shifted her eyes away. “Oh. Never mind.”

  Rick burst into the room behind her. “What’s all the racket?”

  Drake put his arms around Serena’s waist, speaking above the music. “Just two passionate people talking. You won’t have to deal with it much longer. I’m going to Boston.”

  “For real?” Mira shouted.

  “For real,” Drake said as he turned Serena in his arms, gazing down at her like she was the love of his life—and she knew she always would be. “For very, very real.”

  Epilogue

  SERENA PULLED UP in front of the offices of Mallery and Wheeler Interior Designs and sat in her car for a moment, taking it all in. It had been eight weeks since Reggie Steele’s report on Gavin had come back clean, seven weeks since they’d sealed the deal with Justine, five weeks since she and Gavin had left KHB, and three weeks and five days since they’d opened their new offices. Serena hated secrets, and she’d told Gavin about Drake hiring Reggie Steele to check him out before Justine accepted the offer. She’d been relieved to hear that Gavin had also checked her out long before suggesting they partner together. Apparently, he was as cautious and business savvy as Drake. Needless to say, the two men in her life had since become fast friends.

  “Just in time for me to leave for a meeting,” Gavin said as Serena stepped into their office and set her things on her desk.

  “I’m sensing a pattern here. You left when I arrived yesterday, too.”

  “Two ships passing in the night, I guess,” Gavin said as he gathered his things and pushed to his feet in his jeans and dress shirt. For the most part he’d ditched his classy suits, and he fit right in on the Cape and with her friends. It turned out that he’d grown up not far from Desiree and Emery in Oak Falls, Virginia, and they knew each other fairly well.

  “You taking off soon?” he asked.

  “About a half hour or so. I have some things to get ready for tomorrow. Good luck with the meeting. Who is it with?”

  “Small retailer in Brewster. I’ll fill you in at breakfast tomorrow. Rick promised to up his game. I’m hoping for those custard tarts Desiree made last week.”

  She smiled to herself as he left the office. They’d had some bumps and bruises at first, figuring out how to approach certain aspects of marketing and introducing Justine’s clients to their new firm, but they’d worked through them and had continued to work well together. They were learning when to give each other space and when to stock up on cookies.

  She sent a quick text to Drake. Miss you. Home in forty mins or so. She added a kissing emoji and then set to work preparing for her meeting with Seth and Jared tomorrow. She couldn’t retain them as clients for the project they’d commissioned to KHB, but after she’d quit, Jared had contacted her about a restaurant they were opening in Provincetown. She was thrilled to be working with them again and couldn’t wait to get started. She’d been working closely with Donovan for the redesign of Swank, but he was a tough man to p
lease. They’d finally nailed down a concept last week and were ready to move forward.

  Half an hour later she packed up her things and headed home. Her days were busy, and sometimes she had to work on the weekends, but her nights were filled with the man she adored and the friends she loved. Life was better than it had ever been, and as she drove down the dusty road toward her rented cottage, she didn’t regret spending her savings on her future.

  She and Drake had moved into the cottage after Violet had caught them not sleeping on his balcony again. He’d given up his apartment to Daphne, who was working out well at the resort. She had been staying with her sister. Serena’s decision to move back to the Cape had affected Drake and the others more than she could have ever imagined. After much discussion about dreams and the importance of spending quality time with friends and family, the guys had decided to hire Everett Adler to run the resort office on weekends. Everett was a middle school music teacher who was already teaching a few music classes at Bayside Music and Arts. He was young, divorced, and working out fabulously.

  Serena parked beside Drake’s truck in front of the cottage. The sky-blue shutters and wildflowers used to bring the sense of relief that only being home could provide. But that had changed over the last few months. As she stepped from the car, she knew it didn’t matter where she lived, as long as she was with Drake. He had become her grounding force, her comfort zone. He had become home.

  An envelope was taped to the front door. She plucked it off and pulled out the card. The top half of the card read You’re my favorite thing to do, with a red heart scribbled next to it. The bottom half of the card showed a picture of a man and woman from their bare thighs down. The woman had on red high heels, a red thong hanging around her ankles. The man wore socks, and a pair of black briefs were puddled around his feet.

  She opened the card and read Drake’s familiar handwriting. Meet me at the beach. He’d drawn another heart and had written Superman + Supergirl inside it.

  Gosh, she loved him.

  She ran inside and stripped naked as fast as she could. Then she slipped on the slinky, backless white halter dress she’d bought a few summers ago and had never had the guts to wear. The neckline plunged loosely to her navel, and two slits ran up the sides all the way to her waist. Perfect.

  She slipped on a pair of flip-flops and rushed out the front door. She ran all the way to the woods and hurried down the path toward the beach. As she stepped free from the woods, she kicked off her flip-flops, the warm sand slipping between her toes. Drake was gazing out over the water, his back facing her. The sun glowed against the night sky, highlighting his masculine silhouette and spreading ribbons of orange and gold over the dark water. Her heart beat faster as she stepped closer, taking in the flames of the bonfire casting shadows over the seashells he’d laid out in the shape of a heart.

  As if he sensed her presence, Drake turned, taking her in with a slow slide of his gaze down her body. He closed the distance between them, his eyes narrowing, filling with lust and love as he reached for her. His hair had grown out a little, giving him that rough look she loved.

  “Hot damn, Supergirl,” he said in a low voice that made her insides clench with desire.

  He placed his hands on her hips, then dragged them lower, his fingers pressing into her skin in the slits of her dress, hot and demanding. Spikes of heat and longing tore through her.

  “I loved the card,” she said as she wound her arms around his neck.

  He brushed his lips over hers. She loved that intimate touch. Sometimes when he was getting ready to kiss her, she’d draw back just enough to feel the graze, to sense his simmering desire.

  “I missed you.” He kissed the edge of her mouth. “I bought you a little something today.”

  “You did?” she said breathily. It was silly that she still lost her words at his touch, and she hoped it never changed.

  “Yes. You know how you wanted to use your savings to buy the cottage?” He kissed the other side of her mouth. “It’s ours now.”

  She gasped. “You can’t—”

  He silenced her with a kiss, holding her tight as she murmured into the kiss, wanting to tell him he couldn’t do that! She wanted to be an equal partner in their relationship, to contribute half to expensive items. But he didn’t even give her the chance to breathe, taking the kiss deeper, making love to her mouth as his hands glided over her body, and he kissed her stubbornness away, leaving her reeling.

  He gazed deeply into her eyes and said, “I know you want to contribute. Baby, you contribute to my life every single day. You make me happy, horny, and hotheaded, and I wouldn’t change any of it.”

  “Drake,” she said softly, feeling teary and loved. “You can’t buy us a cottage.”

  “Let me finish, Supergirl.”

  He dropped down to one knee, and the air rushed from her lungs. Tears tumbled down her cheeks, and suddenly she was shaking all over, barely able to remain standing.

  He must have noticed, because he put his strong hands on her hips, steadying her as he said, “You are my life, baby, my reason for being. I have loved you for as long as I can remember. I adore your strength, your intelligence, and that sassy mouth of yours makes me crazy in the best of ways. You found a partner in business, and now I think it’s time you have a partner in life. When we came together, I promised to make all your dreams come true, and that cottage is one of your dreams. So, I’m thinking you’ll just have to marry me, baby. Let me be the first and the last man you’ve ever loved, because you are, and will always be, the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

  She dropped to her knees, tears sliding down her cheeks. “You’ve always been my one and only. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He swept her into his arms, pressing his lips to hers, both of them saying, “I love you,” between kisses. Cheers rang out around them as their friends and family stepped out of the shadows and pulled them to their feet, crushing them in a group hug. They were passed from one set of loving arms to the next, congratulated and wished happiness by all the people they loved most. Even Gavin was there, grinning at having pulled the wool right over her eyes. There was no potential client, just the most romantic secret proposal waiting in the wings.

  Serena was still shaking when she finally landed back in Drake’s arms and he said, “I’ve always wanted to be your hero, Supergirl.”

  She gazed into his loving eyes and said, “I never thought I needed one. But I guess that’s because you’ve been by my side all along.”

  Ready for More Bayside fun?

  Hold on to your hat for Violet’s wild love story! Lizza is up to her old tricks again, and Violet is in for the surprise of a lifetime!

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  Meet the Bradens at Weston!

  Six fiercely loyal, hard-working siblings who were raised by their father—and are about to fall hard for their one and only true loves. If you like big-family romance, you’ll love the Bradens at Weston.

  When Maxine “Max” Armstrong walked into resort owner Treat Braden’s life six weeks earlier, she sparked an unfamiliar desire in him for more than a casual affair. But one mistake caused her to turn away, and now, after six weeks of longing for the one woman he cannot have, he’s going home to try to forget her all together.

  Max has a successful career, a comfortable lifestyle, and she’s never needed a man to help her find her way—until Treat Braden caught her attention at a wedding in Nassau, causing a surge of emotions too big to deny. After spending one magnificent evening together, something happens that is too reminiscent of the painful past she’d spent years trying to forget. Max will do anything to avoid reliving that pain—including forgoing her heart-pounding desire for Treat.

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  Bestselling author Kurt Remington lives to write. He spends twelve hours a day in front of his computer, rarely leaving the seclusion of his beach-front property, where he’s come to finish his latest thriller—that is, until free-spirited Leanna Bray nearly drowns in the ocean trying to save her dog. Kurt’s best-laid plans are shot to hell when he comes to their rescue. Kurt’s as irritated as he is intrigued by the sexy, hot mess of a woman who lives life on a whim, forgets everything, and doesn’t even know the definition of the word organized.

  Leanna’s come to the Cape hoping to find a fulfilling career in the jam-making business, and until she figures out her own life, a man is not on the menu. But Leanna can’t get the six-two, deliciously muscled and tragically neat Kurt out of her mind. She tells herself she’s just stopping by to say thank you, but the heart-warming afternoon sparks an emotional and unexpectedly sweet ride as Kurt and Leanna test the powers of Chemistry 101: Opposites Attract.

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