Tangling with the CEO: A Half Moon Bay Novel (Entangled Bliss)

by Annie Seaton

  “Are you going to tell me why we are climbing up a ladder to Aldo’s roof?” Ana was bemused.

  “Don’t talk to me until we get to the top.” Blake’s voice was quiet and it sounded as though he was speaking between clenched teeth.

  Ana followed him up each rung until he reached the top of the ladder and swung himself onto the roof. She followed him as he crawled along the new shingles.

  “Don’t slip.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t be letting go.” Blake reached the peak of the roof, and sat down with his legs stretched out in front of him. Ana slid down beside him and turned her gaze to his face, which was alight with a wide grin.

  “Wow, I did it. And look at the great view of the town you get from up here.”

  “You’ve been missing out all these years.” She grinned back at him. His excitement was palpable and her anticipation grew. He was up to something. She’d never seen Blake so animated. “Now are you going to tell me why we are sitting up on Aldo and Maria’s newly shingled roof?”

  “I’ve got two things to tell you but first I want to show you something.” Blake reached over and took her hand. She was surprised to feel his hand trembling slightly.

  “I have some big news and I think you’ll be very happy. Close your eyes.”

  It was like looking through a rosy haze and Ana giggled. “As long as I don’t fall off the roof.”

  Blake took her hands between his and a tingle shot up her arms.

  “I’ve got you. Swing your legs over and turn around.” Ana swung her legs over the peak, and turned to face the opposite direction as Blake held her hands in a death grip.

  “Now open your eyes.” She stared at him. Even though he was perspiring, his eyes were alight with something.

  “No, look over there.” He let go of her hand and pointed across the rooftops between Aldo’s house and Main Street.

  Something was different. Ana squinted her eyes and frowned. The sign on the top of Joe’s store had been replaced.

  Huge dark-blue scrolling letters proclaimed it was BB Hardware.

  “You bought the store?” She squealed and jumped to her feet and Blake grabbed for her hand, but she ignored it. Her boots clattered on the new shingles as she ran along the peak of the roof.

  Blake stood and gingerly followed her to the end where she was jumping around. “You’ll fall.”

  “No, I won’t.” She turned to Blake and grabbed him and he pulled her down with him to sit down. “Did you really buy it?”

  “Joe and I signed the papers yesterday. I finally convinced Mike that Nebbiton isn’t ready for a Home and Hardware. When I went to New York last week, I met with him and he agreed not to take over the store.”

  “And Joe and Magda still get to go on their cruise.”

  Blake pulled her close and his lips pressed against her forehead. “That’s one of the things I love most about you, you know,” he said. “You’re such a giving person. You always think of everyone else before yourself.”

  Her mind couldn’t quite process what he said at first and she swallowed as she digested his words.

  “Love about me?”

  “Yes, Ana. There are lots of things I love about you, but that’s not really saying it right. It’s you I love, not just the things you do. That’s the second thing I wanted to tell you.”

  She looked across at him, the blue sky brilliant behind him as Blake gently took her face in both his hands before he pressed his lips to hers.

  Blake’s lips were gentle on hers again and she felt her world shift in the most wonderful way as he kissed her. Finally he lifted his lips from hers. “I’ve only got one thing to tell you,” Ana murmured against his lips. She pulled back and looked up into his face as he held her. “I love you, too.”

  He leaned over and kissed her again and she heard a faint cheer in the distance. Before she could look down, Blake grabbed her hands. “Maybe you can help me? I’m looking for someone to do a renovation job for me. Someone who can bring the store into the twenty-first century but keep that old atmosphere. Do you know anyone who might be able to do that?”

  “Oh my God.” Ana gazed up at Blake as she struggled to keep her voice steady. She was so happy she couldn’t understand why tears were pricking at her eyes. “How does Half Moon Bay Renovation Service sound? Will a local firm fit the bill?”

  “I think they’ll fit in very well,” he said and his smile got wider. “I think in a community like ours, we have to stay local.” Blake paused and joy shot through Ana as he made himself a part of her community. “And some of them are watching. Look.”

  Ana looked over at the store and noticed the small group of people standing on the pavement in front of the store. Sienna and Georgie, Thelma and Mitzi, Aldo and Maria, Joe and Magda were all waving madly at her. Letting go of Blake’s hands, she waved back, unable to put her joy into words. Blake took her hand back and raised her fingers to his lips as he held her eyes with a true and steady gaze.

  “Ana, I let you go ten years ago without ever realizing how I felt. I’ve searched for happiness since then, but was always unsettled. As soon as we met again, my life felt complete.”

  Ana closed her eyes, as the joy and love for this man surged through her. For the first time, she was able to accept her feelings and knew they were returned in full. Slowly she met his gaze and smiled as her heart settled into a slow, steady beat, as steady as the love shining from his face. Nothing could overcome the love she had for Blake. She met his gaze full-on, aching with love, with need, wanting to feel him against her. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against the gentle warmth of his mouth, and murmured the words in her heart. “Yes…no hesitation, no second thoughts…yes, Blake. You’ve made me so happy. I’ve dreamed of this moment for years. And I’ll renovate your store and I’ll love every minute of it.”

  A thrill coursed through her as he deepened his kiss. She’d waited a long time for this love, but it had been worth the wait.

  Epilogue

  EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

  Mutt and Jaws hit it off as soon as Rod opened the back of the SUV in Blake and Ana’s garden and the bloodhound jumped out, ears swinging in the breeze. It was a warm July afternoon and the sun shone from a brilliant blue sky with not a sign of fog on the horizon. The whisper of the waves stole gently up the bluff, and Maddy and Rod were down on the beach throwing sticks to the dogs.

  Sienna lounged in a garden chair while Georgie bustled around offering drinks to the guests sitting at the tables scattered through the orchard. Thelma and Mitzi had made lemonade for the welcoming ceremony.

  “Roddy! Benny! Get down at once,” Jeannie called out to the twins as they climbed high in one of the orange trees. She hurried over and stood beneath the tree, one hand grasping Billy’s shoulder, the other holding on to Jake, who was toddling along beside her.

  Two cars came up the driveway, and Joe and Magda and Maria and Aldo stepped out of the first one and walked through the gate. Georgie ushered them through to the orchard as the other car, a low-slung sports car, parked at the end of the row of cars and Jack Montgomery climbed out. Sienna sat up in her chair and put her hands on her eyes, squinting into the westering sun. Jack had moved back to New York when his father had a heart attack not long after Blake bought the store, and they had never ended up having that date. He walked around the crowd and stood behind her as the gathering waited for the formalities to begin.

  Georgie called out to Rod and Maddy, and they walked up the cliff path. Rod’s hand was on his daughter’s shoulder and Maddy had a huge grin on her face.

  Maddy ran into the house along the porch.

  “Everyone’s here now,” she called happily. “You can come out.”

  The door opened and Blake stepped out first, closely followed by Ana, who was holding the newest resident of Nebbiton close to her chest. Blake’s hair was mussed and Ana looked up at him, smothering a grin as she noticed he’d grabbed an unpressed T-shirt from the washing basket. The clean and ti
dy businessman of Home and Hardware days had disappeared, and Blake had relaxed into a man who didn’t mind living in her chaos. Although since she’d finished renovating the cottage, she’d managed to keep the chaos at bay. Most of the time, anyway. When they had decided to make Ana’s little cottage in the orchard into their home, Blake had put the Bennett house up for rent.

  And he’d even learned to put up with Mutt sleeping in the cottage. And they’d adopted another cat. Just for Blake.

  They walked slowly to the orchard and Blake looked down at his wife of eleven months with a huge grin rivaling that of the bloodhound who was lolling on the end of the porch. A laugh rippled through the small crowd as the celebrant met them at the gate and held her hands out for the baby dressed in little dungarees with a pink ribbon in her hair.

  “Welcome, Faith Anastasia Buchanan.”

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to acknowledge my two editors Keyren Gerlach and Wendy Chen, who worked with me to polish this manuscript until it shone.

  About the Author

  Annie Seaton lives on the beautiful east coast of Australia, where she loves sitting in her writing chair, gazing at the ocean and writing stories. She has always been fascinated by romance and has found her niche writing stories, ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and paranormal romance.

  Her debut full length novel, Holiday Affair, a contemporary romance set in the South Pacific was released as part of Entangled Publishing’s Indulgence line in March 2012 and has been on best seller lists since release. Since then Italian Affair, Outback Affair, and Dangerous Desire have also been published by Entangled in 2013.

  Discover Annie Seaton’s suspense side with Dangerous Desire, from Ignite Books

  A desperate search for her sister puts Gracie James in the sites of Jake Alexander, a former cop staking out a group of international criminals. But when Gracie stumbles into danger, Jake is forced to step in and keep the sexy school teacher safe. Now their sizzling attraction threatens Gracie and Jake’s reluctant allegiance and they must learn to trust each other before their dangerous desire destroys his investigation…and their lives.

  Indulge in romance. Read Annie Seaton’s Affair trilogy and escape…

  Holiday Affair

  Staid professor Lissy McIntyre never thought she’d have a red-hot, tropical romance with a man whose sizzling kisses leave her senseless. The holiday affair over, Nick Richards blows into town only to discover that his no-nonsense new neighbor and co-worker is the same sultry creature he seduced for one night of forbidden island pleasure. Will Nick break Lissy’s heart, or will she be the one woman he simply can’t walk away from?

  Italian Affair

  Free-spirited sex therapist Brianna Ballantine has four days to find a fiancé so she can inherit her birth mother’s Italian villa. Commitment is not on the agenda. When finance guru Tomas Richards offers a marriage of convenience to help Brianna secure her inheritance, the sizzle between the sheets promises an affair to remember, despite family complications at every turn. Now Tom must convince her to stay, and make this Italian affair a lifelong commitment.

  Outback Affair

  Jessica Trent needs to land a one-on-one interview with the reclusive Alessandro Ricardo, a man hell-bent on staying out of the limelight. But she wants the ruggedly sexy fisherman taking her to Crocodile Springs—in the Outback--to get it. Alex Richards protects his privacy and his heart in equal measure, but the Yankee bombshell he’s helping cross the Australian wild threatens both. Their attraction ignites, but will his lie destroy them both?

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  Just in time for Christmas, opposites will attract and friends will discover more in four novellas that bring heat to getting snowed in.

  Nate’s mouth dropped when Kelsey got the quarter in the shot glass again. He’d only made it twice and she was working him over, making five out of eight. “When you suggested this game, you said you hadn’t played it in forever.”

  Kelsey laughed. “It’s been years, I swear. But I used to play it a lot. Now drink.”

  Nate tossed back the shot. Then he lifted the quarter and rolled it in his fingers. He focused on the cup, tossed it down, and watched it bounce in. Kelsey’s lips curved into a smile, then she lifted her shot glass and tipped it back. Part of him still couldn’t believe she was here in his house, so close he could reach out and cover the hand she had on the coffee table with his.

  Kelsey peeled off her sweater and tossed it aside. The collar of her blue shirt slid down on her shoulder, giving him a better view of the tattoos he’d gotten a glimpse of earlier. There was a star on her collarbone, and then another, trailing down, into her shirt. He couldn’t help but wonder how far down they went.

  “You don’t have a Christmas tree?” she asked.

  “Nope.”

  “That’s kinda sad.”

  “I think it’d be sadder if I decorated a big tree and was the only one who saw it.”

  Kelsey flopped next to him, propping her elbow on the back of the couch so she was facing him. “Do you have something against happiness?”

  “Yes. Don’t tell anyone, but I moonlight as the Grinch.”

  She giggled, leaning her forehead on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure if it was the caffeine or the alcohol or the combination, but it all worked for her, and with her this close, his pulse rate steadily picked up speed. This was the best night he’d had in a while, which she’d probably think was sad, right along with his lack of a decorated tree.

  She lifted her head and flashed him a smile, making his heart catch in his chest. “You’re funnier than I expected. You were always so serious back in high school—or I guess you weren’t in high school but already graduated, so maybe that’s where the air of superiority came in.”

  He lowered his eyebrows. “I did not have an air of superiority.”

  Her eyes widened and she nodded. “Did so.”

  “Really? ‘Did so’ is your argument?”

  “Okay, so maybe you just didn’t like me.”

  “I liked you.”

  “No, you didn’t.” She shoved his shoulder, a sloppy shove. The fact he bobbed so easily proved he’d had enough vodka for the night. “I remember one time I came over and you were playing that shoot-everybody-up videogame and I thought, I know, I’ll sit down and play with him and he’ll see I’m not so bad...”

  Nate remembered that day. She’d had on really short shorts that showed off her legs, and it was the first time he’d seen the tattooed music notes circling her thigh. He’d wanted to play them. Play her.

  “But you didn’t say a word the entire time,” Kelsey continued. “I purposely shot you, even though you were on my team, to try and get a rise out of you. But you didn’t say anything. Then when the game ended, you got up and walked out. That’s when I knew you didn’t like me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  But then she leaned closer and he caught the sweet scent of her mixed with a tinge of alcohol. “Then why’d you never talk to me? Why did you leave a room whenever I entered it?”

  His pulse thumped in his ears. She was so close he could see how her eyes went from dark brown in the middle to an amber color. Close enough to study her full lips, covered in some kind of glittery lip gloss. “Because you were the prettiest thing I’d ever laid eyes on, and I was afraid everyone would notice I was staring.”

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