Too Enchanting
The Lewis Cousins, book 4
Bethany Lopez
Contents
Also by the Bethany Lopez
1. Serena
2. Jed
3. Serena
4. Jed
5. Serena
6. Jed
7. Serena
8. Jed
9. Serena
10. Jed
11. Serena
12. Jed
13. Serena
14. Jed
15. Serena
16. Jed
17. Serena
18. Jed
19. Serena
20. Jed
21. Serena
22. Jed
23. Serena
24. Jed
25. Serena
26. Jed
27. Serena
28. Jed
29. Serena
30. Jed
31. Serena
32. Jed
33. Serena
34. Jed
35. Serena
36. Jed
37. Jed
38. Serena
39. Jed
40. Serena
Epilogue - Serena
What’s next
41. Chapter 1 - Gabe
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Too Enchanting
Copyright 2018 Bethany Lopez
Published March 2018
ISBN - 978-1986212236
Cover Design by Makeready Designs
Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli
Proofreading by KMS Freelance Editing
Formatting by Bethany Lopez
Print Formatting by Type A Formatting
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Created with Vellum
Also by the Bethany Lopez
Young Adult:
Stories about Melissa – series
Ta Ta for Now!
xoxoxo
Ciao
TTYL
With Love
Adios
Nissa: a contemporary fairy tale
New Adult:
Friends & Lovers Trilogy
Make it Last
I Choose You
Trust in Me
Indelible
Contemporary Romance:
A Time for Love Series
Prequel - 1 Night
8 Weeks
21 Days
42 Hours
15 Minutes
10 Years
3 Seconds
7 Months
For Eternity - Novella
The Lewis Cousins Series
Too Tempting
Too Complicated
Too Distracting
Too Enchanting
Too Dangerous - Coming Soon
Three Sisters Catering Trilogy
A Pinch of Salt
A Touch of Cinnamon
A Splash of Vanilla - Coming Soon
Romantic Comedy/Suspense:
Cupcakes Series
Always Room for Cupcakes
Cupcake Overload
Lei’d with Cupcakes
Cupcake Explosion - Coming 5/14/2018
Women’s Fiction:
More than Exist
Short Stories:
Contemporary:
Christmas Come Early
Harem Night
Fantasy:
Leap of Faith
Beau and the Beastess
Cookbook:
Love & Recipes
Love & Cupcakes
Children’s:
Katie and the North Star
To my friends on Guam. Thanks for making this tour so far away from home bearable. My fellow culinary students, military spouses, and Scentsy sisters… you have all made this a wonderful experience. Thank you!
Chapter One
Serena
That’s the last of it, Mrs. Lewis.”
“It’s Miss,” I haughtily told the man in charge of the moving company.
“Sorry, Miss,” he replied with a grimace that conveyed where he wanted me to stick that apology.
Shoot. I came across as bitchy again.
I tried to give the man a genuine smile, but it was too late, he was already walking down my sidewalk to his truck.
I sighed and waved until the truck drove away.
I’d promised myself I’d work on reforming my personality now that I was back home in Cherry Springs. My family expected me to be sweet, quiet, together Rena, the only cousin who’d left our hometown during our formative years and was now back to stay.
What they didn’t expect was snooty, loud, city Rena, who’d worn disdain as a shield throughout high school and college.
Letting go of that side of me was proving more difficult than I thought.
“A little rough on the guy, weren’t you?”
My eyes widened and I turned my head in shock.
Had someone been spying on me?
Standing on the grass, just on the other side of my property line, in what I could only assume was his yard … unless he’s the gardener, I thought snottily, was a tan, sweaty man who looked vaguely familiar.
“Excuse me?” I asked, my tone relaying what I thought of his observation.
I think one side of his mouth cocked up, although it was hard to tell underneath all that stubble.
“I couldn’t help but overhear while I was out here doing my lawn … You didn’t cut that guy any slack. You know he’s just trying to do his job, right?”
My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t help it. No one ever talked to me that way.
“Because I told the moving guy where to put my stuff, how I wanted it, and when he could take a break, I’m not cutting him any slack?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and practically huffing. “As you said, it’s his job … and, I’m paying him to do it, so…”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t speak to him with some respect, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Who even are you?” I asked, totally annoyed that this asshole was my new neighbor.
Seriously, I had no luck.
The dark-haired stranger shook his head with a wry grin that practically screamed his derision.
“We’ve met,” he replied, and although I knew he looked familiar, I couldn’t place him. Then he added, “I’m Jed Monroe. I’ve been doing construction at your cousin Gabe’s for over six months. I’ve met you at the bar, at countless parties, and at Gabe and Zoey’s wedding.”
“Oh, right,” I said, smiling
a bit now that I could place him. Then I frowned, because although he’d always seemed like a nice guy, he wasn’t my favorite right then.
“Yeah, I’m sure since I’m just the hired help, I wasn’t important enough for you to remember.”
“That’s not fair,” I argued. Great, I would have to move in next to a man who was not only friends with my cousins, but who now thought I was an uppity jerk.
He was sure to tell Gabe, Reardon, and/or Dillon. They wouldn’t believe him, of course, and would feel the need to defend my honor, and then Jed would tell them how awful I was to the moving guy, and to him.
This was not how I wanted my new start in Cherry Springs to go. I needed to fix it.
I walked down the steps and across my grass, pausing when I was a few feet away. When I stopped, I noticed his perusal. I was used to it. Men always looked me over. When I entered the room, when I walked past them, or when I stopped to speak to them. I wasn’t conceited, I was a woman who’d been told her whole life she was beautiful. And, those words had been proven correct by the reaction of others when they saw me.
They’d look me over from head to toe, noticing my petite stature, my well-proportioned body, long, silky dark hair, and my face. They usually got stuck on my face.
It wasn’t a ritual I enjoyed; it was one that I put up with.
I waited until his eyes paused on my face, then turned on my best smile and said, “Look, Jed. We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. Not only are you friends with my cousins, but, we’re neighbors. What do you say we start over?”
I stuck out my hand and kept a pleasing look on my face as I waited.
And, waited.
Finally, Jed reached out and shook my hand.
He had a firm, but sweaty, grasp, and it took all of my willpower not to wipe my hand on my jeans once he let it go.
With narrowed eyes, Jed said, “All right. I’ll agree to a reboot … but, only because your cousins are great guys, and I know how excited they are to have you back in town.”
I bit back a nasty remark and gave a smooth nod.
“Thank you,” I replied, then turned to go.
“That being said,” Jed added before I could walk away. “If you have an issue with your plumbing or electricity, or just need something heavy moved…” I smiled, patiently waiting for him to offer his assistance. “It’s probably better if you call one of them, rather than knocking on my door.”
Then, without so much as a farewell, he picked up his weed whacker and turned around, leaving me standing there catching flies.
What an asshole, I fumed as I stomped back to my new house.
I thought momentarily about walking over to Reardon and Chloe’s house. They lived in the Copper Woods subdivision too, and was part of the reason why I’d chosen to buy a house there. I knew Chloe would listen with a sympathetic ear about my super jerky neighbor.
I sighed. No, I couldn’t do that. Not only did I know they liked Jed, but I didn’t want them to find out about my snarky behavior. I needed to be Serena, the sensible cousin and put-together art gallery manager.
Plus, Chloe was about to give birth and was currently on bed rest.
Instead, I walked into my house, opened a bottle of wine, and decided to start unpacking.
“Welcome back to Cherry Springs,” I said to the empty house, my glass raised. “Here’s to starting over and becoming the woman my family has always expected me to be.”
Chapter Two
Jed
I was muttering to myself as I put my yard tools back in my shed. I knew I was doing it, yet I couldn’t seem to stop.
Serena Lewis had gotten on my last nerve.
“Freaking rude-ass, don’t know how to talk to people, pint-sized beauty,” I said under my breath as I hung up my weed-eater, then shut the door to the shed and locked it.
I’d been surprised when I realized that my new neighbor was Gabe’s cousin. I’d recognized her immediately, but then again, she was pretty easy to notice. She’d cut her hair, but it still hung well past her shoulders. It didn’t really matter what she did to her hair, she could shave it all off if she wanted, it was her face that was unforgettable. Not that her silky chestnut hair wasn’t beautiful, her body wasn’t amazing, and her voice wasn’t sexy and smoky, all that was true, too.
It was ridiculous really, and I guess I should have expected a woman who looked like her to treat others like garbage, but I hadn’t.
The times I’d met her she’d been kind, funny, and obviously adored by her cousins.
The woman I’d seen today was like a movie villain version of that woman. The Serena I’d seen today had been a stuck-up harpy who was downright ugly.
I glanced over at the back of her house and shook my head.
I couldn’t imagine Gabe, Rear, or Dillon had ever seen Serena like I had today. Shoot, they put her on a pedestal, thought she was the best of them. It probably had something to do with the fact that she’d moved away, so they hadn’t gotten to grow up with her the way they had with each other.
They saw her through rose-colored glasses, tinged with love and excitement over the fact that she was moving back and they’d finally all live in Cherry Springs together again.
I hated that they were bound to be sorely disappointed when they found out the truth.
With a huff, I turned my back to Serena’s house and pushed her from my mind. I’d spent too much time thinking about her as it was … People like that were toxic, and I didn’t need that in my life.
Needing to cool down, I walked back through my yard to the building settled at the end of my property. My happy place. My workshop.
I opened the doors, breathed in the smell of wood and sawdust, and grinned for the first time that day.
I worked construction to pay the bills and put a roof over my head, but this, this was where my passion lie. Woodworking, crafting, building … whatever you wanted to call it, I loved doing it.
Creating something out of nothing. Turning something plain into something extraordinary. That’s what turned me on and got my juices flowing.
I looked around my studio at the unfinished pieces, trying to see which piece called for me and begged to be completed. The wagon wheel table, the antique dresser that I was turning into a bookshelf, or the river wood table. I also glanced at the new shipment of boat wood that I’d gotten in to reclaim, but my heart was telling me it was time to finish the river wood.
Mind made up, I crossed to my workbench to turn on my Bluetooth speaker, set my phone to stream, and got to work.
About two hours later, I was in the zone. My mind was clear, I was singing along to the music, and the table was almost finished. I stood up and stretched, one hand on my lower back as I wiped the sweat from my brow.
Whew, I thought as my scent wafted up and punched me in the nose. Between the yardwork and the woodworking, I was ripe.
Thinking a shower was in order, I was about to throw down my sander and go into the house, but as I was about to start cleaning up, I heard a knock and then a voice behind me.
“Hey,” Reardon said, shouting louder than was necessary. “Jed, it’s Reardon … Don’t want to startle you and have you accidentally saw something off.”
I chuckled and turned my music off on my phone as I turned.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
I’d met Reardon and Dillon through Gabe almost two years ago, and now they were my crew, along with Shane, our buddy who worked tending bar in town at Gabe’s parents’ place. Reardon also lived in the neighborhood with his soon-to-be wife Chloe, and her son Chris.
“A little crazy, what with Chloe on bedrest and starting to order me around like she’s Supreme Leader Snoke,” Reardon said, then grimaced and muttered, “Sorry, that was mean. She’s not as bad as all that, really, I just needed to take a walk. Catch some air … I told her I was going to check on Serena.”
I chuckled at his Star Wars reference and tried not to compare his cousin to Darth Vader when I asked,
“Have you been to see her yet?”
“No, I thought I’d stop in here first, see if maybe you’d want to come grab a drink with me,” he said hopefully. “Did you see her? Did anyone remember to tell you she was moving in right next door?”
“Nope, it came as a surprise this morning,” I stated, leaving it at that. I could think of no reason to mention what I’d seen and heard today. It would only make him defensive, and cause concern.
He had enough on his plate with his bedridden wife and impending fatherhood.
“Sorry, man, it actually all happened rather quickly, and although I knew she was moving into the subdivision, I didn’t realize she’d be your neighbor until a few days ago.”
“No worries on my end, man,” I assured him. “As long as she’s not throwing ragers and keeping me up all night, we’ll get along fine.”
I was hoping we wouldn’t have much interaction at all, if I was honest.
“Nah, you don’t have to worry about that. Our Rena is quiet as a church mouse and sweet as a button. She’s managing the art gallery in town, so she’ll be busy getting it ready for the grand opening.”
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