by Jamie Wesley
They walked down the aisle to the stage and climbed the stairs, where they were greeted by Malcolm’s sisters.
Tori immediately pulled her into a hug. “I’m so happy Mayo found you.”
Mayo? Before she could ask, Malcolm tugged her away and they stood there, holding hands. Waiting for their fate. Together. She glanced at him. His smile dazzled her. No matter what happened, this man would be in her life. He would have her back. She’d have his, and they would weather any storm.
All the Sex Sells judges joined them on stage. Elizabeth spoke into the microphone. “We’ve held this contest for many years. These are certainly the most unique circumstances we’ve ever had, but we love love at Sex Sells, so we’re all for it. Without further ado, the winner is…Valerie Shaw!”
Val’s knees gave out. She would have fallen to the floor if Malcolm hadn’t caught her.
A loud shout greeted her ears. Malcolm. “You did it, Val!”
Tears blurred her vision, but his smile was wide and bright enough for her to see clearly. He picked her up and swung her around in a circle. The smile on his banished any latent fears that he wouldn’t be happy for her. She held on to his broad shoulders and enjoyed the ride.
“I love you,” she said, her voice all blubbery, when he put her down. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
He squeezed her waist. “Yes, you could. You did. I may have told you not to doubt yourself, but you have an inner strength I’ve admired since the day I met you.”
And just like that, she fell in love with him a little more. What had she done to deserve him? Men had always regarded her as someone to have fun with or show off, but he saw the real her.
“Thank you for shaking up my life,” he continued. “I needed that kick in the pants to get over myself. Defining myself solely with my job and trying to be perfect isn’t healthy or worth it.”
Val wiped away her tears and searched his eyes. “So you’re not mad you lost? Really?”
He shot her a come-on look. “I like to win. Who doesn’t? But your proposal was amazing. It’s hard to feel sorry for myself when all I can think about is how happy I am for you. And I’ve been thinking.”
She wasn’t fooled by his casual tone. “Yes?”
He tugged her closer. “I know you said you weren’t sure about your next move, but I’m hoping Boston gets considered.”
She tapped her lips with a finger, pretending to ponder his proposition. “I might be able to make that happen.” She shrugged. “I mean I’ve already been scoping out space.”
“You have?” Surprise darted across his face.
“Yeah.” She rose on her toes and gave him a peck on the lips. “Did you think I was going to let you go without a fight?”
Malcolm’s face broke into wide grin. “I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you.”
He cut off her laughter with a soul-stirring kiss. Val melted into his embrace. Yeah, there was no way in hell she was letting him go.
EPILOGUE
A year later
Val studied herself in the mirror. She didn’t even want to try to control the grin dominating her face. Joy filled her every pore. Twelve months ago, who would have thought that she’d end up here?
The year had been incredible. Vixen Studios had exceeded all her expectations. The Sex Sells contest win had been the boon she needed. She was preparing to expand the business a full year ahead of schedule. Though Malcom and his sisters had lost the contest, they’d rebounded quickly thanks to their new marketing campaign. Business was booming.
But nothing could top today. There was only one little thing bothering her.
She opened the bathroom door. “Do you think your sister is going to be mad?”
Malcolm’s back was turned to her as he undid his cufflinks. “How can she be mad? She masterminded a plot to get me to Camp Firefly Falls, which was the best thing to ever happen to me. This is exactly what she needs.”
In the morning, instead of taking Tori to the airport, her pre-arranged limo would be driving her to Camp Firefly Falls. A personalized note would be waiting for her inside the car to explain the change of plans. Layla and Bianca had been sworn to secrecy. Tori’s engagement had ended in spectacular fashion six months ago, and she hadn’t been the same since. They were all hoping to shock her out of her rut.
“I hope so.” Val bit her lip. She’d become close friends with Tori over the past year.
Malcolm turned. His gaze swept her figure, appreciation filling his gaze. He took the two steps to her and snagged her around the waist. “Stop worrying about my sister.” He dipped his head and nuzzled her neck. “Tonight is about us. Or did you forget that we got married today?”
Val tilted her head to give him better access. “I do seem to recall reciting some vows. Something about till death do us part.”
“Right now, I’m more interested in the ‘for better’ part. What are you wearing or not wearing underneath that robe?”
Val feigned surprise. “Did I forget to tell you? Your sisters helped me design a one-of-a-kind piece of Satisfied Lingerie.” She stepped out of his arms and tugged on the sash. A shrug of her shoulders and the robe landed at her feet.
“You get more gorgeous every time I see you.” The unchecked desire on Malcolm’s face made her forgot all about her sister-in-law. Tonight was all about the start of the rest of her life with her husband, the love of her life. She shrieked in delight when he swept her up into his arms.
What a difference a year made.
____
Keep reading! The next Camp Firefly Falls book is Mr. Right Next Door by Farrah Rochon, coming September 9!
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Coming soon…
When Leah Cross’s fiancé decides he no longer wants to get married, the hardworking finance analyst is determined to attend the couple’s retreat at Camp Firefly Falls anyway. But after being dumped, the humiliation of showing up alone is too much for Leah to bear. She needs a stand-in ASAP. At the top of her list: her hot next-door neighbor, Caleb Scott.
For the past four months undercover detective Caleb Scott has been on self-imposed desk duty following an on-the-job incident that shattered his confidence. A weekend fishing trip with his buddies was supposed to be the perfect opportunity for Caleb to clear his mind and make some hard decisions about his future, but after they all bail on him, he’s stuck trying to figure out what to do with his time off. That is, until the neighbor he’s been secretly lusting after for a year invites him to join her at a summer camp for adults.
Can this platonic weekend in the mountains blossom into something more? It will if Caleb has anything to say about it.
Turn the page for a sneak peek!
Discover all seven books in this summer’s Camp Firefly Falls season!
Forget Netflix and chill…campfire and thrill. Here’s a sneak peek at the sixth book set in the Camp Firefly Falls world—stories so hot, you can roast marshmallows on your ereader.
Mr. Right Next Door
By Farrah Rochon
Chapter One
“I’ll be damned if I’ll sit here all weekend long.”
Leah Cross pushed herself up from the chaise lounge in her bedroom and stomped over to her closet. The clothes she’d packed for this weekend’s aborted trip to Camp Firefly Falls were still folded neatly in the navy blue packing cubes her sister had given her for last year’s tour of Europe—yet another vacation that never came to be because the man in her life decided against it. She would not have a repeat of Europe. No way. Not gonna happen.
She may not make it to Camp Firefly Falls, but she was going somewhere this weekend. She would not spend the next three days staring at these walls, analyzing what had led to the implosion of her relationship with Derrick Jackson Montgomery the Third.
His smug ass was always so proud of the Third. Wore it like a badge of honor. She’d foolishly allowed herself to be taken in by all that polish, not recogn
izing just how tarnished Derrick the Third was on the inside.
Leah pointed to herself in the mirror that hung on the back door of her closet.
“Honey, you are better off without him. You’re so much better off it’s not even funny.”
No, it definitely was not funny. None of this was funny.
For the second time in her short thirty-three years, a man she’d been engaged to marry had told he no longer wanted to marry her.
At least with Joshua she’d had some warning. Well, if one could call walking into her ex’s office after-hours to find his bare ass up in the air while he thrust against the nighttime security guard at the finance firm where they both worked a warning. He hadn’t even chosen the cute security guard. He’d picked the one with the bad hair weave who always wore way too much lipstick.
But at least Leah had known things were over after that fiasco. Derrick’s declaration had come out of nowhere. And just when she was finally getting close to picking a date for their wedding.
Okay, she was getting close to settling on a month, not an actual date.
He’d had the nerve to use that as one of his excuses last night. Claiming that she was the one dragging her feet. She hadn’t been entirely sure yet, but at least she’d finally decided that she wanted a spring wedding. Of course, since spring had just passed they would have to wait until next year, but she’d given him a timeframe. What more did he want?
It didn’t matter anymore, becasue Derrick Jackson Montgomery the Third no longer wanted to get married.
“Asshole.”
Leah’s hands fell still, the lightweight sweater she’d picked up remained clutched between her fingers. Seconds stretched into a full minute as reality began to sink in.
She’d been dumped. Again.
How had she let this happen? How had she not seen the signs? And what did this say about her ability to read people? How could she ever trust her instincts when it came to men if, for the second time, she’d been blindsided by a man she’d been prepared to spend the rest of her life with?
Leah slouched against the closet wall.
She’d spent more than a year cultivating her relationship with Derrick; only to have it end with a ten-minute explanation of all the reasons he no longer thought they “fit.” An entire year wasted.
Well, she wasn’t wasting any more time on him.
She didn’t even know where she was going; she just knew that she could not stay in this house all weekend. She would go insane.
Are you really going to do this?
“Yes.” Leah’s strident proclamation echoed around the walk-in closet. The alternative was to spend the weekend reexamining every insignificant thing that had happened over the past thirteen months. Derrick wasn’t worth the time or energy.
She pulled her carryon bag from the top shelf, brought it over to her bed, and placed the mesh packing cubes neatly inside. She grabbed her toiletry bag and makeup case from the bathroom, but then tossed the makeup case back on the counter.
Why even bother with makeup? It wasn’t as if she had anyone to get dolled up for.
You have yourself, dammit! That’s enough.
She would not allow her ex to turn her into some broken, heartsick woman who didn’t bother to comb her hair or wear lip gloss. She threw in an extra razor and her favorite black currant-scented lotion, the one she couldn’t wear around Derrick because he was allergic.
She gave herself a mental slap to the forehead. Why hadn’t she thought to douse him with the lotion last night? Talk about a lost opportunity. She’d pay good money to see those itchy red hives pop up on his skin.
Leah paused in the middle of zipping up the carryon, waiting for her guilty conscience to reprimand her for her sadistic thoughts. The guilt never came. Instead, she thought about how much fun it would be to shove Derrick into a mound of red ants while he was still itching from the lotion. It would be nothing less than he deserved. After all, because of him she was out two thousand dollars.
Dammit, she hadn’t even thought about that until now.
If he’d had the decency to break up with her two weeks ago, at least she would have been able to get fifty percent of the money she’d paid for the retreat. The bastard waited until last night—last night—to tell her he no longer wanted to get married. Now she was stuck paying for a retreat she couldn’t even attend.
Leah picked up the brochure from her dresser and began to thumb through it.
When Derrick first came to her with the idea to attend Camp Firefly Falls, Leah had laughed off the suggestion. The notion of two adults going to summer camp seemed silly. Summer camp was for kids.
When she discovered that it was actually a couple’s retreat, she’d started to warm up to the idea. But when Derrick revealed that it was his mother’s idea—because the daughter of one of the women in her gardening club had attended a similar retreat and claimed it did wonders for her new marriage—Leah had been adamant that they not attend. She didn’t want to set a precedent where her future mother-in-law thought it was okay to meddle in their relationship.
But as she further researched the camp, she decided that maybe a weekend with marriage experts would help her figure out why she suffered light panic attacks whenever she so much as passed a bridal magazine in the grocery store.
Well, she didn’t need those experts now, did she?
She tossed the brochure on the bed and picked up her carryon. It didn’t matter that she had no clue where to go. She would just get in her car and drive. It had been ages since she’d done anything that wasn’t planned down to the millisecond. A little spontaneity this weekend would do her a world of good.
She rolled the carryon out to her black Mustang and popped the trunk. The muscle car was her one foray into rebellion. Her mother had gasped at her choice, but the thought of sitting behind the wheel of a sensible, boring sedan nearly caused Leah to break out into hives.
As she lowered the trunk, she caught sight of her neighbor, Caleb Scott, standing in the middle of his driveway, his expression none too pleased. Another man sat behind the wheel of a cherry red convertible, his hands outstretched in a pleading gesture. Now that was a nice car.
Leah opened her trunk again and pretended to look for something inside. She peered around the side of it, straining to hear what they were arguing about.
Fine, so she was nosy. Sue her.
Caleb stood with his arms crossed as he listened to whatever the guy in the convertible had to say. She could only catch a few words here and there, but her neighbor’s body language spoke volumes. His shoulders were rigid with annoyance, his jaw stiff. Leah noticed that he hadn’t bothered to shave yesterday’s five-o’clock shadow. The affect was pretty damn devastating.
Caleb was hot. It was a statement of fact, like saying the sky was blue or the Jersey PATH train smelled like corn chips and sweat in the middle of July. Leah felt zero guilt in admiring what God had undoubtedly put on this earth for all to appreciate.
The guy behind the wheel started to open his door, but Caleb put a stop to it, pushing it close.
Oh, yeah. Convertible Guy had definitely made it to the top of Caleb’s shit list.
Not wanting to get caught spying on his conversation, she went back inside to get her room diffuser. She couldn’t go to bed without the scent of lavender in the air. When she emerged from the front door, the convertible was backing out of Caleb’s driveway.
She didn’t want to pry, but it didn’t seem very neighborly not to ask if he was okay. Leah made her way across the small patch of grass that dissected their two driveways. Caleb stood with his head titled up at the sky.
“Hi there,” Leah said.
He looked over, his expression still agitated. It softened when he noticed it was her.
“Hey, Leah. How’s it going?”
“Looks as if I’m the one who should be asking you that question.” She motioned to where the convertible had taken off. “Is everything okay?”
The faint frown l
ines bracketing his mouth reappeared. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just may have to murder my friends, that’s all.”
“Oh, well if that’s all,” she said with a nonchalant wave.
He laughed then, the deep chuckle causing an oddly exciting tingle to travel along her skin. Why hadn’t she noticed his laugh before?
“My friends and I were supposed to go on a fishing trip this weekend, but they all bailed on me at the last minute.”
“That…well, that kinda sucks.”
“It sucks big time, but I can’t say I blame them. If I had to choose between sharing a rundown fishing cabin with a bunch of guys and hanging out with my girlfriend, I’d choose the girlfriend too.”
“Except you don’t have girlfriend do you?” she asked without thinking.
“Thanks for pointing that out,” he said with a grin.
Leah had no doubt her normally light brown cheeks were now flaming red.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean for that to sound the way it did. I mean, it’s not as if you couldn’t get a girlfriend. I’m sure if you tried…”
Okay, stop talking! Goodness, what was wrong with her!
“I’m going to shut up now,” Leah said.
Caleb only laughed harder. “No, really, it’s okay. Like I said, I don’t blame them for choosing to spend the weekend with their girlfriends. It’s just that I requested time off for this fishing trip. I could have saved the vacation days for something else later in the year.”
“Is fishing alone out of the question?” she asked. “I’ve never gone fishing before, so I don’t know if there are unwritten rules about it.”
“Actually, I would go by myself, but I happen to be without a truck,” Caleb explained. “It’s getting serviced this weekend. I specifically planned it that way because I figured I’d be at the lake with the guys.” He ran a hand over his closely cropped hair. “I guess I can finally paint the shutters. Not exactly how I’d planned to spend my weekend, but it’s better than loafing around the house.”