Blatantly Blythe

by Sarah Hegger

  Blatantly Blythe

  #3 Ghost Falls

  Sarah Hegger

  Dedication

  If you were one of those readers who emailed me, texted me, messaged me or left me a comment asking for another Ghost Falls book, then this is one hundred percent for you. Without you, I would never have sat down to write this book.

  Acknowledgments

  With this book, I’m launching into the scary world of self-publishing. When I started as a writer, I never saw myself doing this, but I’m equal parts thrilled and terrified I took the leap. I would also never have made this leap without my wonderful friends Tara Cromer and Kristi Rose cheering me on. I can’t thank them enough for all their help and reassurance.

  I’d also like to thank Deb Jones Diem for naming Pippa and Matt’s new baby girl, Jasmine. You nailed it, woman!

  Love and thanks also to Penny Barber for her kickass editing skills and Renee Rocco for taking my burbled emails and turning them into beautiful covers that make my writer’s heart sing.

  As always, I owe so much to my real life hero, Brent, who would like you to know that he took time out of his busy day to correct and improve the book. Let me reassure you that he did survive the experience, but only just.

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2019 Sarah Hegger

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Format and cover design by: Renee Rocco

  First Electronic Edition: June 2019

  ISBN-13: 978-1-7329331-0-1

  ISBN: 978-1-7329331-1-8

  Contents

  Blatantly Blythe

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  Contents

  Praise for Sarah Hegger

  Blatantly Blythe

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Sarah Hegger

  Drove All Night

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Praise for Sarah Hegger

  Positively Pippa

  “This is the type of romance that makes readers fall in love not just with characters, but with authors as well.”

  —Kirkus Review (Starred Review)

  “What begins as a simple second-chance romance quickly transforms into a beautiful, frank examination of love, family dynamics, and following one’s dreams. Hegger’s unflinching, candid portrayal of interpersonal and generational communication elevates the story to the sublime. Shunning clichés and contrived circumstances, she uses realistic, relatable situations to create a world that readers will want to visit time and again.”

  —Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review

  “Hegger’s utterly delightful first Ghost Falls contemporary is what other romance novels want to grow up to be.”

  —Publisher’s Weekly, Best Books of 2017

  “The very talented Hegger kicks off an enjoyable new series set in the small Utah town of Ghost Falls. This charming and fun-filled book has everything from passion and humor to betrayal and revenge.”

  —Jill M Smith, RT Books Reviews 2017 / Contemporary Love and Laughter Nominee

  Becoming Bella

  “Hegger excels at depicting familial relationships and friendships of all kinds, including purely platonic friendships between women and men. Tears, laughter, and a dollop of suspense make a memorable story that readers will want to revisit time and again.”

  —Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review

  “…you have a terrific new romance that Hegger fans are going to love. Don’t miss out!” Jill M. Smith

  —RT Book Reviews

  Nobody’s Fool

  “Hegger offers a breath of fresh air in the romance genre.”

  —Terri Dukes, RT Book Reviews

  Nobody’s Princess

  “Hegger continues to live up to her rapidly growing reputation for breathing fresh air into the romance genre.”

  —Terri Dukes, RT Book Reviews

  “I have read the entire Willow Park Series. I have loved each of the books … Nobody’s Princess is my favorite of all time.”

  —Harlequin Junkie, Top Pick

  Blatantly Blythe

  #3 Ghost Falls

  Sarah Hegger

  Chapter One

  Blythe Barrows loved Eric Evans. Every inch of him. Standing with his back to her, his attention on the awakening view outside his bedroom window, his towel white against the taut, tanned muscle of his back, just the sight of him filled her heart to overflowing.

  Which made this morning the worst morning of her life.

  As he raised his coffee mug to his mouth, the light caught the intricate tattoo work down one arm. She’d traced every swirl, dip and spike of his ink with her fingers, and her tongue. The taste of his skin lingered in her sense memory along with the musky scent that was all him.

  Loving him had become a habit so long ingrained she no longer remembered when it had started.

  Eric leaned one arm on the architrave above the window.

  She loved his gorgeous body, his quick mind, his irreverent sense of humor and even his stubborn, heart-gouging inability to love her back.

  Since she had doodled Blythe Evans all over her Algebra 2 exercise book until the entire cover had been so embarrassingly covered that she’d had to rip it off and stuff it into the bottom of her book bag, up to and including right now.

  Clueless shit that he was, and she needed to keep it that way. Sooner or later those three words would slip out: I love you. Eric would never dump her—he was too awesome a guy for that—but he would slowly slip away from her and keep putting distance between them.

  Blythe didn’t blame him, couldn’t even work up a decent head of angry steam. He’d never wanted what she did, and he still didn’t. She had changed. She wanted the entire enchilada: love, marriage, children, family dog and picket fence. Eric just wanted things to stay as they were.

  He looked over his shoulder and gave her his slow, satiated post-sex grin and a chin jerk. “What are you looking at?”

  “I don’t know but it’s looking back.” Not much had changed in eighteen years. Ghost Falls would d
ie laughing if they knew how she felt about him. Right after they tarred and feathered her and ran her out of town for daring to touch one of the cherished Evans boys.

  He sauntered over to the bed, muscle playing beneath his skin. “Look at you,” he murmured. “All sleepy and sexy.” He leaned over the bed toward her. “Come here, sweet thing.”

  “What for?” She gave him the pert response he expected. This time though, the words lacerated her heart.

  He whispered against her mouth. “You’ll find out when you get here.”

  Blythe pressed her mouth to his to hide the tears threatening to break free.

  “Hmm.” He sucked her bottom lip. “I wish I had time to stay and wake you right.”

  Blythe had counted on his early meeting giving her the escape she needed. After today she would never get to kiss that beautiful mouth again. Blythe tightened her grip on the silky dark hair at his nape and tugged him closer. Fastening her mouth to his, she poured everything into this one last kiss, all her heartbreak, all her pointless wishing and waiting, all the years of longing and those that would follow.

  Eric groaned and took control of the kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth, owning her and demanding her response. His hands tightened on her face.

  Blythe allowed herself this. Her body heated with their kiss, a kiss full of the promise of naked skin sliding against naked skin.

  “Sweet thing.” He pulled away with a soft laugh. “You don’t play fair.”

  She let him go.

  Stepping back from the bed, Eric dropped his towel and gave her a peepshow of the taut globes of his amazing ass. An ass she knew well enough to trace in her mind long after he’d left her. And he always stayed too little and stayed away too long.

  “So.” He hauled on his boxers and disappeared inside his closet. Muscle flexed in his arms as he reappeared, fastening his charcoal gray slacks. “I’m going to be a bit tied up for the next few days.”

  Blythe dropped to her back and stared at the high cathedral ceilings of Eric’s bedroom. He’d built the house himself. A labor of love and dedication reflecting Eric in every elegant, powerful sweep of wood, steel, brick and mortar.

  She stayed silent, waiting for what was sure to come next: the good excuse, the inarguable logic that put distance between them. She could end his efforts in two words—no problem—and give them both a break but she couldn’t quite summon the words. The pain, like two hard fists on either side of her ribcage, wouldn’t let her speak yet. Instead she tucked the sheet over her breasts.

  Subdued, tasteful lighting made macabre early morning shadows on the ceiling. Eric shrugged into his crisp white shirt and did the buttons at the cuff first. Always the same order. Left cuff, flick of the wrist to settle the right cuff, and then those buttons. Next, his large hands fastened on either side of the front placket and jerked them neatly into place. Then he buttoned from the bottom up. “Do you need anything until we see each other again?”

  Always the same question, and her answer remained unchanged. “Nope. Thank you anyway.”

  “You wouldn’t tell me if you did.” He gave her his wry half smile that she adored.

  “Probably not.” She couldn’t force her facial muscles into the smile he expected. Not this morning. They’d been over and over the help thing. He didn’t get it and now he never would. In Ghost Falls the freeloading Barrowses were legendary. She couldn’t do anything about being a Barrows, but she could not and would not keep her hand held out.

  Turning to the long mirror above the dressing table, Eric watched his reflection as he tied his bright red tie. “I’ll give you a call when I get some time. See if you’re free?”

  It wasn’t really a question, and they both knew it. He called, and she made herself free.

  Except, not after today. Not anymore.

  “Hey.” She rolled to her side and propped her head on her palm. Despite the hammering of her heart, she kept her tone calm. “I need to talk to you.”

  A flicker of annoyance flit over the planes of handsome his face. “Now? Can it wait? I have a meeting.”

  “This won’t take long.” She sat up and dropped her legs over the side of the bed. After she got through saying what she had to, she needed a quick escape to the bathroom before she gave in and cried her river. “We can’t do this anymore.”

  He stilled and cocked his head. His dark eyes studied her. “By this you mean us?”

  “Yes.” Dragging the sheet up with her, she stood. She felt stronger standing anyway. “I’m ending it. I’m ending this.” She motioned from her to him. “This thing between us.”

  “Right.” He raised his eyebrows and adjusted his tie. Annoyance flickered on his face as he met her gaze in the mirror. “I need to go. Help yourself to whatever you want. You know the way out.”

  He shoved his arms into his suit jacket in controlled, angry motions. In four long strides, he was out the door, his feet clopping along the hardwood floor.

  And that was that.

  Blythe stood with her feet stuck to the floor as he made the small sounds preceding his departure: grabbing his laptop from the dining room table, the rattle of small change in the bowl by the door as he dug out his car keys, and the awful finality of the door to the garage slamming behind him.

  She’d done it. She’d broken up with Eric Evans. Like the moment before the pain registers when you cut yourself, when you watch with detachment as the blood oozes out of the wound, she calmly walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

  Eric’s wet towel hung in a haphazard bunch over the rack, and she straightened it. The citrus tang of his aftershave lingered in the humid air. Littered over the white marble countertop were his toothbrush and toothpaste, drops of foam from where he had shaved and tiny puddles of water.

  This was all she had left of him, and it would have to be enough to last a lifetime.

  Blythe Barrows loved Eric Evans with every fiber of her being, and because he’d be mortified if he knew—trapped between not wanting to hurt her, and not feeling the same—she needed to leave him, and this time she needed to stay gone.

  * * * *

  Eric backed his black Jaguar XJ out of his garage to the circular driveway outside his house. He repressed the desire to thrust his foot down on the gas and send the three hundred and forty supercharged horses beneath the hood roaring.

  Blythe knew he had an important meeting this morning, and yet she’d chosen to break up with him anyway.

  Again.

  He nosed his car into the still, quiet street. Long morning shadows stretched out to stroke the car’s hood.

  Calling it a breakup gave whatever the hell it was between them too much credit. You could only break up if you were in a relationship, and he and Blythe were not now—nor had they ever been—in a relationship.

  They hooked up from time to time. Fuck buddies. When the mood struck them, they gave each other a call. The mood struck them often enough, and the sex was good enough, that they had been doing this on and off for more years than he cared to count.

  The sex was great to be honest, and it kept him coming back time and time again.

  He didn’t date. He didn’t have time to date. He certainly didn’t have the energy to date either. Dating led to expectations. Expectations he’d never fulfill.

  Love and marriage were great. For other people. His brothers Matt and Nate had stumbled on to their happily ever afters with two great women. Eric loved his sisters-in-law and the nephews and nieces they would soon add to the one niece he already had.

  Behind the hills ringing Ghost Falls, the sun painted the sky roseate. He liked to get to the office before anyone else and get his head together.

  He needed to get his mind on his morning meeting. Evans Construction, which he ran with his older brother Matt, sat poised on the edge of do or die. He and Matt had built it up to this point, takin
g the town of Ghost Falls with them. They’d done their job well, too well. The growth happening in Ghost Falls had brought the big Denver and Salt Lake City companies out to play. They didn’t give a shit about Ghost Falls or who they had to squeeze to make a buck.

  Evans Construction needed to grow, and fast. The sort of growth a merger could make happen.

  Still, visions of Blythe’s huge green eyes nestled burr-like in the back of his brain. How a woman that tough could look so wounded was beyond him. Like he’d opened her main artery and left her bleeding to death.

  That wasn’t fair. He was probably one of the few people alive who knew Blythe wasn’t half as tough as she pretended to be. She’d upset him enough this morning to bring out his inner asshole.

  What they had might not be traditional but it was good. Blythe was special, and he knew that better than anyone. He hated the idea of there being no more them, and she deserved better from him.

  Sure, they’d walked this path before. Any other time he’d have taken a seat beside her, held her close and talked it through. Then they would have made love and healed the hurt between them. It had only gotten to him this morning because of the importance of his upcoming meeting.

  Some patience and caring on his part and her time and attention always put things back on track. And he and Blythe always got back on track. Always.

  Chapter Two

  By the time he nosed into his parking space outside the large brick building that housed Evans Construction, Eric had his A-game on. He thrived on the cut and thrust of negotiation. Pitting wills and wits against a worthy opponent got his blood up, gave him the high he craved.

  He unlocked the glass front door and pushed it open. Always the first to get there in the morning, he flipped on the lights.

  The receptionist, Mrs. Cameron, wouldn’t arrive for another two hours. Matt had employed her when the school district had laid her off after many years of being the high school receptionist. She still made Eric want to check his shirt was tucked in. Despite her scary exterior, she did her job well. It had taken Eric weeks to soften her up, and now he was her favorite. It earned him first dibs on whatever cookies she brought in, and a constant supply of hot coffee.