He caught her face in his hands and covered her mouth with his. They were both breathing rapidly when they broke apart.
“How about before dinner, we deliver the headband to your friend?” Jack said.
“It’s mobile mistletoe. It’s time it traveled to someone else’s care.”
As Jack kissed her goodnight, Kara wondered how many holidays they would celebrate together.
Valentine’s Day would only be the beginning if she had a say.
*****
Zoe dipped her spoon in the carton of Haagen-Dazs, and sighed. She was spending another Valentine’s Day with Chunky Monkey and not a hunky. There was a knock. She swung her legs off the couch and looked through the peep-hole.
She opened the door. “Kara? What are you doing here?”
Kara stood next to a tall, handsome man who had his arm around her waist.
“Hey,” Zoe said. “Isn’t this the guy from the bar?”
“This is Jack. Let’ say he broke the pact and now it’s all yours, babe.” Kara held the headband and dangled it between two fingers. “I’m beginning to think it’s lucky, and not a curse after all. By the way, happy Valentine’s Day.”
Kara slipped the dangling mistletoe headband over Zoe’s hair and pulled her door shut.
About the Author
Jennifer Conner is a bestselling Northwest author who has over thirty short stories on ebook and three full-length books in print. She writes in Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, and Erotica. Shot in the Dark hit Amazon at #1 in Romantic Suspense and Christmas Chaos was #2 in the Romance category. Her novel Shot in the Dark was a finalist in the Emerald City Opener, Cleveland, and Toronto RWA contests. Jennifer is an Associate Publisher for the indie e-book company Books to Go Now that resides in the Seattle area
Look for the other stories in this series:
Love Comes for Saint Patrick’s Day
Zoe and her best friends make a pact to wear a Christmas mistletoe headband until a man kisses them. It worked for Kara, and Zoe’s next in line.
Now it’s Saint Patrick’s Day. Zoe’s met handsome Irish businessman, Carrick Kelly, but can she lay her heart on the line for someone who may be gone in a few days. Her job depends on Carrick signing a contract with her advertising agency, but he doesn’t think much of her boss’s ideas.
Torn between growing feelings for Carrick and work commitments, will Zoe get a little luck of the Irish to help her make a decision?
Love Comes for the 4th of July
Jess Caldwell is the third in line to wear the mistletoe headband until she’s kissed. But it’s her best friend Kara’s wedding, Jess needs to keep her mind on designing the flowers and not on the fact that Kara’s older brother, Darrin, who she’s had a crush on for years will be there.
Darrin’s happy to be moving home, and what is even more of a pleasant surprise is seeing her again. Jess isn’t the geeky girl he remembered when he left. But after all the mean things he said in the past, will she give him another chance?
When things go wrong, more than fireworks fly for this 4th of July wedding. Will love be in the air?
Love Comes for Halloween
Now it’s her turn.
Until she’s kissed, Jane, is the last one of her girlfriends to wear the Mobile Mistletoe. Feeling pressured by her friends, she jumps on her dad’s motorcycle and heads out on the open road. But she doesn’t get far before it breaks down. What else can go wrong? Will she be eaten by a bear?
Gage has a past he wants to forget. Retreating to the mountains, where he can build custom bikes and cars in seclusion, he wants to give back for the mistakes he’s made.
Neither Jane or Gage are looking for a relationship, but isn’t Halloween the perfect time of year to scare up some love?
Red Soles in the Morning, Valentines Soaring
Book 2 in The Red Soles Series
Cary Morgan Frates
Natalie-Nicole Bates
Chapter One
Wednesday, January 1.
Mack Hargrave drew Audrey’s scarf up to her chin, then tucked her coat in closer before meeting her gaze. Their breath formed clouds in the frosty air. Around them, the uncanny quiet of a New Year’s morning blanketed in snow was achingly beautiful, achingly poignant.
They stood in the cockpit of her thirty-three foot sailboat at Carillon Point Marina in Kirkland. Mack’s bags were piled on the dock, and his English Setter, Winston, made unconcerned traces in the snow with his nose as he sniffed around.
Audrey hated that her eyes swam with tears, hated that she wasn’t stronger, and really, really hated that Mack would board a plane bound for Texas in three short hours. They met on Christmas Adam, exactly ten days previous. He’d saved her shoes, and then captured her heart. By Christmas Eve they knew something special had taken hold between them. By nightfall on Christmas Day, they were irretrievably bound, heart and soul.
“This sucks,” he whispered, then tenderly kissed the tip of her nose.
Try as she might to suppress it, the muscles around her lips began to twitch—a sure sign a full-on crying jag was near. She sensed that any attempt at speech would send her over the emotional edge, so she simply blinked and nodded.
“I’ll call as soon as I land.”
“I’ll…” she attempted, then took a deep breath, determined to get it out. “I’ll miss you.”
Understatement of the year. She was in love with him. Absolutely. Desperately. Ten days with this man and her life went from manageable solitude, to unimaginable bliss, to desolation. A rogue tear escaped and ran down her cheek. If she kept looking into his gorgeous, sad eyes, she’d lose it for sure, so she rested her forehead against his chest.
“Audrey,” he said, and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Audrey, we’ll figure out a way to make this work. We have to.”
More tears. She nodded her agreement. It was all she could manage.
“Audrey.” He took her face in his hands, both thumbs swiping uselessly at her wet cheeks. “Audrey, listen to me.” He tilted her face up, his gaze earnest. “I love you. I love you, okay? This is real, and I’m not walking away from it. I have to figure things out with the business. We both do. So being apart is just temporary.”
“I know,” she said, “but it sucks.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I think we covered that. But maybe you didn’t hear me just now? I said I love you, Audrey. I haven’t said that to a girl since junior high, and I had lust-filled motives for saying it back then.” He paused, but got no response. “That girl slapped me, by the way, so I’m hoping this will turn out better…”
Still nothing. She felt bad. She knew she should smile at his joke, but she just couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t fall apart.
“This is honest-to-God a first for me, Audrey,” he said softly, his lips brushing against her ear, “and the first time telling you. Can I get a little smile for that, or maybe a reciprocal response? You’re not allowed to just leave me hanging, sweetheart. It’s a rule.”
Audrey grinned, shook her head, and a laugh broke through. “Right now I hate you for leaving, and I hate planes that take you away from me, and I absolutely hate Texas for being so far away.”
“That’s not what I was looking for, but at least you didn’t do physical harm…or toss me overboard,” he said, smiling, “which is, if you’ll recall, a vast improvement from the night we met, so I guess I won’t complain.”
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, his warmth, body and soul, seeping into her. They stood a long moment more, and then Mack drew back, gave her a light kiss, and stepped off the boat. Audrey watched as he picked up his bags and turned to her one last time, a sad smile playing across his lips. “See you.”
Pure misery. She gave h
im a little wave. “Bye.”
He turned and started trudging down the dock as Winston played at his heels. His shoulders were bent, although from the weight of his bags or the weight of his mood, she couldn’t tell.
She couldn’t watch him walk away. She couldn’t draw a breath. Her eyes stung. Her chest hurt.
“Mack!”
Audrey scrambled off the boat and started running. In seconds she was in his arms. “I love you, Mack. Oh, God, I miss you already,” she sobbed. “I love you so much.”
Chapter Two
Wednesday, January 8.
Audrey took the bag and the receipt, thanked the lady, and headed out of the shoe repair shop. A touch of glue here and there, new insoles, and $67.52 later, her exquisite “So Kate” rouge et noire Louboutin babies were as good as new. Too bad she no longer felt jazzed about wearing them. She would spend her life giving thanks for the clumsy dog that had inadvertently knocked her very expensive shoes into Lake Washington on Christmas Adam, thus requiring his master and soon-to-become-love-of-her-life, Mack Hargrave, to dive in and rescue them. But sadly, he was back in Texas, and the gorgeous shoes simply represented the gigantic hole in her heart.
No matter. Wear them she would. And Happy Hour at Daniel’s Broiler with her life-long girlfriends was only minutes away. She climbed into her bright yellow Jeep, changed into her “So Kates,” and then headed for her rendez-vous.
****
“My God, where have you been hiding?” Grace asked, and clasped Audrey in a bear hug.
“We’re so sorry we bailed on you,” Meg offered, wringing her hands. “I just…we…with the snow and all…”
“It’s okay, guys, really,” Audrey smiled, hugging each friend hard before she sat. “How were your holidays? No, wait, first I want to tell you about mine.”
Four pair of eyebrows rose as if on cue.
“Hi ladies.” Their waitress interrupted. “Can I start you off with a drink while you look at the menu?”
She could tell that her friends were about to respond when Audrey blurted out, “Champagne. Moët. And five flutes, please.”
“What the…” Abby whispered, as a Cheshire grin crept across her face.
“You got—”
“Stop!” Audrey wagged a finger at her friend in warning. “Don’t be crass, Kristen. It’s not like that. Not at all. Nowhere close.”
They were all grinning now, and Kristen was doing a little victory dance in her chair.
The waitress returned and went through the motions, opening the bottle and pouring, while Audrey sat back and relished the delicious angst for information her girlfriends exhibited.
As soon as she left, they refused to hold back any longer.
“Is he hot?” “Does he like sports?” “Is he rich?” “Where’d you meet him?” What’s his name?” “Do we know him?” “Tell. Tell. Tell!”
Audrey raised her glass and clinked it against theirs, then sat back. “His name is Mack. He is very hot. I don’t know and don’t much care about rich, but I think he’s comfortable. He’s smart, and a sailor, and…”
Her chest suddenly felt constricted, the all-too-familiar tear-laden tension roared to life, and tears pricked her eyes, which stopped her words in their tracks.
The girls all leaned in, waiting, and expressions of sorrow formed.
Audrey drew a deep breath and hurried to finish. “And I love him and he’s gone. He lives in Texas.”
“What?”
“Slow down. Start over.”
“Okay, okay.” She looked down to gather herself and focused on her shoes. The corners of her mouth lifted into a grin. She took a shoe off and lifted it for all to see.
“These shoes, dear friends, were the best investment in my future I ever made. Bar none.” She took a sip of her champagne, then proceeded to tell her friends how a vivacious dog had knocked a bag with a bottle of Scotch and her shoes into Lake Washington, and how that disaster led to meeting the most wonderful man in the world
Chapter Three
Wednesday, January 15.
Mack paced his office as he waited for the phone call. Tradewinds Charters out of Fort Lauderdale was looking to upgrade their fleet across the Caribbean over the next two years. That meant loads of refurbishments and overhauls, and hopefully, a good number of brand new Hargrave Yachts—the sort of order that would take them international, and place Hargrave squarely among the upper echelon of boat builders in the U.S.
Frank Mitchell, Tradewinds’s GM, would call the bid winner this morning at ten. Frank was very big on punctuality. If the phone remained silent beyond 10:01, Mack and Hargrave Yachts would be S.O.L. Not critical for the overall health of the company, but not upper echelon, either.
He rubbed his palms on his jeans, and then glanced at his watch. 9:58. His thoughts flew to Audrey, as they usually did, and he smiled at the idea of calling her with the great news—
Hold on! Don’t go there, he warned himself. Bad mojo to get ahead of yourself.
He stood at the window of his office, adjacent to the marina in Rockport, and gazed at the sun-drenched dock, the wall of masts, and beyond those to the choppy blue waters of Aransas Bay and St. Joseph Island. He’d love to take Audrey out there, show her his world, and entice her to stay…
The harsh ring of his phone jarred him back to the moment and he reached for the receiver.
“Mack Hargrave.”
“Mack, its Frank. I believe you were expecting my call?”
Holy… A broad grin swept across Mack’s face and he checked his watch again. 10:00. Fist pump! “Yes, I was expecting it. Absolutely. And may I add I’m happy as heck I didn’t have to wait until ten-fifteen to get it.”
Frank chuckled. “You put together a helluva proposal, and I’m confident you can back it up. You do excellent work. Attention to detail from a sailor’s point of view. No cutting corners. We’ll be proud to offer your product in our fleet.”
“I’m honored, Frank,” Mack replied, his heart pounding, “truly honored.”
“Well, crack the champagne and get your celebrating done now, because I’m going to need to see you down here Asap to iron out the details going forward. Can you be here Monday?”
“Sure.” He quickly flipped through his Day-Timer as he spoke, and saw nothing that needed to be rescheduled. “I’m wide open next week. I’ll be at your office at nine o’clock.”
“Perfect, we’ll see you then,” Frank said, “and congratulations. I won’t keep you. I have a few other calls to make.”
“Thank you, Frank. Thank you.”
Mack hung up the phone and stared at his hand on the receiver, absorbing the reality, the enormity of what just happened. This contract would challenge the company in ways they couldn’t yet imagine—it would be difficult, a rush, a transforming, life-altering, terrifying experience. He swallowed hard, got a firm grip on his nerves, then tipped back his head and let out a great, booming, howl of delight.
****
Audrey ran her palms down her dark gray, wool bouclé skirt, as if to straighten it, though no wrinkles existed. She knew she was a breath or two shy of full-on hyperventilation. Heart pounding a staccato beat in her ears, Audrey tore her gaze from the spreadsheet in front of her and stared out her office window at the brick wall across the alley. She took several careful, cleansing breaths. The last six months of her life had been a whirlwind in every respect, but this, these last three weeks, were over the top. It just didn’t happen.
Personally, she’d met and fallen hard for the most wonderful man in the world, and he with her. Professionally, well…in the last three weeks she’d closed on four unbelievable properties: a south facing penthouse condo on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle for $1.6 million; a mega-mansion on Meydenbauer Bay in Bellevue for $5.3 million; a thirty acre equestrian property i
n Ellensburg for $11.5 million; and last, but the best where Audrey’s heartstrings were concerned, a Victorian, built in 1895, purchased for preservation/renovation in Snohomish for $235K.
Two of these property listings found her, one she’d cultivated, and one was handed over by an agent who’d lost patience with the pace of her life and left the industry. Audrey worked hard for her clients, no doubt, and each property had its difficulties, whether price, size, or condition. Regardless, she’d been confident all would sell…eventually. And then, out of the blue, all four suddenly found enthusiastic buyers who wanted quick closes.
She picked up a pencil and started to calculate with shaky fingers. Almost nineteen million in sales—in one month! Astounding. Commissions for this month alone, split in half for buying and selling agents, and then split 60/40 with her employer, would net her—she gulped and blew out hard—would net her…somewhere in the neighborhood of—
Oh, cripes!
She stood so quickly her chair toppled over. Oh, cripes! Holy…! This was impossible, unbelievable, heart-stoppingly, freaking wonderful!
Frozen in place, Audrey stared at the door when she heard the knock, and then watched as her boss and several others barged in, grinning like fools.
A champagne cork blew across the room. Her boss hooted while the others burst into applause, and Audrey punched the air with her fists and let out a howl of delight.
Chapter Four
Wednesday, January 22.
Audrey walked down the dock of the empty marina toward her sailboat, Spirit, with a duffle bag over one shoulder and a grocery bag tucked under the opposite arm. She hadn’t been back since New Year’s Day, and the sight of her beloved boat, moored next to Mack’s sailboat, filled her with sadness. No matter how often they Skyped, texted, IM’d, or actually used the phone, it wasn’t enough—she missed him!
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