by Lily Marie
Roxy crossed her arms. “How much do you think this would affect a prospective business?”
“It’s all in the spin. We can’t hide it, Rox, because the locals know, and they’ll talk. So we use it, maybe create our own version of what might have happened, and play it up.”
“I don’t—”
“I agree,” Simone said, smiling at Roxy’s glare. “Stop—you want this as much as I do, Roxy. I didn’t miss your reaction to the building. You saw possibilities. No, you saw a business. We all did. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that you have a dream, sweetie.” She took Roxy’s hand. “I know I started this, but I want it for all of us. I think we can be amazing together.”
Roxy let out a sigh. “Why don’t you just say ‘I told you so’ and get it over with?”
Belle covered her mouth, trying to hold in her laugh, but Simone let loose.
“Sorry,” she said, once she got herself under control. “I so rarely see you taken by surprise.” She gripped Roxy’s hand, her green eyes serious. “I love that you want this, Rox. That you see more for yourself than a job with yet another ego maniac.”
“Look who’s talking about male egos out of control.”
Simone flinched. “We’re all guilty on the man front. Some more than others, so no need to beat a dead horse.” She raised her eyebrows at Roxy. “Let’s make a pact, right now. We focus on starting our business, and keep men out of the equation. Not forever,” she said, when Roxy opened her mouth. “Just until we get established. I, for one, don’t want the distraction.”
For the first time since they arrived in Blue Moon Bay, Belle saw the pain that she knew Simone still felt. Damn Scott McGraw to the lowest depths of Hell for what he did to her. The reminder strengthened Belle’s resolve.
She pushed the image of a tall, blue-eyed, beautiful hunk of man out of her mind, for the hundredth time. He wasn’t—and wouldn’t be—part of her life plan.
Simone’s voice brought her back to the moment. “What do you say?” She held out her hand, palm up. “Are you in?”
Belle slapped her hand in Simone’s palm, maybe a little too enthusiastically. “I’m in.”
They both looked at Roxy.
She snorted, and gracefully laid her hand over Belle’s. “Like I’d say no. You know I’m in.”
Simone squeezed their hands before she freed them and leaned back. “Now that we’re all committed, I can share my news. Alexa Reed called, and the owner accepted our offer on the building. All we have to do is say yes and it’s ours.”
Belle looked at Roxy, and they smiled at each other.
“Yes,” they said, and laughed at the surprise on Simone’s face.
“We’re all in, honey,” Belle said. “Now call that agent before the owner raises the price.”
~
Simone woke with the sun, feeling better than she had in weeks.
Belle and Roxy were planning on leaving Blue Moon Bay today, to start wrapping their lives up as soon as possible. Simone couldn’t get out of San Francisco fast enough; her only saving grace had been learning that Scott had left, and gone back to New York. Having him safely on the other side of the country made it easier to walk out of the house every day, knowing she wouldn’t run into him.
They had all agreed that she would stay here, start getting things into place. Simone was already packed, so Roxy was going to take care of getting her belongings to Blue Moon Bay—and she was happy to do the work, as long as she did it here, and not there. She could stay in the house she had already rented, look for a place for Belle and Roxy.
She sat up and stretched, enjoying the salt-tinged breeze that floated in through the open window of her room at the cozy B&B.
“I could get used to this.”
After another leisurely stretch, she rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She noticed that a manila envelope had been slipped under the door to her room, and let out a sigh. One of her clients must have tracked her down, and wanted a last minute favor. Her mistake, for leaving her travel plans on her message. She padded over to the door, picked up the envelope, and sat on the bench at the end of the bed.
“Let’s see who wants an eleventh hour job.”
She tore the envelope open, pulled out the single sheet of paper—and started shaking when she read the block letters that filled the page.
GET OUT OF BLUE MOON BAY
The paper slipped out of her fingers.
She finally took in a sharp breath, after she realized she was lightheaded because she hadn’t taken a breath since seeing the threat.
“I have to call Belle—she did the research—”
The thought of Belle being caught off guard snapped her out of her stupor. She pushed to her feet and ran for her cell phone. The phone started ringing just as she reached for it.
She let out her breath when she saw Belle on the screen, and answered.
“Belle?”
“Simone—thank God. Are you okay, honey?”
Simone closed her eyes. “You got it, too.”
“So did Roxy. She’s on her way from her B&B. I’ll be right there.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
She waited by the door, jumping when the expected knock came.
“Simone—it’s me.”
She opened the door and wrapped her arms around Belle, just holding on to her.
“You’re okay?” she whispered.
Belle nodded against her shoulder. “Just completely freaked out.”
Simone let her go and pulled her inside. “I have wine.”
“I think I love you.”
After Simone settled her on the bench, she got the bottle of wine she’d bought on the way back here last night, and poured them each a glass, using the wine glasses in the cabinet above the small fridge. She sat next to Belle, handing her the glass before hugging her again.
“You were the first person I thought of when I opened that envelope.”
“I think I stirred up a beehive.” Belle pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it, handing it to Simone. “Let’s trade.”
Simone handed over her threat, and took Belle’s, swallowing when she read it.
STOP SNOOPING OR YOU’LL PAY
The knock on the door had them both jumping.
“That will be Roxy,” Belle said, one hand pressed to her heart. “She said she was right behind me.”
Simone confirmed that it was Roxy before she opened the door. Right now, she wasn’t taking any chances.
Roxy stalked into the room, fury practically pouring off her. She stomped past Simone, poured her own wine, and practically threw her piece of paper at Belle.
“Who the hell do they think they are? All we’re doing is buying a damn building.”
“And looking into the history of that building,” Belle said. She opened Roxy’s paper, and cursed under her breath before she held it out to Simone. “No wonder you’re pissed.”
Simone took the paper, and let out her breath after she read it.
IF YOU VALUE YOUR LOOKS, HUSSY, YOU’LL GO AWAY
Roxy read the other two pages. “Our creep is a poet.” She grabbed the paper out of Simone’s hand and crumpled all three of them into a ball, throwing it across the room. “I won’t let some paranoid asshat keep me from my dream. Our dream. Tell me you’re not thinking of backing down.” She turned to Belle, hands on her hips. “Well?”
“It scared me,” Belle said. “I won’t lie. But not enough to make me run. I want this, just as much as you do. We just need to be careful, and maybe report the threats to the local police. No, Roxy—we’re not going to face this alone. If we have the police on alert, whoever sent these will probably back down.”
Simone sat next to Belle. “I agree. And it’s the only way I’ll move forward on this. I won’t put us in danger, just to get away from my bad memories. This could be hot air, or it could be more serious.” She held up her hand when Roxy started to protest. “I want to believe the hot air theory. I
f someone has been able to keep whatever happened under wraps this long, I doubt we’re going to uncover any dark secret. But we’re also erring on the side of caution, as my mother would always say.”
“Fine.” Roxy crossed her arms. “I already wrote a check for the building, so there’s no backing out.”
“Wait.” Simone stood. “When did you do this?”
“While you two were fighting over the floor plan. I had some money, from an inheritance. I decided that I wanted us to be in as little debt as possible starting out. You will have plenty of time to pay your part back to me, so stop glaring, Simone. This was my choice, my way of saying I’m all in.”
Simone hugged her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For believing in this. In me.”
“Hell,” Roxy pulled free and crossed her arms. “I needed a swift kick out of my rut, and you gave me that.” She stalked over to the ball of paper and picked it up, using the edge of her sleeve to cover her fingers. “Get me your envelope, Simone. They may not get any prints but ours off these, but at least they’re proof that we did get threats. We’ll give the police the other envelopes, too. Might as well introduce ourselves, let them know we’ll be moving into the old Monahan building.”
“Is that who owned it?” Belle pulled a small notebook out of her jacket pocket. “I wrote down several names. Monahan was one of them. They’re a prominent family here.” She flipped pages. “Here. They own about half the town, but they sold this building back in the late 1800s, to a John Boothe. No, not that Booth, so stop snickering, Roxy. Different spelling, wrong coast.”
“Sorry.” She winked at Simone.
“Okay,” Simone said. “Let’s get dressed, and meet in front of the police station. Then I have to get you both to the airport.”
Belle shook her head. “We’re not leaving. Not after this.”
“Yes, you are.” Simone took her hand. “Once the local police know, I’ll have someone watching my back. It’s a scare tactic, sweetie, and I’m not going to let it stop us from moving forward. Now move, so we can get this off our list.”
She waited for Roxy and Belle to leave, then closed the door and leaned against it, her hands shaking. Whoever had left those threats scared her, but they weren’t going to stop her.
Blue Moon Bay was her home now, and she was determined to stay.
~
Simone knew the second she saw Police Chief Mackenzie Boothe that he was going to be trouble.
He couldn’t have been less her type. Too tall, too blonde, too rugged, and too much muscle. She liked her men lean, pretty, and dark. Like Scott.
With a sigh, she shook her head and joined Roxy, who had already handed over the envelopes. She’d found a baggie somewhere, and all three envelopes were in it, along with the crumpled pages.
“We all touched them.” Roxy had her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed. “It’s called shock. We had just been threatened, and we—”
“Didn’t know any better. I get it.” Boothe leaned against the edge of the desk behind him, green eyes focused on Simone as he kept talking. Sun streaked blonde hair brushed the blue collar of his shirt. “I’m glad you all had the sense to bag them up before you brought them in. And I’ll need your fingerprints, so my people can take them out of the equation.”
Some kind of twang edged his voice. It sounded like Texas. Simone hated Texas.
She stepped forward and held out her hand. “Simone Channing. I’ll be the one staying here, while my friends wrap things up in San Francisco.”
He took her hand, and she jumped at the shock of his warm, calloused palm against hers. “Mackenzie Boothe.” He stared at their hands, then frowned at her. But instead of letting go, he tightened his grip, like he was testing her. “You just bought the Monahan building. I hope you can stick. The last five businesses bugged out after less than a year.”
Simone pulled her hand free, not polite about it. She needed some distance. “We plan on staying.”
A smile tugged at Boothe’s lips, and she had a feeling he was amused at her retreat. “I’m sure they did, too.” His amusement faded, and he scratched at his chin. Simone cursed herself for noticing the cleft, and that it suited his rugged looks. She also noticed the laugh lines that radiated from his eyes, the muscled, tanned skin of his forearms. “I’ll have a car cruise past the building on a regular basis. You rented the little cottage, out near the cliff?” When Simone nodded, he frowned. “I’ll put that on the list. For my peace of mind, Ms. Channing. I’d blame myself if something happened to you, and a drive by could have kept it from happening.”
“Fine.” God, she sounded like her mother, cold and unbending. “Thank you.” That was better. He was just doing his job, and she appreciated it. “I’d feel safer.”
“So would I.” That smile tugged at his lips again, and it took all of Simone’s control not to bite hers.
He’s a man—and you swore off men. So stop it.
Besides, getting involved with the local Police Chief wouldn’t be smart, not when she planned on starting a business here.
“If that’s all,” Roxy said, amusement in her eyes. “We’ll get out of your hair. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us personally, Chief.”
“My pleasure.” He looked straight at Simone when he said it.
She nodded, and forced herself to walk out of the station, instead of run. Once she got outside, she took a deep breath, and leaned against the building. Belle ran up to her, out of breath.
“Sorry I’m late. Did I miss anything?”
Roxy spoke before she could open her mouth. “Just our very own Simone, drooling over the ruggedly handsome Police Chief.”
“I did not—did I?”
“I know you well, so I saw it. I don’t think the drool-worthy Mackenzie Boothe noticed. He was too busy scolding me for touching evidence.”
“We didn’t know it was evidence until after we touched it.” Belle placed her hands on her hips, her drawl wrapping around her outraged voice. “Did you tell him that fact, Roxy?”
“Why, yes I did, ma’am.” Roxy mimicked her friend’s drawl. “I told him, ‘lawd, sir, we hardly knew what we were doing, we took such a fright.’”
Belle’s lips twitched. “Stop it.”
“I about fainted dead away when I first read those terrible words. Terrible, they were! I might just,” she stumbled toward Belle, grabbing for her arm. “I might swoon, just thinking about them again. Will you catch me in your big, strong arms?” She pressed one hand to her forehead, in such an overblown gesture Simone burst out laughing.
Belle shoved her, clearly fighting between annoyed and amused. “Stop it—I do not sound like that. And you,” she stabbed her finger at Simone. “Stop laughing. If Roxy says you were mooning, then you were mooning. Cut it out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Simone saluted her, then sobered. “He may be ruggedly handsome, and there may have been—something, when I took his hand, but he’s a man. So he’s off limits.” She looped her arm through Belle’s, and grabbed Roxy’s hand. “Now walk me home, so I can show off my adorable house.”
They strolled down the sidewalk, only partially aware of the stares, some admiring, some lustful.
And one they didn’t see, filled with rage.
*
I hope you enjoyed this introduction to my new series, Blue Moon Bay Romance.
Simone, Belle, and Roxy will return in Always the Bridesmaid, where Belle falls for the last man she wants in her life – the sexy, gorgeous Ian Cooper.
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Who is Lily Marie?
I love to tell stories – everything from shifters to contemporary romance.
Add some strong but tender heroines, throw them together with strong, flawed heroes, and heat is bound to happen.
I write romance – one steamy scene at a time.
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To learn more about me, and browse my other books, check out my website: http://lilymariewrites.com
I look forward to meeting you.