by Marie Carnay
Three horny as hell twenty-one-year-olds with no curfew and no exams for ten weeks. Senior year of college ahead of them. Life wide open. One week in and they’d all bonded. The three of them like a pack of musketeers. Tending bar until close, goofing off on the beach until dawn.
Blake had wanted her from the minute he saw her. Devin too. But it’d been friends first. Lovers only once…
She’d been hidden beneath all that fluffy white stuff, but her eyes still shown with their pale blue light. Her dark brown hair cascaded around her shoulders. And when she turned and walked away…The memories rushed back.
Sexy curves that just wouldn’t quit. Hips he could squeeze all night. Body that fit between him and Devin like she was made for them. He glanced at Devin as the man slipped cuff links through his button holes.
He and Devin had been friends since they could walk. Went to the same school, played on the same teams, waited tables at the same restaurant. Now they ran a joint business. But they’d never been closer than they were that night. That one night with Summer.
Devin glanced up. “She looked good.”
“Horrified is more like it. Did you see how big her eyes were? She could have been a cartoon character.”
Devin shrugged. “Yeah, but did you catch how long she’d been staring before we said hello? I counted to thirty before I turned around, man.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “That was before she knew who we were.”
“So? She thinks we’re hot. That gives us an in.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Blake picked up the bow tie and ran the black silk through his fingers. “I told Mandy I thought springing it on her was a bad idea.”
“What? That we’re in the wedding?”
Blake nodded. As soon as she’d brought up the idea—blue eyes electric and a cheerleader smile on her round cheeks—he’d shot it down. Not tell Summer they were in the wedding? Insane.
“You think giving her a chance to back out would’ve been better? You know if Mandy had mentioned one word of us being here, Summer would’ve come up with some lame ass excuse and stayed home.”
Blake scrubbed his hand down his face. Damn it. He hated it when Devin was right. He slipped the tie behind his neck and turned to the mirror.
Four years. They’d been pining after a ghost of a woman for four years. And when she finally walked back into their life, all he could do was stare. No wonder she left.
He finished the knot and walked over to the windows. The tiny chapel sat on the edge of the cliff, overlooking all of Midnight Cove. Waves crashed over the rocky shore, clouds stretched out in a hazy sunset over the ocean, and the lighthouse shone in the distance.
Picture perfect.
Visions of Summer’s paintings swam before his eyes. Intense purples and reds. Aquamarine. All dripping with emotion like sunsets over the water. “You think she’s just here for the weekend?”
“I doubt she’s decided to suddenly move across the country, Blake. She lives in New York.”
Blake snorted. “In some luxury apartment her mother’s paid for, I’m sure. Mandy said it’s close to the galleries, in the heart of the artists’ district. The center of everything.”
Devin pulled on his tux jacket. “That doesn’t mean we can’t give it a shot. She’s single—Mandy said so. And we’ve got the whole weekend.”
“That’s only what? Three, four days?” Blake ran his hand through his hair. “She ran away, Dev. If she’d wanted to explore what we had—if she’d wanted us—she’d never have left.”
“You don’t know that. She never told us why she left.” Devin checked out his reflection in the mirror and straightened his tie. “We were a lot younger then. None of us knew what we wanted. It’s a do-over. A second chance. This time, we’ll do it right.”
Blake frowned. Overconfident as usual. Devin might have the good looks and the brains to back it up, but where Summer was concerned? They’d both struck out.
As soon as their friendship tipped over into something more—unforgettable—she ran. Out the front door and onto an airplane without so much as a goodbye.
He could still taste the sweetness on his tongue. The hint of soda and mint and youth as he nibbled on her lip and stroked her bare skin. The way Summer cried out when he thrust inside her. The way she moaned when Devin slid up behind. He’d never get her out of his head.
But it was more than just the sex. Or the chemistry. She hadn’t been a hot one-night stand. She’d been their best friend. No one could turn that off because of one night. But Summer had.
Blake had spent years trying to forget her and failing miserably. He glanced out at the ocean and the glinting afternoon sun. “I don’t know if I can deal with another rejection.”
Devin snorted. “Then you need to dig deep and man up. I’m not letting her slip away again. Not without laying it all on the line.”
He turned to Blake and gripped him by the arms. Devin’s fingers dug into Blake’s muscle and he ducked until he caught Blake’s eye. “I need you with me on this.”
“I know.” Blake wrenched his arms out of Devin’s grip and stepped back. “I’ll get there. It’s just—seeing her again with that look on her face.” He grabbed his jacket and motioned at the door. “Let’s get through the rehearsal first, okay?”
Devin grinned. “You do know how it starts, right?”
* * *
SUMMER
“I can’t believe you invited them and didn’t tell me.” Summer hung the dress up on the hook and slipped it off the hanger. She glanced at the mirror in time to catch Mandy roll her eyes.
“You know why I didn’t tell you they’d be here? Because of this right here.” Mandy pointed a finger at Summer’s pouty reflection in the glass. “I knew you’d freak out.”
“Of course I’d freak out!” Summer hoisted the dress up and helped Mandy step into it. When she’d tugged it up to her chest, she spun her best friend around. “Exhale. I’ve got to do the buttons.”
She couldn’t believe the nerve of all three of them. Conspiring like children to spring this on her. And for what? So she could stand there like an idiot while her brain short-circuited?
Summer yanked the two sides of the dress together and Mandy bit back a yelp. Serves her right. She slipped the silk over the first button and fumed. She slipped it over the second and exhaled in a huff. By the time Summer reached the top of the dress, her anger had faded.
As she finished, she stepped back and gave Mandy’s reflection a small smile. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. This is your wedding weekend. I should be focused on you, not my own hangups.”
Mandy smiled back. “That’s okay. I knew you’d be upset. And maybe I should have told you.” She turned around and met her face-to-face. “But would you have come if I had?”
Summer bit her lip. Her best friend could read her so well. “Probably not.”
“Then I’m glad I didn’t. I know I wasn’t that close with Blake and Devin before you left, but…” She turned around and her smile faded. “They’ve been friends with Richard for years. They worked at Swallow Tail since what? They were fifteen? I had to invite them.”
Summer’s shoulders slumped. In her haste to blame Mandy, she’d forgotten all about the groom. She might have met her best friend in college, but Midnight Cove was Mandy’s home. She’d grown up with Blake and Devin.
God, she could be so selfish. “I’m sorry. You’re totally right. I should have known they’d be in the wedding. I don’t want my issues causing you problems.”
Mandy reached out and gave Summer’s hand a pat. “It’s okay. But, Summer…” She paused and her brows knitted. “You need to stop avoiding them. I know what happened freaked you out, but it’s been four years.”
“I know.”
“And you can’t stop thinking about them.”
Summer’s eyebrow arched. “Your point?”
“Sometimes losing something makes you realize you can’t live without it.”
Summer s
tepped back. “Please tell me you mean Richard.” She’d been in New York when it happened, but Mandy had called in a panic. Screaming and crying over the phone. Richard had taken his sailboat out on the ocean—just him, no crew—when a freak storm came up. The coastguard and police swarmed in to rescue him. He was lucky.
“When his boat capsized, there was a moment for me. It all just clicked into place. I loved him. I wanted to marry him. I’d been fighting it for months. But when I thought he might die, it hit me. Pushing him away and holding off, it wasn’t going to change my heart.”
Summer thought back. “You got engaged right after, didn’t you?”
Mandy nodded.
If only it could be that way for her. She turned and looked out the window. Waves crashed over the rocks and seagulls swooped to catch fish out of the water. Ever since Mandy first talked about her hometown, Summer knew she would love it.
For a few weeks in college, she had. Spending all her free time down at the rocky shoreline. Searching for shells and squishing sand between her toes. She’d waited tables and tended bar and hung out with Mandy and Blake and Devin.
They’d found all the spots the wealthy tourists wouldn’t go. The places even celebrities didn’t know about.
Part small coastal village off the 101, part billionaire playground. Midnight Cove had it all. The Hamptons of the West Coast.
And for a while, Summer’s everything. She watched one tiny seagull struggling against the wind. Up and down it battled the current, wings flapping, never advancing. Hung in mid-air. She closed her eyes. Every painting she’d managed to produce in the last four years had captured a part of Midnight Cove. What she could have had. What she ran away from.
She turned back to Mandy. “You can’t seriously say that I pushed Blake and Devin away because we’re all three supposed to end up together.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s crazy talk! No one dates two men at the same time.”
“Sure they do!”
Summer threw her hands in the air. “Okay. Sure, some women date more than one guy. But they don’t have threesomes!” Her voice cracked and she wished Mandy would just drop it.
“I think you’re selling yourself short. Who cares what other people do? If those two make you happy, then you should go for it.”
“You’re nuts. How would I explain it to art houses in New York? They’d Google me and turn me down flat.” She palmed her hips. “And what about my mother? You know how she is.”
Mandy came over and the layers of tulle and silk and organza billowed around her. “I don’t think you give your mother enough credit. All that talk about Midnight Cove from you and look what happened.”
Summer cringed. “She bought a vacation pad here.”
“Exactly.” Mandy patted her shoulder. “Maybe she’ll come around on Blake and Devin, too.”
“Right.”
Mandy dropped her hand. “All I know is, I’m in love. You could be too, if you’d only open your ears long enough to listen to your heart.”
Summer couldn’t believe it. She’d come back to Midnight Cove to support her friend. To be her maid of honor and watch her marry the love of her life. Instead, she’d wound up in some upside-down crazy town. “What am I supposed to do? Walk up to Devin and Blake with open arms and say I’m sorry? It’s been four years! I’m sure they’ve moved on.”
Mandy’s face turned somber. “Some things you don’t get over so quickly.”
Summer blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The bride-to-be plastered on a smile. “Don’t run away. That’s all. Stay the weekend. Be in my wedding. If at the end of your trip, you still want to go home alone, go.”
Summer knew Mandy was holding back. “But what?”
Mandy pursed her lips before answering. “Don’t shut down the chance to find happiness because it’s not what’s expected. Make your own path.”
Ridiculous. The wedding had addled her brain. She gave Mandy a placating smile. “Fine. But I’m not going to hunt them down. They want me so bad, they can come find me.”
Mandy’s whole face lit up like a cherub on Valentine’s Day.
Oh, no. “What did you do?”
“I did tell you two groomsmen were escorting you down the aisle, didn’t I?”
CHAPTER TWO
BLAKE
THE BEER CAN opened with a wet smack and Richard held it out in a toast. “To my wedding. The end of…everything.”
Blake clinked his can against Richard’s and Devin did the same. Ten years their senior and still trying to act the bachelor. Mandy was a damn saint for putting up with him. Richard might be that classic, good looking rich guy, but he could still be a demanding jerk.
Devin took a sip and shook his head. “Come on, it’s not that awful. You’re head over heels for that woman.”
“I know. But marriage. I never thought I’d be that guy.”
“Little late for that, don’t you think?” Devin pointed at Rich’s midnight blue tux and grinned.
“Devin’s right. It won’t be so bad. Mandy’s a great girl.” Blake took another sip as Richard finished off the can. He knew falling for Mandy had caught Richard by surprise.
A twenty-five-year-old with bouncy blonde curls and a personality to match. The only woman who’d been able to keep Richard Dennison coming back for more.
“Last minute jitters. That’s what it is. All grooms get those, right?” Richard stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “Now that we’re all here, dressed for a wedding, it’s so damn real.”
Devin stood up and dumped his empty can in the trash. “Don’t you love her?”
“Of course I do.”
Devin grinned. “Can you see your life without her?”
“No.”
“Then you should stop freaking out and marry the girl.”
Richard tossed his can in the trash. “You’re right.” He straightened his tie and took a deep breath. “I’m being an asshole.”
“You do have that tendency.”
“Hey! Watch it.” Richard stuck his finger out at Blake with a smile. “Don’t make me reconsider your spot in this wedding.”
“You mean there’s a chance to get out of it?”
Richard’s face fell and Blake gave him a pat on the back. “Just kidding man, we wouldn’t miss it for anything. Just relax. Sunday will go off exactly how Mandy wants it. By Monday afternoon, you’ll be on a beach in the tropics wondering why you ever had cold feet.”
“God, that’ll be a fucking relief.” Richard rolled his shoulders before buttoning up his tux jacket. “I haven’t had to wear a suit this tight since college.”
Blake stretched his back and felt the pull in the shoulders. The man had a point. “So why’d Mandy want us dressed today, anyway?”
A knock sounded on the door and Richard answered as he walked toward it. “Last minute fitting.” He pulled the door open and a small, round woman with a basket of sewing supplies and a needle wedged between her lips hustled in.
“You,” she pointed at Richard, “stand over there in the light.”
Richard shut the door with a flourish. “Gentlemen, this is Ingeborg, Mandy’s seamstress. She is the reason we’re in tuxes today.”
“Yes, and I’m running late. The bride asked for another bustle. Now let me see.” Ingeborg pointed to Richard’s tux and the man stepped over to the windows and stood straight.
“Good. Now turn, slowly.”
“She’s the best in all of Midnight Cove. Isn’t that right, Ingeborg?”
The seamstress snorted. “Your jacket’s too tight. What, have you been drinking too much beer?” She pointed at the remains of the six pack sitting on the counter. “Now I have to let it out.”
The accusation in her tone had Blake glancing at his half-finished can and tossing it in the trash. One up-and-down assessment from Ingeborg was worse than coming home from college to the motherly pat down. At least that one came with a hug.
Ri
chard glanced up with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I’ve been nervous.”
“Well, take it off.” She took the jacket and made a few markings in chalk on the back. “Now you,” she said, pointing at Devin, “up here. Stand straight, no slouching.”
Devin stood up and came over. The woman stared for a few minutes, tugged here and there, and waved him off. “Fine. Now you.”
Blake hustled up and did as instructed. The seamstress was half his size and triple his age, but there was no disobeying. She might as well have been his grandmother. She motioned for him to turn around and he did.
After a moment, she clucked at him and waved him off. “Good. You’ve been staying healthy.”
Blake let out a breath. When Mandy said to try everything on before the rehearsal, he’d assumed she meant a once over to make sure the colors matched and everyone had the right shoes. Not an exam from an exacting little woman with a basket full of needles.
The seamstress plucked up Richard’s jacket and hustled to the door. “I’ll have this back tomorrow.”
The door shut behind her and Devin let out a loud sigh. “Wow. She is intense. Where’d Mandy find her?”
Richard held up his hands. “You are asking the wrong guy. But if I’m gonna guess? Ian found her. He’s the only man I know who wears custom suits.”
“Where is he?” Devin shrugged his jacket off and folded it over his arm. “I’d have thought he’d be in his sister’s wedding.”
Blake had, too. Mandy’s brother had been Richard’s partner in the restaurant business for years until he struck it big in shipping. Now he lived in a mansion and partied with all the celebutantes of Midnight Cove. But he and Richard were still close.
Richard shrugged. “You know Ian. Never a dollar he didn’t chase down. He’s off doing some deal in China. Shipping cars, I think. I try to ignore that part of his business and just focus on the restaurants and bars. At this point, I’m lucky I even made it here on time.”
Blake laughed. “Be thankful Mandy’s so take charge—it’s not like you’ve got time to plan a wedding.”
“You’re telling me.” Richard ran his hand through his hair. “Kayak’s going well, but we’re behind schedule. As soon as we’re back from Tahiti, I’ll have to go to Seattle. Light a fire under their asses.”