Love in the Moment: The McCormicks—Book One

by Elena Aitken

  “No what?” Jade’s voice changed an octave. “No, you don’t have anything juicy to tell? Or no, you’re not leading your readers on?”

  “Jade, I need to—”

  “Stop right there.” Her agent’s voice took on an edge she’d never heard before. “Before you tell me whatever it is you want to say, I need you to understand something.”

  She was pretty sure she didn’t want to hear whatever Jade was going to say, but she also didn’t think she was going to have much of a choice. Gwen picked up a pen and started drawing circles on the notepad in front of her.

  “I need you to understand that once we put things into motion, we started a machine that will be very hard to put the brakes on. I took your pitch to a number of producers and let me tell you, Gwen, I think we have something here. I have at least two major producers who are eagerly waiting to see what happens next. They think this will be a huge hit. Huge. Did you hear that?”

  She had.

  “I’m not sure what your definition of huge is, but let me tell you about mine.”

  Gwen was pretty sure she’d hear about it whether she wanted to or not.

  “It’s bigger than big, Gwen. This thing is going to explode. Think book deal, television show, maybe even a major motion picture spin-off.”

  “A movie?”

  “Yes. A movie! Think about it.”

  She was.

  “So tell me, what’s going on with this guy? Where are you at? Your last post left the impression that maybe you were going to be getting down to it.”

  “Down to it?”

  “Get busy. Do the deed. Bake the potato. Bump uglies. Have—”

  “Bake the potato?” Gwen rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “Have sex.” On the other end of the phone, Jade sighed. “You know what I mean. Have you done it yet?”

  “Well…it’s not that…”

  “Yes or no?”

  Gwen racked her brain for something she could say that would satisfy Jade. It was a fruitless exercise because Gwen knew that nothing would satisfy the other woman except for the information that they had in fact had sex. Three weeks ago, she would have happily offered up the details. Heck, she would have already written about it for the world to see that she managed to snag the man who’d once shunned her. But things were different now.

  “The thing is, Jade…”

  “Don’t give me bad news.”

  “It’s not bad news.” At least she didn’t think so. “I don’t think I can—”

  “No.” She interrupted her again. “Under no circumstances are you to tell me that you don’t want to write about it anymore. And for God’s sake, don’t tell me anything stupid like you’ve gone and fallen in love with this guy. Seriously. That can’t even be an option.”

  Gwen squeezed her eyes shut, but her pen kept working over the page, adding more and more dark circles to the notepad.

  “There is no such thing as love,” Jade continued, completely unaware of the cyclone going on inside Gwen’s heart. “It’s just a story people tell themselves and that’s all you’ve done. So snap out of it, and tell yourself a new bloody story.”

  “I never said I was—”

  “You didn’t have to. But I don’t want to hear any of it, do you understand? You do not want to screw up this opportunity for what you think might be love. It’s a fantasy. Nothing about love is real. But this deal is real. Do you understand?”

  Gwen nodded and after a moment, her voice squeaked out of her throat. “Yes. I get it.”

  “Good.” She could almost feel the other woman’s relief across the phone. “I’ll give you a week, but I need you to write something valuable. Make it juicy! Give the readers something they can really sink their teeth into. Give those producers a reason to put you on television. You’re going to be a star, Gwen. That’s a real thing. Not like the fairy tale of love.”

  Gwen wasn’t so sure about that. But it certainly gave her a lot more to think about.

  *

  “Hey, Ian.” Sam greeted him with a wave. “Can I get you something to eat? I promise, I didn’t cook it.”

  Ian laughed, but shook his head. “I’m sure it’s fantastic,” he said. “But I really just came in to see if I could chat with Chelsea. Where’s she at?”

  Sam gestured to the bar and Ian took a seat. “At least have a beer.” She was already pouring it, so Ian nodded. “She’s just in the back, organizing the stock room for me,” Sam said. “It’s a little slow right now between lunch and the after-work crowd, but I didn’t want to send her home because she said you had the jeep.”

  He nodded, feeling a little guilty. Having only one vehicle between them was getting to be a bit of a pain in the ass. Maybe with Mitch coming tonight, they’d be able to share two cars between the three of them a little easier. The three of them. Tonight. Shit. He’d managed to put off telling either of them about the other one. Chelsea had enough going on with whatever guy it was who broke her heart. She still didn’t want to talk about it. And as far as Mitch was concerned…well, Ian was just flat out avoiding that conversation.

  They’d both find out soon enough. Mitch was due to arrive in a few hours.

  “We’ll have to sort that out,” he said to Sam. “Sorry about that. You could always send her over to the marina. She was supposed to be helping me out this summer, too. But I guess I can’t have it all.”

  “You never can.” Sam slid the beer in front of him.

  “How’s she doing? You can be honest.”

  “She’s doing great.” Sam leaned against the back of the bar and crossed her arms. “I’ll admit we had a little bit of a rocky start, but whatever you said to her, it sorted her out. She’s been great. And the customers seem to really like her, too. I was hoping to give her a few more shifts when the summer crowds really start to come in and if you’re not worried about her working at the Dockside…”

  Ian laughed and took a slug of his beer. “You can have her,” he said. “It turns out I’m getting a little more help this summer, too.”

  “Really?” Sam wiggled her eyebrows. “So having Gwen around is working out for you, too?”

  In more ways than one.

  “It is.” He tried his best not to give anything away when it came to Gwen, but he was pretty sure they were doing a terrible job keeping their relationship under wraps considering they’d been totally inseparable lately. “But that’s not the help I’m talking about.” Ian focused on the conversation. “In fact, I was hoping to talk to Chelsea and let her know about the new help that’s coming.”

  Sam looked at him sideways. “This sounds interesting.”

  He shrugged. It was doubtful that anyone besides his family would find this particular drama interesting. But in a small town, you never could tell what would get people talking. Now that he thought about it, more of his siblings coming back to town would in fact get everyone talking. If they weren’t already. “I’m going to tell Chelsea first,” he said, to Sam’s obvious disappointment.

  “Okay, fine.” She tossed her rag on the bar. “I’ll go get her and give you guys some privacy.”

  A few moments later, Chelsea emerged from the back room and greeted him with a smile. They’d been getting along a lot better ever since the morning she’d freaked out on him in the kitchen. Ian was quickly learning that most of Chelsea’s moods had very little to do with him, and more to do with the fact that he was a male. It seemed that most of the men in her life, including their father, hadn’t treated her all that well. As her big brother, a fact he was warming up to, it pissed Ian off. A lot.

  “What are you doing here?” She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Another unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome, move. “Don’t you have a ton to do with the marina opening right away?”

  “I’m never too busy for my little sis.”

  She grinned at the comment but then instantly narrowed her eyes. “What’s up? You look like you have something to tell me.”

  Ian’s eyes grew
wide. “How do you know that?”

  “I’m right.”

  He nodded. “You are. But seriously, how did you know that?”

  She shrugged and laughed. “I’m a woman. And you have that look about you.” She poured herself a glass of water. “You look like I’m not going to like what you’re going to tell me.”

  Damn. She was good.

  “It’s not that you’re not going to like it,” he started. “In fact, I don’t know…you might like it.”

  “But probably not.”

  He didn’t bother disagreeing with her.

  “Just tell me, Ian. If you’re sending me home, I’d rather know right now. Don’t drag it out.”

  “Oh shit.” He jumped up from his barstool. “No, Chels. I’m not sending you home. Seriously?”

  She shrugged, trying to look casual, but it wasn’t a move she was pulling off well. “I don’t know,” she said. “You might be sick of having me cramp your style or something.”

  “You’re ridiculous.” He reached over and squeezed her arm before jumping right into why he was really there. “In fact, if you think your presence is cramping my style, then it’s about to get a lot more cramped.”

  She tilted her head but didn’t say anything.

  “My brother….our brother,” he corrected himself. “Mitch is coming to stay for the summer.” He waited for her reaction. When there wasn’t one, he continued. “He’s a teacher, and he’s done for the summer, so he’s going to come and help me out at the marina so you can work more shifts here. Sam said you’re doing awesome, and she’d like to increase your hours, and well…this just works out for everyone. Besides, you’ll have a chance to get to know Mitch, too, and won’t that be great?” He was dimly aware that he was babbling, but she still wasn’t responding. “I know you might be a little weirded out about sharing a house with two of us, but I promise, it won’t be too different than it is now and you’ll like Mitch. I know it.”

  He took a breath.

  “Okay,” she said after a moment. “What else do you want to tell me?”

  He shook his head slowly and watched her carefully for a sign that she might freak out on him. Nothing. “That’s it.”

  “Okay,” she said again.

  “Okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Like, you’re okay with Mitch coming?”

  “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be? It’s your house and he’s my brother, too. It’ll be good to get to know him. After all, you weren’t so bad.” She winked. “Don’t look so surprised. Did you think I’d freak out?”

  “Kind of.”

  “Ian.” She came around the bar and patted his arm. “I’m not an unreasonable person.” He raised an eyebrow and she smacked him on the arm in response. “I’m not. I thought you were going to tell me you were moving in with Gwen or something crazy.”

  Something about the way she said it irked him. “Why would that be crazy?”

  “Come on, Ian.”

  “Come on, what?” Now that the subject had shifted, he was interested at her reaction. Deeply interested.

  “Just because of…well…like what she does and all.”

  “And what does she do?” She was currently out of work. That wasn’t the end of the world. Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but it also didn’t mean he shouldn’t be with her. “She’s just between things right now. I can’t believe you’d be so judgmental about that.”

  Chelsea shook her head in defeat. “You know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything. It’s absolutely none of my business.”

  “No.” He stood, suddenly done with the conversation. “It isn’t any of your business.”

  “Ian, I’m sorry.” She did look genuinely sorry. “Seriously, forget I said anything. I don’t want this to be a problem between us, okay?” She grabbed his arm and squeezed. “Okay?”

  He looked her in the eye and at once felt ridiculous that he’d let something so little get him worked up. “Of course.” He chuckled and pulled his little sister into an impulsive hug. “Forget it. I already have.”

  “Oh good.” She pulled back. “Now tell me. When do I get to meet Mitch?”

  Ian grinned. “Oh…I’d say he’ll be here in a few hours.”

  Chelsea smacked his arm and stared at him. “A few hours!”

  So much for not freaking out.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dear Reader,

  *

  I know I’ve been quiet about Mr. Summer, and I promise there’s a reason for that.

  It’s because I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how to tell you this…

  Are you ready?

  Of course you are.

  Mr. Summer is madly in love with me! Yes, me. Can you believe it?

  For those of you who haven’t been following along, this is the same man I used to be madly in love with…when I was fat. It’s all too common a story, but…I wasn’t good enough for him then. He stood me up and crushed my heart. Ten years later…I look a “little” different and I’m back, baby! He didn’t recognize me, so I decided to see if his opinion of me would change now that I look different.

  Surprise—it did.

  He still doesn’t recognize me as the fat, awkward, ugly girl whose heart he broke, but oh my, how things have changed now. I’m happy to share that not only have our dates progressed, but…the news you’ve all been waiting for…that’s right…he couldn’t keep his hands off my new and improved self.

  Now, before you go judging me and thinking that I shouldn’t be falling into bed with someone who only likes me with my new body, I need to tell you this…it’s not like that at all. I have total control of my body and I make the decisions that I make from a position of power and with my eyes wide open.

  Now that I have that out of the way…

  I’m sure you want to know all the juicy details of what things were like with Mr. Summer and if you’re lucky, I just might tell you in a future post. But for now, just know this… it was fantastic because it may have taken ten years, but I finally got what I wanted.

  *

  Gwen had to physically step back from her computer when she finished typing the last word. Her stomach roiled and she thought she might be sick. No, she was sure of it. She ran to the bathroom just in time to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

  None of what she wrote was true. Well, it was true, but it wasn’t how she felt. It wasn’t what she wanted to write. She wasn’t even going to do it, but after talking to Jade, well, she didn’t know what else to do.

  Gwen sat back against the wall of the tiny bathroom and used some tissue to wipe her face.

  She couldn’t publish that post. It wasn’t fair. But she didn’t have to. She never had to post it.

  But Jade. The deal. Her future.

  She dropped her head into her hands and squeezed.

  Ian was just a guy. She’d worked hard to build her social media presence. She’d worked hard to do exactly what she was doing. She’d worked hard for exactly what was happening. She couldn’t throw it away for a guy. Not for Ian. She couldn’t.

  But…Ian.

  “Gwen?” Deanna’s voice came from the other side of the door, followed by sharp rapping. “Gwen, are you in there? Are you okay?”

  Unable to answer, Gwen simply reached up and opened the bathroom door before returning her hand to her head.

  “What the…Gwen? Are you okay?” Deanna dropped to her knees beside Gwen and put her hand on the back of her neck. “Were you sick? Do you need something? What’s going on?”

  Reluctantly, Gwen lifted her head enough to look at her friend. “I’m fine.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I mean, I’m not fine. But…I’m not sick.”

  “But you threw up?”

  Gwen nodded.

  “Please don’t tell me you’re…” Deanna’s hand flew to her mouth. “Are you…pregnant?” She whispered the last word.

  “Oh God, no!” Gwen’s eyes popped open and she did some quick math in her head before she shook h
er head again. “No. I’m not pregnant.”

  “Thank goodness.” She offered Gwen a hand. With nothing else to do, she took it and let her friend help her up. “Let’s get some tea.”

  “I don’t think this is something tea can fix, Dee.”

  She sat Gwen at the table before filling the kettle and getting the tea bags ready. “Tea fixes everything.” She put a plate of cookies in front of Gwen. “Now, talk. Tell me what’s going on. Although, I think I already know.”

  Gwen eyed the cookies. Normally, she’d push them away without a second thought. There were way too many calories in one cookie. But in her weakened emotional state, they looked good. Really good. She grabbed one and picked at the edges, pulling off a crumb and putting it on her tongue.

  “You can eat it,” Deanna said. “It won’t kill you.”

  “It’s a slippery slope, Dee. I can’t start comfort eating.” Gwen tossed the cookie down.

  “What’s going on with Ian?” Her friend always did get right to the point. “Talk.”

  “I think I love him.” Tears leaked from her eyes when she said the words.

  “You’re not supposed to cry when you say that.” Dee grabbed her hand and squeezed right as the kettle started to squeal. She gave her hand one more squeeze before she got up to fix the tea. “Love is supposed to be a reason to celebrate,” she said when she returned. “You should be happy.”

  “I am happy.”

  “Yeah.” Deanna chuckled. “I can tell.” She slid the mug of tea in front of Gwen, who inhaled the minty scent. “But you didn’t mean to love him, did you?”

  Gwen shook her head, the tears still flowing down her cheeks.

  “Because you were writing about him.”

  She nodded and sniffed hard.

  “So stop writing about him.”

  “I can’t.” The words came out small and weak.

  “Yes you can.”

  She shook her head again, and used her sleeve to wipe her eyes. “No,” she said. “I can’t. There’s a deal pending. A deal that could absolutely make my career and—”

  “You’d give up love for your career?”

  It was a simple question and Deanna asked it without malice, but the words sliced through Gwen’s heart. It wasn’t as simple as her friend was making it out to be. Men would come and go. But this opportunity wouldn’t. That’s what Jade had said, and she was right. The opportunity was everything.