The Best for Last

Whispering Bay Romance, book 4

A Prequel Novella

Maria Geraci

The Best for Last

Copyright © 2015 Maria Geraci

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Table of Contents

Copyright

About THE BEST FOR LAST

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

More from Maris Geraci

About THAT THING YOU DO

About THEN HE KISSED ME

About THAT MAN OF MINE

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About

The Best for Last

Kitty Burke’s biological clock isn’t just ticking, it’s gonging. But who wants to be tied down by marriage and a minivan when you have an amazingly sexy boyfriend who worships the ground you walk on? Sure, Steve has never said those three magic words. But, Kitty knows he loves her. Some guys just have a hard time expressing their feelings, right? Right.

After three failed marriages, Steve Pappas is in no hurry to walk down the aisle a fourth time. As a matter of fact, he has no desire to ever say “I do” again. He’s a successful self-made millionaire, but despite the best of intentions, marriage is one arena he’s been unable to conquer. Kitty is funny, sexy, and whip smart—everything Steve has ever wanted in a woman and more. Their life is perfect the way it is now. So why rock the boat and ruin everything with a piece of paper that doesn’t mean anything?

When Kitty’s aging playboy father unexpectedly decides to tie the knot, Kitty realizes she’s been fooling herself. She does want it all—marriage, kids, but most especially, a man who isn’t afraid to openly declare his feelings. Can she convince her commitment-phobic boyfriend to take the ultimate chance? Or will she be forced to settle for Happy For Now instead of Happily Ever After?

Author’s Note

Welcome to Whispering Bay, where smart heroines and hot heroes collide to find love and their happily-ever-afters! To find out more about this series and my other books, please visit my website. Sign up for my newsletter if you’d like to be kept in the loop about releases, contests, and other fun stuff. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Chapter One

Kitty Burke’s sex life shouldn’t have been the topic of conversation at her weekly Bunco game. Not when there were so many other worthwhile subjects to talk about in Whispering Bay. Like how the small north Florida beach town had just gotten an ice cream shop over by the high school. Or the new stop sign Mayor Bruce Bailey had installed near his home to slow down traffic. Perhaps those topics might have been a bit on the boring side, but really, whatever happened to respecting a girl’s privacy?

Kitty picked up her dice and tried for a bland smile. As the only single woman in the group, she should be used to her sex life being fodder for the other eleven women she’d played Bunco with for the past ten years. But she would never get used to discussing the lack (or in the case of the past eleven months, the abundance) of nookie in her life.

“Speaking of your man, I see him almost every morning when he comes in for his coffee,” Frida Hampton announced loudly enough that the occupants at all three tables could hear. Frida owned Whispering Bay’s premier coffee shop, The Bistro by the Beach. “I swear he gets better looking every day. How do you stand it?”

Eleven pairs of eyes turned to look at Kitty.

Steve Pappas, the man in question, had been Kitty’s steady boyfriend for almost a year now. They’d met the night of her thirty-fifth birthday, when the women from her Bunco group, affectionately known around town as the Bunco Babes, had thrown her a surprise party. She’d initially mistaken Steve as a male stripper (exotic dancer, if you wanted to be politically correct), when in reality he’d come over to fix her clogged-up toilet as a favor to his uncle Gus, a local plumber.

Steve had fixed her broken toilet, all right. He’d also ended up spending the night. Kitty still blushed whenever she thought about it. Katherine Burke did not have sex with men she barely knew. Except, in that one case…

“Does your husband know you’re lusting after Kitty’s boyfriend?” Lorraine teased.

“Ed is perfectly secure in the knowledge that I’m just admiring the scenery,” Frida said with a grin as she tucked an errant curl behind one ear. “But it’s not just me. The entire female staff goes gaga whenever Steve comes through the door. I’ve told them he’s taken, but, as long as there’s no ring on his finger…” She shrugged.

As long as there’s no ring on his finger. Kitty didn’t miss the not-so-subtle implication in that statement.

“It must be weird, huh? Having other women ogling your boyfriend,” Lorraine said.

“It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.” Kitty hoped her flippant answer would make them smile and move on to another topic. She took a swig of her margarita and reached for a tortilla chip, smothering it in guacamole. Shea Masterson might make the best margaritas in town, but no one did chips and dip better than Mimi Grant, their hostess for tonight’s Bunco game.

Mimi loudly cleared her throat. “How long have you two been living together now? A long time, right?” Mimi was sweet, but her blue eyes held a twinge of something that made Kitty sit straight up in her chair.

A tiny niggle of suspicion slivered down her spine. Mimi’s question, while seemingly spontaneous, had a ring of conspiracy behind it. Add that to Frida’s sudden interest in Steve and… Wait. Had her Bunco group been discussing her love life outside of their weekly Thursday night game? Or was she being paranoid?

Maybe Mimi’s question was perfectly legit. Mimi was married to her high school sweetheart, Zeke, Whispering Bay’s chief of police, and had the perfect marriage. She hadn’t dated since Tom Cruise was still considered normal. In Mimi’s eyes, living with a man was probably a precursor to that Institution That Shall Not Be Named.

“Um, Steve and I have been living together for about ten months or so,” Kitty said. A fact the Bunco Babes were well aware of (since that had been last week’s main topic of conversation).

The niggling suspicion of just a few seconds ago was now a full-blown alarm. She rolled her dice and tried once again to get the game moving.

“Wow.” Pilar Diaz-Rothman, Kitty’s best friend since fourth grade, shook her head. “Ten months is a long time.” Pilar served as the city’s attorney. A politician, however, she was not. Pilar wouldn’t know subtle if it bit her in the ass.

“Is it?” Kitty said. Maybe she should pretend to have a headache and go home early. But most likely, they’d see through that ruse. It was probably best just to ride this out and get it over with.

Shea Masterson, Kitty’s other lifelong best friend, joined in. “Maybe ten months wouldn’t have been a long time, say…at twenty-five, but you’ll be thirty-six next week. Ten months in your thirties is exponentially longer than ten months was when we were in our twenties.”

“I thought time was supposed to move faster the older you got.”

“Not in relationship years,” Shea said. “It’s kind of like dog years. After thirty, every month you’re together is really like two.”

“You know,” Frida said. “Living together is all well and good. Ed and I shacked up for almost a year before we tied the knot, but eventually the cow gets tired of giving the milk away for free.”

Relationship years?

The cow got tired?

If Kitty wasn’t so sure what all this was leading up to, she would have laughed.

“So, do you think the two of you will get married soon?” Pilar asked.

Bam! There it was. The question they’d been leading up to all night.

Kitty felt the dice stick to the palm of her hand. “Um…you know, Steve’s been married and divorced three times now.”

“Exactly,” Shea said. “So it’s not like he doesn’t know how to propose.”

“You have discussed it, right?” Pilar asked.

Taken individually, she might have had a chance, but when her two best friends ganged up on her like this, there was really no recourse. Except to lie.

“Of course we’ve talked about marriage!”

Someone in the room coughed.

Kitty was the world’s worst fibber. The Institution That Shall Not Be Named had never come up between them. To be honest, it wasn’t for lack of Kitty’s trying. But whenever she attempted to broach the subject, Steve would kiss her, or talk about taking a vacation, or buy her some outrageous piece of jewelry.

It wasn’t as if things were bad between them. It was just the opposite. Things were ridiculously good. Steve was everything a boyfriend should be—attentive, caring, supportive. He cooked; he cleaned; he opened doors for her and never let her pay for anything. And the sex? Even after eleven months, it was better than ever. Her life was perfectly happy. For now.

Kitty took another sip of her margarita. A really big one. “Is this an intervention?” she asked as calmly as possible.

Shea, who was sitting directly across from her, frowned. “I wouldn’t exactly call it that—it’s more like a…group self-help session.”

“We just want you to be happy,” Pilar said.

“Thanks, girls, but no need to worry. I’m deliriously happy.”

“That’s a relief!” said Mimi. “It’s obvious to anyone who’s seen you and Steve together that you’re crazy in love. The next step is obvious.”

“Speaking of which, who said it first?” Shea asked. “You or him? You’ve never actually told us. And you know how we adore hearing all the juicy details.”

Kitty drained the rest of her margarita. “Said what?”

“You know,” Pilar said. “The L word.”

“Oh, that… I can’t remember.” She tried for a casual laugh, but it sounded more like a donkey bray. It was her nervous tic. And the Bunco Babes knew it.

Shea laid down her dice and gave her a hard stare. “You can’t remember when the man you’re with first told you he loved you? Moose and I have been together forever, but I still—”

“Yes, yes,” Pilar said, waving her hand impatiently through the air. “We all know Moose said the big three after we won the state football championship back a thousand years ago. We’re not interested in you. We’re interested in Kitty.”

Shea snorted. “I was just trying to make a point.”

“Point taken.” Pilar turned her dark eyes back on Kitty. “So, how’d he say it, Kit? Did he take you to dinner? Or just blurt it out without warning? Or—”

“He’s never said it at all. Okay? Is everyone happy now?”

Oops. She should never have had that second margarita. If she could take the words back, she would. But it was too late. The silence of the lambs was nothing compared to the sudden, death-splitting silence of the Bunco Babes. Where was Anthony Hopkins with a sick Chianti joke when you needed him?

“Oh,” Mimi finally managed to squeak out.

The rest of the group looked at her with sad eyes.

Kitty swallowed hard. “It’s not like I’ve told him I loved him either,” she said, feeling way too defensive. She’d hinted at it. She’d said she thought she was falling in love with him. But that was back in the beginning of their relationship. Once they’d moved in together neither of them had come remotely close to saying it.

“So…you’re not in love with him?” Pilar asked incredulously.

“I… Like I said before, I’m perfectly happy with the way things are between Steve and me.”

Before anyone could respond to that, her cell phone pinged, signaling she’d just received a text message. Thank God. A reprieve from the Spanish Inquisition! Kitty kept her phone with her at all times in case one of her real estate clients needed her. Maybe this was good news on a listing. “Excuse me,” she said, getting up from the card table.

She went in the kitchen for some privacy. The text message wasn’t from a client, however. It was from her father.

Hey, sweetheart! I’ll be in town tomorrow night and would love to have dinner with you and Steve. I’ve got a big surprise.

Over the past twenty-five years, Kitty had been introduced to at least a dozen of Alan Burke’s “surprises.” Her parents had divorced when Kitty was ten, resulting in a move to Whispering Bay so that Kitty and her mom could live with her grandmother. Eventually, her mother had remarried. And divorced again. She was now on her third husband, but happily married this time around.

Her father, on the other hand, had remained happily single. He’d recently retired from his job as an airline pilot and was living near Asheville, North Carolina. Kitty saw him three, maybe four times a year. They were as close as they could be under the circumstances. She loved her dad, but sometimes he seemed more like an immature older brother than a responsible father figure.

Please let this surprise be old enough to know who The Beatles are.

She texted him back. Sounds good, Dad. Looking forward to it!

She made her way back to the living room, then stopped cold. There was a quiet, sad sort of atmosphere that was more reminiscent of a funeral than their usual rowdy Thursday night game.

Ten years ago, she, Pilar and Shea had formed this group. They met every Thursday night to roll the dice, drink frozen margaritas and gossip. The Bunco Babes were practically a Whispering Bay institution. Women in town fought to be on their sub list and waited years for an opening into the group. They were more than just friends. This was her family.

Kitty tried to view her relationship with Steve through their eyes.

Was she deluding herself? Ten months ago, when she and Steve had moved in together, she’d thought they were on the fast track to Happily Ever After. But tonight the Babes had forced her to take a hard look at her situation. If Steve loved her, then why hadn’t he told her? After almost a year together, he should know by now if she was the one, right?

There was no doubt that his three previous marriages would make him reluctant to try again. But he had to have thought about it.

Oh God. Of course he’d thought about it. How could he not have?

Her friends didn’t have to say it out loud, but they were right.

Kitty was head over heels in love with a man who wasn’t in love with her in return.

Chapter Two

Armand, her next door neighbor Viola’s old cat, was lying across Kitty’s driveway as she pulled up to her house. She flicked her brights on in an attempt to get the cat to move out of the way, but Armand just stared back at her and yawned.

Great. First, it was her friends. Now even the local cat was giving her attitude.

Kitty was pretty certain Viola wouldn’t take too kindly to her cat being run over, so she parked her BMW convertible (a luxury splurge after a particularly good real estate year) halfway down the driveway, a good three yards away from the slumbering feline.

She’d just killed the car lights when Armand stretched out his hind legs, then slowly sauntered his way back to Viola’s.

“Sure, yeah, now you get out of the way,” Kitty muttered, locking her car door. She glanced over at Viola’s house. It was almost eleven, but the living room lights were still on.

Viola Pantini had been Kitty’s late grandmother’s best friend. The two of them had founded the Gray Flamingos, a local senior citizen activist watch group. The Flamingos liked to go around town wearing matching T-shirts and protesting anything they thought infringed on their rights. Like the time The Harbor House, Whispering Bay’s fanciest restaurant, had done away with their early bird senior special. The restaurant’s owner had been forced to bring it back after the Flamingos had staged a (somewhat) peaceful sit-in blocking the restaurant’s parking lot.

Kitty briefly thought about knocking on Viola’s door and asking for her advice. Viola hadn’t just been her grandmother’s friend, she was now Kitty’s friend, as well. She was dating Steve’s uncle Gus, so she knew a little about the Pappas family dynamics.

Did Viola think Steve was a lost cause, too? Kitty wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that. Plus, despite the fact that the lights were on, it was too late to intrude on Viola. At least, that’s what Kitty told herself as she opened the front door to the house she shared with Steve.

She stepped inside the living room and was immediately hit with the aroma of fresh paint and seasoned wood. Kitty loved this old house. She and Steve had spent the past ten months renovating it. Built back in the 1920s, it was a one-story Spanish Colonial Revival that had belonged to her grandmother. After her death, Gram had left the house to her only daughter, Kitty’s mother, but in a rare generous gesture, Mom had turned around and given Kitty the house.

She made her way to the end of the hallway down to the master bedroom where Steve sat up in bed, surrounded by a pile of papers. He wore a pair of black silk pajama bottoms and his reading glasses. The light from the bedside table cast an attractive glow over the muscles of his bare chest and his dark cropped hair sported a slight hint of gray at the temples. Frida was right. Steve was six foot three and two hundred pounds of pure male gorgeousness. The whole scene looked like something out of a GQ cover shoot. How was it that men seemed to peak physically in their late thirties? Life was so unfair.

He glanced over at her. “Hey. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Thanks to my super ninja skills.”

He grinned, then took off the reading glasses and tossed them on the bedside table. Seeing him now, completely at home in her bed, looking at her as if he’d been waiting all his life for her to come walking through the door, it seemed impossible to believe he didn’t love her. She was a lovable person, wasn’t she?

“How was Bunco?”

“Bunco was…good. We spent most of the night talking about you.”

“Of course you did,” he said, still smiling. Then his smile faded. “Really?”

Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have said that. She tried to make light of her slip up. “What do you think, silly?”

“I don’t think your friends like me much. Well, except maybe Frida, but that’s because I buy coffee at her place every day.”

“My friends like you.” Sort of.

He made a sexy, grumpy sound.

Kitty slipped off her shoes and pointed to the paper in his hands. “What do you have there?”

“A resume.” Steve was part owner of Pappas-Hernandez Construction, a company he and an old army buddy, Dave Hernandez, had founded. Steve was in charge of the north Florida office, while Dave ran the Tampa branch of the operation.

A high school dropout with nothing more than a GED under his belt, Steve had worked his way up the construction ladder to own his own company, eventually teaming up with his third ex-wife, Terrie, to make a fortune in the Florida real estate construction boom. Kitty was proud of him and his accomplishments. She was also extremely happy that he’d severed all professional ties to Terrie, a real estate attorney. Kitty cringed whenever she thought of the woman. Terrie was beautiful (not that Kitty was jealous or anything), but she was also pushy as hell. Kitty would rather wrestle a gator than cross paths with Terrie Hargrove.

“I’m interviewing this guy tomorrow for a supervisory position,” Steve continued. “Tom Donalan. Ever heard of him? He’s living in Atlanta right now, but he’s a local.”

“Sure, I know Tom. He’s Reverend Donalan’s son. He was a few years behind me in school. His ex-wife moved back to town last year. She owns that new retro boutique next to The Bistro.” When Steve didn’t say anything, Kitty added, “Are you going to hire him?” She hoped the answer was yes. Tom’s ex, Lauren, was a sweetheart. At Kitty’s urging, she’d recently been added to the Bunco Babes’ sub list.

“He’s got an impressive resume. A fancy degree from the University of Florida and some great work experience. But I’m not sure I can pay him what he’s probably used to.”

Kitty bit her bottom lip. “He has a son, Henry. I think he’s ten, maybe eleven. I’m pretty sure Tom wants to make this move so he can be closer to his family.”

“Do you know everyone and everything that’s going on in this town?” Steve asked.

“Pretty much,” she admitted. Sometimes it was hard for Steve to understand small town dynamics. He’d grown up in Cocoa Beach, another small Florida beach town, but he’d joined the army when he was nineteen and had spent most of his adult life in Tampa.

“If he wants to move back to town to be near his ex and their son, then maybe I have some leverage after all.” Steve glanced down at the resume. “So, you’re basically vetting this guy, huh?”

“Absolutely. Tom’s good as gold.”

“Then if he wants the job, it’s his.” He carelessly swept the papers onto the floor and patted the empty space next to him. “Now get your pretty little bum in bed.”

“Mmmm…that sounds awful bossy.” She went into the bathroom to wash her face and came out a couple of minutes later, wearing her rattiest pajamas, the ones that screamed Not Tonight!

Steve didn’t seem to notice her less-than-sexy look, or if he did, he wasn’t turned off by it. “I thought you liked bossy. But you can be the boss tonight if you want.” He laced his hands behind his head, causing the muscles in his biceps to bulge. “I surrender.”

Kitty gulped. She’d have to be blind to miss the growing erection barely covered by the thin black silk of those pajama bottoms.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have sex. Kind of the opposite, in fact. But at the moment, she wanted to talk more. If she allowed herself to be distracted by him, she’d end up giving in. Sure, she’d go to sleep happy, but still no more sure of where their relationship was going than when she’d walked through the door tonight.

The thing was she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. She could always just come out and ask him. But…what if he confirmed her worst nightmare? What if he said, no, he didn’t love her? Could she continue living with him knowing that they didn’t have a future? The past eleven months had been the happiest of her life. Was she ready to throw that away?

She crawled onto the bed. “I got a text from my dad tonight. He’s coming down tomorrow and wants to meet us for dinner.”

Steve placed his mouth on the sensitive skin under her jaw. “That’s nice,” he murmured.

God he smelled good. Concentrate, Kit!

“I think he has a new girlfriend,” she said, starting to breathe a little heavily. If he used his tongue, she’d be a goner.

He hesitated for a brief second before he began nuzzling her earlobe. “Is he bringing her along?” His warm breath sent a current of electricity down her spine. Or what was left of it. All he had to do was kiss her and she practically turned to jelly.

“Yep.” Despite her better judgement, she angled her neck for easier access. “I wish he’d get married again.”

Steve froze. So much for the tongue action. Kitty wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or not. “You do?” he asked cautiously.

“If he met the right woman, then, yes, of course. He’s not getting any younger, you know. Think how sad it would be if he ended up all alone.”

Okay, so maybe she was laying it on a little thick, but surely he had to get what she was hinting at.

“He has you,” Steve said, retreating to his side of the bed. His voice definitely sounded strained. Or was she imagining it?

* * *

Steve watched out of the corner of his eye as Kitty climbed under the covers. “Well, yeah, but it’s not the same,” she said. “He’s only sixty-five. He should find a nice lady to enjoy his retirement with.”

He nodded. Mainly because he didn’t know what else to say or do. He’d only met Kitty’s father a few times, but Alan Burke didn’t seem like the settling down type. His last girlfriend had barely been legal. A real looker, but not much in the brains department. It was kind of pathetic, really. A guy should know when he was being ridiculous. Of course, it had probably been a mutually reciprocal relationship. Still, he’d been embarrassed for Kitty.

“Don’t you agree?” she said, staring back at him with her big brown eyes. A man could get lost in those eyes.

He remembered the first time he saw her, standing near the azalea bushes on the edge of her property. She’d worn a sundress, flimsy enough that he could make out the curves of the sweetest ass he’d ever had the privilege to lay eyes on. She wasn’t classically beautiful like her friend Shea. Or overtly sexy, like her other best friend Pilar. But there was a sweetness about her. Her smile lit up a room. She was quirky, and smart, and nice. And when he kissed her later that night, it was as if the sky had opened up and he was drowning in sunshine.

He wouldn’t have appreciated her when he was in his twenties. He’d been too much of a selfish asshole back then. But he liked to think he was smart enough now to know a good thing when he saw it. And Kitty Burke was definitely the best thing that had ever happened to him.

After a few long seconds, he realized she was waiting for him to say something.

“Um, sure. I agree.”

She snapped her fingers by his face. “Earth to Steve Pappas. Do you even know what you just agreed to?”

“How about we agree to talk about something else?” He reached out and scooped her up, laying her along his side. He wasn’t an idiot. He could read the signals. Something was troubling her. She might not want sex tonight but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do the cuddle thing. Funny. He’d never been a cuddle kind of guy, until he’d met her.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

She stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“You seem preoccupied. Is this really just about your dad and his new girlfriend? Everything at work all right?”

“Work’s good,” she said. She sighed and burrowed in closer, bringing his erection back to life.

He gritted his teeth and tried to infuse a little humor in the situation. “What? Did you lose at Bunco then?”

He felt her hesitate. “Not exactly.”

He cradled the top of her head with the palm of his hand, then ran his fingers down her wavy auburn hair. Like a lot of women, she complained about her hair. It was either too curly or didn’t do what she wanted when she wanted it to. But he thought it suited her perfectly.

“You know…our one year anniversary is coming up next week,” she said.

A viselike sensation gripped his chest. What had he eaten tonight? Cold pizza. Not the most nutritious of meals. He wasn’t getting any younger. It was probably time he started being more careful about his diet.

“Maybe we can do something special?” she added.

“How about Hawaii? We can rent the same place we did before.” He’d taken her to Hawaii once and she’d loved it. They hadn’t taken a trip in a while. A week in paradise with nothing to do but lie out on the beach and have some marathon sex. Just thinking about it made his indigestion ease off.

“Sure,” she said without much enthusiasm. “If that’s what you want.”

“Or, we could do Europe. Spain is beautiful this time of year.” There were beaches in Spain, too. And beds. Yep. Spain would work.

He felt her shrug. “That sounds…nice.”

Nice. The back of his eyelids began to itch.

“It doesn’t matter what we do,” Kitty said softly, “as long as we’re together.”

The melancholy tone in her voice made his acid reflux come back with a vengeance. Which made absolutely no sense.

And then, like an unexpected hammer to the side of his thick skull, he suddenly got it.

He’d mentally congratulated himself just a few minutes ago for not being an asshole, but he’d been premature. It didn’t take a PhD to figure out what she really wanted for their anniversary.

She wanted it all.

Marriage and babies, the usual stuff. He’d told her on their second date that he didn’t plan to get married ever again. Three strikes and you’re out. At the time, she’d laughed and told him she didn’t plan on being his fourth mistake.

But that had been almost a year ago and things between them had been good. He’d be lying to himself if he said he hadn’t thought about marriage. But the thought of fucking up another relationship…and this time with her. He didn’t think he could go through that.

Marriage, kids, and a happily ever after. If anyone deserved it all, it was Kitty. But was he the man to give it to her? He needed to figure it out quick. Or he’d lose her. And losing her wasn’t something he was prepared to do. At least, not without a fight.

Chapter Three

Steve glanced at the shop next door to The Bistro by the Beach. The mannequin in the front window was wearing something that belonged in another decade. The sixties, maybe? According to Kitty, this was Donalan’s ex-wife’s place. Compared to the traffic at The Bistro, the shop looked practically deserted. But it was early still, so maybe business wasn’t as bad as it seemed. He ducked inside The Bistro for his usual early morning coffee. He nodded at Zeke Grant, and said hello to a few of the other regulars.

A year ago, if you’d have told him he’d be living in this tiny north Florida beach town, he would have laughed in disbelief. He’d come to Whispering Bay to sever business ties with his old partner, Ted Ferguson. His company had a development in town—Dolphin Isles, a community of reasonably priced tract homes—that he’d wanted to check up on, plus he had family in the area and had been itching to get in some fishing time. But he’d only planned to stay a few weeks, tops. Then he’d met Kitty Burke and his life had been turned upside down fast. Now he had an office and a crew and he, too, was a regular. And life was good. Better than good. Better than he deserved, anyway.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, it was the same routine. He came in to get his coffee, sometimes picking up a muffin or a bagel. He’d make nice with the other customers, exchange a joke or two with Frida, then head to the office. Some days, if he was lucky, he’d get to go out to a construction site. Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of those days. His interview with Donalan was scheduled for ten. Hopefully, it would be short, sweet, and productive. He had a mound of paperwork to get through that would basically tie him to his desk for the rest of the week.

He went up to the counter, but instead of the friendly smiles he was accustomed to, no one came rushing over to take his order. Most of the time, his coffee was already waiting for him by the time he came through the door.

Steve glanced around. The place was busy, as usual, but there was no one else in line except him. Huh. Maybe the girls were in the back stocking or something.

A firm tap on the shoulder made him turn around.

It was Betty Jean Collins, one of those Gray Flamingos. There was a whole pack of them sitting over by the window. They liked to walk early in the morning along the beach then get breakfast at The Bistro. His uncle Gus was a member. So was Gus’s girlfriend, Viola. A half dozen pairs of eyes stared his way, so he placed a hand up in greeting. Gus wasn’t there this morning, but Viola was. She waved back without smiling, which was unusual for her. She wasn’t just Gus’s girlfriend. Steve genuinely liked Viola. She was his next-door neighbor and a good friend to Kitty, too.

Betty Jean smiled up at him. “Hey, Hot Stuff.”

“Mrs. Collins,” he acknowledged respectfully, because, hell, she was practically old enough to be his grandmother.

“So, I know this is forward of me, but you know the old saying, the early bird catches the worm, and you’re about the juiciest worm this old bird has seen in a long time.” She threw her head back and laughed.

Steve shuffled from foot to foot and waited for whatever it was she would say next. She made no sense, of course, but his encounters with Betty Jean were always a little off. There were times when he actually thought she might be hitting on him. Which…yeah, there were no words for that really.

“Now don’t get me wrong,” Betty Jean said. “I love Kitty. Yessiree, I do. She’s practically Whispering Bay royalty. You know her grandmother, Amanda Hanahan, founded our group, but…never mind about that.” She slipped a business card in his hand. “Loyalty is one thing, but a woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do.” Then she winked at him and walked away.

He glanced down at the card. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow. Natalie Bingham, stylist and owner.

Betty Jean thought he needed a haircut? He turned the card over. There was a message written in a woman’s flowery scroll:

This is my niece’s business card. She’s thirty-four and divorced. Owns her own business. Plus, she’s a Scorpio and you know what they say about their sex drives. Call her!

What the fuck?

His gaze immediately shot to Betty Jean’s table. She gave him a big thumbs-up. She wasn’t serious, was she? Everyone in town knew he was with Kitty. Maybe this was some kind of weird joke. Betty Jean did have a wacky sense of humor. Not sure what else to do, he pocketed the card and turned back to the counter.

Frida, thank God, was there, waiting for him. Now maybe his morning could get back to normal.

“Hey, Frida,” he said, greeting The Bistro’s owner. “I’ll have the usual, please.”

“And that would be, what, exactly?” Her frosty tone startled him.

“You know what I want,” he said, giving her his best smile.

“Really? Because it seems to everyone in town that you have no idea what you want.”

What the hell was going on here today? First Betty Jean, and now Frida. It was as if he’d suddenly been thrust into an episode of The Twilight Zone.

“Large coffee with a splash of milk,” he said.

Frida pursed her lips as though she was trying not to say something. She thrust him his coffee without a sleeve on the cardboard cup, almost scalding the palm of his hand. “The milk is over there.” She pointed to a side table with condiments. In the past, the staff had always doctored his coffee for him, not that he expected it, but…yeah, he kind of expected it. It’s what they did for every other customer as well.

“Sorry,” she added in a voice that implied she wasn’t sorry at all, “but from now on there’s an extra charge. No free milk here.”

They were charging him extra for the milk?

“Are you all right this morning, Frida?” he asked carefully.

“Me? I’m just peachy. Yep. I’m great! That’s two bucks. Cash only.”

Cash only? He almost laughed out loud. If he was being punked, they were doing a terrific job of it. He juggled the hot cup to his other hand and dug out a couple of bills, making sure to leave a five spot in the large glass tip jar by the counter. Had he forgotten to tip this past week? Was that why Frida was acting so unfriendly? Maybe she and Ed were having problems. He’d have to ask Kitty about it later.

His cell phone pinged. “Uh, have a good day,” he said to Frida, then turned to look at his phone. There was a text from Terrie. He hesitated briefly before reading the message. He and his third ex-wife weren’t exactly on the best of terms, but this morning couldn’t get any stranger.

Good news. We’re FINALLY going to sell the house.

Okay. So this was good news.

Back when he and Terrie were married, they’d built a house in Mexico Beach, just an hour east of Whispering Bay. The house was a showplace. A three thousand square foot, Mediterranean-style home with a gourmet kitchen and a killer location right on the water. It was supposed to be their home away from home. The ultimate vacation getaway. He’d personally supervised the construction, laid the kitchen tiles himself, and picked out all the appliances.

A couple of weeks before they were scheduled to move in, he’d caught Terrie giving his ex-business partner, Ted, a blow job. Right in her damn office.

He should have been devastated. But the truth was it had been a relief. The marriage had been sour for a long time, but it was his third go around and he’d felt he had to try his hardest before throwing in the towel. Catching her in the act had been liberating. There was also the fact that she said she didn’t love him anymore, making the whole thing a no brainer.

The divorce had been relatively painless. They’d divided the company’s assets, sold some mutual property down in Tampa and they’d each gone their separate ways. The Mexico Beach house was the only link between them now. It had been on the market for over two years. They’d had a few nibbles, but Terrie had always refused to negotiate the price down.

He texted her back. Great. Details?

Meet me for lunch to discuss. That fishy place right near the house. Noon sharp.

He was supposed to meet Kitty for lunch. No need. Just tell me. Or better yet, have the realtor call me.

His cell phone rang. He reluctantly picked up.

“It’s just lunch, Steve. I promise not to bite,” Terrie said silkily. “We have a lot to discuss.”

“Can we make it some other time?”

“The offer just came in and they want an answer by 5, so no, we can’t make it some other time.”

“Fine. I’ll meet you at noon.” Before she could say anything else, he hung up and dialed Kitty. “Hey, sweetheart, it looks the house in Mexico Beach has a solid offer.”

“You’re kidding!” Her enthusiasm swept through him, making him smile for the first time this morning. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see. Terrie wants to discuss the offer over lunch today.”

“Sure. No problem. I have a potential client I can take to lunch,” she said good-naturedly. Not that he’d expected her to take it any other way. Kitty was the first woman he’d ever been with who didn’t seem to be jealous of his exes. Not that she had any reason to be. Her confidence in them as a couple was refreshing. It was one of the many reasons he…liked her so much.

“You’re still meeting with Tom Donalan, right?”

“I’m seeing him at ten.” He was about to click off, but then he remembered how bizarre his morning had been. “Hey, Kit, is there some reason that Frida would be mad at me?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Mad at you? Like…how?”

“I don’t know. Did I forget to tip her or something? She’s actually charging me for the milk I put in my coffee now,” he added with a confused chuckle.

“Oh, um, that’s weird.”

“Tell me about it.”

He thought briefly about telling her about the business card Betty Jean had given him. Kitty would probably laugh about it, but on the other hand, maybe not.

“Don’t forget about dinner tonight,” Kitty said. “We’re meeting Dad and his surprise at The Harbor House at seven.” He could hear a slight edge of tension in her voice. For Kitty’s sake, he hoped good old Dad didn’t show up with another Miley Cyrus look-alike.

He drove to work and spent the next hour laboring over a project budget. At exactly 10am his assistant, Stacey, buzzed Donalan into his office.

Steve stood and they made the usual niceties. “Let’s get to it.” He waved the man to a chair behind his desk. Donalan was tall. Clean cut. Nice suit. A college boy. But Steve hadn’t missed the calluses on Donalan’s palm when they’d shaken hands. He was used to getting his hands dirty. A quality Steve appreciated in another man. Especially a man he was about to hire.

“I’m looking for a project manager. Someone with good experience. You seem like you might fit that description,” Steve said. He went on to give details about the job. The demolition of the old senior center and the subsequent construction of the town’s new state of the art recreational center. “I’m doing this at cost as a goodwill thing for the city. But the pay is decent. Not what you’re used to in Atlanta, but there’s the potential for a few nice bonuses. And if your work is excellent, a promotion in the future.”

“Sounds good.”

Steve let a few seconds of silence pass between them. “So why the move? Whispering Bay must be pretty tame after Atlanta.”

Donalan shifted around in his chair. “It’s home. Plus, my ex and my son moved back to town a few months ago, due to some family issues. Being a long distance dad was never in my plan.”

Steve nodded. Maybe being a long distance ex-husband wasn’t in the guy’s plans either. Maybe he wanted his ex-wife back. Not that it was any of Steve’s business, but it was good to hear he had strong ties to the community. It meant he was serious about relocating. And just as importantly, staying. “The job’s yours. I’ll have my assistant draw up a benefit package. You can tell me by the end of the week if you want it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. You got a big thumbs-up from my…girlfriend.” Steve frowned. That was odd. He’d referred to Kitty as his girlfriend for a long time now, but for some reason today the title sounded all wrong.

“Kitty Burke, right? I heard you two were together.” For the first time since he walked in the room, Donalan smiled. It seemed like a stupid thing, but Steve didn’t like the way the guy’s eyes lit up at the mention of Kitty’s name. “Believe it or not, she used to babysit me when I was in grade school. I was ten and she was fifteen and…” Donalan’s face suddenly went blank.

Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what came next.

“And you had a crush on her,” Steve finished.

He looked relieved that Steve had said it first. “You could say that.”

Steve stood. “Okay, we’re done here.”

Donalan looked a little shaken by his abruptness. He reached his hand out and Steve shook it for the second time in less than ten minutes. “I have to say that’s the shortest successful interview I’ve ever been on. I don’t need a week to think about it. I’ll take the job.”

“Good.” He knew he sounded gruff, but he couldn’t help himself. Donalan was a good-looking guy. An unattached good-looking guy. A guy who had some kind of history with his girlfriend.

It suddenly occurred to him why the title had seemed all wrong.

He hadn’t wanted to call Kitty his girlfriend.

What he’d wanted to say was, his woman.

* * *

Steve got to the restaurant first, which didn’t really surprise him any. In all the while he’d known Terrie, she’d never been on time for anything. He’d just ordered a beer when he spotted her weaving her way through the tables toward him. She was tall and model thin, with long dark hair and the best tits money could buy. The kind of woman who turned heads and knew it. She was also a snake and a liar. But a smart one, he’d give her that. It was hard to believe that at one time he’d been in love with her. Or at least, he thought he’d been in love with her.

They’d met a few years after he’d moved to Tampa. He and Dave were just getting started in the construction business and they were making good money. Terrie was a real-estate attorney, a few years older than he was, and divorced with a young son. She’d encouraged Steve to invest in a company with one of her clients, Ted Ferguson, a hotshot land developer from south Florida. Dave hadn’t wanted in on it, so Steve had kept his two businesses separate. It didn’t take long for the investment to pay off. Before Steve knew it he’d made his first million, and the money just kept on coming. The relationship with Terrie had flowed naturally. She was attractive and they’d started sleeping together. He thought the fact that she had a son and was professionally stable was a good omen. But the minute they’d said “I do” things had gone downhill.

“My God, it’s hot out there!” She made a face then sat down, leaning over just enough to give him a deliberate view of her cleavage. “I detest Florida in summer. Thank God for air-conditioning.”

The waiter brought him his beer and Terrie fluttered her fake eyelashes at him. “Will you be a sweetheart and bring me a water with lemon, please?”

The poor shmuck smiled right back. He brought her the water and they proceeded to order.

“Tell me about the offer,” Steve said, getting down to business.

“It’s a hundred thousand less than the asking price, but I don’t think we’re going to do much better than that.”

He tried to hide his irritation. “I told you that two years ago.”

When they’d first put the house on the market, he’d insisted that they price it to sell. The faster they got rid of the house, the better. But she’d squawked at every offer that came along, refusing to consider any kind of negotiation. After a few months, the offers stopped coming. Not that it was any skin off her nose. He’d paid for every square inch of that house with his own cash, although technically, according to the state of Florida, the place was considered joint community property. Terrie stood to make a very nice undeserved profit at closing.

“Yes, well, you were right.” She gave him a well-practiced smile. “We should have priced it better.” It was the closest she’d ever get to admitting that she’d been wrong.

The server brought them their food. Steve waited until he left before he said, “So what changed your mind? Let me guess. You need cash.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re revolting. Is everything about money to you?”

He shrugged. This was one game he wasn’t going to let himself be dragged into. When they’d been married, she’d loved to rub his nose in the fact that he barely had a high school education. She hadn’t minded his money, though. She’d spent that like his wallet was on fire.

“I still haven’t heard anything that we couldn’t have talked about over the phone,” he said.

“I just… I wanted to make sure that you understood that we need to accept this offer. If you must know, I have an opportunity to invest in a land deal in south Florida, so yes, some extra cash will come in handy now.” She looked over at him through her lashes. “What about you? Isn’t it about time you got a place of your own? You must be tired of playing house with what’s her name.”

Terrie knew damn good and well Kitty’s name. Last year they’d been forced to work on a real estate deal together.

“I’m happy where I am now, thanks,” he said tightly.

She shook her head sadly. “Oh, Steve, I really hope you’re not leading that poor girl on. I mean, she doesn’t think that you’re going to marry her, does she?”

He stilled. “That’s none of your business, Terrie.”

“Not technically, but as a former wife of yours, let’s just say I know what I’m talking about.” She sighed. “I know you must hate me and I forgive you for that, but I’m just trying to be your friend here.”

She forgave him? What a joke. He didn’t hate her, though. Hate implied strong emotion and what he felt for her was barely more than mild irritation. Still, she knew how to get under his skin. He counted to three. “Really? You want to be my friend?”

“Is that so hard to believe? Think of all we’ve been through together. It wasn’t all bad, was it?”

“You mean like when I walked into your office to see you on your knees with your mouth wrapped around Ferguson’s dick? Yeah, good times.”

“I only did that because you made me!” She looked startled, as if she hadn’t realized what came out of her mouth until after she’d said it. She glanced around the restaurant but with the exception of an elderly lady sitting in the table next to them, no one paid them any attention.

He laid down his fork. “I made you give Ferguson a blow job?” He laughed. “Now that’s rich.”

She managed to reclaim her composure. “I had a long talk with my therapist the other day about you and it all came out in the open.”

“You talked to a shrink,” he said slowly. “About me?”

“How do you think I’ve been able to get past that disaster we called a marriage? What I did was wrong, I admit that, but I would never have cheated if I was getting the kind of affection I deserved. You might have been a good provider, and you were certainly no slouch in the bedroom, I’ll give you that, but a woman needs more. She needs to feel loved and appreciated. She needs a man who can express his feelings. Something you are totally incapable of. So, I overcompensated by spending your money and trying to get affection elsewhere.” She managed to squeeze out a tear. “My therapist says I was emotionally abused by you.”

Was she for real? He’d almost forgotten how special she was.

“Let me get this straight. You spent my money and fucked around on me because I made you do it?”

“You don’t have to be so crude,” she spat.

“Hey, if I remember right, you used to like crude. A lot.”

Her cheeks reddened.

Okay, so now he was just being a dick. It was way past time for him to walk out on this conversation. He stood. “Thanks for an enlightening lunch. Tell the realtor we’ll take the offer. We’ll split the money and never have to see each other again.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but he was already walking away.

* * *

A woman needs more. She needs to feel loved and appreciated. She needs a man who can express his feelings. Something you are totally incapable of.

He shouldn’t let her get to him. She was his ex-wife, for God’s sake. Of course she’d have nothing good to say about him.

Steve slowed his truck and got into the right lane. He was just a few minutes away from Panama City where he had a construction crew working on an addition to the local mall. Maybe he should stop by and check up on their progress. Pick up a hammer and do some real work. Not that what he did at his desk all day wasn’t work. But he’d love nothing better than to pound the crap out of something right now.

He parked his truck in the small lot across the street from the construction site. A cream-colored stucco building with a red-tiled roof caught his attention, but it was the sign above the door that made him stop cold.

His chest suddenly felt like it was on fire. Damn indigestion. Maybe he shouldn’t have eaten that fried grouper.

My therapist says I was emotionally abused by you.

He snorted. Right. Her therapist. It was probably some quack that Terrie paid a hundred bucks an hour to agree with everything she said.

Still…

She needs a man who can express his feelings. Something you are totally incapable of.

So he was a man of few words. So he didn’t like to go around wearing his emotions on his sleeve. What guy did? Actions should speak louder than words, right?

Except, Kitty was going to need those words. And soon.

He glanced once more at the sign. Dr. Joanna Carson, LCP, Family Therapist.

Aw, hell. He was probably going to regret this.

He backtracked, opened the door, and walked inside.

Chapter Four

Kitty stared at the dresses she’d flung on her bed in disgust. In less than an hour, she and Steve would meet her father and his “surprise” at The Harbor House for drinks and dinner, and she wanted to look good.

No. Scratch that. She needed to look spectacular.

Her father’s last girlfriend had been twenty-two with a body even a Playboy pinup model would envy. Was it vain of her to not want to be shown up by her sixty-five-year-old father’s trophy girlfriend? Nope. Not vain at all.

She’d showered, shaved, washed and straightened her hair, and had on a new matching bra and underwear set. A nude-colored, lacy number she’d gotten at Victoria’s Secret. She’d just slipped on her black heels when she heard the garage door open and close.

It was about time! If they didn’t leave soon they’d be late.

A few minutes later, Steve came walking into the bedroom. He leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest. “Personally, I kind of like this look, but if you think I’m going to let you walk into The Harbor House like that then you’re crazy.”

“Ha-ha.” She scooped two of the dresses off the bed and placed them side by side for his inspection. “What do you think? The green or the blue?”

He tugged off his shirt. “Either one. Do I have time for a shower?”

“A quick one,” she said, opting for the blue. Or should she wear the black?

She was about to try it on when he spun her around and drew her against him. “Or better yet, do we have time for a shower together?” he asked huskily.

“Tempting, but I just spent forty-five minutes getting my hair to look this way and I don’t want to get it wet again.”

“Seriously?”

The heat in his dark eyes could melt the polar ice caps. And she was only human, after all. “Well…” He began to kiss her neck. “Not fair. You know what that does to me,” she panted. Maybe a little wet hair wouldn’t be so bad…

Her cell phone buzzed. She glanced over at the bedside table. “That’s probably my dad.”

“Maybe he’s going to be late,” Steve said. “Or better yet, maybe he’s canceling.”

Her phone buzzed again. She reluctantly tore herself from Steve’s arms to pick it up.

Got in early. Already at the restaurant. Can’t wait to see you!

She showed Steve the screen.

“Give me three minutes in the shower.” He stripped off the rest of his clothes and headed into the bathroom.

Sigh. Shower sex would have been so lovely. She opted for the blue dress, then touched up her makeup in the bedroom mirror. “How did the interview with Tom go?” she asked loud enough to carry into the adjoining bathroom.

“He took the job,” he said over the noise from the shower.

“Great! I tried calling you this afternoon to see how it went, but your phone went straight to voicemail.”

He didn’t answer back. Not that her statement required an answer, but Steve was in the habit of calling her every afternoon, just to see how her day was going. It was a sweet gesture and she’d gotten used to it. So when he hadn’t called today, she’d missed talking to him.

He came out a couple of minutes later with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. She watched as he quickly dressed in a pair of dark dress slacks and a blue, long-sleeved shirt. He looked so handsome it made her bones ache. It made other parts of her ache, too. They were definitely having shower sex when they got back from dinner. Or bed sex. Or couch sex. It didn’t really matter where.

She cleared her throat. “How did lunch with Terrie go?”

“Looks like the house is going to sell. We accepted the offer this afternoon. If all goes well, we should close in thirty days.”

Kitty sat down on the edge of the bed. “Are you sad? I know you really loved that house.”

“Not really.” He shrugged. “I mean, yeah, it was a great house, but I’ll build another one.”

Now that was a surprise. Steve had never talked about building another house before. A house for them? Or one just for him? She couldn’t imagine living anywhere but here in Whispering Bay. But if he asked her to move, would she?

The answer was so clear to her.

Yes. She’d go anywhere he asked her to. But would he ever ask?

“You know, I think today was the first day in almost a year that you didn’t call me in the afternoon.” She sounded whiny, but she couldn’t help herself.

He glanced away to adjust the cuffs on his shirt, which was odd because he’d done that already. “Sorry, I was out at a construction site and there was no cell phone service. Did you need something?”

For a second, she didn’t know what to say. Had Steve just lied to her? He’d never lied to her. Not that she was aware of. But he was suddenly having trouble meeting her gaze. “Um, no, I just wanted to know how the interview with Tom went.”

His right eye twitched. “Like I said, I hired the guy.”

Okay. There was definitely something off. His answer bordered on almost hostile. What was going on here? If they weren’t already running late, she’d take this conversation further.

She picked up her clutch purse. “Okay, I’m ready.”

She’d turned to walk out the door, when he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips, gently kissing her knuckles. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound abrupt. You know I would do anything to make you happy, right?”

She swallowed hard. He sounded so sincere. So loving. She should feel reassured. But for some reason, she felt the exact opposite.

* * *

The Harbor House was Whispering Bay’s fanciest restaurant. Located directly on the gulf, it boasted a superb view from nearly every table. That, and the elegant (aka, expensive) seafood and extensive wine list, put it on nearly every restaurant magazine’s best places to eat in the Florida panhandle.

Kitty plastered a huge smile on her face as Steve escorted her into the packed dining room. The hostess guided them toward the back of the restaurant. She spotted her father first, but he didn’t notice her. He was too busy laughing at something his companion was saying.

She could do this. She could smile and make nice with her father’s latest conquest. No matter how young or silly or inappropriate she might be. She would do it because he was her father and she loved him. Simple as that.

“So here you are,” the hostess chirped as she handed them their menus. “Enjoy your dinner!”

Dad stood and enveloped her in a hug. He wore a suit and tie and smelled like expensive cologne. Even at sixty-five, Alan Burke could still be considered handsome, with a full head of salt-and-pepper-colored hair and smiling brown eyes. He pulled back to inspect her. “Sweetheart! You look fabulous!”

“So do you, Daddy.”

He stretched his hand across the table toward his date. Kitty turned to greet her and for a moment… No. She blinked. Then she blinked again.

The woman holding her father’s hand and smiling back at her shyly was old enough to be Kitty’s mother!

“Sweetheart, this is Sharon Ackerman,” her father said. “Sharon, this is my little Kitten. Well, not so little anymore, I suppose.” His smile had enough wattage behind it to light up a stadium.

Steve shook hands with her father and Sharon. Kitty, on the other hand, must have seemed like a deaf mute because after a few seconds, Steve put his hand on the small of her back and exerted just enough pressure to snap her out of her stupor.

“Um, hello! Sharon, so nice to meet you!” Kitty managed to say.

Sharon reached out and hugged her. It was similar to being in some sort of weird dream where she saw herself hug Sharon back, only it didn’t seem to be really happening.

“Sorry! I’m a hugger,” Sharon said in a warm southern accent. She was medium height with blonde hair cut into a sophisticated chin-length bob. Her blue eyes (with the crow’s feet around them!) glowed with happiness. Her red linen dress with a simple scarf and pearl earrings showcased her toned figure, but the skin on her neck and arms revealed the normal loss of elasticity for a woman of about sixty. Kitty would bet her last dollar this lady had never seen the inside of a plastic surgeon’s office.

“Well!” Dad slapped his hands together, rubbing them briskly. “I think this calls for some champagne!”

No. This called for vodka!

What was her father doing with this woman? Yes, she was close to his age and attractive, and she certainly seemed nice enough, but this wasn’t his usual style at all. What was going on here?

“I love champagne!” Sharon smiled and patted the seat next to her. “Kitty, sit here so we can talk better. I’m so excited to finally meet Alan’s daughter! He’s told me so much about you.”

“He has?” she asked weakly.

Her father ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon and they all laughed at something Steve said. Kitty glanced over to see Steve looking at her with concern in his eyes. “Are you all right?” he whispered.

She nodded. Yes. Of course she was all right! She was just in shock, that’s all.

The waiter made a big show of uncorking the champagne and her father raised his glass in a toast. Something about being happy to have everyone here for this most special night, yada, yada…

“How did you two meet?” Steve asked.

Sharon and her father exchanged a secret smile. “Your father tried to buy some drugs off me,” she said.

Kitty nearly choked on her champagne. Her dad slapped her on the back. “You okay?”

“I’m good,” she croaked.

“Now, Sharon, honey, you can’t say it like that. The truth is, I was nearly on my deathbed with one of the worst sinus headaches of my life, so I dragged myself down to the drugstore and tried to buy a couple packages of that stuff they use to make crystal meth with…what’s it called again?”

“You mean Sudafed?” Kitty asked.

“That’s the stuff!” Dad said.

Sharon’s blue eyes twinkled with mirth. And something else that Kitty found a little disconcerting. Sharon was looking at her father as if…as if… She crossed that thought immediately out of her brain.

“Dad, I think you’ve watched one too many Breaking Bad reruns.”

Her father laughed. “So, back to my story. I tried to the buy the stuff and out from behind the counter comes this gorgeous angel of mercy.” He winked at Sharon, who blushed furiously.

Kitty reached out and refilled her own champagne glass.

“I’m a pharmacist, and we have to make sure we’re not selling those kinds of products to any minors,” Sharon explained.

“Minors,” Kitty muttered. “Nope, I think Dad is definitely of age.”

“We hit it off immediately. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I asked her out, and it must have been my lucky day because she said yes,” Dad said.

Steve grinned. “Nice story.”

“Isn’t it?” Sharon said. “My daughters absolutely adore Alan.”

“Hey! Let me show Kitty the new baby.” Her father pulled out his cell phone. A pretty young woman with blonde hair and a big smile, holding a newborn in her arms, graced the small screen. “This is Ginny, Sharon’s youngest daughter, and Madison, the newest grandchild!” her father exclaimed proudly.

Grandchild? Her father was doing the nasty with a grandmother! Not that Kitty wasn’t relieved that her father had finally found someone his own age, but for as long as she could remember her dad had been living like some Hugh Heffner wannabe. What had happened to change him?

Dad went on to talk about the rest of Sharon’s family and what a great bunch they were. Apparently, they’d all gone on some kind of mini-vacation just a few weeks ago. He regaled them with a funny story about a golf game gone bad. And remember that time they got lost driving to Atlanta for the weekend?

The whole thing sounded incredibly cozy, as well as completely foreign. She’d spoken to her father just a couple of weeks ago and he’d never once mentioned Sharon.

“Exactly how long have the two of you been…um, dating?” Kitty asked.

“It will be three months tomorrow,” her father said, his voice thickening with emotion. “Sweetheart, I know this will come as somewhat of a shock to you, but I wanted to tell you my big news in person.” He paused for what must have been just a couple of seconds, but long enough for Kitty to see her life flash before her eyes. “Sharon has made me the happiest man on earth by agreeing to be my wife. We want to get married as soon as possible. Just a small ceremony. Sharon’s family and you. And, Kitten, I want you to be my best man.”

“Me?”

“I know it’s a rather untraditional role for a woman, but there’s no one I’d rather have standing next to me on the most important day of my life than my own daughter.”

Steve shook her father’s hand. “Congratulations,” he said. “Just last night Kitty was telling me how she hoped you’d find a nice woman and settle down one day. Isn’t that right, babe?”

“Of…course! Yes, um, this is fantastic!” Because, well, it was, right? She leaned over and gave her father a hug. And then, because it seemed like the thing to do, she gave Sharon another hug as well.

“I know this must seem fast to you,” Sharon said softly, “but I hope you’ll be happy for us.” She reached out and took Daddy’s hand in hers. “My husband died of cancer eight years ago when I was fifty-three. We’d been married for almost thirty years. I thought after Phillip’s death…well, I’d just lost the love of my life. What did I have to look forward to?”

Kitty nodded, still dazed, and took another big swig of her champagne.

“Eventually, I realized my life was pretty good. I got to see my two beautiful girls get married, got to witness the birth of my grandchildren, and I still had my career as a pharmacist. After a few years, the girls even talked me into trying that Internet dating thing, and I went out with some very nice gentlemen, but no one came close to shaking things up until that day your father walked into my drugstore and rocked my world. It was like…the sun had been hiding for a very long time and finally decided to come out again. I knew on our first date that I was in trouble. Because if this beautiful man didn’t return my feelings, I was going to get my heart broken. Luckily for me, I was wrong. You can find the love of your life a second time around.”

Oh my. Kitty could feel tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Sweetheart!” Dad looked alarmed. “Are you all right?”

“That’s…that’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard in my life!” Kitty said. Then Sharon burst into tears as well and the two of them hugged for a third time.

Steve and Dad grinned at one another the way guys do when they see women acting weepy.

“This calls for more champagne!” Dad said jovially, waving the waiter over to the table. He turned to Kitty. “So what do you say, sweetheart? Will you do me the honor of being my best man?”

“Of course!” Kitty’s head began to swim. Her father was getting married. To the lovely and totally age-appropriate Sharon, who had two daughters and an indeterminate number of grandchildren. The whole thing seemed so normal.

“So what are your plans?” Steve asked.

“We’re hoping to get married next weekend,” Sharon said.

“Next weekend?” Kitty squeaked. “As in, next weekend?”

“I know it doesn’t give us much time, but like Alan said, all we want is a quiet, intimate family wedding.”

Dad’s voice got husky with emotion. “We’ve waited all our lives to find one another and we don’t want to waste another second.”

Kitty blinked. The whole thing was so…romantic. “Where will the wedding take place?”

“That’s the best part!” Dad said. “We want to do it right here in Whispering Bay. That way Sharon’s family can make a beach vacation out of it. There’s nothing like the beautiful blue waters of the gulf, is there, Kitten?”

“Uh, no. Good idea, Dad,” she said weakly. Her father was getting married next weekend. Here. In Whispering Bay. And she was the best man! She was thrilled, of course. But she was still trying to figure out how the whole thing had happened.

“Kitty and I would be honored to host a dinner the night before the wedding,” Steve announced.

They would?

“Oh, that’s so nice, but not necessary,” Sharon said.

Steve took Kitty’s hand and laced it through his. “We insist, don’t we, hon?”

“Yes! Um, yes, we insist. Please, we’d love to host a dinner for you and the whole…family.” It occurred to her that not only would Sharon be her new stepmother, but she’d have stepsisters, as well. And stepnieces and nephews? Was that a thing? Her head started spinning again and she hadn’t even had that much to drink. Had she?

“Fantastic!” said Dad. Then he poured her some more champagne and the last thing Kitty remembered was Steve shaking his head and laughing as he helped her climb into bed later that night.

Chapter Five

Kitty opened one eye to see a bright, angry light streaming in through the blinds in her bedroom window. Her head spun and her mouth felt as if it were stuffed full of sand. “Why is the sun mad at me?” someone croaked. Oh God. She was that someone.

“Good morning, beautiful.” Steve placed a tray next to her on the bed. “Or should I say, good afternoon?”

She sat up and blinked. Afternoon? How long had she slept? The smell of something fattening and delicious hit her nostrils. Maybe life was worth living after all. “Is that bacon?”

“And coffee and eggs and toast. As well as a couple of Tylenol.” He grinned. “How are we feeling this morning?”

“We feel like crap.” He, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected by last night’s shenanigans. He wore a red, short-sleeved polo shirt and beige shorts with docksiders. Casual, yet neatly masculine at the same time. She downed the Tylenol then reached out for a strip of bacon. It was perfectly crisp, exactly the way she liked it. Still, she wasn’t letting him off the hook that easy. “Why did you let me drink so much last night?”

Steve sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t know. You’re kind of cute when you’re drunk. Plus, then I can have my way with you.”

She glanced down to find herself wearing nothing but an old T-shirt of his. “Did we have sex and I just don’t remember?”

He pretended to look wounded. “Are you telling me you can’t remember what happened last night? The, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here when I quote you, ‘greatest night of your life’?”

She gulped down a big swig of the coffee. “Did I really say that?”

“Yep. You did.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re in an awful good mood. And I know it’s not because we had sex last night, because believe me, I might not remember everything, but I would have remembered that.”

He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. “Good to hear I’m still memorable in the sack.”

Her mind rewound its way back to last night’s events. Oh no. Please. Let this be some kind of drunken hallucination. “Did I…did I tell my father I was going to give him a bachelor party?”

“Yeah, but you called it a stag party.”

“Oh my God.”

Steve laughed. “Don’t worry, he said it was unnecessary.”

“And…the wedding is a week from today and we’re really hosting a party for them the night before? I mean, all that did happen. Sharon isn’t just a figment of my imagination?”

“It all happened. As a matter of fact, they’re right next door.”

“Who? Sharon and my dad? What are they doing at Viola’s?”

“Wow. Remind me never to feed you champagne. They’re next door, as in, the bedroom next door.”

Kitty sat all the way up. “My dad and Sharon are in this house? Right this very minute?”

He frowned. “You didn’t want them to go to a hotel in Panama City or Destin, did you? I mean, I just assumed you’d want them here so I invited them.”

“Of course, yes. Good thinking.” She shoved another piece of bacon in her mouth.

“Are you all right? Just the other night you said how much you wanted your dad to find a nice woman to settle down with. I would think you’d be ecstatic.”

“Of course I’m ecstatic! It’s just…all happening so fast.”

“Finish your bacon and go back to bed,” he said. “I got this.”

“What exactly do you got?”

“The wedding. We only have a week to go so we had to work quick. I already booked a private room at The Harbor House for the family dinner. The events manager is emailing me a menu, but I thought I’d leave the food details up to you and Sharon. As for the flowers and the music, that’s gonna be a tough one on such short notice, but I’ve got Stacey making calls.” He glanced at his watch. “Your dad and Sharon have a meeting with the Reverend Donalan this afternoon and then later your dad has a fitting for a new suit, so we need to scram.”

He was arranging for flowers and music? “But…how—”

“Don’t look so shocked, Rip Van Winkle. While you’ve been sleeping the day away, everyone else has been busy. Apparently, Sharon and your dad are big members of the Methodist church where they live, so they’ve already gotten the green light from their minister back home.”

Kitty shook her head, trying to clear it. His Rip Van Winkle joke wasn’t far off the mark. It was as if she’d woken up in an entirely different universe in which Steve had become the Martha Stewart of wedding planners. An image of him going over wedding cake samples almost made her giggle. Except…it really wasn’t funny.

A tiny voice in her head said that something wasn’t right here. When it came to business, Steve was an action guy, no doubt about it. But helping her father plan his wedding? It was as if he couldn’t sit still. Like there was something else going on beneath the surface and he was covering it up with this uncharacteristic flurry of activity. Or was she just being paranoid again? He’d spent the entire day helping her father plan his wedding while she’d snoozed away a major hangover. Maybe guilt was making her see something that wasn’t there.

“You’re taking my dad to get fitted for a suit?”

“You’re a little slow on the uptake today, huh? We have exactly six days to pull this wedding together. So yeah, I hooked him up with a guy in Destin who owns a men’s shop. Then afterward, we’re playing a round of golf.” He walked over to the closet and pulled out a small suitcase. “I’m going to move into the Mexico Beach house for a few days. I need to go through the house before the inspection and take out the fixtures that aren’t in the contract. You know, the stuff I bought in Italy. That’ll take a while and it seemed dumb to keep going back and forth from the house to here.”

He was moving into the Mexico Beach house?

“I’ll go with you,” she blurted.

“And leave your dad and Sharon here all alone? I thought you could use some alone time with them before the wedding. To get to know Sharon better.”

His explanation about wanting to go to the Mexico Beach house seemed completely reasonable, thoughtful even, but in the almost year they’d been together, they’d never slept apart. The idea of him not being here when she got home from work… She missed him already. Which was ridiculous. He hadn’t even left yet.

“How long will you be at the beach house?” she asked, gingerly making her way out of bed. She needed to shower and get with the program.

“Like I said, just a few days. I thought maybe one night this week we could say good-bye to the house. In style. I’ll even cook dinner.” His dark eyes got that smoky look in them that she instantly recognized, and she was flooded with relief. She knew him well enough by now to know exactly what “in style” was code for.

* * *

“So you’re skipping out on Bunco this week to have good-bye sex with Steve?” Pilar asked, taking a sip of her mocha skinny fake-milk latte (with the real sugar added).

It was Monday morning at The Bistro and Kitty had dropped by to have an impromptu powwow with Shea and Pilar. Frida had brought them their coffee and bagels and had decided to join them in a table near the back facing the gulf.

“Just good-bye to the house,” Kitty said, careful not to let her temper get away from her. “Not good-bye to us.” She’d been avoiding Shea and Pilar ever since last week’s disastrous Bunco night, but she couldn’t keep the news of her father’s wedding from them for long. Or from the rest of the town, either.

“Tell me it isn’t true,” Betty Jean Collins had said, grabbing her by the arm the second she’d walked in The Bistro door this morning.

Kitty liked Betty Jean the way you liked sesame seeds on your bagel. They were there for a purpose, but what that purpose was she didn’t know. Then of course, there was the way they got stuck in your teeth… “What isn’t true?” she’d asked.

“That your father is getting married before you!”

“It’s true,” Kitty had replied.

“I heard your man already moved out. I hope you aren’t mad at me about the card.”

Kitty had been about to set Betty Jean straight about Steve “moving out” when the last part of her sentence struck home. “Card? What are you talking about?”

Betty Jean had blinked. “Never mind. Just remember, if it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. A man like yours…well, I guess technically he isn’t yours. But a man like that isn’t going to stay available for long. Gotta go now!” Then she’d scrambled back to join the rest of her group at their table.

It was official. If men were from Mars and women were from Venus, then Betty Jean was from a different galaxy all together.

“I had the weirdest Betty Jean encounter just a few minutes ago,” she said to the girls. “Well, weirder than usual anyway.”

Pilar, Shea and Frida all gave each other guilty looks. “What kind of encounter?” Frida asked cautiously.

“Something about giving Steve a card. And she knew Steve had moved into the Mexico Beach house, which is strange, because how on earth did she find out about that?”

Pilar put her coffee down with a sigh. “I’m afraid everyone knows, Kit.”

“Everyone? What do you mean?”

“Viola saw Steve put a suitcase in his truck and then she mentioned it to Gus, who told her that Steve is staying at the Mexico Beach house. From there it spread to the rest of the Gray Flamingos, and then of course I knew from you, and then—”

“Never mind,” Kitty said wearily. “You’re right. Everyone knows.”

Shea shook her head. “You can’t keep news like that a secret in Whispering Bay.”

“He only moved into the house so he can do some work on it before the inspection. He has some really lovely pieces in there that aren’t part of the sale and he’s going to remove them and replace them with other fixtures. Like this gorgeous sink in the kitchen that he bought in Milan. He’s taking that out to put it…well, you know, in another house someday.”

This was met with silence.

“Honest. We’re all good,” she said. “You should see how much work he’s doing for Dad’s wedding.”

“Speaking of which, I met Sharon,” Frida said, perking up. “She and your dad came by early this morning for coffee and muffins and she invited us to the ceremony.”

“She did?” Kitty tried not to look as surprised as she felt.

“Of course she did,” Pilar said. “We told her all about how we’ve been your best friends since fourth grade, which makes us like your sisters, really, and how the rest of the Bunco Babes are like your family, so she invited us all to come. She seems perfect, Kit, not at all like your dad’s usual type. You must be so happy!”

“I am,” she admitted. And she was. Yes, of course she was.

“How’s your mom taking the news?” Pilar asked.

“I haven’t spoken with her yet,” Kitty admitted.

“Don’t put that off,” Shea said. “You know how testy she can be. So what are you wearing to the wedding? I hear you’re going to be the best man,” she added with a giggle. “Which is just so dang sweet.”

“I’m going shopping with my dad later this week.”

“Wear green. You look fabulous in green,” Shea said.

“Shea’s right,” Pilar said. “Pick out something green. Or blue. You look good in that, too.”

“And the wedding is going to be at the Methodist church? What about the reception?” Frida asked. “And who all is going? We want details!”

“Rehearsal dinner is at The Harbor House and the reception will take place immediately after the ceremony at my house, catered by some company in Panama City that Steve’s assistant found. It will be simple and elegant. Cold shrimp, canapés, champagne, and cake. The flowers and the organist have already been taken care of and Sharon’s two daughters will be her matrons of honor. They’re wearing peach, so I’m not sure about the green. Dad will be wearing a dark blue suit, so I was thinking of coordinating with him. As for the guest list, it will mainly be Sharon’s family and Steve and I. And well, all of you, I guess.”

“Wow,” Shea said. “You did all that in two days? I’m impressed.”

“Actually, Steve did most of it. I told you, he’s really into this wedding.”

More silence. Which wasn’t like them at all. Usually her friends had absolutely no trouble saying exactly what was on their minds.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Kitty demanded.

Frida sighed. “I think this should come from one of you,” she said to Shea and Pilar.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Shea asked.

Pilar nodded. She tossed out scissors but Shea won out with rock.

“Best two out of three?” Pilar pleaded.

Kitty crossed her arms over her chest. “Out. With. It.”

Pilar put on her I-have-to-give-someone-bad-news face. “Did it occur to you that maybe the reason Steve is so into this wedding is because he’s trying to avoid another wedding?” she suggested softly.

Kitty opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut. Damn it. She really hated when they were right. She blinked back a tear. “It might have occurred to me, maybe. I don’t know.”

Frida took her hand. “I swear, Kit, just say the word and Steve is persona non grata here. If he wants coffee, he’ll have to go to the Starbucks in Destin. Or make it himself.”

What?

Kitty snatched her hand away. “Is that why you were so rude to him the other morning? Because you think he’s just messing with me?”

“I wasn’t rude to him. Not really,” Frida said defensively. “I just told him he had to pay extra for his milk.”

“I’m only going to say this one more time,” Kitty said as sternly as possible. “Steve and I are fine. And if we’re not…then we’ll work it out. But if you’re rude to him, then you’re rude to me. Got it?”

Frida’s eyes widened. “Got it.”

“We’re sorry, Kit,” Pilar said. “It’s just sometimes we get carried away. But it’s only because we love you.”

Shea nodded. “The whole town loves you. Remember that.”

Remember that? What was that supposed to mean?

She loved this town, too, she really did, but sometimes she wished she lived somewhere a little less intense.

Her cell phone buzzed. She had an appointment with a client in less than thirty minutes to show a house over on Ocean Avenue. Hopefully this wasn’t a cancellation. She glanced at the screen. It was worse than a cancellation.

“It’s my mom,” she said.

“I’m late for a city council meeting,” Pilar announced, sliding out of her chair.

“Me too,” Shea said, quickly following Pilar’s cue. “Um, not that I’m on the city council, but I’m sure that I’m late for something.”

Frida jumped up from the table. “Look at all those customers waiting!”

“Cowards,” Kitty muttered under her breath as she watched the three of them scrambling for cover. Not that she blamed them. Her mother was like a category one hurricane waiting to be upgraded at a moment’s notice. She might have been divorced from Kitty’s father for two and a half decades and happily remarried, but she still considered Alan Burke her ex in every sense of the word.

“Hi, Mom!” Kitty said, forcing as much enthusiasm as possible.

“Oh, darling, how are you?” Her voice held just the right amount of sympathy to make Kitty cringe.

“What do you mean? I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to pretend with me, sweetie. Your dad and I had a long talk last week. I know all about it.”

“You and Dad talked? To each other?” As far as Kitty knew, her parents only communicated through her.

“We made a special exception. Your father called me last week to tell me all about his wedding and his plans to include you as the best man.” Her mother audibly shuddered. “It’s ridiculous, of course, but that’s your father for you, and it’s the thought that counts, right?”

“I’m really happy for Dad, Mom.”

“Oh, Katherine, I always knew you were a special child. You’d fall off your bike and never shed a tear. Who does that? But it’s all right, it’s me. Mom. You can let it all out now. I won’t judge you.”

“Good to know. But what exactly am I supposed to let out?”

“Your anger! Your frustration! You’re a beautiful, intelligent young woman and all your friends are married with children except you. And now, your geezer of a father is having an elaborate wedding at the age of sixty-five. It’s just all so…unfair! I know you have to pretend around everyone else, but not me, hon. I’m here for you. So, go ahead.”

Kitty was speechless. For one thing, she was in public, so there wasn’t going to be any letting out of any frustration. Even if she had any. She cleared her throat and tried to keep her voice low enough that Betty Jean and the rest of the Gray Flamingos curiously glancing her way wouldn’t hear what she was about to say.

“Mom, I appreciate your concern, I really do. But I’m thrilled that Daddy is getting remarried. And it’s not an elaborate wedding. It’s just a small family thing. As for myself, like you said, I’m a beautiful, intelligent young woman, thank you very much for that. If marriage and kids are in my future, then I still have plenty of time.”

“Oh, Katherine, you did know I was lying about the young part, didn’t you?”

“Bye, Mom. We’ll talk next week.”

“But—”

Kitty hung up before her mother could say anything else. Good grief!

She stood up from the table and smoothed down her lime green pencil skirt. She was a professional, and she had a client to impress and all sorts of important things to take care of today. She wasn’t about to let herself get rattled by a phone call from her mother!

She glanced around the crowded café to see most of the patrons looking at her with…what? Curiosity? Sadness? It was true, the past few days had been…confusing. But she wasn’t jealous of her own father, for God’s sake! Because how messed up would that be?

Kitty put on her bravest smile, raised her chin, and walked out the door.

Chapter Six

There were times in a man’s life when he realized he had to step up to the plate. To grow a pair, so to speak. Steve thought he’d encountered those times before. Like when he’d decided to join the army. Or when he’d taken a chance and started his own company. But all that had been child’s play compared to what was happening at the moment.

“You seem uncomfortable,” said the middle-aged woman with the black glasses.

“Just a little,” he confessed. This place wasn’t what he’d expected. It looked like some cozy den tucked away in the back of one of the spec houses he’d built over at Dolphin Isles. At least there wasn’t a couch. Just a few overstuffed chairs and a desk. No padded walls.

Dr. Joanna Carson, LCP, smiled at him. “That’s a normal reaction when you first start therapy.”

He waited for her to say something else, but she didn’t, which meant the ball was in his court. “Yeah, I guess.”

“So let’s talk about why you’re here.”

“Like I said, I want to figure out what mistakes I made in my past marriages so I don’t make them again.”

“Because you’re thinking of getting remarried?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“On what you tell me.”

“You don’t strike me as the type of man who sits back and lets other people tell him what to do.”

“Listen, doc—”

“Please, call me Joanna.”

“Okay, Joanna, I didn’t come here to listen to a bunch of platitudes. I really need your help. I don’t want to fu—I don’t want to screw up this time.”

“Why do you think you need help?”

If the next words out of her mouth were “And how do you feel about that?” he was out the door. When he’d walked by her office the other day on the way to the construction site, he’d taken it as a sign. He’d checked out her credentials online, but that still didn’t mean she wasn’t a quack. Maybe this had been nothing but a big mistake.

“I’ve been divorced three times. Most people would say there’s something wrong with me.”

“Do you think there’s something wrong with you?”

“My third wife told me the other day that I was a cold son-of-a-bitch.”

“Are those your words or hers?”

“Mine,” he admitted.

She kept her expression neutral. “And is that how you see yourself?”

He hesitated. There was no good way to answer that question. Not without validating Terrie’s opinion of him.

“Look, Steve, this isn’t going to work if you’re not honest. What is it about the idea of therapy that you dislike?”

“It’s just not for me.”

“Yet, you’re here. No one forced you to walk through my door the other day to make an appointment. Did they?”

“No. Not exactly. It’s just…look, I don’t see how this is going to work.”

“All right. Make sure to leave your billing address with the receptionist out front.” She began to get up.

“Wait. That’s it? You’re giving up on me already?”

“I think you’re the one who’s giving up. But if you’d like to talk some more, you still have almost an hour left in the session.”

Damn. She was good.

He shoved a hand through his hair. “Okay, so, I had lunch with my third ex-wife the other day and she told me one of the reasons our marriage fell apart was because I couldn’t express my feelings.”

She nodded. “Go on.”

“So it’s important I don’t do that again.”

“Because you’re in a relationship right now.”

“That’s right. And I really need it to work out this time.”

“I can understand that,” she said.

“It’s just that Kitty, that’s my…girlfriend…her dad is getting remarried and while that’s great, it’s sort of put me in the hot seat.”

“Ah. I’m beginning to see your dilemma.”

Okay. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. Dr. Carson—Joanna—seemed pretty sympathetic.

“Our one year anniversary, which also happens to be her birthday, is coming up this weekend. I think she’s expecting a big gesture, if you know what I mean. So I moved out temporarily. Just to get my head on straight.”

Joanna stared at him for a moment. “Why don’t we start by you telling me all about your first marriage?”

So he told her the whole story. How as a teenager, he’d rebelled against his dad, started smoking dope, and dropped out of high school. He’d been working construction when he walked into a strip joint and ended up married to one of the dancers a couple of weeks later. “Obviously, it was a huge mistake.”

“For both of you?”

“Well, yeah.”

“What did you do after the divorce?”

“I cleaned up my act. Got my GED. Joined the army.”

She gave him the pleased therapist nod. He’d only been here half an hour but he recognized it already. “So, in some ways, you could say the failure behind that first marriage propelled you into another phase of your life.”

“I guess.”

Then they talked about his second wife, Sarah, who he’d met during his stint in the army when he’d been stationed overseas. They’d both been lonely, never a good reason to get married, but at least they’d parted as friends.

“Let’s talk a little about what your third wife said to you the other day.”

“You mean when she said I had trouble expressing my feelings?”

She nodded. “How did that make you feel?”

He stifled a groan and settled back in his chair. He’d been duped. This was going to be every bit as painful as he’d first imagined.

* * *

If you’d asked Kitty last week how she’d be spending her afternoon off, shopping with her father would have never occurred to her. Yet here they were at the outdoor mall in Destin, doing just that. They’d picked up Dad’s wedding gear—a navy blue, light wool designer suit with a white shirt and paisley tie—almost two hours ago. That had been the easy part of the trip. It was Wednesday afternoon and everything was ready for the big day. Except Kitty’s best man outfit.

She studied a mannequin wearing a black-and-white polka dot sundress. “I guess that would be too beachy, huh?” This was the fifth store they’d hit so far and her dad was still being incredibly patient. In all her nearly thirty-six years, Kitty couldn’t remember when he’d ever gone shopping with her.

“How about this?” He held up a cream-colored sleeveless silk dress that might work, except…

“Isn’t that too close to what Sharon might wear? I mean, it’s almost ivory.”

“I have no idea what Sharon’s wearing.” His brown eyes suddenly looked worried. “Should I know that?”

“You have absolutely no idea?”

He shook his head.

“So she might be going down the aisle in full regalia? Veil and all?”

“I doubt it, but you never know.”

The salesgirl brought out four dresses, all in different colors.

“I’ll just go try these on,” Kitty said. She took a second to sneak a look at her cell phone but there were no messages. She hadn’t seen Steve since Sunday afternoon when he’d left for the Mexico Beach house. They’d talked on the phone, but it wasn’t the same thing. Tomorrow night, she’d go out there to help him say good-bye to the house “in style.” She could hardly wait. It had been nice sharing a house with Dad and Sharon, but she was ready for her life to get back to normal. Hopefully, Steve had missed her as much as she’d missed him.

She came out of the dressing room wearing a baby blue halter dress with a slightly flared skirt. “What do you think?” she asked, twirling around so that both her dad and the salesgirl could give their opinions

“It’s perfect,” Dad said.

“For real? Or are you just saying that so we can finish up and get a drink?”

“Both?”

The salesgirl chimed in. “I think it looks great on you.”

The dress fit well and it was nice enough for the event. Plus, the price wasn’t outrageous, although her father had offered to pay for it and she was going to let him.

“Okay, I’m sold. Just make sure Sharon isn’t wearing blue,” Kitty told her dad.

Dad punched some numbers into his cell. “Hey, hon, are you wearing blue to the wedding?” he blurted without bothering to say hello.

Kitty rolled her eyes. Men.

“Great.” He gave Kitty a big thumbs-up. “Will do.” Then he lowered his voice but Kitty was still able to make out what he was saying. “I was going to take her out for a drink. Yes, I plan to do just that.” He put his cell phone back in his pocket. “Sharon says you can wear blue.”

“So I gathered.” Kitty refrained from asking him why he’d felt the need to whisper to Sharon when they were on the phone. She figured she’d find out soon enough.

Twenty minutes later, they were seated at a little Italian grill where happy hour was in full force. Dad ordered Scotch on the rocks and Kitty had a martini.

“To your upcoming birthday!” Dad said, raising his drink in a toast.

“And to your upcoming wedding!” Kitty shot back. She picked up the menu. Now that she didn’t have to worry about sucking herself into a too tight dress for the wedding, maybe she’d order some fried calamari to celebrate.

“You know, Kitten,” Dad began. “I’ve become a totally different man since I met Sharon.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“You have?” He began fidgeting with the edge of the napkin beneath his drink as if he was suddenly nervous.

“Can I ask you something?”

His gaze shot to hers. “Anything.”

“What made you change? I mean, the other women you’ve dated haven’t exactly been—”

“Appropriate?” He shook his head sadly. “Ah, I believe Freud would have probably had a field day with me.”

She reached out to squeeze his hand. “It doesn’t matter. That’s in the past. And I know I keep saying it but I’m really happy for you. Over the moon, actually, but I was kind of…hurt that I seemed to be last person to find out about you and Sharon.”

“I know, Kitten, and I’m sorry about that. My only excuse is that I didn’t want to introduce her to you until I knew for sure that she was the one. Once we decided to get married, it just didn’t seem like news that I could break to you over the phone. I knew once you met her that you’d love her… You do love her, right? I mean, how could you not?”

“Of course I do! She’s the best. Really, Dad. You picked well.”

He looked relieved but then he noticed the hesitation in her expression. “But?”

She thought about the best way to word what she’d wanted to ask him for the past five days. Maybe she should just keep it simple and use the direct approach. “So what made you change? What made you go from this guy who, and sorry if I offend you here, but this guy who ran around chasing supermodels to a guy who wants to settle down and watch Jeopardy with the missus in front of the fire?”

He didn’t look offended at all. “It’s simple, Kitten. Love is what made me change. Once upon a time, I loved your mother and we had a good run, but in the end, we were all wrong as a couple. But Sharon and me, it’s like we were always meant to find each other. I know it seems scary, getting married after only three months, but nothing has ever felt so right.”

If her dad stayed in town much longer, she’d have to get her tear ducts refilled. She swiped away the dampness on her cheek. “Oh, Daddy, that’s so beautiful.”

He smiled, then almost instantly became more serious.

“I’ll be honest; I’m worried about you, Kitten. Steve seems like a really nice fellow. Shoot, he’s even hosting the rehearsal dinner and he’s been practically a one-man army when it comes to pulling this wedding together, but I want you to know that I don’t plan to leave town until I’ve had a long talk with him.”

Kitty froze. “About what?”

“About his intentions, of course.”

Oh my God. “Daddy, please tell me you’re joking. In two days, I’m going to be thirty-six years old. I don’t need my father talking to my boyfriend. My live-in boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry, but I think you do. You’re my little girl and I don’t want to see you hurt by someone who might not share the same depth of feelings for you that you do for them.”

This was crazy! First her mother, now her…

“Have you been talking to Mom about me?”

“Actually, we have. It’s been good communicating with your mother directly after all these years.”

“Well, hurray for you two! Just please tell me you haven’t decided to make her the flower girl.”

Dad frowned. “Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Kitten.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “Sorry, but really, Dad, I’ve got my personal life under control.”

“Not according to your friends, or those Gray Pelicans I met at The Bistro this morning.”

“They’re Flamingos, not pelicans. And…what do you mean not according to them? What friends are you talking about?”

“You know, Shea and Pilar and all those lovely Bunco gals. By the way, I’m so glad that they’ll be at the wedding. The more the merrier, I say! I want as many people as possible to witness the beginning of my new life with Sharon.”

“Yeah, well, as many people as possible won’t be able to fit in my house for the reception. Plus, we only ordered twenty pounds of shrimp.” The waiter showed up with a hot order of the calamari but Kitty had lost her appetite. “So, what? Have you been having some kind of secret meetings with my friends behind my back?” she halfway joked. When he didn’t say anything, she gasped. “Oh, God. You have been having secret meetings!”

“Not so secret, and it was only one meeting. The whole town is worried about you, hon. I have to say, I never thought much about this sleepy little backwater town before, but I’m impressed by the way everyone seems to take care of one another. Everyone in Whispering Bay loves you, Kitty.”

Everyone except Steve, apparently.

She placed her head between her hands and let what he’d just said sink in. “Do you know how embarrassing this is?”

“Now, Kitten, there’s no reason to be embarrassed. I’m a man and I know how other men think. I just want to make sure this guy isn’t going to hurt you.”

Her birthday might be in two days, but she suddenly felt ten years older. “Daddy, please let me take care of this, okay?”

He sighed. “I don’t know—”

“Promise me you aren’t going to talk to Steve,” she insisted. She wanted to be angry. She was angry! But a part of her was also touched. Wasn’t this what fathers were supposed to do? Look out for their daughters? Even though this daughter didn’t want to be looked out for. Plus, this was his special day. The day they were bonding as father and daughter, groom and best man. No, she couldn’t be totally angry with him.

He looked at her sadly. “All right, I won’t say anything to him, but I want you to know that Sharon and I will always be here for you. No matter what happens.”

* * *

Kitty drove up to the McMansion with the fabulous view of the beach. Sometimes, she forgot just how stinking rich Steve was, but looking at this house was a reminder that the man she lived with was loaded. Not that he acted like it. Steve lived like a regular guy. He drove a pickup truck (albeit a nice one), cooked his own dinners, and even did his own laundry (along with hers, thank God).

Yes, he was good looking, too, but that wasn’t the reason she’d fallen in love with him. It was all the little things about him. Like the way he pretended to dislike Viola’s cat when she knew he secretly left treats for him in their backyard (the real reason Armand hung around their driveway!), or how he’d go bowling with his uncle Gus’s team when they needed another player, even though he hated the game.

But most especially, it was the way he made her feel. Like she was the only woman in the room. On the planet. In the universe.

He had to love her.

No matter what anyone else thought of him and his supposed intentions. Not Shea and Pilar and the rest of the Bunco Babes or Betty Jean Collins or even her own mother or father. She’d let her friends and family get to her. But no one else was in a relationship with Steve Pappas, except her.

She’d thought about tonight all day long and she’d come to a decision. She was going to tell Steve she loved him. It was what she should have done last Thursday night after she’d come home from Bunco. So what if she was the first one to say it? A part of her was nervous, and yes, even a little afraid. But deep down in the very core of her marrow, she was positive that he loved her, too.

She parked her car in the driveway and mentally prepared herself for the other part of tonight’s conversation. After what her father had told her yesterday, she had no choice but to tell Steve that the entire town was talking about them. It simply wasn’t fair that he didn’t know.

He must have heard her car drive up because he met her at the door. “What took you so long to get here?” He grabbed her in a long hug and kissed her, making her bones melt in relief. He had to love her. He just had to. “Have we ever been apart this long?” he asked, ushering her into the oversized foyer.

Kitty took a quick look around the house. She’d only been here a handful of times but the place looked completely different. Steve hadn’t liked it, but Terrie had had the house staged when it first went on the market with a Versailles-type gaudiness that had made Kitty giggle when she’d first seen it. But gone was the leopard print rug in the living room and the big golden mirror with the cherubs. In their places were a simple leather sectional and a few coastal-style pieces that suited the interior nicely.

“You’ve been busy.”

He raised a brow. “You haven’t seen anything. Half the fixtures in the kitchen have been replaced.”

Speaking of the kitchen… The smell of onions and garlic hit her empty stomach. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast so she should be starved. But she was too nervous to think about food.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked anyway.

“You.” He grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her toward the first-floor guest bedroom, a room Kitty was all too familiar with.

“Hold on, tiger,” she said, laughing, but it sounded strained to her.

“For what?” He reached beneath her edge of her skirt and ran his palm up the back of her thigh then gave her ass a thorough squeeze. “Do you know it’s been over a week since we’ve had sex? I don’t know about you but I don’t think I can wait until after dinner.”

She didn’t want to wait till after dinner, either, but she couldn’t just jump in bed with him right now. “We need to talk first.”

He groaned. “What? Did the napkins for the reception not come in?” he joked. He wore faded jeans and a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers T-shirt. He was also barefoot and hadn’t bothered to shave this morning because his five o’clock shadow was heavier than usual. He looked so sexy right now she could almost cry.

She thought about the best way to start what was probably the most important conversation of their lives. I love you. Do you love me? Sure, it sounded simple. In theory. Maybe she’d scribble it down in a note like grade school. She could even draw him a box. Please check off one of the following: YES or NO.

“Did you know my father has invited half the town to the wedding?” she blurted. Okay, maybe it was best to ease into the conversation with something a little less threatening. “Well, not half the town, but the Babes and some of the Gray Flamingos. Betty Jean included. Speaking of which, she said something to me about a card she’d given you. How she was sorry but a woman’s got to do what a woman’s got to do. Do you have any idea what she was talking about?”

“Maybe,” he said cryptically. “Although the hell if I understand it.” After a few seconds, he shrugged. “It was a business card for a hair salon that belongs to her niece. But I tossed it.”

“Betty Jean wants her niece to cut your hair?”

“Betty Jean wants her niece to do a whole lot more to me than just cut my hair.”

“What?”

“That was my reaction, too. Do you know what she meant by it? Hell, she knows we’re together. Right?”

Kitty felt her cheeks go pink. That skunk! Betty Jean thought she and Steve were breaking up and she was already trying to introduce him to her niece. And to think, Kitty had helped her fill out the paperwork to refinance her house. There was gratitude for you!

“Of course Betty Jean knows we’re together, it’s just… Okay, so remember last week after I came home from Bunco and you asked how the night went and I told you, kind of jokingly, that we’d talked about you?”

He looked at her funny. “Yeah.”

“Well, it wasn’t a joke. We did talk about you. Nothing terrible. It’s just…the girls wanted to know more about our relationship.”

“I hope you told them it was none of their business.”

“Kind of.”

“Kind of?” He sounded angry. Which startled her. She’d expected surprise, annoyance, even amusement, maybe. But not anger. Not when she hadn’t told him the bad parts yet. This was going to be a lot harder than she’d envisioned on the drive over.

“Is that why Frida was acting so weird the next morning when I went in The Bistro to get coffee?”

Kitty nodded.

He didn’t say anything. He walked into the kitchen, so she followed him. He took a pan off the stove and set it aside on the counter. “We should eat before this gets cold.”

He wanted to eat?

“Steve, did you hear what I just said out there?”

“Sure, I heard you. It’s okay. I understand.” Gone was the flash of anger she’d witnessed out in the living room. It had been replaced with a wooden expression that she’d never seen on him before.

“What’s wrong, baby? How are you feeling right now?” she asked.

“Why the hell does everyone want to know how I feel?”

Kitty blinked. Where was this coming from? “What’s wrong with you? I’m only trying to make things better between us.”

“Why do you think things need to be better?” he shot back. “I think things are pretty fucking fantastic the way they are. Don’t you?”

“Considering you’re living here and I’m living with my father and soon-to-be stepmother and that we haven’t really talked in almost a week, I’d say no, things aren’t so fucking fantastic.”

“Maybe if we actually fucked, it would be.”

It was as if someone had taken a giant scooper and hollowed her out, taking all her organs with it. Breathe, Kitty, you have lungs in there somewhere.

He looked shocked by his own words. “God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“Maybe dinner isn’t such a good idea,” she whispered. “I’m not really hungry anymore.”

“Neither am I,” he said wearily.

What was happening to them? A week ago, they’d been perfectly happy. But maybe it had all been an illusion.

He had to love her.

But then, he didn’t really have to, did he?

Chapter Seven

The scene at The Harbor House’s private dining room made Steve’s palms grow damp. And not just because it was July. Today he was officially hosting the rehearsal dinner for Kitty’s father and his soon-to-be wife.

Sharon’s family had come into town this morning for tomorrow’s wedding. This included her two daughters: Ginny and her husband Greg, and Mallory and her husband Frank. Or was it the other way around? Whatever. They were a busy bunch. Between them, they had five kids, ranging from a month-old baby to a four-year-old. There was also a sister, a brother-in-law and a couple of assorted cousins. Kitty had arranged for a couple of her friends to stay at the house and watch the kids, which had earned her major points with Sharon.

Today was also Kitty’s thirty-sixth birthday and the anniversary of their first night together. He’d wanted to make today special. He’d made it special all right. The two of them had barely said three words to one another throughout dinner.

He glanced over to see her sipping a glass of wine, talking to Sharon’s sister. She looked incredibly beautiful tonight in the little black dress she’d worn just last month when they’d been here for a spontaneous romantic evening.

Everything had been going so well between them this past year. How had he managed to fuck it all up despite his best attempts to avoid just that?

Last night, he’d come close to telling her just how messed up he was. Instead, he’d clammed up and let her walk out the door. He could hear Joanna’s voice in his head telling him that unless he faced his greatest fears, he was doomed to repeat history. At the time, it had sounded like something out of a bad fortune cookie.

He’d put in a call to Joanna to ask for an emergency session today, but she still hadn’t gotten back to him. Some shrink she was. What if he was the type to jump off a bridge or something?

“Steve, my man!” Frank slapped him on the back. “This is quite the party! Care to join The Gregger and me in a cigar on the patio?”

The Gregger stood over by the French doors that led directly out to the beach. He grinned and held up a couple of stogies.

“Maybe later?” Ordinarily he wouldn’t have minded a little male bonding time with Kitty’s slightly drunk, soon-to-be stepbrothers-in-law, but the waitress was signaling to get his attention.

“Cigars are so nasty. I’d much rather have dessert,” Sharon said, catching the tail end of their conversation. Her arm was looped around Alan’s. They already looked like a happily married couple and Steve was genuinely glad for them. “Thank you so much for this lovely dinner, Steve.”

“Yes, we appreciate it,” Kitty’s father said stiffly.

If Steve were a betting man, he’d say that despite the polite veneer, Alan Burke wasn’t his biggest fan at the moment. Not that he blamed him. If he were Kitty’s father, he’d probably beat the shit out of him.

“It was my pleasure,” Steve said. “Excuse me, but I need to take care of something.” He made his way to the other side of the room to speak to the waitress.

“We’d like to go ahead and serve dessert,” she said. “Normally, in a rehearsal dinner, this is the point where the guests make the toasts. Would you like us to serve champagne for that? We have several varieties—”

“Sure. Pop out the good stuff and keep it flowing.”

She looked pleased. “Very good, sir.” He’d spared no expense tonight. An open bar, appetizers, and the full menu. She and the rest of her staff were going to be looking at a very nice tip. He’d even hired a limo to take everyone back home so no one had to be the designated driver, although as the host, he’d limited himself to two glasses of wine with dinner and no hard liquor. Just in case.

He turned around to find Kitty standing in front of him. It was the first time tonight they’d been in a position to talk semi-privately.

“Hi, there,” he said. His voice sounded gruff and scratchy, like he was nervous. Probably because he was. The last time he’d been nervous around a woman had been…never. Well, maybe back in the sixth grade or something. He wished he could whisk her away for a week. Just the two of them with no one else around. Maybe he could still make that Hawaii trip work.

“Hi, yourself.” Her hair was pulled back in a bun, but a few loose fiery strands had worked their way down her cheek. A pair of diamond stud earrings, exactly one carat each, shone brilliantly in her delicious earlobes. A surge of male pride flared through every cell of his body. And not just because she’d chosen to wear the earrings tonight. She was the most gorgeous woman in the restaurant. He had to fight the urge to reach out, grab her into his arms and tell her…and tell her what?

Going to see Joanna was supposed to make everything easier. Clearer. Instead, after just one session he felt more messed up than ever. She’d called it progress. He called it bullshit. But she’d laughed and said she would see him next week. At this rate it was going to take forever before he could “embrace his feelings” as Joanna put it. Maybe he could get on some kind of accelerated therapy plan.

“Everything is really beautiful tonight, Steve,” Kitty said softly.

“Not as beautiful as you. Kitty—”

“Not now,” she said. “Everyone is sitting down for dessert. We’ll talk later. Okay?”

He nodded, relieved. At least she still wanted to talk to him. He took his seat back at the long banquet table that had been set up for the occasion. Alan and Sharon sat in the middle. Kitty sat next to her father with Steve on her other side. The guests were served their choice of Key lime pie or chocolate lava cake and the wait staff began popping bottles of champagne and pouring them into the elegant flute glasses.

Greg was the first one to stand up. He clinked his fork along the side of his glass to make sure he had everyone’s attention then raised the glass in the air. “I’ll make this short, sweet, and simple. To Alan and Sharon, who both deserve a world of happiness!”

Everyone murmured their approval then raised their glasses in agreement.

Next came Ginny, who got all weepy and said something about no one ever replacing her father in her heart, but she was glad that her mother had met such a great guy. The rest of her toast buzzed by Steve’s ears. Mainly because at this point, Mallory, too, had started crying and then before everyone knew what was happening, Sharon was hugging them both and even Kitty’s dad had a tear in his eye.

Joanna would have a field day with this group.

He shifted around in his chair, wishing he’d had something a little stronger than just the couple of glasses of wine to drink tonight.

Then it was Sharon’s sister’s turn and then finally, the groom himself stood up to make a toast. Alan cleared his throat. “Today, I consider myself the luckiest guy on the planet. I have the great fortune to be surrounded by the two most important people in my life. My beautiful daughter, Katherine, who came screaming into the world thirty-six years ago today, and Sharon, the woman I can’t wait to make my bride. I’ll be honest; never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this day would ever come for me. Kitty will tell you that, there for a while, I had a bit of an unsavory reputation as a playboy.” As if on cue, Kitty nodded in an exaggerated manner, causing the room to chuckle politely.

“All that changed the day I met this gorgeous woman.” He reached out and placed his hand on Sharon’s shoulder. “But it wasn’t just the outer woman I was attracted to, although all you have to do is take one look at her and see why I became a blithering idiot around her.” Sharon blushed furiously.

“It was the inner Sharon who stole my breath away. Her gentleness of spirit, her intelligence, her fierce kindness…put all together I never had a chance. No guy should ever be this lucky. But damn if I’m going to complain.” Everyone laughed, and then he raised his glass high in the air. “Please join me in toasting my beautiful Sharon!”

“Here! Here!” Everyone began clinking their spoons against the crystal flutes.

“I think they want us to kiss, hon.” Alan bent down and smacked Sharon one on the lips and everyone clapped and laughed again.

“Who’s next?” Greg said.

“A toast from the host!” Frank yelled, causing Greg to laugh at the rhyme.

“Toast…toast…” they chanted like a couple of frat boys.

Okay. He had this. He’d anticipated the need for some kind of statement tonight, so he’d rehearsed one. Short and sweet and to the point.

He signaled for the waitress to refill everyone’s glass then smiled at the occupants of the room. “On behalf of Kitty and myself, I’d like to thank everyone for joining us tonight to celebrate tomorrow’s nuptials. To Sharon and Alan, best wishes, and may you always be surrounded by the love of your families.” He took a sip of his champagne, signaling that the toast was over.

He waited for the prerequisite polite applause, but instead, Greg shouted out, “That’s it? What about you, dude? Let’s hear about you!”

What about him? He was about to sit down, but then the spoons began clinking again.

“When are you and Kitty gonna tie the knot?” This time it was Frank doing the shouting.

He could feel Kitty stiffen beside him. He wished he had one of those cigars now so he could stuff it down Frank’s big mouth.

“Aw, c’mon, give a guy a break, huh?” He hoped that would elicit a few laughs and that would be the end of it.

“Let’s make it a double wedding tomorrow!” Greg yelled.

“Yeah!” Frank chimed in.

Mallory and Ginny and the rest of the family looked mortified.

Why hadn’t he cut those clowns off two bottles ago?

“So, after dinner tonight, there will be cigars on the patio and there’s dancing in the restaurant’s main room, if anyone is so inclined.” He sounded like a damn fool making some kind of public service announcement, but at this point he’d say just about anything to shut those idiots up.

“You’re not getting off that easy, Pappas!” Greg laughed.

He gazed around the room. Even the wait staff seemed mesmerized, frozen in their tracks as they waited for him to crash and burn.

His chest erupted in flames. Maalox. He needed some stat. Or Tums. Or a fire extinguisher. He’d take whatever he could get.

Kitty firmly placed her hand over the sleeve of his jacket and urged him to sit down. Then she stood up. “Now, now, let’s all play nice here.”

The room laughed and Steve felt some of the acid eating away at his chest ease off.

“The truth is I’m the one with the cold feet. But can you blame me? I mean, look at this guy. Okay, so he’s good-looking and rich, but a girl has her standards, you know?” There was more laughter and this time even her dad had a grin on his face. “But if I ever stoop low enough to make things permanent with him; you’ll all be the first to know.” She raised her glass. “Now, please, let’s make one final toast to the stars of tonight, to my dad and to his lovely Sharon!”

Afterward, Kitty couldn’t meet his eyes. The limo came and everyone piled in, except for himself and Kitty. He hadn’t seen her since she’d excused herself from the table shortly after the toast.

He’d blown it. Totally and completely. She might be able to fool everyone else in the room, but not him. And now she’d taken off.

He had to find her and make things right again.

* * *

Kitty walked as fast as she could in her heels, until she couldn’t walk anymore, so she slipped them off, letting the still warm sand squish between her toes. The weather had cooled off, but it was still July, which meant the air was thick with humidity. Her hair had probably exploded into Chia Pet territory. Not that she cared.

The night couldn’t have gone any better. Or any worse. The limo had taken everyone back to the house or to their respective hotel rooms in Destin. She’d declined a ride, however. She was simply too wound up to go home.

“You saved my ass in there.” Steve’s deep voice came from behind to cut through the darkness.

She turned around to find him standing just a couple of feet away. He still wore his jacket, but he’d taken off his shoes and socks. It was no wonder she hadn’t heard him. Had he followed her out to the beach? After that fiasco of a toast (thank you, Greg and Frank, future stepbrothers-in-law, extraordinaire!) she wouldn’t doubt that he needed a walk to blow off some steam. After all, that was exactly what she was doing.

“It’s such a cute ass, I couldn’t help myself.”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress trousers. The moon was full, allowing her to make out clearly the weary expression on his way-too-handsome face. He’d worked hard to make tonight a special event and she was grateful for that. But he’d also made it perfectly clear by that awful toast that…that what? It wasn’t his fault that he’d been put on the spot like that. After all, she hardly expected him to declare his love for her in public. At least not the first time, anyway. Steve was an immensely private man. She got that. It was part of who he was and she loved him. But what on earth were they going to say to one another to make it all better?

“I haven’t had the chance to wish you a happy birthday yet,” he said.

Her fingers automatically went up to touch her new diamond earrings. “They’re unbelievably gorgeous. Thank you.” This morning around ten, a delivery truck had arrived at her office with two dozen red roses along with a card and a small blue box from Tiffany’s. It was a wonderful gesture, but not the gift she’d really wanted.

“That’s not the end of your present, you know.”

“It’s not?”

“Not even close,” he said.

He pulled her against his chest and kissed her, and because she wanted it too, she didn’t protest. She opened her mouth and his tongue slid in, familiar and exciting at the same time. Kitty sighed and threw herself into the kiss. She couldn’t fight it anymore. She wanted him. She always had and she always would. Maybe this would be enough for her. Or maybe not. She only knew she wasn’t ready to let go of him yet.

He broke the kiss and began walking her back toward the restaurant. “Let’s go to my place.”

His place in Mexico Beach was over an hour away. Kitty couldn’t wait that long.

“No, let’s do it here.” She began pulling him toward the sandy area below a deserted pier. He hesitated a moment, then followed her lead.

“Are you sure?” His voice sounded rough, like he was excited by the idea.

Impulsively, she reached out and palmed the front of his trousers, causing him to suck in a breath. Oh, yeah. He was definitely excited, all right. “I’m positive. I’m thirty-six years old and I’ve never made love on the beach. It’s my birthday, so you have to do what I want.”

He yanked off his jacket, threw it down on the sand, and then lowered them both onto it. His mouth settled in the sensitive area just below her earlobes with the outrageously expensive earrings, and began placing little kisses there.

“Steve,” she panted.

He slid his big hand up until her black dress bunched around her waist. Then, using the tips of his fingers, he lightly drew a pattern on the skin of her inner thighs. It took him forever but he finally reached the edge of her panties. He palmed her through the thin silk crotch, making her hips buck off the jacket. Then he slipped off her panties and used his broad shoulders to spread her legs apart.

And that’s when she realized he was going to go down on her. Right here on the beach. She should be mortified. Instead, she now understood why he found the idea so exciting. Technically, they were obscured from view by the pier, but anyone could come along at any moment and see them. Or hear them. Because they were definitely not being quiet. At least, she wasn’t being quiet. He, on the other hand, had his mouth occupied at the moment.

He swirled his tongue, slow and lazy in all the places she liked best, until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Her hips began a herky-jerky, frantic kind of motion. “Damn it, Steve, just do it,” she ground out.

He laughed against her thigh, but he brought his hands under her bottom and raised her straight up to meet his mouth, flicking his tongue hard and fast against her clit until she collapsed in a heap of liquid bones back onto the jacket.

He unzipped his fly, pulled out his cock, and guided himself inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and let her body adjust to him. They’d made love hundreds of times by now, but every time it felt different. Better. How could that be? Was it the same for him? Or was she the only one that felt that way? “That…it feels…”

“Fucking perfect,” he moaned.

“Yes,” she squeaked.

He began pumping into her, his rhythm slow at first, just like his mouth had been earlier. His hands cupped her breasts through the material of her dress and she wished now that they’d taken the time to take off their clothes, but it was too late for that. She used her hips to subtly encourage him to increase his tempo, and just like that, he did.

Bracing his hands on the sand above her head so that he didn’t crush her, he began pounding into her. It was rough, not like anything she’d experienced with him before. Her hands slid beneath his dress shirt to run frantically over the smooth muscles of his back. She couldn’t stop touching him. Everything felt more intense. More powerful. This time, when she came she must have screamed because he covered her mouth to stifle it, his own low moan mingling with hers.

Afterward, they stayed together for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath. And then she began to laugh, because it’s what she always did after sex. It was her body’s natural response to orgasm. Call her weird. But she’d always done it.

“You are so sexy when you laugh like that,” he said, pulling out slowly.

“Yeah, well, I’m not sure either of us are going to be laughing when we stand up. I think we have sand in all the wrong places.”

He threw his head back and laughed, a natural, deep, rumbly kind of sound that made her want him all over again.

And then before she knew it, she blurted it out. “I love you.”

The second she said it, she knew it was the wrong thing to say. Gone was the comfortable camaraderie and after-sex glow of just a few seconds ago. Now the air was thick with an emotion she couldn’t even name. She sat up and began brushing herself off, trying to put her clothing back in place. But her hands were shaking. Oh God. She’d said it. And he hadn’t said it back. It was worse than her worst nightmare. It was the end of the world.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said quickly.

“Kitty, I… Do you have any idea how much I like you?”

He liked her?

How was she supposed to respond to that? Other than knocking him upside the head.

He stood and adjusted his trousers then gave her a hand up. “Let’s go back to my place. We need to talk.”

“Your place?” He’d used that term before and while technically, it was true, it sounded as if they weren’t together anymore. “Are you moving out permanently?” she asked him.

“What?” He looked confused. “You know why I’m at the Mexico Beach house.”

“I thought I did, but it feels like maybe you’re relieved that we’re spending some time apart. Maybe we should spend some time apart.” She couldn’t be with him anymore. Not if he didn’t love her. It had been different before, but now that she’d exposed their relationship, it could never be the same again.

What had she done?

His cell phone rang. He ignored it.

“Aren’t you going to get that? It’s after ten at night, it must be important. Maybe it’s the limo driver. Isn’t he coming back to pick you up?” Keep talking. Keep moving. Keep…doing something.

He fished the phone out of his trouser pocket, looked at the screen, and then he must have pushed the decline button because the ringing immediately stopped.

“Who was that?” she demanded.

“No one,” he said in the same tone of voice he’d used when he told her he couldn’t get cell phone service near the construction site. It had sounded like a lie then, and it sounded like one now, too.

Never in the year that they’d been together had she suspected him of being anything but honest and truthful with her. But the fact that he didn’t want her to know who’d called…

Anger, hot and pure, surged through her. He didn’t have to love her. But damn it, she wasn’t going to allow him to lie to her. She had too much pride for that. She placed her palm up in the air. “Let me see your phone, Steve.”

“It’s not what you’re thinking.”

She didn’t say anything. She just kept her hand out, waiting.

He reluctantly handed it over.

There was a missed call from someone named Joanna.

This was…no. Never in a million years would Steve cheat on her. He might not love her. And he’d definitely lied to her. But he wouldn’t cheat on her. Somehow, she knew that. The same way she knew the sun would come up tomorrow morning. To think otherwise was to be wrong.

“Who is she, Steve?”

“No one important. You have to trust me on this.”

“If she’s no one important, then tell me who she is.”

“I’ll tell you everything. But not here. Let’s go back to my place,” he pleaded.

There was a time in a woman’s life when she had a choice to make. She could buckle down and scream and rant and make a scene or she could walk away with her head held high. Or…she could jump in the ocean and swim far, far away. Choices one and three were tempting. But neither one felt right to her.

They walked back to The Harbor House in silence. In less than twelve hours, she was supposed to stand by her father’s side on what would hopefully be the happiest day of his life. How was she supposed to do that when her own life was falling apart right in front of her?

She couldn’t do this tonight. She just couldn’t.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk right now. Can we do it tomorrow? After dad’s wedding?” When I can fall apart in private with no one to see me?

He looked like he was going to be sick.

She knew the feeling.

“If that’s what you want. The limo will take you home. I’ll…wait here for it to come back and get me.”

She nodded.

“Kitty,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Please. Say something.”

“Why do I feel like we just had good-bye sex?” she whispered.

“Are you crazy? This isn’t good-bye anything,” he said gruffly. “Listen, baby, you know me. Don’t you?”

The limo circled to the front of the parking lot and one of the restaurant’s valets came forward to open the door for her. She wished she could say something, but her throat felt too tight to allow her to speak. So she got inside the limo before he could see her cry.

* * *

Steve took one of the empty stools at The Harbor House bar and waved the bartender over. “I’ll have a Scotch. Neat.” He had just put in a call to the limo driver requesting that he come back to pick him up in an hour. Maybe if he got drunk enough he could forget the look on Kitty’s face tonight when she’d said good-bye.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was it so hard for him to give her the words she needed to hear? He thought he’d have more time, but now there was no choice. He’d have to do it tomorrow. He’d have to lay it all on the line or lose her forever.

But what if what he had to say wasn’t enough for her? What then? The sick feeling in his chest came back again. He’d thought those times before that it was indigestion, but now he knew what it really was. The heavy acidic burning was his own body telling him what an idiot he was. There wasn’t enough Maalox in the world to cure the mess he’d made of his own love life.

The bartender handed him his drink and went off to take another order.

“Hey, boss.” Steve glanced up to see Tom Donalan take the stool next to him. “Mind if I join you?”

Steve shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He took a long slow sip of the Scotch. “What are you doing here?”

“I was having dinner with my ex and her family. I was just about to leave when I saw you.” He hesitated. “It looked like you could use a friend.”

“It’s that obvious?” Steve signaled the bartender back. “Get this man whatever he wants on me.”

Donalan quietly ordered a beer.

“Dinner with your ex, huh?” Steve said. “You must be pretty evolved.”

“You could say that. We have a son, and we were lucky enough to stay friends.”

“Ah. Well, good for you.”

“It works.” The beer came and Donalan took a sip. “So what brings you here tonight?”

“Rehearsal dinner for my…for Kitty’s father and his bride to be.”

“Yeah, I heard my old man is doing the service tomorrow.”

Steve nodded.

Donalan took a couple more sips of the beer, then pushed it away. “I should probably get going.” He went to get up from his stool.

“You ever been in love?” Steve asked. It was impulsive. And stupid. Because he really didn’t care what Donalan had to say. Did he?

“Once. A long time ago.”

“But love didn’t save your marriage.”

“I never said it was it was my ex I’d been in love with.”

Steve glanced up. “Ah. Hence the reason your marriage fell apart.” Funny. He hadn’t pegged Donalan for a cheater.

“You got it all wrong.” Donalan reached back for the beer and this time, he drained it. “Doesn’t matter. I messed up. I haven’t seen her in over ten years. But…” He shrugged. “I still think of her sometimes. What might have been. You know.”

“The proverbial one that got away, huh?”

“You could say that.” Donalan shifted around in his stool. “Hey, I’m just an asshole who didn’t know a good thing when he saw it way back when. But I like to think that now that I’m older, if I ever have the chance to make it right… I don’t know. I just hope that I’d take a chance this time. You know?” He got up and slapped Steve on the back. “Thanks for the beer, boss.”

Chapter Eight

Kitty peered out the vestibule. The Whispering Bay Methodist Church was small enough that the few dozen people waiting for the ceremony to begin made the place feel cozy. White gardenias overflowed along the tops of the aisles and a violinist played classical music in the background. Today was her father’s wedding day! She still had to pinch herself to believe that it was happening. And to keep herself awake.

She’d had trouble sleeping after the way she and Steve had left things last night. Sometime around three in the morning, she’d finally drifted off but then she’d woken back up before five. Pilar had come over to the house to help her get ready and had slathered the area under her eyes with hemorrhoid cream. She claimed it would get rid of the bags but Kitty wasn’t so sure. Her hair and makeup looked well enough, she supposed, but even she had seen the sadness on her own face. Too bad there wasn’t a cream to take care of the man you loved telling you that he liked you a lot.

She mentally chided herself. Today wasn’t about her. It was about her dad and Sharon and she was genuinely happy for them. Once the shock of their engagement had worn off, Kitty had taken the time to get to know Sharon and she was every bit as lovely as she seemed. So were Mallory and Ginny. And despite last night’s toast debacle, Frank and Greg were okay, too. Once you got them away from one another.

Shea caught her eye and waved to her. Her husband, Moose, was sitting next to her in the pew. Pilar and Nick and Frida and Ed and the rest of the Bunco Babes and their spouses were present, as well as a healthy contingency from the Gray Flamingos. Betty Jean Collins wore a silver dress and sat in the second row and seemed awfully preoccupied by…

Kitty turned to see what Betty Jean was so interested in. She should have known it would be Steve walking down the aisle. Wearing a dark suit with a light-colored shirt and the red tie she’d given him for his birthday, he looked exactly the way she’d envisioned him whenever she dreamed of their own wedding.

A lump settled in her throat, threatening to squeeze her airway.

They were supposed to talk this afternoon after the wedding. But what would they say to one another?

Steve looked at her, but his expression was solemn. He broke their gaze, scanning the pews, looking for a row to sit in.

“Yoo-hoo!” Betty Jean cried, not bothering to lower her voice despite the fact that they were in a church. “Sit here, handsome!”

No one else, not Shea or Pilar or any of her other friends, offered to make room in their pews, so he reluctantly took the seat next to Betty Jean, who looked absolutely thrilled.

Steve glanced her way again and this time they both couldn’t help but smile. Just a little. And in that moment they were completely in sync, as though they were sharing a private joke, and it was as if the past week had never happened.

She could feel her eyes begin to well up. She ducked back in the vestibule.

“Kitten!”

She jumped, startled to see her dad walking toward her. He’d gone off to speak to Reverend Donalan about the vows, but now it was just the two of them, waiting for their cue to take their places at the front of the church.

“All you crying?” he asked with concern. He took a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his jacket and offered it to her.

“I’m just so happy for you, Daddy.” She carefully blotted her cheeks so that she didn’t mess up her makeup (or smear off the hemorrhoid cream beneath it, because who knew how puffy those bags would be without it?). Mallory had done everyone’s faces this morning while Frank had made pancakes and Ginny and Greg had squeezed a whole bag of oranges to make the fresh juice for their mimosas. It had been a lovely wedding breakfast, except that no one had mentioned Steve’s absence. It seemed as if the entire family had written him off already.

“I’m so nervous,” Dad admitted. “You’d think I was a kid.”

Kitty smiled and straightened his tie for him. “You look very handsome. Sharon is going to swoon when she comes down the aisle and gets a look at you.”

He grew somber. “You look beautiful today, Kitten.” For a second there, Kitty thought he was going to cry. But then he coughed to cover up the emotion behind the moment. He reached into his pocket once again and handed her a piece of paper. “I know this is a last minute thing, but Sharon and I would like you to read this during the ceremony.”

Kitty quickly scanned the sheet in her hands. “It’s a scripture reading?”

“St. Paul to the Corinthians. You’ve heard it before I’m sure. Very popular at weddings,” he added with a wink.

“I’d be happy to. Let me just read this over a couple of times so I don’t flub it up.”

She went off into the corner of the room and read the scripture. Once quickly to make sure there weren’t any unfamiliar words, then again slowly to get the rhythm of the piece. Dad was right, she’d heard this countless times before. It was a beautiful piece and she was honored that they’d asked her to read it.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous…

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

She read it again. And then again.

The words seemed to clang through her brain. Over and over until she could feel those blasted tears again and the sound of Steve’s voice saying, “Listen, baby, you know me. Don’t you?”

He had to love her. Didn’t he? She felt it more strongly than anything she’d felt before. Just because he hadn’t said it last night didn’t mean it wasn’t true. Maybe he didn’t even know it himself. How could a man who’d spent the past week trying to make her father’s wedding day the most special day it could be not love her?

The only time she’d ever doubted it was when someone else had planted an insecurity. Not because they were being cruel or mean but because they loved her, and they didn’t know him. Not like she did.

“Baby, you know me. Don’t you?”

Yes. She knew him. And she loved him. Maybe it was as simple as that.

“Daddy, can you excuse me for a second?”

He glanced at his watch. “We’re supposed to be out there in a few minutes.”

“That’s all this will take.” She opened the door that led into the church and slipped off to the side aisle. Immediately, Shea and Pilar and rest of the church craned their heads in curiosity.

Let them watch, she thought.

She caught Steve’s attention and waved him over to the area behind the violinist.

Steve took her by the arm further away from the crowd’s view. “What’s wrong? Are the flowers not okay? Or is it the music? I can—”

“I love you,” she blurted again for the second time in the past twelve hours. Only this time when she said it, it felt nothing but right.

“I just wanted you to know that. I love you, Steve. And I don’t care who Joanna is, because she’s probably someone you work with or maybe she’s involved in the sale of the house, or whatever. I don’t know and I don’t care. But you’re right. I know you and that’s all that matters.”

He looked as if it was the last thing he’d expected her to say. “Kitty—”

“Kitty!” her father hissed from the vestibule. “It’s time!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Reverend Donalan standing at the front of the church, waving her over. She couldn’t wipe the grin from her face. It was so freeing. Telling Steve after all this time the way she felt. No matter what happened between them, she would never regret saying it.

She reached up to peck him on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.” Then she hurried to take her place next to her father.

The violinist began playing Pachelbel’s Canon, and a few seconds later Mallory and Ginny came walking down the aisle together in matching knee-length peach chiffon dresses. They looked almost as emotional as their mother, who looked both ready to laugh and cry at the same time. Sharon wore an ivory-colored, tea-length satin dress and looked like something out of a bridal magazine. Kitty grabbed her father’s hand and squeezed it. He squeezed it back, then turned to face his bride.

Reverend Donalan smiled at the congregation. “Friends, we are gathered together in the sight of God…”

* * *

His heart felt like one of those little silver balls in the pinball machine being pinged from side to side and lever to lever. Every couple of seconds it would soar, then fall, only to be bounced around, never quite coming back down.

Kitty loved him.

She’d said it last night, but not the way she’d said it just now. Clear and strong with no doubt whatsoever. Despite the fact he hadn’t said it back. Despite the fact that a strange woman had called him in the middle of the night and he’d refused to tell her who she was.

Looking beautifully serene in a light blue dress that highlighted the auburn in her hair, she stood proudly next to her father, occasionally nudging him in the side when he was too stunned from the solemnity of the event to remember his next lines. It was a poignant moment, seeing her support her father on the day of his wedding.

He’d never met anyone like her before.

He’d never meet anyone like her again.

A small trickle of sweat ran down the back of his dress shirt. She’d promised that they’d talk later today. But after the ceremony, there would be pictures. Then a small reception back at the house, filled with Sharon’s family and Kitty’s friends and… He couldn’t wait. He simply couldn’t. He had to talk to her before then.

“And so,” the minister continued, “If anyone here knows of any reason why this man and this woman should not be joined in holy matrimony, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”

The crowd politely chuckled.

He should do it now. He should interrupt the ceremony and tell Kitty what he had to say, but then she might kill him for ruining her father’s wedding. The sweat began to drip down his back.

“No objections? Let’s proceed then,” Reverend Donalan said.

Sharon recited some vows she’d written and the daughters started weeping again. And then Alan spoke his own vows and the weeping became contagious.

“Good Lord!” Betty Jean whispered in his ear. “You’d think we were at a funeral!”

Kitty went up to a mic and did a reading. It all began to blur for him. And before he knew it, the minister had pronounced them husband and wife and Alan and Sharon kissed and the music started up again. They walked down the aisle holding hands and smiling like their hearts were going to explode.

Steve knew the feeling.

He had to talk to her now. He didn’t want another second to go by with her, and the rest of their world, not knowing exactly the way he felt about her.

And he’d thought therapy was going to be painful.

He stood. “May I have your attention everyone?”

Alan and Sharon halted halfway down the aisle and the violinist froze.

Betty Jean grabbed his coat jacket. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

The entire church turned to look at him.

“I want to say something. To Kitty.”

Her brown eyes went wide. “To me?”

He nodded. “It’s important that you know who Joanna is.”

“Now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“Who’s Joanna?” Betty Jean demanded. “I thought you were going to call my niece, Natalie!”

Kitty rolled her eyes. “For the love of… Betty Jean Collins, I’ve put up with you flirting with my boyfriend for the past year now, but enough is enough. No more sly innuendoes and double entendres and slipping him phone numbers behind my back. Got it?”

The crowd appeared stunned by her outburst.

That’s my girl, he thought proudly.

“Well!” Betty Jean huffed. “I…well, dang! What am I supposed to do for fun now?”

“I don’t know and frankly, I don’t care,” Kitty said.

Betty Jean’s jaw dropped.

Alan Burke caught his eye with a stern fatherly glare. “If you have something to say to my daughter, then say it. Because we all want to hear it.” Beside him, Sharon nodded enthusiastically.

“That’s right!” Pilar shouted. “Go on! We all have a vested interest here.”

“Right.” He turned to face Kitty. “You want to know who Joanna is? I’ll tell you who she is. She’s my therapist.”

Everyone stared at him. Not that they hadn’t been staring at him ever since he’d stood, but now they looked at him in complete confusion.

“Your therapist?” Kitty said. “I don’t understand. Did you hurt your back or something?”

“I’m seeing an excellent therapist for my busted knee,” Reverend Donalan chimed in. “But her name isn’t Joanna.”

“She’s not a physical therapist. She’s more like a…shrink. I went to see her for you. For us.”

Kitty blinked. Then she blinked again. “You’re seeing a therapist. For me?”

He nodded.

“But why?”

“Because I don’t want to mess this relationship up. Because I want to…” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Because I want to be able to express my feelings when I’m around you.”

“Oh my God…” She took a few steps toward him. “That’s…that’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me!”

“Are you kidding?” he said hoarsely. “Kit, don’t you know I’d do anything for you? For us? When I told you last night that I liked you, I…you completely misunderstood. I’ve never liked any of my exes. Love is a word that… I’ve never been one of those guys who feels comfortable talking about his emotions. I thought you knew how I felt about you but I realize now you need me to say it. So this is me saying it. For everyone to hear. I love you. More than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything. You’re it for me, Kitty. There’s never going to be anyone for me but you. I’ve tried so hard not to screw this up between us and maybe…maybe that’s exactly what I’ve done anyway.”

He realized then that while he’d been talking the two of them had been walking toward each other the whole time. He looked down at her, just inches away from him to see tears in her eyes. But instead of the sad tears he’d caught in her eye this morning, these were tears of happiness.

“Can you say something now?” he asked quietly.

“Do you realize that you’ve just told the whole world that you love me? And that you’re seeing a therapist?”

“Why can’t you see a therapist for me?” Ginny hissed at Greg, loud enough for everyone to hear. The Gregger just shook his head, looking both confused and slightly hung over.

Steve glanced around the riveted church. Everyone was still staring at him. No, not at him, at them. And instead of curiosity or shock, all he saw was happiness around him. And nothing in his whole life had ever felt so right.

He got down on one knee.

“Oh my God!” Betty Jean cried.

“Where’s my cell phone?” Pilar shouted. “I need to record this!”

He took Kitty’s hand and looked up into her beautiful face. “Katherine Burke, will you do me the honor of becoming my fourth, and last, wife?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes,” she said a little louder. Then, in voice so clear that it rang throughout the entire church, “Yes!”

He got up and pulled her in his arms and in front of God and everyone, Bunco Babes and Betty Jean Collins included, kissed her like he was the happiest man on earth. Which he was.

THE END

More from Maria Geraci

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Kitty and Steve’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. For news on upcoming books, click here to sign up for my newsletter.

Whispering Bay Romance Series

That Thing You Do

Then He Kissed Me

That Man of Mine

The Best For Last

This Can’t Be Love

(coming August, 2016)

Other Books by Maria Geraci

Barefoot Bay: Hold On To Forever

Bunco Babes Tell All

Bunco Babes Gone Wild

The Boyfriend of the Month Club

A Girl Like You

About

That Thing You Do

Whispering Bay Romance, book 1

by Maria Geraci

Allie Grant doesn’t believe in second chances. She does, however, believe in the power of a permanent paycheck. So when a tipster reports that a soon-to-be demolished building in her hometown is haunted, Allie hightails it to Whispering Bay to get the scoop that could secure her dream job at Florida! magazine. What she finds, though, is far scarier than any ghost. Cue her ex-boyfriend, sexy construction foreman Tom Donalan.

When Tom catches Allie poking around his construction site, he quickly realizes his former high school flame is just as feisty as ever. And, heaven help him, her irresistible, mile-high legs still take his breath away. But Tom isn’t about to delay the building’s demolition because of a silly ghost story.

With neither of the stubborn exes backing down from their opposing positions, sparks fly. And, underneath the surface, the fire of their old attraction burns as hot as ever. When strange things start happening with increasing frequency around town, even a tough skeptic like Tom is tested. The question is, can Allie and Tom stop fighting long enough to get to the bottom of Whispering Bay’s ghost problem—and the more important matter of mending their broken hearts?

About

Then He Kissed Me

Whispering Bay Romance, book 2

by Maria Geraci

Lauren Donalan was once Whispering Bay’s golden girl—the rich, bubbly blonde cheerleader who married the high school football star. When her mediocre marriage falls apart, she returns home and starts a vintage clothing business, determined to prove she’s more than just a pretty face with a trust fund.

Nate Miller may have been a nerd in high school, but now he has a beautiful girlfriend and is set to take over Doc Morrison’s medical practice. Still, the good folks of Whispering Bay find his no-nonsense approach more than a little unsettling, leaving his future in town a great big question mark. And things go even further downhill when his well-intentioned marriage proposal goes awry.

Lauren doesn’t need a man to complete her, yet when she finds herself set up on a date with Nate, she can’t help but notice how sexy and confident he is. In fact, every time the former introvert kisses her, she sees fireworks. But, only a big love will make Lauren change her mind about commitment. As Nate attempts to win Lauren over, a real estate co-op threatens Lauren’s business—and Nate’s ex still has a thing or two to say about their previous relationship. Now Lauren has to decide to go big or go home, in business, as well as in love.

About

That Man of Mine

Whispering Bay Romance, book 3

by Maria Geraci

When Mimi Grant becomes mayor of Whispering Bay, she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for. Her biggest concern? The city’s annual festival is in financial ruin and the former housewife doesn’t have a clue how to fix things. But, she’s determined to bring the sleepy beachside town into the twenty-first century.

Hunky Police Chief Zeke Grant isn’t happy that his estranged wife Mimi has just become his boss. But for the town’s sake, he’s willing to swallow his pride and let her order him around—to a point. Everything aside, he doesn’t count on someone from his past coming back to haunt him, forcing him to reevaluate what’s really important.

While Mimi and Zeke continue to butt heads on how to get things done, there’s one thing they can’t help but agree on: their chemistry is hotter than ever. However, when a robbery threatens to derail the annual festival, some of the town’s residents question Mimi and Zeke’s ability to keep Whispering Bay safe—as well as keep their war-torn personal life out of civic business. Mimi and Zeke must team up to solve the crime, and decide once and for all if it’s time to move forward with separate lives, or if true love really does conquer all.

Acknowledgements

First off, thank you to all the members of my Facebook Street Team page and my awesome review team. You’re the best! Hugs to my husband Mike, who supports me in this crazy writing endeavor and to Jamie Farrell, my awesome critique partner. I’d also like to do a great big shout out to my lovely agent, Deidre Knight, and to everyone at The Knight Agency, and to Jia Gayles and Janna Bonikowski for all the hard work they put into this book.

About the Author

Maria Geraci writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction with a happy ending. The Portland Book Review called her novel, The Boyfriend of the Month Club, “immensely sexy, immensely satisfying and humorous.” Her fourth novel, A Girl Like You, was nominated for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA ® award. Her current addictions include watching the STARZ adaption of OUTLANDER to drool over Sam Heughan, hitting the beach on the weekends, and searching for the perfect key lime pie recipe (but not the kind they served on Dexter). Visit her website for more information on her books.