Seaside Nights Part 28

Sawyer met Sky's gaze and smiled. Lifting the baby, he mouthed, Want one? She laughed and mouthed back, Not yet. They were having way too much fun practicing making babies to settle down and have one yet.

Grayson walked into the shop with Kurt and Jamie. Jamie and Jessica and Jamie's grandmother, Vera, had finally arrived last week. The Seaside gang had celebrated with a barbecue and ended up celebrating far more than Jamie, Jessica, and Vera's return to the Cape. Both Jessica and Leanna had announced their pregnancies that evening. Apparently they'd both thought they were just exhausted from working too much, but their doctors had confirmed that they were both pregnant. The universe had stepped in once again, in the summer that Sky would forever remember as the summer of miracles.

Matt rose and embraced each of the guys, then said something to Lizzie and her friend and walked out the front door with the girls. Grayson and the guys walked through the shop toward Sky.

"Matt's going to check out something over at Lizzie's with some hot chick," Grayson said.

"I'm sure she has a name," Sky teased.

Cree rose off the seat, and Grayson's eyes took a slow stroll down her body. Sky nudged him with a tsk! on her way to the cash register.

"Hi, Kurt. Hi, Jamie. Are you guys having fun?" she asked as she rang up Cree's tattoo and saw Grayson elbow Hunter, who was busy checking out Jana and Harper. Sky never did follow up on what had happened between the two of them, but there was no doubt something had gone on, because every time Hunter caught Jana's eye, she sneered at him. Better to leave that up to the universe, too.

"Yes," Jamie said. "This has been fun. It's so good to finally be back at the Cape. Vera, Jess, and Leanna went window-shopping."

"Probably for baby clothes," Sky said. Then she hugged Cree goodbye and turned to Kurt. "Ready for a new tat?"

Kurt held his palms up. "I've got enough, thanks."

Sky hugged Sawyer's parents and Mira as Sawyer joined them and drew Sky into his arms.

"Do you have time to do one more tattoo?" Sawyer asked.

"What did you have in mind?" She loved how close they'd become. She'd thought they were close before moving in together, but living in a five-hundred-square-foot apartment brought close to a whole new level. Sawyer had created all sorts of pillow beds for Merlin in the corners of the apartment, and he'd chosen the balcony above the shop as his new writing spot. Sometimes after Sky fell asleep, she knew he went out there to pen a song. In the morning she'd wake up and find slips of paper in the basket by the bed-verses of songs Sawyer had written just for her.

He handed her a piece of paper on which he'd written, S.B. + S.L.

Her heart squeezed. "What is this?"

"My ancestors carved their initials into rafters, but houses come and go and skin is forever."

"Sawyer," she said as she went up on her toes and kissed him. "I want this tattooed on me, too."

"We can make those initials S.B + S.B. if you'll marry me."

Sky searched his eyes, her pulse racing, unsure if she'd heard him right, or if he was kidding. He dropped to one knee in front of her family, friends, and a handful of customers milling around the shop and smiled up at her with love in his eyes.

"You are my wind, I am your rain. You are my sun, I am your earth. I wrestled your demons, sweet summer Sky, and you slayed my truths and showed me the way to our future. We're no longer two wild hearts drifting on a cloud. Let's become one, tethered and bound. Marry me, Sky, and I promise to always be whatever you need."

Sky's legs turned to Jell-O as she sank to her knees and did the only thing she could manage-she nodded.

Sawyer pulled a ring from his pocket and held her trembling hand as he slid it onto her left ring finger. "This was my grandmother's ring. She once told me that when I felt lost, to look to the sky and I'd find my way. I think she knew you were out there waiting for me."

And as their lips came together and her friends awwed and clapped, Sky closed her eyes and sent a silent thank-you to the universe-for coming through for them yet again. Maybe life really was that easy, and that complicated.

-The End- Hunter, Grayson, and Matt Lacroux will each be getting their own books!

Blue & Lizzie's book, SEIZED BY LOVE, will be released October 2015!

Sign up for Melissa's newsletter to be notified of her next release!

http://www.MelissaFoster.com/Newsletter Want to know more about Sky's friends Blue & Lizzie?

Please enjoy this sneak peek of their love story, SEIZED BY LOVE (The Ryders, Book 1) Excerpt

Seized by Love Excerpt - Chapter One

THERE WERE SOME nights when Lizzie Barber simply didn't feel like donning an ap.r.o.n, black-framed gla.s.ses, and high heels, covering her s.h.i.+ny brunette locks with a blond wig, and prancing around nearly naked. Tonight was one of those nights. Gazing at her reflection in the mirror of her bas.e.m.e.nt bathroom, Lizzie tucked the last few strands of her hair beneath the wig and forced her very best smile. Thank G.o.d her elfin lips naturally curled up at the edges-even when she wasn't smiling, she looked like she was. And tonight she definitely wasn't in the mood to smile. Her oven had been acting up for the last few nights, and she prayed to the G.o.ds of all things sugary and sweet that it would behave tonight.

Tightening the ap.r.o.n tie around her neck and the one around her waist, to avoid wardrobe malfunctions, and tugging on the hem of the ap.r.o.n to ensure her skin-colored thong and all her naughty bits were covered, she went into the studio-aka the miniscule kitchen located in the bas.e.m.e.nt of her cute Cape Cod cottage-and surveyed her baking accoutrements one last time before queuing the intro music for her webcast and pasting that perfectly perky smile back in place.

"Welcome back, my hot and hunky bakers," she purred into the camera. "Today we're going to bake delicious angel food cupcakes with fluffy frosting that will make your mouth water." She leaned forward, flas.h.i.+ng the camera an eyeful of cleavage and her most seductive smile as she crooked her finger in a come-hither fas.h.i.+on. "And because we all know it's what's beneath all that delicious frosting that counts, we're going to sprinkle a few surprises inside the thick, creamy centers."

Lizzie had mastered making baking sound naughty while in college, when her father had taken ill and her parents had closed their inn for six months to focus on his medical care, leaving Lizzie without college tuition. Her part-time job at a florist shop hadn't done a darn thing for her mounting school loans, and when a friend suggested she try making videos and monetizing them to earn fast cash, she drew upon her pa.s.sion for baking and secretly put on a webcast called Cooking with Coeds. It turned out that scantily clad baking was a real money earner. She'd paid for her books and meal plan that way, and eventually earned enough to pay for most of her college tuition. Lizzie had two pa.s.sions in life-baking and flowers, and she'd hoped to open her own floral shop after college. After graduation, Cooking with Coeds became the Naked Baker webcast, and she'd made enough money to finish paying off her school loans and open a flower shop in Provincetown, Ma.s.sachusetts, just like she'd always dreamed of. She hadn't intended to continue the Naked Baker after opening P-town Petals, but when her parents fell upon hard times again and her younger sister Maddy's educational fund disappeared, the Naked Baker webcast became Lizzie's contribution to Maddy's education. Their very conservative parents would have a conniption fit if they knew what their proper little girl was doing behind closed doors, but what other choice did she have? Her parents ran a small bed-and-breakfast in Brewster, Ma.s.sachusetts, and with her father's health ping-ponging, they barely earned enough money to make ends meet-and affording college for a child who had come as a surprise to them seven years after Lizzie was born had proven difficult.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes seductively as she gazed into the camera and stirred the batter. She dipped her finger into the rich, creamy goodness and put that finger into her mouth, making a sensual show of sucking it off. "Mm-mm. Nothing better than thick, creamy batter." Her tongue swept over her lower lip as she ran through the motions of creating what she'd come to think of as baking p.o.r.n.

During the filming of each show, she reminded herself often of why she was still doing something that she felt ashamed of and kept secret. There was no way she was going to let her sweet nineteen-year-old sister fend for herself and end up doing G.o.d knew what to earn money like she did instead of focusing on her studies. Or worse, drop out of school. Madison was about as innocent as they came, and while Lizzie might once have been that innocent, her determination to succeed, and life circ.u.mstances, had beaten it out of her. Creating the webcast was the best decision she'd ever made-even if it meant putting her nonexistent social life on hold and living a secret life after dark. The blond wig and thick-framed spectacles helped to hide her online persona, or at least they seemed to. No one had ever accused her of being the Naked Baker. Then again, her a.s.sumption was that the freaky people who got off watching her prance around in an ap.r.o.n and heels probably rarely left their own bas.e.m.e.nts.

She was proud of helping Maddy. She felt like she was taking one for the team. Going where no girl should ever have to go. Braving the wild naked baking arena for the betterment of the sister she cherished.

A while later, as Lizzie checked the cupcakes and realized that while the oven was still warm, it had turned off-her stomach sank. Hiding her worries behind another forced smile and a wink, she stuck her a.s.s out and bent over to quickly remove the tray of cupcakes from the oven, knowing the angle of the camera would give only a side view and none of her bare a.s.s would actually be visible. Thankfully, the oven must have just died, because it was still warm and the cupcakes were firm enough to frost.

Emergency reshoot avoided!

Smile genuine!

A few minutes later she sprinkled the last of the coconut on the cupcakes, narrating as she went.

"Everyone wants a little something extra on top, and I'm going to give it to you good." Giving one last wink to the camera, she said, "Until next week, this is your Naked Baker signing off for a sweet, seductive night of tantalizing tasting."

She clicked the remote and turned off the camera. Eyeing the fresh daisies she'd brought home from her flower shop, she leaned her forearms on the counter, and with a heavy sigh, she let her head fall forward. It was after midnight, and she had to be up bright and early to open the shop. Tomorrow night she'd edit the webcast so it would be ready in time to air the following night-and she needed to get her oven fixed.

d.a.m.n thing.

Kicking off her heels, Lizzie went upstairs, stripped out of the ap.r.o.n, and wrapped a thick towel around herself. A warm shower was just what she needed to wash away the film of shame left on her skin after taping the webcast. Thinking of the broken oven, she texted her friend Blue Ryder to see if he could fix it. Blue was a highly sought after craftsman who worked for the Kennedys and other prominent families around the Cape. When Lizzie's pipe had burst under the sink in the bathroom above the first-floor kitchen while she was away at a floral convention for the weekend, Blue was only too happy to put aside time to handle the renovations. He was like that. Always making time to help others. He was still splitting his time between working on her kitchen renovations and working on the cottage he'd just purchased. He was working at his cottage tomorrow, but she hoped he could fit her in at some point.

Can you fix my oven tomorrow?

Blue texted back a few seconds later. He was as reliable as he was hot, a dangerous combination. She read his text-Is that code for something s.e.xy?-and shook her head with a laugh.

Smirking, she replied, Only if you're into oven grease.

Blue had asked her out many times since they'd met last year, when she'd handled the flowers for his friends' quadruple beach wedding. Turning down his invitations wasn't easy and had led to more s.e.xy fantasies than she cared to admit. Her double life was crazy enough without adding a s.e.xy, rugged man who was built like Magic Mike and had eyes that could hypnotize a blind woman, but her reasons went far deeper than that. Blue was more than eye candy. He was also a genuine friend, and he always put family and friends first, which, when added to his panty-dropping good looks and gentlemanly demeanor, were enough to stop Lizzie's brain from functioning. It would be too easy to fall hard for a caring, loyal man like Blue Ryder. And that, she couldn't afford. Maddy was counting on her.

She read his text-Glad you finally came to your senses. When are you free?-and wondered if he thought she was being flirtatious.

Time to nip this in the bud, she thought. Her finger hovered over the screen while her mind toyed with images of Blue, six foot three, all hot, hard muscles and steel-blue eyes.

It had been way too long since she'd been with a man, and every time Blue asked her out, she was tempted, but she liked him so much as a friend, and she knew that tipping over from friends.h.i.+p to lovers would only draw her further in to him, making it harder to lead her double life.

That was precisely why she hightailed it out of her house on the mornings before he showed up to work on her kitchen. Leaving before he arrived was the only way she was able to keep her distance. He was that good-looking. That kind. And that enjoyable to be around. Not only didn't she have time for a relations.h.i.+p, but she was pretty sure that no guy would approve of his girlfriend doing the Naked Baker show. Of course, the mornings after taping her shows, she left him a sweet treat on the counter with a note thanking him for working on her kitchen.

Even though Blue couldn't see her as she drew back her shoulders and put on her most solemn face, she did it anyway to strengthen her resolve as she typed a text that she hoped would very gently set him straight. After work, but this is REALLY to fix my oven. The one I cook with! Thank you! See you around seven?

She set the phone down and stepped into the shower, determined not to think about his blue eyes or the way his biceps flexed every time he moved his arms. Her mind drifted to when she'd arrived home from work yesterday and found Blue bending over his toolbox, his jeans stretched tight across his hamstrings and formed to his perfect a.s.s. Her nipples hardened with the thought. He'd been the man she'd conjured up in her late-night fantasies since last summer. What did it hurt? He'd never know. She closed her eyes and ran her hand over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, down her taut stomach, and between her legs. She may not have time to date, but a little midnight fantasy could go a long way...

To continue reading, please buy SEIZED BY LOVE Sign up for Melissa's newsletter so you never miss a release!

http://www.MelissaFoster/Newsletter Please enjoy a sneak peek at the first Seaside Summers novel, SEASIDE DREAMS (Bella & Caden)

Seaside Dreams Excerpt - Chapter One

BELLA ABBASCIA STRUGGLED to keep her grip on a ceramic toilet as she crossed the gravel road in Seaside, the community where she spent her summers. It was one o'clock in the morning, and Bella had a prank in store for Theresa Ottoline, a straitlaced Seaside resident and the elected property manager for the community. Bella and two of her besties, Amy Maples and Jenna Ward, had polished off two bottles of Middle Sister wine while they waited for the other cottage owners to turn in for the night. Now, dressed in their nighties and a bit tipsy, they struggled to keep their grip on a toilet that Bella had spent two days painting bright blue, planting flowers in, and adorning with seash.e.l.ls. They were carrying the toilet to Theresa's driveway to break rule number fourteen of the Community Homeowners a.s.sociation's Guidelines: No tacky displays allowed in the front of the cottages.

"You're sure she's asleep?" Bella asked as they came to the gra.s.s in front of the cottage of their fourth bestie, Leanna Bray.

"Yes. She turned off her lights at eleven. We should have hidden it someplace other than my backyard. It's so far. Can we stop for a minute? This sucker is heavy." Amy drew her thinly manicured brows together.

"Oh, come on. Really? We only have a little ways to go." Bella nodded toward Theresa's driveway, which was across the road from her cottage, about a hundred feet away.

Amy glanced at Jenna for support. Jenna nodded, and the two lowered their end to the ground, causing Bella to nearly drop hers.

"That's so much better." Jenna tucked her stick-straight brown hair behind her ear and shook her arms out to her sides. "Not all of us lift weights for breakfast."

"Oh, please. The most exercise I get during the summer is lifting a bottle of wine," Bella said. "Carrying around those b.o.o.bs of yours is more of a workout."

Jenna was just under five feet tall with b.r.e.a.s.t.s the size of bowling b.a.l.l.s and a tiny waist. She could have been the model for the modern-day Barbie doll, while Bella's figure was more typical for an almost thirty-year-old woman. Although she was tall, strong, and relatively lean, she refused to give up her comfort foods, which left her a little soft in places, with a figure similar to Julia Roberts or Jennifer Lawrence.

"I don't carry them with my arms." Jenna looked down at her chest and cupped a breast in each hand. "But yeah, that would be great exercise."

Amy rolled her eyes. Pin-thin and nearly flat chested, Amy was the most modest of the group, and in her long T-s.h.i.+rt and underwear, she looked like a teenager next to curvy Jenna. "We only need a sec, Bella."

They turned at the sound of a pa.s.sionate moan coming from Leanna's cottage.

"She forgot to close the window again," Jenna whispered as she tiptoed around the side of Leanna's cottage. "Typical Leanna. I'm just going to close it."

Leanna had fallen in love with bestselling author Kurt Remington the previous summer, and although they had a house on the bay, they often stayed in the two-bedroom cottage so Leanna could enjoy her summer friends. The Seaside cottages in Wellfleet, Ma.s.sachusetts, had been in the girls' families for years, and they had spent summers together since they were kids.

"Wait, Jenna. Let's get the toilet to Theresa's first." Bella placed her hands on her hips so they knew she meant business. Jenna stopped before she reached for the window, and Bella realized it would have been a futile effort anyway. Jenna would need a stepstool to pull that window down.

"Oh...Kurt." Leanna's voice split the night air.

Amy covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Fine, but let's hurry. Poor Leanna will be mortified to find out she left the window open again."

"I'm the last one who wants to hear her having s.e.x. I'm done with men, or at least with commitments, until my life is back on track." Ever since last summer, when Leanna had met Kurt, started her own jam-making business, and moved to the Cape full-time, Bella had been thinking of making a change of her own. Leanna's success had inspired her to finally go for it. Well, that and the fact that she'd made the mistake of dating a fellow teacher, Jay Cook. It had been months since they broke up, but they'd taught at the same Connecticut high school, and until she left for the summer, she couldn't avoid running in to him on a daily basis. It was just the nudge she needed to take the plunge and finally quit her job and start over. New job, new life, new location. She just hadn't told her friends yet. She'd thought she would tell them the minute she arrived at Seaside and they were all together, maybe over a bottle of wine or on the beach. But Leanna had been spending a lot of time with Kurt, and every time it was just the four of them, she hadn't been ready to come clean. She knew they'd worry and ask questions, and she wanted to have some of the transition sorted out before answering them.

"Bella, you can't give up on men. Jay was just a jerk." Amy touched her arm.

She really needed to fill them in on the whole Jay and quitting her job thing. She was beyond over Jay, but they knew Bella to be the stable one of the group, and learning of her sudden change was a conversation that needed to be handled when they weren't wrestling a fifty-pound toilet.

"Fine. You're right. But I'm going to make all of my future decisions separate from any man. So...until my life is in order, no commitments for me."

"Not me. I'd give anything to have what Kurt and Leanna have," Amy said.

Bella lifted her end of the toilet easily as Jenna and Amy struggled to lift theirs. "Got it?"

"Yeah. Go quick. This d.a.m.n thing is heavy," Jenna said as they shuffled along the gra.s.s.

"More..." Leanna pleaded.

Amy stumbled and lost her grip. The toilet dropped to the ground, and Jenna yelped.

"Shh. You're going to wake up the whole complex!" Bella stalked over to them.

"Oh, Kurt!" Jenna rocked her hips. "More, baby, more!"

"Really?" Bella tried to keep a straight face, but when Leanna cried out again, she doubled over with laughter.

Amy, always the voice of reason, whispered, "Come on. We need to close her window."

"Yes!" Leanna cried.

They fell against one another in a fit of laughter, stumbling beside Leanna's cottage.

"I could make popcorn," Jenna said, struggling to keep a straight face.

Amy scowled at her. "She got p.i.s.sed the last time you did that." She grabbed Bella's hand and whispered through gritted teeth, "Take out the screen so you can shut the window, please."

"I told you we should have put a lock on the outside of her window," Jenna reminded them. Last summer, when Leanna and Kurt had first begun dating, they'd often forgotten to close the window. To save Leanna embarra.s.sment, Jenna had offered to be on s.e.x-noise mission control and close the window if Leanna ever forgot to. A few drinks later, she'd mistakenly abandoned the idea for the summer.

"While you close the window, I'll get the sign for the toilet." Amy hurried back toward Bella's deck in her boy-shorts underwear and a T-s.h.i.+rt.