“I hope you’ve had fun,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even. “Come back and visit our town anytime.”
“I feel like we have unfinished business,” Christabelle whispered in a low, husky voice. “And I know you feel the same way.”
Fuck
That was exactly how I felt
“I want to stay,” she insisted in a low voice. “And I just love the Perk Up & Read.”
She glanced back to where our coffee shop sat in a perfect location. Right off the beach.
Jillian and I had painted it that first summer. Different shades of blue, all the different moods of the sea. A bright cerulean blue, a deep stormy gray-blue, colors of wisteria and bluebells.
I shouldn’t do it. I should put a stop to this right now.
There was no way actually working with Christabelle was a good idea.
I could barely keep my hands off her now.
What would working together do?
But I felt. . . like we had unfinished business, too.
“We would have to stick to certain boundaries,” I said firmly. “Because I’m a married man.”
“All right,” she said, her lips parting so I could see how she held her pink tongue between her teeth. “I’d still like to be friends with you, Frankie.”
Friends.I could be friends with my ex.
If I kept strictly to my boundaries.
Still. . .
I knew it was a bad idea.
But I opened my mouth and I said, “I’ll make it happen.”
CHAPTER 3
Jillian
“It’s another beautiful day in Ramshackle Bay!” Frankie caroled as he flung the door open.
I took a deep breath of the salty sea air. Frankie had gone out to surf this morning, and I’d come too, sitting with a cup of coffee on the beach and watching him, watching the flex of his lean strong muscles, how they bunched together as he bent over, the flat length of his belly as he pulled the wetsuit down.
After a few years in business, we could open the coffee shop when we wanted. Close when we wanted. Take a few weeks off, whenever we wanted.
The flexibility was amazing.
The best, most glorious town in the world and the best, most glorious life in the world.
How did an ordinary girl like me get so lucky?
Perk Up & Read was a little weathered and faded from the sun, wind, and surf, but I loved it more than anything in the world except for my husband, the inside always crowded and colorful, spilling out onto Main Street with noise and bustle.
Would Frankie want to start trying for a baby soon?
I couldn’t wait.
