Page 1 of That Time I Kissed My Beachfront Boss

Chapter One

Olivia

“I dare you to kiss Hudson Blaine.” Tess says this to me over the hum of the late-night crowd at The Launch Pad. She’s my younger sister by half an hour. She thinks she’s the funny one, so I choke out a laugh to humor her.

Our other sister, Darby, shoots a smirk at us big enough to warrant its own zip code. “What are we, back in middle school?”

Darby’s older than I am by a whopping ten minutes. She also claims to be the smartest sibling. The three of us are identical triplets, all born with flame-colored curls and eyes the green of a Sprite can. When people ask why I bleached my hair blonde, two-thirds of the reason are sitting across from me right now.

“Actually,” Tess chirps, “we’re at a bar trying to have fun.”

More specifically, we’re at a bar trying to have fun in our mother’s hometown after yet another wedding reception for one of our cousins. Picture triplet bridesmaids in lilac dresses and matching updos. Even with my blonde hair, we’re a spectacle of sameness.

“Hey, Darbs.” I strip the paper wrapper off of an extra straw. “You remember fun, don’t you?”

She flashes her teeth. “Fun’s my middle name.”

“Your middle name is Ann,” I quip, turning to chuck the now-naked straw at Tess. “As for you, I’m so not kissing Hudson Blaine.”

“What’s the big deal?” Tess glances across the bar where several men from the wedding are still milling around. “You’ve been flirting with the guy all week long.”

“I haven’t been flirting with him.” I lay a hand on my chest in protest. “Hudson and I were just giving Mac some advice.”

Mac’s our older brother. He’s also the father figure we’ve leaned on since our dad died. I adore him, possibly because he’s the only sibling I didn’t share a womb with. Or a bedroom and a bathroom. Not to mention all of my DNA.

Darby sets her drink on a cocktail napkin and widens her eyes. “Mac needed advice from you?”

Heh.

I’m not surprised by her reaction. My family loves me, but if Tess is hilarious and Darby is brilliant, I’m the triplet people ask about eyeliner trends.

“I guess he didn’t tell you.” I shrug, enjoying the warmth of being the sister Mac consulted for once. “He’s thinking about investing in The Beachfront Inn.”

“Ugh! Why?” Darby darts her gaze around, then lowers her voice. “Sorry. That came out harsher than I meant. It’s just that the inn used to be so great when we visited Abieville as kids—with the docks and the beach and everything. But the place has seriously tanked since then. Like a full-on downward spiral.”

I cringe, because Darby has a point. In the past three years, The Beachfront and the attached pub have been plagued by leaking pipes, electrical issues, and failing HVAC systems, not to mention staff turnover. That’s why we’re at The Launch Pad tonight instead of the pub.

Abieville locals have their limits when it comes to unreliable plumbing.

“The place still has so much potential,” I say, “with the property right on the lake. Mom always called The Beachfront ‘the jewel of the Adirondack Mountains.’”

“Yeah, well.” Darby pulls a face. “It’s less of a jewel now, and more like … a boulder.”

“I heard the Johnsons are going to sell it,” Tess says, a note of sadness tingeing her voice.

“That’s exactly what Mac’s trying to avoid,” I say. “He wants to help the Johnsons make the inn profitable again. He’s got all the connections with McCoy Construction, so he’s organizing a total renovation for them.”

Darby winces. “I hate to say it, but I feel like the entire place should be taken down to the studs and rebuilt.”

“You’re right. And that’s why Mac wanted input from Hudson and me. Since I’ve been at The Blue Bell?—”

“We know, we know,” Darby interrupts, her mouth curved up like a crescent roll. “You’ve single-handedly turned a small Breckenridge hotel into a legit alpine resort. And now, with your new job at Luxe, you’re poised to take over all of Aspen.”

Oof. I wrinkle my nose, hoping the dim lighting masks my blush. It’s possible I talk too much about my career, but that’s only because it’s pretty much my life. After I got my degree in hotel management, I worked my way up from general concierge to publicity and marketing. Now I just got hired at Luxe, a premier five-star resort. This is a next-level dream for me.

Aspen, here I come.

As for Hudson Blaine, he’s been a fixture at The Beachfront for years, a jack-of-all-trades who knows what needs to be updated there, specifically. Thanks to Hudson and me, Mac got plenty of helpful input, if I do say so myself.

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