Page 4 of Booked for Summer

‘I know, but I checked my horoscope and today wasn’t a good one for signing deals.’

Give him strength. ‘Tomorrow, then?’

A pause, then a tinkle of laughter. ‘You’re an Aries, aren’t you? Blunt, assertive, can be seen as aggressive. Often quick-tempered and impatient.’

‘It’s not my birth date that’s making me impatient.’ He exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘This is the fourth time you’ve said you’ll sign and haven’t. Do you want to sell or not?’

Flo owned the wharf next to the land he’d bought five years ago and had turned into a thriving resort. He wanted the wharf for many reasons, not least because it was where the water taxi and his own yacht were docked.

‘I don’t want to sell.’ She paused, then let out a gentle sigh. ‘But I’m not getting any younger, and my children need the proceeds.’

‘Well, next time you cancel, the offer gets reduced.’ He paused, decided to drive the point home. ‘You know it’s not worth what I’m paying to anyone else.’

She humphed. ‘I’ve got old and lazy. With the right person in charge, the shop and the wharf could be a viable asset.’

‘You’re using prime real-estate land to sell books.’

‘To sell beautiful books that guests in your swanky resort happily part with their money to enjoy. I hope you’ll remember that when you take it over.’

‘When it’s mine, I’ll do what I want with it.’ He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to say he’d be bulldozing Little Bay Book Shack (it was every bit as kitschy as it sounded). ‘But as I’ve already told you, I’ll honour any commitments you’ve made.’

‘I suppose that’s the most I can hope for.’ Her voice sounded resigned, and he was glad. Whimsical bookstores had no place in the hard reality that was life.

‘I’m here for a few days.’ He decided not to tell her he was stuck for a while until he hired a new manager. ‘I expect to receive a signed contract from you.’

Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he gave the bow a kick with the thruster to pull away from the berth. Then he headed in the direction of Nantucket, and the Haven Resort– one of three under his name, though this was the flagship resort. The first, the largest, and the one that had given him the most satisfaction.

He’d been fourteen when he’d vowed to turn Haven into a name that was respected, not sniggered at or dismissed. With his recent acquisition of the waterfront next to the Nantucket resort, and the wharf nearly in his grasp, he was well on the way to keeping that promise.

On that positive note, he pushed the throttle in, relishing the shift in power, the list of the boat as it cut through the waves. This was why he travelled by sea, not air. Nothing beat the feeling of freedom that sailing solo could give him.

Maybe tonight he’d look out for the blonde. It was unusual to see a young woman travelling here alone. Most of the guests were couples or families, who came to get away from city life and relax in the beauty of the island. Whatever it was that drew her, was her business. But if he locked eyes with her again, and if hers held the same spark of arousal they had when he’d taken her hand, he might forget his no-guest rule and see if she was willing to mix that business with pleasure.

ChapterTwo

Jade was in love. Seriously, she didn’t think the sight of Ryan Gosling emerging naked from the sea would make her swoon any more than her first view of Little Bay Book Shack.

The view coming into Nantucket had been jaw-dropping enough– long stretches of sandy beach, large, grey-wood houses and a gorgeous, stubby white lighthouse with a black top perched at the harbour entrance. But this, the wooden shack sitting proudly on the wharf ahead of her, white Georgian windows and grey tiled roof to match the soft grey wooden slats. Wow, just wow. A mix of quaint and elegant, of historic yet endearingly cute, the sight snatched the breath from her lungs. The entire waterfront rocked a row of similar-looking grey wooden buildings set on a red brick walkway, interspersed with olde worlde lampposts and dozens of flowerpots that burst with colours; pink, white, purple, yellow. All set against a backdrop of glinting blue sea.

It was so tasteful, so pretty. So vibrant. So different to anything she’d ever seen.

George expertly manoeuvred the boat alongside the jetty and jumped off, securing it before giving a hand to the other customers– a pair of newlyweds who’d kept looking at each other instead of the awesome views, and a couple in their fifties dressed in what her gran would call ‘posh’ clothes; loose flowing trousers for the woman, chinos and a blazer for the guy. Once they were all happily on their way, two porters from the resort wheeling their luggage, George turned back to Jade.

‘Do you want some help with your case, honey?’

She looked at the short distance to the bookstore and laughed. ‘I reckon I can manage.’

‘Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Be sure to look out for me and the wife. Nantucket’s a small island, we’re bound to bump into each other.’

He took her hand and helped her off the boat. She didn’t miss the way his gaze kept firmly above her shoulders. Good on him, and lucky Emma.

Heaving in a lungful of fresh, salty air she started to walk along the small wooden pontoon. The wheels of her case made a clickety-clack noise as they bumped over the planks, sounding loud over the backdrop of waves lapping gently against the jetty.

With every step she took towards the shop, excitement pushed up against the nerves. When she finally came to a halt in front of her home for the next three months, her heart was thumping against her ribs.

Shack didn’t seem the right word. It was more an upmarket, two-storey cabin. Roses wound around the trellis to the right of the front door which was painted in a shade of subtle off-white she suspected she’d find on a Farrow & Ball colour chart and matched the window frames. A peek in through the lattice-style window drew a gasp from her. Driftwood shelves, quirky and asymmetrical, burst with books in a way that would have any book lover swooning, their eye-catching covers a dramatic splash of colour against the whitewashed walls. Nestled in the bay-fronted window and in the colour of the Atlantic Ocean she’d just crossed, was a comfy sofa, perfect for a quiet read while glancing out at the cloudless blue sky.

Heart beating furiously, Jade peered behind the plant pot, found the key safe and punched in the numbers, her fingers shaking so much it took her several attempts. Finally, she had the key in her sweaty palm and unlocked the door. She was about to skip inside– this was definitely a skip moment– when her phone rang.

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