Summer’s mother turned toward the stairs without another word. Blake watched her walk away and the last weight he’d carried—the last corner of guilt over his relationship with Summer—crumbled away. If her mother approved, there was no stopping them.

  He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes until opening. He had just enough time.

  * * *

  SUMMER

  Summer took one last look in the mirror. Makeup done. Shoes picked out. Dress chosen. All she had to do now was not have a panic attack. Remember to breathe.

  The door opened and she glanced up. “Mom?”

  “Hi, honey.”

  “What are you doing here?” Summer stood up as her mom walked into the room. She was dressed in a breezy silk dress in the colors of the sunset—lush reds and yellows and burnt orange. Sandals on her feet. So…carefree. Loose. Nothing like her mother.

  “I came for you, dear. I wouldn’t miss your grand opening.”

  Summer blinked. “Really?”

  “Mm-hmm.” Her mom walked in and pointed at the couch. “Can we sit for a minute? Have a chat?”

  Summer glanced at her watch. “Sure. I’ve got a minute.”

  She sat down on the white cushion and her mom sat next to her. As Summer got comfortable, her mom set her purse down and turned to her.

  “Summer, I need to apologize to you.”

  “You what?”

  The corners of her mouth turned up. “I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry that I pushed you into a life you didn’t want.”

  Summer swallowed. “You are?”

  Her mother nodded. “I see now that you’re meant to be right here in Midnight Cove. Blake and Devin—they love you. The way they look at you across the room. The way Blake can’t stop checking on your paintings upstairs like they’re his children. They’re head over heels for you and I’ve been telling you for years to stay away. I was wrong.” She reached out and squeezed Summer’s hand. “I’m sorry I’ve caused you pain.”

  Summer choked on a sob. “Oh, Mom. I don’t—I can’t—”

  “Shh. It’s okay. Don’t go crying now. You’ll ruin your makeup.” Her mother fished a tissue out of her clutch and Summer tried to laugh.

  She took the tissue and blotted at her eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Her mother clicked her bag shut and stood up. “Come. You have a gallery to open.”

  Summer stood up and let her mom lead her from the room. She’d been on cloud nine before—excited and ready for opening night—but now? Now she floated. On happiness and joy and possibility.

  They walked into the gallery and Summer turned to her mother. “What do you think?”

  “The gallery?” Her mother glanced around. “It’s a beautiful space.”

  Summer pressed her lips together. “My art. What do you think about the exhibit?”

  “Oh!” Her mother turned and her eyes shimmered. “Your art is spectacular, Summer. It’s like a whole room of windows into your soul. You couldn’t ask for a better opening show.”

  Summer nodded but couldn’t speak. She didn’t trust her voice not to crack. She soaked up the water in her eyes with the tissue and smiled. “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you, too. Summer.”

  “Hey! So this is a public opening, right? I didn’t get an invite by mistake, did I?”

  Summer turned toward the door and smiled. “Hi, Richard. Of course you’re invited.”

  “Good thing. Devin tells me Ian’s new joint catered. I’ve been dying to try their food.”

  “Oh, Richard. Leave the restaurant stuff alone for one night.” Mandy popped out from behind her husband and scampered over to Summer.

  “The place looks great!” She wrapped Summer up in a whopping hug and the pair teetered in their heels.

  “No knocking over the star of the show!” Blake walked up and Mandy let Summer go.

  “Sorry!”

  Summer laughed as more and more people filtered in. Richard’s brother, Donny. Ian. New friends and old faces. A shock of pink hair stood out in the crowd and Summer grinned.

  She eased her way through the bodies and found Felicia standing in front of a small abstract. “I’m so glad you could come.”

  The nail tech turned to her with a smile. “I wouldn’t miss it! You outdid yourself. Everything’s beautiful.”

  “You should be thanking Blake and Devin. They did all the work. I just got in their way and splashed paint everywhere.”

  Felicia laughed. “So that’s going well? You’re happy?”

  Summer nodded. “Really happy.”

  “I can tell. You’re so radiant, I bet if we turned the lights off, you’d glow.” Felicia turned back to the painting and groaned. “God. Why can’t I find two surfers who want to make me glow like that?”

  “Maybe you can? A whole bunch should be here tonight. Blake and Devin made them promise.”

  Felicia clapped her hands. “Goody. That calls for champagne.” She excused herself and headed toward the bar.

  It was more than Summer could have ever hoped for. Her friends. Her mom. Blake and Devin. All there to celebrate with her. It was the exact opposite of her life in New York. Gone were the lonely nights and cold days. Her life was rich and full. She couldn’t want anything more.

  “Hey, everyone’s here.” Devin’s voice purred in her ear.

  “Thanks.”

  His hands slipped around her waist. “You think we can drag you outside for a minute? Blake and I have a surprise.”

  “Another one?” Summer turned around in his arms. “Isn’t the gallery enough?”

  “It’ll only take a minute.”

  “Okay.”

  Summer let Devin lead her by the hand through the studio space and out to the small deck on the back of the house. Little lights had been strung up along the railing and pots full of flowers were tucked in every corner.

  The door clicked shut and gone were the noises of the party and all her guests. All she could hear was the sound of the ocean and her own beating heart.

  Blake stepped out of the shadows with a smile. “So Devin convinced you to sneak out here?”

  Summer smiled. “He told me you planned another surprise. You didn’t have to, you know. This is…” Summer glanced at Devin and then back at Blake, “way more that enough.”

  “We thought there was something missing.”

  She shook her head. “What?”

  “This.” Blake pulled his hand out of his pocket and Summer’s mouth fell open.

  She stared at his open hand and reached for Devin. “That’s not…”

  “It is.” Devin stepped over next to Blake. “We love you, Summer. Will you do us the honor?”

  Blake leaned down until he caught her eye. “Marry us?”

  Summer took another look at the diamond ring sitting in his palm. A million tiny facets picked up the lights and sparkled like a flame. She held out a shaky hand. “Yes. I will.”

  Devin took her hand and stilled it as Blake slipped the ring on. Summer wiggled her fingers and smiled. They were right. Something had been missing.

  She reached out and wrapped one arm around each man. “This is completely insane, but I know it’s right.”

  Devin reached for her chin and tipped her face up to his. His lips pressed soft and gentle against hers before pulling away. “I can’t wait to marry you.”

  Summer smiled and Blake tugged at her arm. “Neither can I.” His lips melted into hers and Summer could have burst in happiness.

  As Blake pulled back, the door to the deck swung open. “There you are! I thought I was going to have to run this whole party by my—Oh my God! Did you do it?” Mandy jumped up and down. “You did! Tell me you said yes. You said yes, right?”

  Summer and her two fiancés burst out laughing. She held out her hand and Mandy squealed.

  “I knew it! Congratulations! Oh my God, just wait ’til I tell Ian and Richard. The Inn will be perfect!” Mandy grabbed Summer by the arm and she stumbled after her best friend.

  “Mandy, I don’t think we—” Summer turned back to Blake and Devin, but both men were too busy laughing to save her.

  Blake waved her on. “It’s okay. We’re right behind you.”

  Mandy kept talking and Summer let her pull her back into the waiting crowd and a round of applause. She glanced down at her engagement ring and smiled. It might have taken her best friend’s wedding to bring her back to Midnight Cove, but it was her second chance at love that made her stay.

  * * *

  Want more Midnight Cove Ménage? Flip the page for an exclusive sneak peek at book two in the series, Holiday In Danger. Or download it on Amazon today.

  * * *

  SIGN UP FOR MARIE’S NEWSLETTER FOR NEW RELEASES, GIVEAWAYS, NEWS AND MORE

  subscribe

  Holiday In Danger

  Exclusive Preview

  One curvy chef, two sexy protectors. Sometimes danger is the perfect recipe for love.

  With her best friend’s catering business on the line, pastry chef Holiday Jones comes back to the hometown she’d kissed goodbye. When she runs into two men from her past, her trip down memory lane turns into so much more. Caught between the former boy next door and the bad boy from down the street, Holiday might discover Midnight Cove is the place where dreams come true—if she stays alive long enough to find out.

  Billionaire Ian Knowles has a problem ex-military man Trent Malone can solve. But a chance meeting with a curvy beauty from their past sends Ian and Trent into a tailspin of lust. When Holiday gets caught in the crossfire, can they find a way to save her and share her heart?

  Flip the page to start reading!

  Chapter 1

  HOLLY

  A dollop of chocolate buttercream landed on the counter and Holly wiped it away with a towel.

  “I can’t believe how little this place has changed.” She reached for an icing bag and a star-shaped tip.

  Hillary paused to look out the window, a stack of polka-dotted dessert plates in her hand. “It looks the same on the outside, but the people have changed. A lot of the old money’s moved on. There’s a bunch of new people here. Surfers. Artists. Some down-to-earth ones, even.”

  Holly’s eyebrow arched with a yeah, right look. In the two days she’d been back in Midnight Cove she’d already been passed by more Maseratis and Bentleys than she’d seen in Los Angeles in a whole month. Down-to-earth didn’t come rolling by in a sports car.

  She piped a cluster of frilly pink roses onto the cake and tried to focus. Hillary meant well trying to get her to see the good in Midnight Cove. How it wasn’t the place she’d run away from at eighteen. It was part of Hillary’s quest to change this one-month layover into a permanent thing. But that wasn’t happening. No way.

  Her best friend tried again. “I mean it. A lot of the old crowd left. They’ve moved to LA or New York. Seattle, even. Midnight Cove’s not what it used to be.”

  Holly paused, the bag full of icing hovering above the cake. “Really? And who is this mountain of chocolate and cabbage roses for again?”

  Hillary huffed and pushed a lock of her brown hair away with the back of her hand. “Patricia Randall. But that doesn’t mean anything. Yes, some people are still here. But not all of them.”

  Holly rolled her eyes and focused on the cake. “Brandon’s still here. You’re never going to get me to move back.”

  Her best friend stacked ruffled pink napkins next to the plates and her brown eyes sparkled. “Is that a challenge?”

  Oh, no. The last thing Hillary needed was encouragement. Holly could see it now. A huge campaign waged by her best friend to bring her back to town. She’d probably make flyers. Holiday Jones for Relocation! Everybody Mobilize!

  Holly shook her head. “No. You know I can’t stay. I’ve got a month left of severance and I’m here until it runs out. Then I’m back to Los Angeles and the restaurant world.”

  “You could stay here and help me out until you start something new. You know I need you.”

  “What you need is an assistant, someone who can help with the food prep, not just the baking. I’m not that girl.”

  Hillary sighed. “Could have fooled me. Those mushrooms you made for the dinner last night were perfect. What’d you do?”

  “Just some butter and shallots. Same way I make them at home.”

  “Well, they were better than mine, anyway.” Hillary pulled a fancy bag with Cove Catering stenciled on the side out from under the counter. Holly still couldn’t believe Hillary had moved back home. She didn’t come from money—her dad ran the commercial dock on the edge of town and her mom stayed home with the kids. She’d been picked on in school just like Holly, but it never seemed to bother her.

  Holly still remembered how the boys would call Hillary “chicken legs” and prance around squawking. Her best friend had shot up in junior high. Five foot ten and all bones and skin. It’d taken her years to fill out and lose the gangly look. In between, all the boys had teased her nonstop, but after college she’d come right back.

  Now Holly was back, too, and part of her wished she’d stayed away. After finishing the last rose, she glanced up. “Why’d you come back here, anyway? Of all the places you could have opened up a catering business, why Midnight Cove?”

  Her best friend glanced out the window as she thought about it. “I guess I wanted to be home. My mom and dad are still here. Bethany, too. But even more than family, it’s the feel of the town—the ocean right there and all the little houses perched against the shore—I love it. Even if some of the people stink.”

  Holly nodded and picked up the plastic-wrapped ball of fondant. She didn’t have a family to come home to, but she understood about the town. “I’ve been in LA so long I’d forgotten how lush it is here. I drove down Main this morning and the bougainvillea are in full bloom. All those purples and reds bursting over the doorways all down the street. Spectacular.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you missed it.”

  Holly shrugged. “Sometimes. But then I think about what I left behind and remember why I moved away.”

  “You have a point.” Hillary packed the bag, putting plates and napkins and silverware in tidy bundles inside while Holly worked the fondant.

  She rolled out the icing in a smooth, even layer before punching little green leaves out one at a time. With expert fingers, Holly laid each one beneath the piped roses until the whole cake was covered in a garden of leaves and blooms.

  She stepped back with a smile. She loved a pretty cake. “There. I’m done. What do you think?”

  Hillary squealed as she hustled over. “Oh, Holly. It’s beautiful. Ms. Randall will love it.”

  “Good. So where do I put it?”

  Hillary winced. “The van?”

  Her smile disappeared. “You can’t be serious.”

  “She wanted it there early. No later than two.”

  Holly glanced at her watch. One fifteen. Crap. She hated transporting cakes anywhere. Especially three-tier cakes covered in fancy icing. But she was there to help Hillary, not make more work.

  She grabbed a towel and tucked it into her apron. “All right. I’ll put it in the van. But you owe me. You know I hate driving the finished product around.”

  Hillary reached out and wrapped her up in a huge hug. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

  Holly smiled. “I’ll keep you to that.” She slid her fingers under the edge of the cake and lifted it off the counter. With a deep breath, she turned toward the door.

  “Can you manage that all right? Do you need my help?”

  “I’ve got it. It’s one thing this behind of mine is good for. Opening doors.”

  “All right. I’m going to grab the rest of the supplies from the stock room in back.”

  “Gotcha!” Holly’s voice carried around the mountain of frosting and cake. With solid steps, she made her way to the front door, turning around to push it open with her butt.

  The door swung open and Holly swung with it, turning in an arc toward the outside and straight into something solid and warm…with a voice.

  “What the…? Shit!” A man cursed and mumbled from the other side of the disaster, his dress shirt covered in a smear of chocolate and pink.

  Holly shrieked. “Oh my God. I am so sorry. Are you all right? Let me help you.” She pulled the remnants of all her hard work away and her mouth fell open.

  Buzzed brown hair. Dark eyes full of fire. Locked jaw. Sexy and mad as hell. Holly clamped her mouth shut and pulled out her towel. She wiped off a section of his shirt before the man snatched it out of her fingers. His skin brushed hers and she bit her lip. Damn if he wasn’t just her type. Too bad his first impression was smashed frosting and triple fudge cake.

  “I’m really sorry. I should have looked where I was going.”

  He wiped another blob of pink and brown off his shirt and paused. His eyes tracked up and down and everywhere his gaze lingered, she tingled. At last, he raised an eyebrow. “Holiday?”

  What? She frowned. “I’m sorry? Do I know you?”

  The man ran his tongue across his lower lip and tasted the icing. “It’s Trent. Trent Malone.”

  Holly swallowed. No way. Color rose up her cheeks and she pushed her hair off her face as she took a second look. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been riding away on a beast of a motorcycle. Long hair, leather jacket, piercings up one ear—that’s the Trent she remembered.

  “You’ve changed.”

  His eyes flicked down and back up. “So have you.” He handed her back the towel and held out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Holiday.”

  Holly wiped her hand on her apron before sliding her fingers over his. “It’s Holly now.” His grip tightened and images of his strong hands pinning her to the wall flashed inside her mind.