Chapter 2
“You’re kidding me, right?” Tiffany’s sister Maddie asked as she looked around at the store. “On Gansett Island?”
“If one more person says that, I’m going to lose it,” Tiffany said, disappointed by her sister’s reaction. “Here’s a newsflash for you. People—other than me, of course—have sex on Gansett. You have sex on Gansett.”
Maddie covered her mouth with her hand, as if trying to hide a smile, or worse yet, a laugh.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“No, honey. I’m trying to imagine what Linda McCarthy will have to say about it.”
Tiffany told herself she didn’t care what people like Linda had to say, but there was a part of her that hoped for the approval of the townspeople. “I suppose I shouldn’t show you the rest, then.”
“There’s more?” Maddie asked, wide-eyed.
Tiffany gestured to the beaded curtain that separated the main room from a second, smaller room.
With a look of trepidation for Tiffany, Maddie stepped through the beads. “Oh. My. God!” Parting the beads, she stared at Tiffany, her face scarlet, before turning to take a second, longer look. “Are those… Oh my God.”
“Don’t knock ’em until you’ve tried ’em,” Tiffany said with a bravado she didn’t feel.
What if everyone reacted the way Maddie did and no one patronized her store?
Her stomach quivered with fear. She’d be ruined.
She’d lose her home, and Jim would get custody of Ashleigh.
For a second, Tiffany thought she might be sick.
Still red-faced, Maddie stepped back into the main room of the store, fanning herself. “That’s some interesting inventory you’ve got there, Sis.”
“I need your support, Maddie. Not your disapproval.”
“I don’t disapprove at all, but others may.”
“I’m prepared for that.”
“Are you, honey? Truly?”
“Since when do we care what anyone thinks of us? Are you so far gone being a McCarthy now that you’ve forgotten where you came from?” The moment the words were out of her mouth, Tiffany regretted them.
Maddie’s displeasure showed in the tightening of her lips. “I haven’t forgotten anything, and no one wants you to succeed more than I do. You know that.”
“Then don’t run home and tell Mac I’ve opened a sex-toy shop so he can go blabbing to his mother.”
“With the way the grapevine works around here, I bet she already knows.”
“Let her say whatever she wants. I have all the proper paperwork and licenses. There’s nothing anyone can do. I’m determined to make a go of this place.”
“I wish you nothing but the best of luck.” Maddie gave Tiffany a hug. “I’ve got to get home before my boobs explode. Hailey is due for a feeding. Hope your opening is a smashing success.”
“Thanks,” Tiffany said, waving her sister off with a sinking sensation in her belly.
When the first hour passed without a single customer, Tiffany didn’t think much of it. On a busy spring Saturday, people were at the beach or enjoying other outdoor activities. Maybe this wasn’t the best time of year to open a new store after all.
By the time the third hour had come and gone, Tiffany realized she was being snubbed. A sense of panic unlike anything she’d ever experienced seized her. Everything she had was wrapped up in this store. Everything. If no one ever came, she’d be ruined.
“Um, boss,” Patty said, flitting nervously about the small store. “Should I put away the cheese?”
Tiffany glanced at the table they’d so lovingly put together with red plates and napkins, crackers, cheese, veggies and dip, and other treats for first-day customers. “Yes,” she said. “Please.”
While Patty got busy clearing off the table, Tiffany wandered to the front window.
Across the street, a Gansett Island Police SUV sat in the grocery store parking lot.
Blaine was probably glad her store was a bust. It would mean less trouble for him if people didn’t patronize her place and she went quietly out of business.
She thought about the stack of bills she’d ignored while pouring every dime she had into her store.
Going quietly out of business simply wasn’t an option.
She had to do something to drum up some business, and she had to do it right now.
Feeling energized, Tiffany turned away from the window and marched over to one of the more scandalous racks of lingerie.
She knew exactly what she was looking for and found it toward the back.
Holding up the naughty nurse outfit, Tiffany smiled.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
She took the outfit into the changing room and put it on, once again carefully hanging up her silk blouse and skirt and then donning her spike heels.
When she saw Tiffany emerge from the fitting room, Patty’s mouth fell open. “Um, boss, what’re you doing?”
“Just a little advertising,” Tiffany said as she adjusted the white bustier over her breasts. “How can they know what we’re selling if we don’t show them?”
“Well, um, don’t you think the name of the store kind of speaks for itself?”
“That’s only half the story. I’m going to show them the other half.”
“But Tiffany, there were cars crashing earlier. What if that happens again?”
“How is that my fault?”
“Oh, um, well…”
“Wish me luck,” Tiffany said on her way out the door.
“Good luck,” Patty said warily.
When Blaine saw Tiffany emerge from the store, he sat up from the slouch he’d slipped into as he kept an eye on things across the street.
“What the hell?” he muttered before he groaned.
She was going to be the death of him—the living, breathing death.
While the horny male part of him took a good long look at the luscious skin and long, firm legs, the cop recognized the potential for further traffic mayhem and reached for the door handle.
But then he stopped himself. What exactly did he plan to say to her?
That she couldn’t strut around half dressed?
Well, half might be giving that outfit too much credit.
That she couldn’t cause a traffic hazard by distracting passing drivers?
He’d tried all that before, and she’d brushed him off as skillfully as any woman had ever brushed off a man.
He couldn’t deny that she’d been right earlier when she’d said it wasn’t her fault the men involved with the accident hadn’t been paying attention to their driving.
Watching her prance around, waving to and flirting with passersby, trying to entice them into her store, Blaine seethed with jealousy.
If he were being truthful, he didn’t want anyone else to see her creamy skin and tempting curves.
It wasn’t like he had any kind of claim on her—yet.
But if they were together, she certainly wouldn’t be dancing around mostly nude in public. That much was for sure.
She bent in half to wave to a passing driver, and Blaine went hard at the view of barely covered breasts.
He’d had more hard-ons today than he normally had in a week!
God, she was beautiful. Every guy in town was no doubt talking about her, and Blaine wanted to march over there, cover her and drag her off to bed where he’d quickly uncover her again.
Project alert! Oh shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!
Damned his cursed conscience. His mother’s voice was hardwired into his brain, reminding him of how he’d been taken advantage of in the past. That didn’t mean it would happen again.
He heard his mother reminding him of what he’d gone through with Eden and Kim before that.
Tiffany was nothing like them. She was smart and driven and working toward a goal.
Eden and Kim had used and abused everyone they encountered, and the only goal either of them ever had was to find someone else to take advantage of.
Even though he’d spent less than an hour total alone with Tiffany, he knew she was wasn’t like that, which was why his heart broke a little watching her try so hard to entice someone, anyone, into her new shop.
For two hours, she worked it hard, pouring on her special brand of Tiffany charm to anyone who ventured a glance her way, but no one stopped.
Blaine watched her start to wilt under the hot sun, but her smile and enthusiasm never faded until she had no choice but to concede defeat.
As she walked inside, her shoulders dropped with uncharacteristic despair.
Blaine pounded the steering wheel with a tightly rolled fist. The longer he sat there, the more obvious it became to him that he was going to do something stupid. Really, really stupid.
While Grace worked the day shift downstairs at the pharmacy, Evan McCarthy whiled away the Saturday working on his latest song and practicing his guitar.
He’d also spent an hour on the phone with the sound engineer he’d worked with on his album, trying to entice him to take a chance on a start-up recording studio on Gansett Island.
The Starlight Records bankruptcy proceedings that had Evan’s debut album tied up in court had also put Josh Harrelson out of work.
Evan was working hard to convince Josh to move north and be part of Island Breeze Records.
Josh had agreed to think about it, which was all Evan could ask at this point.
He’d been fooling around with a new song that he was calling “Amazing Grace,” which he hoped to make the first single released by the Island Breeze label.
The equipment they’d ordered was due to arrive any day now, and the old barn on one of Ned’s properties they’d be using for the studio was all ready.
Evan had spent months reconfiguring, sanding, painting and turning the once-dusty, abandoned space into a recording studio.