Chapter 1
Chapter One
“H urry up, Juliette,” Sophia said as she put her hands on her hips. Sophia had been her very best friend since high school,
“I’m hurrying.” She gave her bag one more yank to free it from the back seat of the car. The bag sprang loose and almost sent her falling backwards. This seemed to give Sophia a great deal of joy, and she burst out laughing.
“Thanks for helping me,” Juliette said dryly as she threw the bag over her shoulder and fell into step with her friend.
One of the main reasons she and Sophia had hit it off was their love of art and film. Sophia had shocked everyone in their class that first week when she’d arrived as a new student with her bright blue hair and matching Doctor Marten’s. Well, just the tips of her hair had been colored. Sophia frequently changed the color of the ends of her longer hair and the matching streaks she added. Today’s color was bright red.
“Can you believe it?” Sophia locked arms with her. “I’m going to be an aunt.”
In the past few months, her friend had returned from New York, where she’d been attending film school, to be there after her mother’s sudden death.
Juliette had seen the pain in her friend’s heart those first few weeks. But then something had changed. The old spark between Sophia and Palmer Clark had reignited. Sure, they were still tiptoeing around one another at this point, but she could tell it was only a matter of time before true happiness found them. It was obvious to everyone who saw the couple flirting all over town.
Today, they were in Edgeview shopping for party supplies for the baby shower Sophia was throwing that weekend for Avery, her sister-in-law.
They had hit almost every arts and crafts stores in town and had enjoyed a nice lunch together. It had been a few years since she’d enjoyed such a wonderful day out with a girlfriend. Thinking about it, she realized that it had been before Sophia had moved away.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have other friends. She did. Well, a few. But she wasn’t as close to them as she and Sophia had always been.
She had her work to keep her busy though. Taking the job at Sophia’s brother Lucas’s restaurant, Pride Pueblo Cocina, had been the best decision she could have made.
She had been working directly under Emily, Sophia and Lucas’s mother, before her death. Now that Sophia was back in town, she was working under her friend.
The job wasn’t hard, and it allowed her to focus on the online classes she’d been taking since graduating from high school. She’d gotten her associate’s degree in art and had taken a handful of business and marketing classes along with a few film and digital editing ones since. She wasn’t one-hundred percent sure what she wanted to do but figured with a broad stroke, she’d hit on something she loved.
So far, she’d found out that she enjoyed digital editing and photography. She was good at it. Strangely good. She always had been. Finding that best angle was as easy to her as reading children’s stories.
In high school, she’d hidden the talent and only allowed a few to know of her abilities. Sophia was one of those few, which is why she had invited her to work on her own film projects. And she had made her a manager of the restaurant after she’d worked there for two years.
While they shopped for the last final touches for the party, Sophia brought up that her friend, the famous screenwriter Maxwell Wilson, had moved into the house attached to the Pride lighthouse a while back. The place she dreamed about even to this day, even though she’d never stepped foot in there before.
She was intrigued. Everyone knew who Max Wilson was. You couldn’t call yourself a movie lover if you didn’t know him. The man had written some of the best screenplays and books in the past decade. Many of them were her favorites.
“Do you think he’s going to stick around town or is this just a fix-it-up-and-make-a-profit or rent-it-out type of deal?” she asked. “You know, kind of like how Brook and Ryder rent out parts of Ocean View when they’re going to be traveling.”
Brook was a local who had met James Ryder back before Sophia had moved into town. The couple had snatched up Ocean View, the massive mansion that was the closest home to the lighthouse. It had taken them years to remodel the old place and now it was often used as a seasonal rental property since the couple had another home in the Seattle area and one in Europe. Not that they ever stayed in one place very long. The couple always seemed to be traveling to exotic places. She’d never been outside of Oregon, but she tried not to be too jealous. Well, she’d been to Seattle a few times when she was really young, but she couldn’t remember it so it didn’t count.
Sophia shrugged. “Max says he wants to stick around. I think he means it. Besides, his mother and sisters live close by.”
“Yeah, but he’s… Max Wilson.” She waved her hands as if that explained everything.
Sophia chuckled. “Yeah, but he doesn’t let that get to his head. Trust me. He’s pretty down to earth.”
“If my memory serves me right, he’s not bad looking.” Juliette wiggled her eyebrows and had Sophia chuckling.
“Yeah, he’s pretty great.” Her friend’s eyes grew distant, and she could tell she was thinking about someone else.
“You have it really bad for him don’t you?” she teased
“Who?” Sophia asked. “Max?” She shook her head.
“Palmer Clark.” Juliette laughed. Her friend managed to look embarrassed for a second.
“Yeah, he’s...something.” She smiled.
“I’ve never really witnessed a love triangle before,” she teased.
“There is no love triangle.” Sophia rolled her eyes. “Trust me. I’ve told Max that I’m not… that we’re… just friends.”
“You and Palmer or you and Max?”
“Me and Max,” Sophia answered quickly. “After Palmer kissed me…” She shook her head. “There is no one else.”
“Oh, Sophia and Palmer sitting in a tree…” she started to sing, but she stopped when the clerk in the store shushed her. They both giggled.
After they were done shopping, Sophia dropped Juliette off at home, where she showered, changed, and then headed into work.
She walked through the back door of the restaurant an hour later to find her boss, Lucas, joking around with the kitchen staff while they bustled around the kitchen.
Lucas Jenkins was one of those bosses you just loved to work with. The man was always laughing and having a good time and yet was very responsible. The kind of guy that was easy to respect, and you didn’t have to work hard to find things to like about him.
He and Sophia and a few other employees were why she had been happily working at her job for years. Besides, she almost had enough money saved up to move out of her parents’ place and purchase her very own home. Almost.
“Good evening,” she called out as she rushed to drop her purse and coat in her locker by the back door.
“Hola!” several of her coworkers shouted out in unison. Her smile grew.
Two hours later, her feet ached, her neck had a kink in it, and she had almost a hundred dollars in tips in her pocket, which added a happy bounce to her step as she glided around the room delivering orders.
She had just refreshed the drinks at table twelve when she turned and bumped solidly into someone.
“Sorry,” she said automatically. But the word died in her throat when she looked up into the most mesmerizing silver eyes she’d ever seen in her life.
The man was a few inches taller than her. His dark sandy hair was cut short, almost buzzed in places. He had the two day’s growth of stubble that was so popular among guys these days, and it made him oh so sexy. Her eyes went straight to his lips and chiseled jawline.
Words dried up in her throat. Her mind literally stopped working while her heart raced in her chest. Could he hear it? Could he see her pupils dilate with want?
“I, uh,” he started and then blinked as if just remembering something. “I’m looking for Sophia.” He broke eye contact to glance around the dining room.
“She’s not working tonight,” Juliette said in a small voice.
Of course this sex god standing in front of her was looking for Sophia. Sophia was, well, perfect inside and out. She was sure of herself in everything she did. She dressed in splashy fashion and bright colors, and always looked fucking amazing.
Right now, Juliette was positive there were at least three food stains on her shirt and dark pants. Her mousy brown hair was probably frizzy and knotted, and she doubted any of the makeup she’d applied before coming to work was still there.
The man’s eyes returned to hers, and suddenly her mind cleared from the fog of attraction.
“You’re Sophia’s Max?” she blurted out before thinking her words through. Her face instantly heated. “I mean, Max.” She shook her head when the man chuckled.
“I am. You must be Juliette,” he said with a sexy grin that had her heart skipping.
“I am. Now that you’ve come in, you might as well grab a seat. I promised Sophia that if you stepped foot in Pride Pueblo Cocina for the first time when she wasn’t here, I’d treat you to her brother’s famous tamales and a margarita.” She motioned to an empty table.
“I’d…” He glanced around and then she heard his stomach loudly complain. She smiled.
“You’d better sit.” She nudged his shoulder towards the table. “I’ll grab your drink and put your order in.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He willingly moved towards the table.
Smiling, she walked over to the bar and made his drink herself after punching in the order for the tamales.
When she set his drink down, along with a fresh bowl of hot corn chips and salsa, he glanced up from his phone.
“Thanks.” He smiled up at her. “Got a minute?” He motioned to the chair opposite his.
She nodded and motioned to Claire that she was going to take her break before sitting down.
After taking a sip of the drink, he dipped a chip in the salsa and took a bite.
“Sophia wasn’t joking. This is really good salsa.” He smiled and leaned back as his eyes locked with hers.
“Sophia doesn’t joke when it comes to good food.” She smiled.
“Or friends, I’m hoping.”
She arched her eyebrows. “Meaning?”
“From the moment I met her, Sophia has gone on and on about her bestie who helped her develop her stories, plot film scenes, design backdrops and costumes, and, most importantly, edit footage. I’m hoping all those stories are true.”
“They are.” She leaned forward. “Having writer’s block?” she teased, and he chuckled.
“Some,” he admitted. “Most importantly, there’s a mystery I’m trying to solve.”
“A mystery?” She began to laugh. “You’re not seriously trying to find the diamonds are you?”
He frowned at her. “What diamonds?”
She sobered as he ate some more chips. “What’s the mystery?” she asked after shaking her head slightly.
He took another sip of his drink and then leaned closer and lowered his voice. “How serious is it between Sophia and Palmer?”
She sighed. “Everyone in town knows that Palmer has had it bad for Soph since he first laid eyes on her. Sophia, well, it took her a while, but I’m pretty sure she is mad for him too. Sorry,” she added. “Did she break your heart?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Really. I’m… it’s more a brotherly concern at this point. He’s a good guy? Palmer?”
She nodded. “One of the best. I had hoped…”—she shook her head lightly again—“his eyes would land on someone else.”
“Like you?” he interjected.
“Small towns.” She shrugged. “Most of the kids we went to school with left after graduation. We do have an influx of new stock”—he chuckled at her use of words—“thanks to the Coast Guard school. But, yeah, Palmer Clark has been at the top of the bachelor stock in Pride for a few years now.” He nodded and took another sip of his drink. “That is, until you moved into town.” She placed her chin on her fists and chuckled when he almost choked on his drink.
While he recovered, she stood up and grinned down at him.
“How does it feel being the most eligible bachelor in town?” she asked softly.
He shook his head and glanced around. “I didn’t move to town for attention.”
“Really?” She frowned at him. “You do realize you quite literally moved into a light house. You know, a tall building that shines a very bright light out over this town every night.”
He smiled. “She’s a beauty.”
“I wouldn’t know.” She started to turn around to go grab his food.
“You’re welcome to come look at her, if you want,” he called out.
She stopped and glanced back at him. “I’ll take you up on that. Soon.”