Bonus Epilogue
Jace Marriott sailed through his little bar during the busy dinner hour, steaming hot plates of food in both hands and a smile on his face.
Arriving with a flourish at the table of his four friends, he set the plates in front of his friend Sid’s wife, Grace Hoffman, and his friend Quinn’s, future wife, Hanna Valentine.
“Dinner is served, ladies.”
Hanna glanced at her plate of food, then turned to face Quinn. “That looks delicious. I’ll bet you’re sorry you didn’t order the baked salmon now.”
Quinn laughed as a waitress set a sizzling steak in front of him. He grinned at Hanna, “I’ll bet you’re sorry you didn’t order the steak.”
She chuckled. “I kind of am. Care to share?”
Quinn grinned, then winked at his beautiful fiancé. “Of course not. But I want a bite of your salmon.”
Jace glanced around the table and saw everyone had a drink and full plates of food. “Okay, if you all are satisfied with your meals, I’ve got things cooking here.”
Sid laughed. “Go ahead and get your shine on Jace. Come back and visit when you can though.”
Jace nodded. “I’ll have a drink with you as soon as the main dinner rush is over.”
As he skirted tables on the beach, he grinned. He loved it here. His business was booming. Where else could a confirmed bachelor live and work all day long and see beautiful women in short -shorts and bikinis? Nowhere, that’s where.
“Hey, Jace,” called the little blonde renting one of his cabins on the beach with her girlfriend.
“Hey, there Cabin One. How’s your meal?”
Her sensual lips spread into a beguiling smile and her eyes batted just enough to hook his gaze. “Excellent. And all the better because I thought of you cooking it for me as I ate.”
Oooh, a tingle slid all the way down his spine. “Think of me doing other things darlin’. Then, come and find me.”
She giggled and so did her brunette friend. Jace kept moving toward the kitchen, his smile never bigger and his swagger a bit more pronounced.
Grabbing an order at the end of the counter, he checked the ticket hanging above the plates. Table Fourteen.
Grabbing two clean potholders, he picked up the plates and breezed through the bar and outside to the beach once more.
Table Fourteen was occupied by four women, but they were wearing black dress clothes and looked as though they’d been crying.
A brief moment of uncertainty halted his progress. Taking a deep breath, he stopped at the table and nodded. “I have the Grande Nachos and a Mushroom Swiss Burger.”
The woman with long dark hair lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “I ordered the nachos.”
“Hi, Margo. I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you.”
He slid the plate in front of her and lay the plate with the burger in front of the woman who sat next to her with her hand raised. Margo and her husband, Logan had run the real estate office in town for years. And, he’d recently heard her husband was… Oh.
“Yes. Sorry, Jace. These are my sisters, Holly, Carley, and Josseline. Ladies, this is Jace Marriott, owner of Sarge’s Sandbar.”
Jace nodded at Margo’s sisters and received smiles and nods in return. “It’s nice meeting you ladies. I’ll be right back with the rest of your order.”
He turned to hustle inside to retrieve the other orders, and heard one of the ladies say, “Ooh, he’s handsome.”
He smiled slightly, it never hurt to be called handsome.
Then he heard Margo reply, “And just about as faithful as a hungry dog.”
His steps faltered. Ouch, that hurt. He wasn’t a dog. He was a single man and enjoyed his single life. Why on earth would she be so disrespectful? Pulling his shoulders back he hurried inside, entered the kitchen, and saw Amy, one of his servers, wiping her hands on a towel.
“Amy, do you mind taking these two orders to Table Fourteen?”
“Not at all.”
Amy smiled, slid her hands into hot plate holders and carried the two remaining plates out of the kitchen.
Jace took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He’d never been called a dog before and that rankled.
Rotating his head on his shoulders, he moved out the back door and sidled the tables on the beach until he reached his friends sitting near the newly constructed stage.
“How’s your dinner, folks?”
His friend Sid looked up from his meal and stared into his eyes. Sid’s smile fell. “What happened to you?”
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing, Jace. I can tell you’re tense and irritated. What’s up?”
Quinn leaned back in his seat and stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “May as well fess up, Jace. We know you well enough to know something’s up.”
Jace shook his head, lifted his right shoulder, and let it drop. “That table over there called me, and I quote, ‘About as faithful as a hungry dog.’ It got to me.”
Grace tilted her head up to him. Her smile was sweet, “That’s not true. So why does it bother you so much?”
“I don’t know. It just does.”
Hanna turned in her seat and glanced toward the table he’d mentioned. She took a deep breath. “That’s Margo Price and her sisters. Today was Margo’s husband’s funeral. You know he died of cancer a few days ago. She’s probably just grieving.”
Jace turned his head and glanced at the women at the table. “That explains the black attire out here in the heat on the beach. Why on earth would they eat here after a funeral instead of somewhere more private?”
Hanna shrugged. “I don’t know. But don’t let something said in grief bother you, Jace.”
He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat at his friend’s kind words.
“Thank you.” He rotated his head again then took a deep breath. “Anyway, is everything here, okay?”
Hanna smiled. “Everything is delicious. Thank you so much.” She set her fork on her plate and then turned toward him. “If it means anything, I was at the funeral today and something big went down just before it started. Margo and her sisters were huddled up and they weren’t crying. They were angry. Very angry.”
Jace’s jaw clenched. “Okay. Well, that’s no reason to be a bitch about me, but, for the sake of a fellow businessperson, I’ll let it go. This time.”
Grace smiled at him and nodded her head. “That’s really the best thing.”
Jace nodded and turned toward the kitchen once more, careful to keep a distance. No need to let them set him off again because they’ve been having a bad time of it. But he’d be lying if he said he wondered what on earth had gone down at a funeral. Margo and her husband, Logan, had owned the real estate office here in Blossom Springs for years, as far as he knew. They’d both always been upstanding in business practice. Of course, he knew nothing of them personally.
As he passed Table Fourteen from afar, he saw the women watch him walk by and his heartbeat increased.
S eductive Nights draws inspiration from the real-life experience of a close friend. It's a captivating tale that twists reality and perception, revealing shocking truths just when you think you truly know someone.