With This Fling (Summersweet Island 5)

“Choose him for what? And where the hell did you conveniently disappear to?”

“Just wanted to give you some time alone with my new daddy. Yum!” Wren wags her eyebrows at me.

“Wren Elizabeth Bennett!” I scold, swatting the side of her arm. “I’m going to tell your fiancé you’re lusting after another man.”

She just laughs as we both start cleaning up and shutting down for the night. “Nope, just appreciating that fine, age-appropriate specimen for my sweet, loving, amazing mother. Who has spent enough time taking care of all of us and needs to finally find someone to take care of her. He looks like a good man who just drove into town on a Harley and wants to give you a ride.”

“All right, that’s enough,” I mutter, even though the image of that man straddling a motorcycle is now burned into my brain forever, and I’m having a hard time focusing. I never should have let Tess talk me into bingeing Sons of Anarchy; Jax Teller ruined me forever. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I’ve done just fine on my own, in case you haven’t noticed.”

I’m a little aggressive when I smack the switch to turn off the neon Open sign, while Wren puts all of the covers on the toppings containers.

“Of course you have. You taught all of us to be perfectly self-sufficient, and we love you very much for that. You also taught us that we might not need a man in our lives, but we definitely want one.” She pauses to smile at me.

“I do not want one,” I remind her with a frown.

“You go ahead and keep telling yourself that.” Wren laughs, giving me a pat on the shoulder as she carries the cold toppings over to the fridge to put them away.

“Birdie is officially my favorite daughter today, and you’re out of the will,” I inform her, crossing my arms and glaring at her back while she continues to chuckle with her head in the fridge. “But I still love you. Go home to Shepherd.” I hold up my hand when she whirls around to argue with me. “Nope. Go home. You have a wonderful fiancé waiting for you there. And he’s probably waiting for you on the couch naked, since your son is spending the night at a friend’s house. Take advantage of it, and I’ll finish closing up.”

“He’s actually probably waiting for me naked in his craft room with a jar of edible glitter in his hand.” Wren sighs, and then a huge smile takes over her face. Knowing better than to try to argue with me twice, she grabs her purse from under the counter, giving me a quick hug before racing out the back door and home to her man.

I’m supposed to be letting Wren take over the business. I’m supposed to be retiring young and enjoying my freedom and my life. The problem is, my family and this ice cream stand are my life. Wren is finally happy and has a man who adores her and Owen. Why would I make her stick around here, closing up the ice cream stand, when she doesn’t have to? When she has someone to go home to and I don’t.

Glancing back over my shoulder, I look out the open serving window into the darkness. As the other businesses down Summersweet Lane start shutting off their lights and closing for the night, I stare at the spot where some random tourist stood, making my heart race more with just a few quietly stated words than any guy I’ve ever met.

Letting out a long sigh, I tilt my head from side to side, trying to work out the kinks in my neck, stretching my arms up over my head to do the same with my aching back. I’m not at all sad that I’m going home to a quiet, empty cottage with no one to greet me, no one to listen to me complain about my day, and no magic hands to give me a much-needed massage.

Whatever. I still don’t need or want a man in my life. It’s just Birdie’s wedding making me feel this way; that’s it. This will all pass in a week.

Chapter 2

Laura

“You come in like a fucking wrecking ball.”

“You’d definitely be someone I wouldn’t forget.”

“You’ve got a killer smile.”

Letting out a sigh when the voice that haunted my dreams last night refuses to go away, I look around the covered patio deck of the Summersweet Island Hotel, not understanding why I can’t shake the words of some random tourist I spent maybe three minutes with.

“Has anyone seen Wren?” I ask. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She’s fine. Stop changing the subject and tell me about our new daddy’s cute butt again,” Birdie orders.

Yep. That’s probably why I can’t shake him.

“For fuck’s sake, Roberta.” I glare at my daughter, and she glares right back at me when I use her given name.

“Can I call him daddy too? He sounds hot,” Bodhi adds, making me close my eyes and count to ten, while I take a couple of deep breaths.

“Come on!” Birdie complains. “Wren was in a bad mood this morning and would only tell me the story once. I want to hear it again, slower this time.”

It’s all Wren’s fault I’m being tortured like this. Wren and her inability to keep anything secret from her sister. And then Birdie caught me when I was otherwise distracted, and I made the mistake of blurting out how dreamy that stranger’s ass was. I was distracted from thinking about how dreamy his ass was, but that’s neither here nor there. This is all Wren’s fault, and she is sooo grounded!

“I never should have signed that form at the hospital when you guys were born that said I wouldn’t shake you or your sister.” I sigh when I open my eyes again.

“They made you sign a form that said you would not shake your baby?” Birdie asks me in horror.