Chasing Carly (Holiday Cove 3)

“I’m here! Are you happy now?” She yelled out, her gaze seemingly focused on Carly’s turned back.

Carly’s shoulders tensed and when she turned around, her face was in stark contrast to the generous, flirtatious smile she’d been wearing when we’d first arrived. She narrowed her eyes on the girl who’d entered the shop and looked on the verge of snarling as she handed Aaron his coffee. “Aaron, you remember my sister, Alesha. She was here last summer.”

Aaron’s face was a comical mix of confusion and horror as he turned around to meet the eyes of the girl who’d just paused to remove her sunglasses. She glanced at Aaron and her entire expression changed. Her cold stare dropped away and she smiled at him. “Of course he remembers me.”

“Nice to see you, Alesha. I didn’t realize you were coming back this summer,” Aaron said, reaching blindly for his coffee as if afraid to break her stare.

“Mmhmm.” She cut her glance to Carly and ice frosted over her matching blue eyes. “Carly and Daddy figured it would be best.”

Carly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “What in God’s name are you wearing? I told you that you’d be working today. I meant here. In the cafe. Not on the Gucci runway.”

Alesha scowled at her sister. “I didn’t pack polyester…or whatever the hell it is you’re wearing.”

“Two words, Leash. Green. Jell-O.”

Alesha threw her hands up in the air. “Fine! I’ll go see what else I have, but don’t get mad if I’m gone for a while!” She turned in a dramatic circle, arms flailing, and I backed up a step to avoid getting caught in her warpath. Her eyes went wide as they landed on me. She clearly hadn’t noticed my presence on the other end of the counter from Aaron and her sister. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Please excuse me…” her voice went from sharp and shrill to sweet as honey.

“No problem,” I replied, waving a hand to indicate that her path was cleared.

She stayed rooted in place, her eyes wide and innocent. As though I hadn’t just witnessed her little tantrum. “I don’t remember you from last summer.”

“I’m new in town. Name’s Nick Adams.”

“Mmmm. Well it’s very nice to meet you, Nick. I’m Alesha Roberts.” She extended her hand and I shook it.

Carly cleared her throat and Alesha threw a dirty look over her shoulder before flashing me another charming smile. “I’ll have to get to know you later. Don’t be a stranger. I’ll be here doing slave labor all summer.”

Before Carly could say anything else, Alesha crossed the few steps to the door and was gone in a flash.

“What in the hell was that all about?” Aaron asked after a moment of stunned silence, where we all three stared at the door.

Carly groaned and dropped her elbows to the counter. She buried her face in her hands. “Apparently, I did something very, very bad in a previous life and these ever-so-charming summers with Alesha are my karma retribution.”

Aaron smirked and pat her on the back. “Come on, gorgeous, it’ll be all right. She’s just…” he floundered for the right adjective. He shot a glance at me, looking for help, but I held up my hands. I’d been in Holiday Cove less than a week. I wasn’t about to get in the middle of the drama.

“Seventeen. That’s what she is,” Carly said, her words mumbled against her fists. She looked up and stared over at me. “Sorry, Nick. What a terrible first impression…I promise you my shop is normally a quiet little oasis of calm.”

I laughed and held up a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I have a younger brother who thinks he’s hot shit too. I get it.”

“Thanks. I certainly wouldn’t want her to keep you from coming back again.”

Aaron’s lips quirked into an odd smile, but he stifled whatever he was thinking and took a long sip from the paper cup in his hand.

Minutes later, we were headed back out to Aaron’s Jeep with two boxes of pastries for the staff meeting. Carly had whipped up a hazelnut latte for me and then boxed the desserts without another word about her sister and when we’d left, she was just as bright and cheery as when we’d first entered the shop. Aaron got everything packed into the back of the Jeep, behind his seat and then hopped in with a big grin on his face.

“What’s so funny?” I asked him, my eyebrow raised as I buckled in.

“I think Carly likes you.”

I didn’t respond, but my eyes wandered back to the window of the shop, thinking about those big blue eyes and those heart-stopping curves under her apron.

The move to Holiday Cove was getting better by the second.

3

Carly

* * *

“Well, that was embarrassing!” Alesha pouted, storming back into the coffee shop, nearly an hour after her little tirade-slash-fashion show.