Summer Magic: Part of the Summers in Seaside Series, page 1
Summer Magic
PART OF THE SUMMERS IN SEASIDE SERIES
C.L. COLLIER
Summer Magic
Life never goes as planned …
* * *
Two years ago, I lost my dream job.
* * *
Then, to make matters worse, I caught my boyfriend cheating on me.
* * *
Not knowing where else to turn, I escaped to my aunt’s house in Seaside, Oregon.
* * *
Now, I’m helping run her bed & breakfast, the Sandy Shore Inn. Life may not be what I’d planned, but I’m finally getting back on track.
* * *
That is until I meet Stone Ryder.
* * *
He’s famous for both his best selling novels and sexy good looks.
* * *
When he walks into the B&B, I’m caught off guard by how kind and humble he is. But what really shocks me is the unexpected spark of attraction between us.
* * *
Our chemistry is real, but Stone’s life is all about fiction.
* * *
Can we sustain the magic we feel when we’re together, or will it fizzle out as quickly as it started?
Copyright © 2022 by C.L. Collier
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or publisher.
* * *
Cover Design by Amy Queau, Q Designs
Editing by Susan Soares, SJS Editorial Services
Created with Vellum
I dedicate this book to my writing bestie,
Amanda Shelley.
Thank you for being a great friend and coming up with the idea for Summers in Seaside!
Contents
Olivia
1. Olivia
2. Stone
3. Olivia
4. Stone
5. Olivia
6. Stone
7. Olivia
8. Stone
9. Olivia
10. Olivia
11. Stone
12. Olivia
13. Stone
14. Olivia
15. Stone
16. Olivia
17. Stone
Stone
Also by C.L. Collier
The Summers in Seaside Series
Coming Soon from C.L. Collier
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Olivia
“We’re sorry, Olivia. We’re going to have to let you go.”
My heart plummets. I feel as if the rug’s been ripped from beneath my feet. Those were not the words I expected to hear when I walked into my boss’ office less than two minutes ago. That’s all the time it took for the dream job I’ve loved and worked tirelessly for the past two years to be taken from me. Why is this happening? What did I do?
“I’m really sorry,” Lacey, my boss, continues. “Like I said, we have to let a few people go due to budget cuts. It’s nothing you did or didn’t do. You just haven’t worked here as long as everyone else, and I can’t justify laying someone off who has more experience. But don’t worry, I’ll write you a glowing recommendation.”
Don’t worry? Did she really just say that?
Fighting back tears, I clear my throat. “Thanks.”
Lacey gives me a sad smile as she sits on the edge of her desk in front of me. “I didn’t want to do this, but it’s the way things worked out. I’m truly sorry, Olivia.”
“I—I just don’t know what I’m doing to do.” Unable to hold the tears back any longer, the dam breaks, and I begin crying.
After cleaning out my desk, I leave. It’s only ten in the morning, but I call my best friend Brianne who’s off work today, and she meets me at our local hangout.
Three hours later, after wallowing in my misery with Brianne by my side, I decide to go home. I was relieved Brianne was available to meet with me. My boyfriend Clint hasn’t answered any of my texts. However, that’s not unusual. He’s a police officer, and he’s often too busy to even look at his personal phone until he clocks out.
However, when I get home and find his car in our driveway, I find it very unusual. Why is he home now? He doesn’t get off work for a few more hours. Maybe he’s sick? He would’ve called me if that was the case, though, and then he would’ve seen the texts I sent him.
I park my car, then head inside the house. It’s quiet, as if no one is home. He’s not in the living room or kitchen, which means he must be in our bedroom. Maybe he actually is sick?
Then I hear a thud. It sounds as if it came from our room, so I start down the hall.
But then I stop in my tracks.
“Yeah, baby, take it.” I hear Clint’s voice as a steady pounding starts. I know that sound.
It’s the sound our bed makes when we’re having sex.
What the fuck is going on?
“Oh, Clint! Harder!” A female’s voice calls out, and for the second time today, I feel as if
my world has been turned upside down.
“What the fuck,” I mutter as I storm down the hall. Our bedroom door is wide open, and the scene playing out in front of me leaves me frozen.
Clint, my boyfriend for the past five years, whom I’ve lived with for the past two, is fucking some other woman––on our bed.
“What the fuck!” I shriek, scaring both Clint and his little skank. He pulls out of her, shocked to see me, while she tries to cover her breasts and pussy as she springs off the bed, startled by my presence.
“Olivia––what are you doing home?” Clint stammers, daring to step toward me.
Tears spring to my eyes, and I lose it. “Is that all you can fucking say?” I scream, and he flinches, stopping in his tracks. “This is our home, and you’re fucking some other woman on our bed!”
As the woman scrambles to get dressed, she says, “I didn’t know he was married.”
“I’m not––” Clint says, but I cut him off.
“We’re not fucking married, but we live together. Get the fuck out of our house!”
“Baby, can’t we talk––”
“No!” I can’t look at him anymore. I turn and head back down the hall to the living room.
“Olivia! Wait!” Clint calls as I wipe my eyes and try to make sense of what I just saw.
Fuck it. I don’t want to be here. I’ll fucking leave so I don’t have to deal with Clint’s bullshit.
I grab my purse from where I left it on the coffee table and walk out the front door, slamming it shut behind me.
I expect to see the woman leave the house before I pull out of the driveway, but I don’t. Clint doesn’t come after me either. How could he do this? After all we’ve been through the past several years, living together, talking about marriage in the future. Sure, we had our problems, but all relationships do. I never thought he would cheat on me like this.
Where do I go now? What should I do? I’ve lost my job and my boyfriend within a few hours of each other.
I decide to go to the only place I always yearn for. The one place I’ve always been welcome and feel completely stress free while I’m there.
Seaside.
Olivia
“Ouch!” My hand springs back from the oven, dropping the hot pad on the ground. I shake my hand, hoping the burn isn’t too bad.
“Jesus, Olivia. You okay?”
I glance at Lorelei across the kitchen, then back at my hand. The burn is small and barely noticeable, but it stings. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
“Put some ice on it,” she says.
“Nah,” I reply, picking up the hot pad off the ground. “It’ll be fine.”
“Tough as nails,” Lorelei mutters, loud enough for me to hear.
I reach into the oven again, careful not to burn myself this time, and pull out the muffin tin. I set it on the counter, then close the oven door.
If you had told me after I lost my job two years ago that I would end up living in Seaside, Oregon, helping my aunt run her bed & breakfast, the Sandy Shore Inn, I would’ve thought you were nuts. When I left Clint and the girl I caught him fucking, I drove straight here. Lorelei welcomed me with open arms, and within two weeks, I was completely moved out of the house I shared with Clint in Tacoma. At first, it was difficult to leave my whole life behind, but I knew it was exactly what I needed––a fresh start. Lorelei and I have always had a special relationship, and she helped me pick up the pieces of my life and move on.
Now, my life consists of baking goods for the bed & breakfast, as well as working the front desk. I also help work in the gift shop from time to time. My job is low key, low stress, and I enjoy it more than I ever thought possible. I don’t miss the fast-paced life I was living before. I’m happier now.
The ding of the bell alerts us that someone is at the front desk. I look at Lorelei, who’s loading the dishwasher. “I’ve got it,” I say, heading in the direction of the front desk.
“Thanks,” Lorelei replies.
I mak
“Good morning,” I say as I approach the counter. “How are you two doing?”
“Wonderful,” the woman says, a smile plastered across her face. The two of them have stayed in the room that shares a wall with my own, and I can vouch that they certainly are doing ‘wonderful.’ I can’t always hear couples having sex on the other side of the wall, but once in a while, it happens. This chick was loud.
“Are you two checking out now?” I ask, knowing full well today is the day they’re leaving.
“Unfortunately, yes,” the husband replies, his arm around his wife’s waist. “We enjoyed our stay, but it’s time for us to drive south.”
“Oh, where are you going?” I ask.
She smiles. “Next is Coos Bay before we head into California.”
“That sounds like a nice trip you have planned,” I say as I find their paperwork. “We’re glad you chose to stay here with us at the Sandy Shore Inn.”
“We really enjoyed our stay. We love the aesthetic here!” She smiles, and I return the gesture.
“We’d love to have you stay with us again sometime,” I say, sliding their paperwork toward them. “I just need a signature here.”
The husband lets go of his wife and signs their bill. “We’ll definitely be back.”
That’s the usual response when guests check out. People love this place, not only for its location––we’re right on the beach––but we have five-star reviews on every platform. We’re booked throughout the year, but summertime is our busiest season, of course. The next few days will be our busiest because of the Seaside Festival that’s starting. The annual event always draws large crowds.
Like the wife mentioned, the aesthetic of the home always draws people here, too. Lorelei is a practicing witch, and this old Victorian-style home is furnished with a mixture of old and New-Age decor. The shop sells things such as Tarot and Oracle cards, candles, incense, crystals and crystal balls, books about Wicca and other New Age topics, and things of that nature. Lorelei also offers Tarot readings. People love this place, including myself. I love living and working here.
I head back to the kitchen to put my muffins away. Baking has been a hobby of mine since I was a teenager. I worked at a bakery in college, and I learned a lot to sharpen my skills there. Having the opportunity to bake for the B&B is a pleasure. I love what I do here.
Lorelei starts the dishwasher. “I’m going upstairs to do housekeeping. We have a new guest coming this afternoon.”
“All right. Let me know if you need a hand.”
“Olivia!” My friend Chelsea sounds enthusiastic on the other line. “How are you?”
“I’m good! How are you, Miss Bride-to-be?” I look at the Pacific Ocean in the distance as I sit back in an Adirondack chair. I love sitting on our back deck, enjoying the view of the beach.
“We booked the venue! The wedding date is set!”
“That’s exciting,” I reply. Chelsea’s boyfriend proposed to her on New Year’s Eve, and they’ve been vacillating on the location of their wedding ever since. “Where’s it going to be?”
“Vegas!” Chelsea practically squeals into the phone. “We decided on a destination wedding!”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Vegas? Really?” To say I’m shocked by this decision is an understatement. I thought for sure Chelsea would have a traditional wedding. “What made you and Carson decide that?”
“His sister, actually,” she says with a laugh. “She got married in April, and she told us to skip all the drama and bullshit and just go to Vegas. We decided to look into it, and we found the perfect place!”
“That’s great. I can’t wait! I haven’t been to Vegas in quite a while.” The last time I went there, I was with Clint, and I could definitely use a new trip to wipe away the old memories and create new ones.
“Of course, I want you to be one of my bridesmaids. You and Brianne,” she says. Chelsea, Brianne, and I have been friends since middle school. We’ve been through everything together.
“Girl, you know it! I’m here for you!”
“I’m not going to pick out a dress for you guys to wear, either. I’ll send you a picture of the color I want you to get, but you can pick the dress.”
Chelsea and I continue to talk on the phone for quite a while. She fills me in on all the wedding details. I think back to when my dad got married right here at the Sandy Shore Inn last February––Valentine’s Day, to be exact. Although it was a cold day, the sun was shining, and they chose to have the ceremony out here, just yards from the beach. It was a great day, and I’m so happy for my dad. I have plans to visit him and his new wife in California in a few weeks. I’m looking forward to the trip.
“Olivia!” Lorelei’s voice resounds from the back door of the house.
I turn and wave to her, then tell Chelsea, “Lorelei needs me for something. I’ll call you
again soon, okay?”
“Sounds good. It was so good talking to you!”
By the time Chelsea and I end the call, Lorelei is standing in front of me. Her purse is hanging on her shoulder. “I’m going to the grocery store,” she says. “Can you come inside and man the front desk?”
“Of course,” I reply as I stand.
“Cassie is working in the gift shop, and none of the guests are currently here, but we are expecting a new one sometime this afternoon.”
“All right. I’ll just hang out in case anyone shows up and needs me.” We walk back into the house, then Lorelei leaves. I grab the book I’ve been reading and settle on the couch in the parlor, adjacent to our front desk in the foyer.
Just as I finish reading the chapter, the front door opens. I look up and see a man walk in, so I place my bookmark in the book and head to the front desk.
The man’s back is turned to me when I approach the desk. He’s looking at the artwork hanging on the walls in the foyer. “Can I help you?” I ask, and he turns around.
Holy hell. This man is attractive. Short, brown hair, five o’clock shadow, strong build… and, for some reason, I feel as if I’ve seen him before.
“Hi there,” he says. His lips lift in a smile, and I can’t help but smile back. “I’m checking in. My name’s Stone Ryder.”
My jaw drops. “Wait––” I suddenly know why he seems familiar. “Are you the Stone Ryder? The author?”
He nods. “That’s me,” he says.
“Hold on.” I quickly walk back into the parlor, grab the book I was reading, and carry it back to the front desk, laying it on the counter in front of him. “This is you?”
He looks at my book, then looks at me, his smile widening. “You’re reading my book?”
I nod. “Yes! And I’m loving it so far! It has rave reviews, so I had to check it out.”
“Thanks,” he replies.
“I had no idea you were the new guest arriving today. My aunt failed to mention that bit of information.”
He laughs, and for the first time, I notice his eyes. They’re two different colors. One eye is blue, and the other is brown. I never noticed that detail in his photo on the back of the book.
“So, what brings you to Seaside?” I ask, deciding not to comment on his eyes. That might sound like I’m hitting on him, and I don’t want to give him the wrong idea.
Although, maybe it wouldn’t be the wrong idea. When I first saw his photo on the book, I was attracted to him. Now, seeing him in person, I’m actually feeling something I haven’t felt in ages––turned on.
