Seaside Kisses: A Sweet Romance (The Seaside Hunters Book 4) (2 page)

Amara forced another smile. "Well, that sure sounds exciting. Looks like we're going to be neighbors." She gestured toward the candy shop. "I don't want to keep you any longer, but welcome back. If you need anything, just stop in."

"Thanks. It's good to see you again, Amara."

"You, too." She spun around and walked away, trying to catch her breath. She had so many questions, but thankfully, she hadn't babbled on anymore than she had at the start of the conversation.

Amara couldn't think straight and seemed to have lost her appetite. She decided to go home and make sure her packages were all ready. If she got hungry again, she could just warm up last night's leftovers.

Two

Rafael Hunter closed the door of his Mercedes Benz and turned the key in the ignition. He'd seen a lot of old schoolmates since returning home to Kittle Falls, but none made quite the impression Amara had. Back in school, she'd practically been invisible.

The Amara he remembered was overweight and hid behind clunky glasses, a face full pimples, and an awkward laugh. She'd been nothing like her athletic and popular twin, Alex.

This new Amara, she was a lot more like her brother—or at least the way he remembered him. Maybe Alex had changed as much as his sister. The beautiful woman who'd ran over to see him was graceful, slender, and had a stunning smile.

He pulled out of the parking spot and drove the short ride to his new home. The deal had taken forever to close, but it was finally his. He parked in the driveway, admiring the house. The tri-level really was too large for one person, but he didn't care. He paid less for this mortgage than he'd paid to rent his studio apartment in LA.

Things would be a little tight until his business opened, but then everything would be fine. His parents had given him some money to help him get back on his feet, and he intended to pay them back every penny, plus interest. They swore each of the Hunter "kids" had gotten a gift of equal size, but it wasn't Rafael's style to take handouts, not even under the guise of an early inheritance.

"We want to see you boys enjoy it," his mom had said. "Not have you all wait until we've passed on."

Or were they afraid to lose more kids before they had a chance to use their money? The family had lost their baby sister, Sophia, several years earlier, and her death had really made an impact on everyone. This seemed to be his parents' reaction—once they had finally pulled out of their deep grief.

Someone tapped on Rafael's window. He turned off the car and looked over to see his younger brother, Zachary.

Rafael got out of the car. "Are you early?"

"Maybe. I've got a date with Jasmine later, so I was hoping to get as much done now as possible."

"Oh, sure. Planning the wedding?"

Zachary nodded. "We're supposed to sample cake flavors after dinner."

"That sounds dangerous," Rafael said.

"I'll just have to do extra reps at the gym tomorrow with Brayden," Zachary said. "You're always welcome to join us."

"Thanks, but I still prefer running."

"Even in this cold?" Zachary shivered.

"Especially in this weather." Rafael closed his door and set the alarm with his phone. "I can't get enough of this fresh, clean air. I used to have to go into a gym to get filtered, AC-filled air in LA."

Zachary made a face. "Yeah, I missed the clean air when I was in New York."

They went inside the house, and Rafael groaned at the piles of boxes in the entryway. There was so much left to unpack.

"Is that the last of it?" Zachary asked.

"Finally," Rafael said. "Now the real fun begins."

"At least you have your stuff back."

"And at least I'm out of the bed I slept in as a teenager."

"Hey," Zachary said. "Watch it."

Rafael raised an eyebrow. "You'll be out of Mom and Dad's place soon enough. Have you and Jasmine found a house yet?"

"We're looking at few, but she really wants something that will allow an in-home dance studio."

"Oh?" Rafael asked. "Owning one in town isn't enough?"

Zachary grinned. "She wants to be able to practice at home. I think she's also looking ahead to when we have kids."

"Don't look so scared," Rafael teased.

"I'm not," Zachary said, his eyes narrowed.

"Relax," Rafael said. Zachary and Rafael had always been close, and as a result, seemed to push each other's buttons too easily. "I was going to grab some lunch first. You hungry?"

Zachary shook his head. "I ate while writing earlier."

"How's the book going?" Rafael asked, sliding his shoes off and then setting them on a rack.

"Which one?" Zachary asked, grinning. He took off his shoes and put them next to Rafael's.

"Any of them."

Zachary hung his coat, and they went into the kitchen. "The two for sale are going crazy. Once the royalties start coming in, we'll have a nice cushion."

"Not too nice, I hope," Rafael said, opening the fridge. He pulled out a pre-made wrap. "Sure you don't want one?"

Zachary shook his head. "Don't worry, Raf. I'll keep assisting you as long as you need it."

"If you need more time for writing, I don't want to hold you back."

"No, it's good. I need the break." Zachary moved around Rafael and grabbed a sparkling seltzer water.

They sat at the table, and Zachary talked about the book he was writing, and how he loved the reader feedback. Rafael smiled and nodded at the right places, but his mind wandered back to Amara. He just couldn't get over the whole ugly duckling to beautiful swan transformation.

Not that he needed the distraction. He had an entire business to rebuild from scratch. The only things he had going for him was the money his parents had given him and all the lessons he'd learned when setting up and running the business back in LA. With any luck, he could get everything going faster this time.

Rafael rinsed his plate and stuck it in the dishwasher. "You ready to start?"

"That's why I'm here," Zachary said.

"I need you to make some calls," Rafael said, bringing his mind into work mode. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through some notes. "First, the company that I've hired to make the shirts. They were supposed to call by this morning, and they haven't. If they aren't going to be reliable, I need to find another."

Zachary nodded, inputting notes into his app. "Okay. What next?"

Rafael went over the rest of the to-do list with his brother, and then an alert went off. "Oh, good. My shipment of pants has arrived at the post office. I'm going to pick those up, and get them over to the shop. Then I need to work on the window display."

"I'd help you, but I'm not visually artistic."

"That much is clear." Rafael couldn't help staring at his choice of clothing. He didn't look down on people for not being in style, but his brother seemed to wear out-of-date clothing just to annoy him.

Zachary rolled his eyes, clearly knowing Rafael's thoughts. "I'll start with the calls, and then tinker with the HTML on your website."

Rafael's eyes widened. "No. Don't tinker. Just—"

"I know what I'm doing. Don't worry. I'll back up every time I make a change."

"Thank you." Rafael took a deep breath. "I really appreciate all your help."

Zachary smiled. "That's why you pay me the big bucks."

"No, seriously. I can trust you—and you don't know what that means to me."

Zachary's face turned serious. "After the way Tony destroyed your other business, I get it."

"And I really appr—"

"Don't get sappy on me." Zachary gave Rafael a brotherly shove. "Go forth and conquer."

"If you have any questions, just call."

"Got you on speed dial."

Rafael double-checked his message about the shipment and then left for the post office. When he got there, the parking lot was full. He had to drive around twice before finding a spot.

When he got inside, he groaned at the long line. When would the Kittle Falls post office get with the times and install automated kiosks? At least a stamp machine. They didn't even have one of those. Sometimes being back home was like being back in his teen years when technology was limited to cordless phones, desktop computers, and pagers.

Once in line, Rafael checked his email. Nothing new for the business. There were some alerts for social media, but he didn't want to check them. Last time he had, there were a ton of questions about his old business—now Tony's—and also about his recent breakup. His ex-girlfriend was also now Tony's. He could have her. They deserved each other.

Someone got in line behind Rafael, but he didn't pay any attention. He opened his browser app and checked out the top fashion blogs. It was one way to make sure he was staying at the top of the game. There were several that were always a few steps ahead of the trends, and they'd never steered him wrong.

A sweet citrus scent wafted his way. Rafael looked behind him to see Amara. She stood balancing several large boxes.

"You want some help with those?" he asked.

Her face lit up, but she shook her head. "I've got them."

"Looks more like they have you." Rafael shoved his phone into a pocket and took the largest box from her. He fumbled, surprised at how heavy it was. "Dang. How do you carry all of these?"

Amara shrugged. "It comes with the job."

"Why don't you have Alex carry these down here for you?"

"These are for my other business."

"Your other one?" Rafael asked, adjusting the box.

"Gotta do something else during the non-tourist season, you know."

"So, what? You sell bricks in the off season?"

Amara laughed. "No. I actually make custom candy and sell it online. This time of year is crazy, but I do well the rest of the year, too, with birthdays and anniversaries."

"I'm impressed."

"You are?" she asked.

"Yeah. Most everyone around here frets about making enough during the summer to get through the rest of the year. You've grabbed a hold of technology and made it work for you."

Amara beamed. "Thanks. It just seemed natural. I mean, people always love our candy, and I kept getting requests for selling online so the tourists could buy our stuff at home. I couldn't find a good reason not to."

Rafael studied her. Not only had she made a complete turnaround physically, but mentally, too, it seemed. She'd always been timid and shy—at least what little he remembered about her. They'd sat next to each other a few times in classes, and she never spoke to him unless they had a project to work on together.

As they moved through the line, they chatted about business. When it was Rafael's turn at the register, he motioned for Amara to go first.

"Oh, I couldn't."

"I insist. You have these heavy boxes." He set the one he carried on the counter and then backed up to his place in line.

"Thanks, Rafael."

"My pleasure." He smiled, finding he meant it. Though he hadn't thought of Amara once since leaving Kittle Falls, he was glad to have run into her. It would be nice having some friends in a nearby business.

"Next," called a teller at the other end of the counter.

Rafael went over and told her he had packages to pick up. Then he filled his backseat and trunk with inventory and drove back to his shop, parking in front—in the tow away zone.

A lady with a tight bun and a pinched face came out from the bridal shop next door. She scowled at Rafael. "You know, you aren't supposed to park there."

"I'm unloading." Not that he owed her an explanation.

"It's not a loading zone. It's a no parking zone—as in, anytime."

"Go ahead and call the cops. I'll be done before they get here."

She made a harrumph sound, turned around, and stomped back into her store.

"What a peach," Rafael muttered. He grabbed a box, jogged over to his shop and put it down, using it to prop the door open. Then he got the rest of the boxes inside as quickly as possible, locked the door, and went back to his car.

Just as he pulled out and headed for legal parking, a police cruiser drove by, headed right for their little strip mall. Had that woman actually called the cops on him?

Three

"Earth to Amara."

She looked over to see her brother waving his arms in front of himself. "What?"

Alex shook his head, chuckling. "You're not usually in your own world. What gives?"

Amara shrugged. "Just thinking about business," she fibbed. Rafael wouldn't leave her thoughts, and she couldn't get over how nice he'd been to her in the post office. Even more than that, she couldn't get his rustic copper eyes or alluring smile out of her mind.

"What about business?" Alex asked.

"I have more orders to ship out tomorrow. If this keeps up, I might need to hire an assistant."

He cleared his throat. "Who would that be?"