Anything You Want: River Jewel Resort Series Book 1 (6 page)

Chapter Nine

Sydney packed her bags and had the bell-hop take them to her car. After an amazing, relaxing week, she was ready to go out into the world. Reservations at a cute bed and breakfast in Cape Cod were made and it was one more thing to check off her bucket list, something she only recently decided to do. After all of her items were crossed off, she’d return to Mark, if he’d still have her. For now, she wanted to spend some time alone.

They had spoken often during her stay that week, each promised to call. Sydney hoped that was true. She really cared for Mark and was grateful he understood her need to get past any of the emotions still holding her back. He was amazing. In fact, he had helped her set up a strict itinerary for her road trip and he hadn’t even put up a fuss about her leaving. Not much, anyways.

“Well, you’re all set, Sydney. Javier filled your tank and everything’s loaded. Are you sure you won’t stay? We can hang out at the pool. Maybe we can work on fulfilling all of your dreams right here?” His mischievous smile made her blush and tendrils of desire flared through her.

She playfully swatted his arm and shook her finger at him. “Mark, you’re too much.”

“That’s not what you said the other day.”

That man knew how to push her buttons, all of them. She knew in her heart, she’d be back sooner than she planned. It was hard enough to make herself leave. Sydney threw her arms around him and kissed him, “Thank you. For everything, Mark.”

He shrugged off her gratitude with a crooked smile. “Just doing my job. No thanks needed. Be careful out there, Syd. What am I saying? You’re a tough one. You’ll be fine. You’ll probably find some young, rough-rider and never come back.” Mark turned his head, squinting his emerald eyes against an imaginary glare from the sun.

Sydney saw thr
ough his rough exterior and nonchalant attitude. Sydney knew better. It was a defense mechanism to hide his sadness and a cover for the other guests that may be listening.

“I’ll be back. I promise.”

“I’ll be here. You take care of yourself, Syd. Call if you need anything or if you ever just feel like talking.” He held her car door open as she slid into the supple embrace of her leather seat.

She dabbed at her eye with a fingertip before a single tear could fall. Something about this man made her want to stay, but she knew she couldn’t. Not right now. Sydney needed to see the world, be on her own for a while and find her purpose in life.  She had a lot of living to make up for. Her heart skipped a beat and she found it hard to contain her excitement of a new life in front of Mark. She knew she was breaking his heart, but in the end, she knew she was doing the right thing for both of them. The lonely, depressed Sydney was gone and she could only pray Mark would believe in her, believe in what they have. Only time would tell.

Sydney’s thoughts drifted to a fairytale she’d loved as a child and though she’d stopped believing in them long ago, Sydney knew happy endings didn’t just happen. Happy endings are made. The pink, pea gravel of the River Jewel Resort’s driveway ricocheted against the undercarriage of her car as Sydney drove away with something she hadn’t felt in a long time, something she’d forgotten she needed. Hope. And she realized it was in fact, an amazing thing to have.

THE END

Coming Soon

Hunter's Fortune, River Jewel Resort, Book 2

Erotic Romance: Heat Level 4

Welcome to the River Jewel Resort—where fantasy becomes reality!

When Hunter Golde’s father died, he left her in charge of his trucking company. Having such big shoes to fill has put Hunter at a disadvantage and she’s had to be tough.

Someone has robbed her of every dime and turned the stockholders against her and she must bring the thief to justice before she ends up with a mutiny on her hands.

With her life in shambles, an unsupportive boyfriend, and no one to comfort her, Hunter leaves town but her plans to hide out at her family’s cabin are put on hold and she finds herself at the uncanny River Jewel Resort.

Hunter experiences one of the worst days in her life and finds herself alone and desperate but realizes what she must do.

Can the River Jewel Resort teach her that it’s never too late for wishes and dreams to come true? Or will Hunter Golde remain true to the fortune life has already given her?

Sneak Peek:

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

Hunter opened her eyes and found herself staring into the deep blue eyes of a mountain man. “Get back!”

She jumped to her feet, grabbing the closest object on her way up and brandishing it, ready to beat the stranger into a bloody mess. She’d be damned if her photo would be on the front page of the local paper as the latest victim of some deranged weirdo.

“Whoa. Easy there, little lady.”

“Keep your hands where I can see them. Who are you? What do you want? And why are you staring at me like that?”

“Well, you’re just full of questions, aren’t you?”

As the stranger stood there with his hands in the air, Hunter measured him with her eyes. “I asked who you are.”

“I know what you asked. But you never answered me. I asked if you’re okay. You seem to be having some car trouble.”

“That’s none of your damn business. But for your information, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Do you always tell squirrels to go ‘suck a nut’ when you’re fine?”

“You’ve been watching me? Listen here creep, you need to back up and walk away. I’m not going to be your next meal. So take your psycho ass on outta here before I kick it for you.”

The man laughed so hard that tears ran down his cheeks, making a trail through his beard and onto his blue flannel shirt. He actually had the nerve to bend over, in a full-blown belly laugh.

“I don’t see what’s so funny. I said to keep your hands up!”

He continued to laugh and glanced at her occasionally before erupting into another fit. “You?”

“You really are fucking crazy.” Hunter slowly began to back up and inched closer to the safety of her car.

“Listen, buddy. I don’t want any trouble. Just go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under and I’ll be leaving.”

“No, you listen. Sweetheart, you’re not goin’ anywhere.”

A shiver of terror ran through her and the man’s cold gaze stared back at her, freezing her in her tracks. “You’re on my land. You’re not going anywhere. You can’t leave.”

He inched closer to her and Hunter tightened her grip on the weapon in her hands.

“No!” She screamed as the guy reached for her. “Don’t touch me, you bastard!”

He yanked her only means of defense from her and held it up. “This is what you were going to beat me up with? Impressive.”

Hunter only then realized she’d been holding a stick.

“Sticks and stones. That’s the best you could come up with?” He erupted into another fit of laughter and tossed the stick aside. “A damn twig! You don’t get out much, do you?”

He pressed even closer to her body and Hunter felt herself recoil. “I said, don’t touch me.” She backed away and found her backside pressed up against the car.

“Gladly. I was merely disarming you. Though I’m pretty sure you’d have poked your own eye out before you’d have done any damage to me. Let’s just say it was for your own good.”

What a jerk!

“Now, are you going to allow me to help you with this flat tire or are you still hell bent on, what did you say? Oh yeah, kicking my ass.”

“Just get away from me. I’ll figure it out myself. Kindly point me in the direction of the closest person’s home and I’ll be on my way.”

“Not a great listener, are ya’?”

“Why must you answer questions with questions? Have you lived in the woods all your life? No human interaction?”

“What?”

The man was incorrigible! “Never mind. I don’t want to confuse you with words of more than one syllable.”

Hunter pulled her hair to one side of her neck and crossed her arms in front of her.

“You’re quite the piece of work, aren’t you?”

“Okay, look, Mr. Woodsman, just leave me alone. Clearly, we aren’t going to be able to have a civilized conversation. Obviously I’m not surprised, considering…”

“Considering what? Oh, you mean considering how I look? How I talk?”

Hunter smirked and shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”

“Alright, have it your way. Where’s your spare?”

“If I had a spare or anything to help me change a tire, do you think I’d have grabbed a stick to defend myself with? Do you think I’d still be here if I had a spare?”

“Shucks, ma’am. I have no idea. I’m just a dumb ol’ mountain man.” He spit out the side of his mouth and tucked his hands in his pockets.

“Typical.”

“Look, I’ve had the worst week of my life. I’m trying to get to my family’s cabin and I really don’t need attitude and condescension from some hilltop hillbilly. So, if you have an idea on how to help me, great. If not, kindly take yourself back to wherever you came from.”

“You have quite a way with words. I have no idea why you’d be all alone.”

Picking up on his sarcasm, Hunter continued, “Whether I’m all alone or not is of no consequence to you.”

“I beg to differ. Ya’ see, if you weren’t all alone, I wouldn’t have to be here listening to you whine and cuss out squirrels. If you weren’t alone, you wouldn’t be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere on my land. And I wouldn’t have to be stuck with a woman who clearly has issues. I’ll go get the necessary equipment and be right back so you can be on your way.”

Taken aback at his brusqueness, Hunter stood there with her mouth wide open as the man disappeared into the woods, leaving her standing on the side of the road.

Long Overdue, River Jewel Resort, Book 3

Erotic Romance: Heat Level 4

Welcome to the River Jewel Resort—where fantasy becomes reality!

After a decade of serving in the campus library, a small-town scandal involving one of its college students leaves Olivia Milan unemployed and able to spend a lot of time with her best friend of ten years. She’s always been attracted to Matt Osgood, but she believes he’ll never feel the same about her. When Matt heads out of town for the weekend, Olivia takes the opportunity to head to the River Jewel Resort in search of a new job. However, what she finds when she arrives proves life can be stranger than fiction.

Romance author, Matt Osgood, has been in love with the same woman for a very long time, but he thinks she’ll never return his feelings. Years of going to the River Jewel Resort have allowed him to live out his every fantasy. Still, he aches for a real emotional connection to the woman he loves.

Can the River Jewel Resort make fantasy become a reality for these two best friends? Or will they both run in opposite directions when confronted with the truth?

Sneak Peek:

“I’ve only been going up there for a few months now, but I’ve seen incredible things.”

“Such as?” Olivia shivered as a breeze blew across her back.

“You’ll think I’m crazy.” Matt turned away, and took a giant breath.

“I could never think you were crazy. You should know me better than that.”

He paused a moment and seemed to be gauging his next words carefully. “Olivia, I wish I could explain it to you.” He shook his head. “It’s something you have to see for yourself. All I know is, a lot of miserable people go through those doors and only happy people come back out. Everything people have been saying about it is true.”

“Don’t tell me you believe the hype?”

Matt shrugged. “I’ve seen things even you wouldn’t believe. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to make sure the stories were true.”

“Oh? What kind of stories?”

Matt reached for her hand and led her down the cement boat launch that led to the floating dock where they could watch barges and recreational boats pass by as they talked. After they were seated on the aged, wooden planks, he started trying to verbalize his experiences. “Olivia, that place is magical. That’s the only way I can think of to describe it.”

She had never seen such an enthralled look in Matt’s eyes before. There was something new and lively about him when he spoke of the River Jewel Resort. In fact, his eyes reminded her of the hot, summer nights when moonlight would dance across the small waves of the Ohio, glittering like a million floating diamonds.

“Well, it must be something special if you, an incredibly talented romance author can’t think of anything better than ‘magical’. I can see it in your eyes. It’s just a resort. I’m sure with the kind of money they charge, they must have one helluva spa and massage salon, but magic? Really? And if everyone is so happy when they leave, why haven’t you found anyone who makes you happy yet?”

Matt laughed. “Yeah, the salon is amazing and what makes you think I haven’t found my happiness? I can sit on the gambling boat and have my pick of any available woman. In fact, it’s become my favorite place lately. When I walk on that boat, it’s almost as if they are there to serve me and only me.”

“Oh, wow!” Olivia tossed her head back laughing “You, my friend are hot, but I think you might be getting a bit of a big head.”