Keeping You Forever (A Harbor Love Series)

  Keeping You Forever ~ Harbor Love Series

  Copyright © 2013 Jaclyn Marulanda

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Cover Photo © Azmo31/Dreamstime.com

  Cover Designer © 2013 Monkey Business Graphic Design

  Editor Kathryn Riehl

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  Formatting by Black Firefly

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  November…

  Two more miles thought Grace as she pushed herself to finish her morning run. The sun was barely up, just starting to peek over the trees and glimmering over the water. It was cold; the only noise was her heart beat pounding in her ears and the waters off the harbor with boats preparing to set sail into the Atlantic Ocean. Bar Harbor, Maine was home to Grace, it was home since she was four years old.

  As she made it to the end of the street she bent over, sucking air in her lungs and letting her legs relax.

  “I don’t know why I run in this weather” she thought, as she sucked in more air feeling the cold. The bitter air hit her lungs with a chilling sting. She glanced around taking in the sight of the boats in the harbor, the sun was now rising up past the trees and she pushed off again, one foot in front of the other, picking up the same steady rhythm and making her way back home.

  “Morning sunshine, you look like you could use a chair.” Autumn kicked out the stool next to her as Grace plopped down on it, resting her elbows on the counter.

  “Grace why do you get up so early just to run? You have a great body, even without killing yourself with these morning runs.” With thirty approaching she knew her body wasn’t going to maintain itself without some work.

  “Autumn we can’t all be twenty two! You got the better genes of all three of us, just look at you!”

  Autumn was the youngest of the three sisters. Grace was the oldest, she took over caring for her sisters when her mother left town when Autumn was seven. Life was never the same. She gave up everything to take care of her sisters. She made sure they had a good home, food on the table every night and stability, something she never had as a child. Paige was the middle child, smart, pretty and a dreamer, when she was eighteen she left Bar Harbor for New York, to peruse her art career, never looking back. Grace admired her will and dedication to follow her dreams, since that was something she didn’t have a chance to do. Barely making it out of high school, college was never an option but she was still happy for sister and even happier when Autumn didn’t mention leaving on her eighteenth birthday.

  “You’re hot! Trust me, I know these things,” Autumn said.

  Grace didn’t care for being hot anymore, but she would settle for pretty and maybe a glance or two from the opposite gender. Hoping off the stool she tried remembering when her last date was. “If you can’t even remember your last date you really are lame.” she thought, shutting the bathroom door. It had been three years since her last boyfriend, Denny. He left her for a twenty-one year old bleach blonde that he met at the bar on a Saturday night. He said it was true love.

  Well Miss true love left Bar Harbor and Denny two weeks later to go back to her life in California. Of course he came begging for forgiveness but all he got was the door slammed in his face and the middle finger. Grace really wanted someone to love, and she wasn’t going to settle for the bottom of the barrel pickings. This is exactly what Denny was.

  “Are you coming to Geddys tonight?” Autumn loved her job at Geddys restaurant. It was the only historical theme restaurant in Bar Harbor. It had amazing food and an even more amazing atmosphere.

  “I don’t know I might just stay home tonight and watch a movie or something.” It was a typical Friday night for Grace, pizza, beer, and a movie. A romantic movie probably, one that would make her feel even worse about her three year dating slump.

  “Oh come on Gracie, please come out, you always stay at home. Just come out have a drink and keep me company at the bar.” Autumn begged.

  What else did she have to do, it’s not like she had a line of guys waiting for her at the door. “Fine, I’ll be there, she pointed at her sister,” but you better have a volcano bowl ready for me. I could use a serious drink.”

  Yeah right, who was she kidding; she knew the volcano bowl would mean the hangover from hell. She couldn’t even share the volcano bowl with Autumn and not have a hangover.

  “I’ll see you later Grace, and don’t worry I’ll have your cheese burger and beer waiting. We both know I’ll have to peel you off the sidewalk if you order the volcano bowl.” Autumn said, grinning as she walked out the door.

  At least it was Friday, and having two days off from her eight to five banking job was a plus side to her dateless weekend she thought, as she slipped on her high heels.

  “I guess I better take my butt to work since prince charming isn’t paying the bills.” Grace didn’t love her job at the bank but she didn’t hate it either. She had worked there for almost ten years. If things worked in her favor she would be promoted to branch manager. This would include a pay raise and that was all the motivation she needed to get off of her butt and into her car….if it would even start.

  “Please start––please get me to work and home again,” She said out loud as she made her way down the drive way. It was still early so she wasn’t in a rush. She always made sure to give herself a little extra time to coax her car into starting. With her budget in the red, her car was always last on the list of things that needed fixing.

  Something caught her eye next door. It had been for sale for a year, it was a cute, small cottage home on top of the hill looking down at the harbor, but no one ever seemed to take to it. Until now. It had a new owner. He ripped the sold sign out of the yard and tossed it next to the mail box. He didn’t look like a friendly neighbor, he didn’t even wave back.

  Ok, Oscar the grouch.

  “I hope I never need to borrow a cup of sugar from him.”

  It was her lucky, day because once she turned the key, the engine came to life. “Thank you sweet Jesus, now please work later.”

  Being a bank teller on a Friday was busy work. Everyone wanted to cash their paychecks, just to go out and spend it.

  The day was over and it was time to pray that her car would start. It didn’t matter if the car started after it got home, she would probably just walk to Geddys. That was a plus to living so close to Main Street in Bar Harbor, everything was in walking distance.

  Her car started again, proving it really was her lucky day. “Maybe I should play the lottery,” Grace said, as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.

  Grace enjoyed the silence in the car as she. It was the same peace she found on her morning runs. No noise of people talking or telephones ringing, just complete silence. It was the only time she could think of w
hat her life could have been like if her mom stuck around and she wasn’t forced into becoming a mother when she was still learning how to grow up herself.

  She thought of what college would have been like and going after her dreams of becoming a Marine Biologist. She loved the water, the mystery of what was underneath the surface and how life thrived in such harsh climates. She even thought about living in Australia for half of the year to study sharks and their feeding patterns.

  Most people saw sharks as killing machines, but not Grace. She saw them as extraordinary creatures that had a bad reputation. Her dreams ended the night her mom left. After several months had passed she gave up hope that her mom would ever return and took full responsibility of raising her sisters. Marine Biology would always be a dream, a life she could only imagine for herself. Her reality now was watching her sisters go after their hopes and dreams.

  “Earth to Grace.” Autumn was snapping her fingers in her face trying to get her attention. “Did you have a bad day? What’s up with you?” she knew the past two years had been hard for Grace, with the bills and Denny walking out on her.

  “It’s nothing, I was just thinking about something I left unfinished at work that’s all.” She would never tell her sisters how she wished she could have followed her dreams. She never wanted them to feel like a burden or that they somehow ruined her life, because they didn’t. She loved both of her sisters and wouldn’t have changed anything.

  “Okay… if you say so, do you want that beer?”

  She nodded as Autumn reached under the bar to grab the beer and sat it down in front of her.

  “Try and have fun tonight Gracie, you have been so tense lately. You need to loosen up!”

  Loosening up was just what she needed. She wanted to forget about her troubles for a few hours and enjoy herself. That was exactly what she was going to do. She chugged her beer down like a frat boy at a beer party. “Give me another one please.”

  “Don’t get shit faced now I really don’t want to have to drag your ass up Main Street. You may work out but you’re still freaking heavy.”

  Her baby sister did have a way with being brutally honest, but she loved that quality about her. She was the complete opposite of Paige who never once told anyone what she really felt.

  “Is this seat taken?” A low husky male voice said.

  Grace was too busy trying not to get shit faced and almost didn’t notice the gorgeous guy wanting to sit down next to her.

  Before she could tell him she wasn’t interested, Autumn took her empty beer bottle and replaced it with another then turned her attention to gorgeous guy. “Have a seat it’s not taken, right Grace?”

  Grace looked at her giving her a ‘don’t even think about it’ glare.

  “It’s all yours,” said Autumn, giving her best innocent smile.

  He pulled the stool back, sliding in while getting a quick glance at the woman sitting next to him. Grace was good looking, even though most days she felt like the ugly step child. Her hair was long and brown and her skin was an olive complexion. She knew her body was in good shape, since she killed herself running every morning and her boobs… well they weren’t too bad.

  “What can I get you?” Autumn asked the gorgeous guy.

  “Miller lite, please,” he said, never taking his eyes off of Grace.

  She set the beer in front of him glancing over at Grace, who was too busy looking in every direction, expect toward the hot guy sitting next to her. “My name is Autumn, if you need anything else, just let me know. This is my sister, Grace.”

  She knew what her sister was up to, and it wasn’t going to work. This was the same way she got stuck with Denny, only they weren’t at Geddys they were at a friend’s party.

  “Hi Grace, nice to meet you I’m Tyler.” he held out his hand waiting for her to take it for a friendly hand shake. As he took a sip of his beer he was instantly pulled into her beautiful eyes.

  “Pay no attention to my crazy little sister. I’ve told the doctors she has trouble keeping her mouth shut but they say they can’t keep her locked up just because of that.” She shook his hand and instantly felt butterflies in her stomach. It must have been the two beers that were making her stomach feel funny, she thought as she pulled her hand back.

  “So I take it you and your sisters are natives of Bar Harbor?” He tried looking away from her, but his gaze kept going back to her mouth. “Get a fucking grip man,” he told himself.

  She knew he wasn’t from Bar Harbor because he didn’t have the accent, so she figured he was just a tourist passing through. “Yeah, since I was four if I remember correctly, but both of my sisters were born here. Where are you from?” She asked and looked up; finally getting a good look at the man sitting next to her and her mouth fell open.

  Holy hotness, I think I just lost my panties!

  She stared at him and started feeling things that no one should ever feel in public. Her heart rate accelerated and she could feel the tingle start in between her legs. His hair was dark, and cut into one of those short but spikey hair cuts that made you want to run your fingers through it while he did wicked things to you with his tongue. His eyes were just as dark as his hair. They were almost black, but with specks of brown, and cut right through her like a sharp knife to her heart. His smile could melt any woman and it must have been about two days since his last shave, but it was sexy.

  She found herself wanting to feel that stubble rub on her skin, in-between her thighs and all over her body. If only he was standing up she could get a better look at his body. He obviously took care of himself. From what she could see he was lean and muscular… and delicious as ever.

  Stop it! Stop it!

  “I bet he has a good butt,” Autumn whispered in her ear from behind, making her jump and almost knocking her beer all over him. She nudged her sister with her elbow, as she took one more look at the sexiness sitting next to her and felt the room get instantly hot.

  “I’m from San Francisco. I just moved here two days ago.”

  Oh great California, I wonder if he has ever met Miss Love of my life bleach blonde. “That’s a long way from here. What brought you to Bar Harbor?”

  He hesitated taking a long sip of his beer and setting it gently on the bar. “Let’s just say life back home wasn’t agreeing with me anymore. It was time for a change so here I am, in this restaurant talking to a beautiful woman.” A sexy smile crossed his lips.

  Oh those lips.

  “Life wasn’t agreeing with you? That seems like an odd reason to just run away from a place you call home.”

  She was all too familiar with life not agreeing with you and packing up and leaving. It’s what her mother did every time something went wrong or when a man walked out on her.

  He swallowed the last of the beer and singled Autumn for another one as he turned his head to look at Grace with his arms resting on the bar. “I am not running away from anything, it’s more the other way around. Someone ran away from me and I was ready to move on.”

  She understood that, after all Denny did leave her after three years for something younger and better.

  “What about you Grace what makes your life work, you seem to have it all figured out?” he said, leaning closer to her.

  A soft laugh escaped her. Just the thought of anyone thinking she had her life figured out was absurd. She knew the truth, her life was a mess. It was a lonely, dateless and sexless mess. “Looks can be deceiving Tyler I just don’t go around letting strangers into my own personal perfect storm. Someone ran away from me, but I didn’t have the option to pick up and start over. I had to stay here and take care of my sisters.”

  Once again he found himself drawn to her lips. He loved the way her hair fell around her face and the intensity in her eyes. He wanted to know about her perfect storm and what was inside that pretty head of hers. What he really wanted to know, was what her lips would feel like on his. He had to force himself to look away from her before he leaned in and tried to kiss her. �
�Idiot”, he told himself. Tyler never thought of himself as one of those men who was instantly attracted to a woman and had to have her, but tonight he was being tested. Grace had him thinking of her lips and her naked body. He found himself trying to hide the hard-on he was getting just from looking at her.

  “Gracie I’m closing the bar tonight. I switched shifts with Carla so she could go home early. Will you be ok to walk home alone after three beers?”

  Three beers may have been more than she drank, but she was still ok to walk home, even if she was feeling a little more than tipsy. “You know sometimes I think you should have been the big sister. I think I can get myself home. I’m not… what is it that you called it? Shit faced.”

  They were both laughing at the thought of Grace being shit faced because it happened several times over the past few years. Autumn knew she couldn’t even find the closet in her own bedroom when she was drunk.

  “I’ll walk you home,” Tyler said. He had no idea why he was even offering.

  What the hell is wrong with you?

  Grace and Autumn both turned their heads over to Tyler, who was sitting there looking like sin on a stick. He was exactly what she should be avoiding and she knew it. A hot and wild one night stand would be great, but she wanted more. She wanted love.

  “Umm… thanks, but I don’t even know you. Besides, you’re not from around here. How are you supposed to get me home if you don’t know where you’re going?” she asked, trying to convince herself this was all wrong for her. He was wrong for her.

  Tyler took another sip of his beer, still fighting the urge to kiss her. “Well you don’t seem like your drunk enough to not help me get you there at least. I can always find my way back. I made it here, didn’t I?”

  He had a point, she wasn’t completely wasted and she could probably point him in the right direction of her house with no problem. Grace looked around Geddys one last time before hopping off the stool. “I’ll see you at home Autumn, call me if you need me.” She looked back at Tyler who was pulling money out of his pocket and slapping it on the bar before following her out the door.