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Glenn ‘The Fuddy Duddy’ Maguire.
Maybe the small-town pace would be exactly what he needed. It sure as hell smelled better in the mountains. He inhaled deeply and the scent of pine trees filled his lungs. The air was crisp and clean. The next few months were going to be interesting. And soon enough he’d be back in the hustle and bustle of the big city.
He pushed open the door to the quaint coffee shop on the corner and a bell rang above his head. He stepped inside and took in the decor. It definitely had a personality of its own. It had a rustic industrial feel that he would expect to see in a city not in a tiny mountain setting.
The floors were poured concrete and the ceiling was painted black and had exposed ventilation ducts, electrical, and beams. Oversized photos of late Old Hollywood era stars including Marilyn Monroe and James Dean were hung on walls of exposed brick. Several couches that reminded him of the show Friends lined the left wall, there was a large wooden farm-style table on the right and bistro-style chairs and tables filled the front area.
His eyes were still scanning when he noticed a woman standing behind the reclaimed wood counter. It wasn’t just any woman. She was every single male fantasy he’d ever had come to life.
She had long, thick red hair, a creamy peach complexion, huge ocean blue eyes, and full ruby red lips. She wore a white T-shirt with the logo on the chest and holy shit what a chest it was. He could only see her from the hips up but that was all he needed to see to know that this woman’s curves defied nature and gravity. Her hourglass shape was enough to bring any man to his knees.
He’d thought that there was no possible way she could be more attractive but then her mouth curled at the edges and the smile that spread across her face warmed Glenn from the inside out like a strong shot of whiskey.
How could a woman be this sexy, this beautiful, and this warm?
“Hi there. What can I get you?”
You.
In that moment that was the only thing Glenn wanted.
He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He closed it again and tried to regroup. He needed to speak, that is what happened in conversations. One person talks and then the other person does.
So why were no words coming out of his mouth?
Glenn wasn’t a big talker but that was by choice. It wasn’t that he couldn’t speak it was that he didn’t see the point in wasting his breath. But as he stood staring at the most stunning creature he’d ever laid eyes on, he lost his ability to communicate.
This goddess was clearly the definition of stunning because he was stunned speechless and memoryless.
He couldn’t remember anything. Where he was. What he was doing there. Even the simple task of making sound come out of his mouth.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her brow lifting either in concern or amusement, he wasn’t quite sure.
She was probably used to men fumbling all over themselves when they saw her. He wasn’t that man. He didn’t fumble. Ever.
That thought snapped him out of his momentary mental paralysis.
Bree.
He was there for Bree.
How in the fuck could he have forgotten that? Even for a minute?
“My daughter...” He glanced around the room at the same time Bree and Tessa came around the corner walking hand in hand.
When Bree saw him, she ran toward him and exclaimed as if it had been hours, days, or weeks since she’d seen him last, not a mere fifteen minutes. He loved it. “Daddy!”
He bent his knees and picked Bree up as she flung herself into his arms. “Hey, Peanut.”
When he stood straight again, he noticed that Tessa was looking between himself and the goddess on the other side of the counter.
“Have you two met?” Tessa waved her fingers between them.
Glenn glanced up and made eye contact once more. The second their eyes met, once again, he was struck by the woman’s beauty and more. There was something in her stare that drew him to her.
He cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn’t give away what he was feeling. “No, I just got here.”
“Oh, okay. Glenn this is Viv, she and her sisters own this place.” Tessa waved her hands like a spokesmodel on The Price is Right. “Viv this is Gabe’s brother, Glenn.”
The corners of Viv’s mouth turned up in a flirty grin. “Hi, Gabe’s brother Glenn.”
Trouble. That’s what this woman was. Big time trouble.
