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I hear Mason in the background. “Is that Luna? Has she seen any Trophy Wives lately?”
I snort a laugh. There’s no one more excited about my connection to the show than Mason. “Tell him no.”
She relays the message, then talks to me again. “All right, I have to go work right now. But call me if you have any questions! We can make this work!”
“All right. Love you, Mads.”
“Love you, Luna.” She hangs up, and I stare at the phone in my hands. I don’t know if I’m going to take her up on the offer. There’s a lot to consider.
But I wonder if it’s time for me to have my own adventure.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed falling in love with Mason and Madeleine. Luna’s story, called Cinder Luna, is coming next in my brand-new fairy-tale romcom series, Once Upon a Romcom! To stay up to date on all of my books and releases, go to www.authormariesoleil.com and sign up for my newsletter. If you’d like to read about the side characters mentioned in this story, such as Amy Carter, Ivy, and Ethan and Thea Taylor, check out my existing series, the Canyon Cove Love Stories!
About the Author
Marie is the author of feel-good, fun, romantic stories that always end in a happily ever after. She won the Swoony Award in 2022 for Best Debut Author, which recognizes authors of clean romance. When she’s not writing, she enjoys dancing, baking, playing the piano, and watching The Office while consuming copious amounts of chocolate. She lives in sunny southern California with her husband of 15 years, three children, and ten chickens.
Blooms and the Boss
Lindsey Jesionowski
Chapter One
Mia’s weekly water aerobics class was the one thing that could get her mind off yet another abysmal work week.
“Do you think this is the move that’ll finally keep my butt from touching my calves?”
Her fellow students’ uncensored comments were another.
She looked at Nancy, an octogenarian who regularly dressed in swimsuits inspired by the bright neon hues of a box of highlighters. Today’s look? A yellow so bright, Big Bird would have been proud. “Maybe,” Mia offered with a shrug because she didn’t know how else to answer such a question.
“I’m honestly more worried about my Jell-O jiggler arms.” That was Renee, the ringleader of what the rest of the gym knew as the Flirty Over Fifty Crew. Although, that name was a smidge misleading since most of the women were well into their sixties or older. Except Mia.
“What I wouldn’t give to have Mia’s youthful physique again … or Hannah’s!” Nancy wistfully spoke as she gazed at the instructor and sloshed in the water to a mashup of hits from the seventies.
Renee shook her head. “Not me. If trading my bat wings in for a toned body means having my face look like that …” She paused, looking at Mia. “I’ll keep them.”
Mia pulled her hands from under the water, touching her cheeks. A couple weeks ago, she’d laughed at the elaborate skincare routine outlined in a magazine at the hair salon. But that was a mistake, wasn’t it? The magazine explicitly stated that laughing caused more lines.
“What do you—”
“You’re scaring the poor girl,” Nancy admonished, splashing Renee with a spray of water. “All she means is every week when you come here, your cheeks droop lower and lower—just like, well, something of mine we’ve just discussed. You’re twenty-five … too young to look so beaten down by life.”
Phew! So, the issue wasn’t her skincare routine. Or lack thereof. The problem was the same as it’d been for the past year—her job. Well, one of them, anyway. Not the one she wished she had. No, that was the only thing that brought her any joy lately.
Her sour face directly resulted from the job that sucked the life out of her, one drop at a time, leaving her as hollow as her hopes and dreams of ever starting her own business. The job that took time away from the only thing she really wanted to do. The job that apparently made her face look so awful, Renee would keep her wiggly arms without thinking twice about it.
Suddenly, it wasn’t the overly chlorinated smell of the pool that gave Mia a headache.
“That boss of yours still driving you crazy?” Renee asked as she stilled, her brows drawn together and eyes rounded. As crazy and nosy as these ladies were, they always looked out for one another. Mia, included.
“Yes, he is.” The class kicked their way down the length of the pool, and Mia focused all her stressful energy on the resistance the water provided with each lift of her leg.
Nancy stood to Mia’s left. “I thought you got a new boss a few months ago.”
Renee came to her right, making Mia the meat of their gossip sandwich. “Try to keep up, Nancy. There was that oaf, Darren—the one who took credit for everyone’s work and kissed so many butts on his way to a promotion, he should use his new salary to stock up on chapstick. Her boss is that new guy—what’s his name?”
“Ben,” Mia inserted, her mouth blurting the single syllable answer before her mind could even catch up. Just the mention of his name made the already humid air in the aquatic area feel thicker than her grandma’s Thanksgiving gravy. “Not a new guy…just a new boss.”
