Gypsy Beach
Authors: Jillian Neal
Tags: #gypsy, #beach read, #bed and breakfast, #second chance romance
Gypsy Beach
By Jillian Neal
Published By Realm Press at Smashwords
Copyright 2015 Jillian Neal
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this author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely
coincident
Other works by Jillian Neal
Gypsy Beach
Gypsy Beach
Gypsy Love (July 2015)
Gypsy Heat (August 2015)
Gypsy Hope (September
2015)
The Gifted Realm Series
Within The Realm
Lessons Learned
Every Action
Rock Bottom
An Angel All His Own
All But Lost
The Quelling Tide
This work is dedicated to all of my grandmothers for
all that they taught me, for always believing in me, and for
showing me how to work for my dreams.
Blessed are the gypsies,
the makers of music,
the artists,
writers,
dreamers of dreams,
wanderers and vagabonds,
children and misfits,
for they teach us to see the world through beautiful
eyes
She had her head thrown back laughing as she
raced across the wet sand. The setting sun lit the wildfire in her
eyes, and Ryan would’ve followed her anywhere. The warm, foamy
saltwater lapped at her toes as anxious to touch some part of her
beautiful body as he was. Launching himself forward, every muscle
in his body propelled him towards her. He caught her hand and then
leaned to scoop up her lithe form into his arms.
Every patch of her silky skin that connected
with his sent a spark of electricity straight to his groin. His
heart raced, but he kept running with her. Running away, maybe.
With a delighted squeal, she leaned in and
clung tightly to his neck. Her long, thick hair, the color of black
coffee with caramel and blonde ribbons spun through it from their
summer in the sun, cascaded out over his left bicep, flying behind
them as he raced her down the shores of Gypsy Beach. Her hazel eyes
danced just for him.
Everything about her was a juxtaposition, as
if she was in constant contention with herself. Wild, free, and
living on the edge of an impulse that made his entire world spin.
Every single thing about Sienna Cooper was perfect by his
seventeen-year-old estimations.
“Stop running and put me down so I can kiss
you, Ryan McNamara!” Her laughter and her order whipped around him
in the salt-soaked wind, stirring and igniting every cell in his
body.
“Yes, ma’am.” He set her on her feet and
wasted no time mating their mouths. She was so sweet it was sinful,
like spun sugar that melted in his arms. He’d fallen in love with
her two summers before and spent every school year longing to get
back to Gypsy Beach and back to Sienna.
His lips kept hers occupied while his hands
tracked down her slender sides and then dipped into that bikini
bottom that had been driving him to distraction all damn day. He
cupped her backside, and when that simply wasn’t enough he kneaded
her with greed.
A timid moan reverberated against his tongue
as he slipped it between her lips, memorizing the heat, the way
they swelled, the way they tasted, and the all-encompassing feeling
of her body needy for him. That moment would have to last him until
next summer.
Unable to stop himself, his right hand
traversed the short distance from her sweet little backside to the
perfect patch of skin between her thighs. She trembled, and her
body rolled against his. He almost lost it all there on the
deserted beach.
Her mound quaked as his thumb hesitantly
explored. Her breath tangled in her throat, and her eyes closed in
expectant ecstasy. He could feel the tender heat and the liquid
desire gathering in preparation for him, and that night he was
going to make a claim. They would be each other’s firsts, each
other’s only if he had anything to say about it. He’d unite them in
time and space, and it would be enough to get him through the next
nine months of school five states away. It had to be enough.
“I love you Sienna Rose, and, God, baby, I
need you. Before we have to leave tomorrow, I just need you. Stay
with me tonight.”
With that sexy smirk and the fire that lived
inside of her that always seemed to consume both of their souls,
she followed him inside his parents’ beach house.
Just go in and give them the paperwork and
try not to sound like an idiot,
Sienna ordered herself as the
door on her VW van squeaked her arrival at the Pender County
Courthouse.
“Well, Sienna Rose, as I live and breathe,
baby girl, how are ya?”
Warmth rose from her soul and eased the tense
set of her shoulders.
“Mac!” She threw her arms around Mac
Montgomery’s six-foot-five frame. His kind eyes and the beaming
grin he gave her made him appear ten years younger.
“How’s Molly?” Mac and Molly had been dear
friends of her Nana’s and they’d helped make Sienna’s summers on
Gypsy Beach the only part of her childhood that she really cared to
remember.
“Molly is still just as much a spitfire as
she always was. Keeps my flame a-burning. She’ll be thrilled you’re
back in town to stay.” Mac winked at Sienna as she giggled her
approval.
“And Nadya, how is she?” Sienna’s grin
expanded when she recalled Mac and Molly’s niece. She lived in town
with her mother, but was always on the beach during the
summers.
“Miss Nadya is doing okay, I suppose. She
married a few years back. Living out in L.A. Can’t say I like her
husband much, but nobody asked me.”
A twinge of wistful regret dampened her
earlier glee.
“Whatcha got there?” Mac pointed to the stack
of papers she’d methodically carried in the front seat with her all
the way from Norfolk.
“Oh, I have to give all of this to them.” She
gestured to the door now looming in front of her. “I just paid off
the taxes on the Inn, and they said to come here to make sure
everything was filed correctly and to get a business license.”
Mac nodded his understanding. “Care if I
escort you?” He gave her a quick bow and offered her his arm. It
felt so good to laugh. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d done
it. Taking his proffered arm, she let Mac lead her into the Pender
County Clerk’s office.
After promising him that she would stop by
the coffee shop that afternoon for a slice of Molly’s pie, she left
the courthouse and headed into the tiny town of Gypsy Beach.
The whispers of a few clerks at the
courthouse bothered her more than she should ever allow. She
ordered the breathy gasps of whispered disdain from her psyche. She
didn’t care that her Nana was a full-fledged Gypsy. She loved her
Gypsy blood. It’s how she’d survived the last ten years, after
all.
Her beloved little beach town was battered,
but still standing. The storm had left its mark, but healing had
begun.
She passed the pier. Her eyes sought the
water. Grady Havens tipped his baseball cap to her as she passed.
He and his brothers, Nate and Beau, were spraying off,
Gemini
, one of the charter boats their family owned. Haven’s
Sailing and Fishing Charters appeared to be getting ready for
business.
Fishnets and crab traps still littered the
lawn in front of the Lobster Shack. Sienna’s mouth watered as she
recalled the hush puppies they served at The Shack. She made a
mental note to dine there very soon. The Montgomerys’ coffee, surf
and turf shop gleamed with a fresh coat of bright yellow and apple
red paint. Mystic Mermaids souvenir shop was still locked up, but
the sign had been redone and hung from the front porch railings.
Bay Merchants Market had bins of peanuts and apples parked beside
the new grocery carts.
With another bump and turn, she smiled and
waved to Pinky working in the open window of the ice cream shop.
The Coke machines in front of Wright’s Drug Store were being
replaced, and the Gypsy Wishing Well’s windows were being washed.
The tiny hot pink shed where tourists and locals alike stopped in
for funnel cakes, candies, and to drop a wish into the massive
wooden box on the front porch of the shop that was supposed to hold
Gypsy magic that would make them come true.
Sienna’s heart twisted uncomfortably in her
chest. The memory slammed against the recesses of her mind. Ryan
holding that wish in his hand while he kissed her and dropped it in
the box. A wish that she would be his forever. Clearly wishes
didn’t come true, no matter how much Gypsy magic existed.
She tried to determine what she was supposed
to feel as her ancient VW van made hesitant progress up the dirt
path that led to what had once been the only place she’d ever felt
loved and acceptance.
Her heart gave several rapid beats as she
forced her eyes to focus on the derelict beach house. She tried so
hard to shut them away, but the memories continued their assault on
her consciousness by leaking from her eyes.
Nana standing and grinning at her as she
sprinted from her mother’s Cadillac up the concrete steps that
they’d pressed broken seashells into the summer before. Sienna’s
mother never even got out of the car to tell her own mother hello
or her own daughter good-bye. She didn’t care for either of
them.
The shiver of rejection that Sienna had come
to accept made her hands tremble as she shifted the van into
park.
Memories of Nana’s warm embrace consoled her,
and the tears stung her eyes as she longed for the thousandth time
to be able to experience just one more of her beloved grandmother’s
hugs.
Every single summer of Sienna’s life, from
birth until she’d left for that ridiculous college her mother
forced her to attend, painted her psyche in shades of ocean blues,
streaks of sunset pinks, beach fire oranges blazing against the
opulence of the full moon, and the browns and greens of beach grass
covered dunes.
The faded pink of her grandmother’s home
burned in the tears now flowing steadily from her eyes. Having no
desire to run into any of the eclectic persons that ran the tiny
town of Gypsy Beach while crying, Sienna straightened her headscarf
and tried to summon courage from the salt-soaked air.
Her booted feet settled in the sandy grass
and she grasped her beloved cloth slingbag from the passenger seat
and slung it over her shoulder. With a slight wince, she lifted the
bag to rescue her long hair from its clutches before she traversed
the short path to the front porch.
Suddenly remembering her ancient cell phone
that had landed on the floorboard when she’d hit the brakes a
little too hard, she went to the passenger side and located it
before she headed inside. There was no need to see if it still
worked. It was so old she rarely used it anyway. She couldn’t
afford the newer, fancier models, and there was never anyone she
wanted to call.