---

Chelsea’s head pounded and as much as she would have liked to pull the pillow over her head and completely ignore the world outside of her bedroom the way she had been for the last few weeks, she couldn’t.

She actually needed to work. Samantha had asked her to come in and help with some off-season cleaning.

Besides, after the mini intervention the night before at Milena and Cal’s house, she was pretty sure if she didn’t get up and put on a big smile, her entire family would be crashing down her door to confront her.

It was nice that everyone was concerned. It’s just that they had no reason to be. They all had enough going on with their own lives. The last thing they really needed was to concern themselves with hers.

The throbbing in her head only increased as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and contemplated getting up. It wasn’t like her to drink too much. Despite being in her twenties, and working in a bar, Chelsea wasn’t a big drinker. Probably because her ex-boyfriend Jake always had enough to drink for the both of them. She just never felt the need to indulge. Except for last night. Maybe it was Lucas Lee’s fault.

The thought of him, his easy flirting and dangerous smile, sent a thrill through her. They’d spent the majority of the party talking and laughing and, judging by her headache, drinking too much. But it had been fun to relax a little and enjoy the company of a man who was very obviously interested in her.

Not that it mattered. She knew Lucas’s type. Smooth, sexy, and nothing but trouble.

She’d had her fill of that in the past. And she’d worked way too hard to move beyond that time of her life to even entertain the idea of going back.

But it didn’t mean it wasn’t fun to flirt a little once in a while. That’s all it was. A little flirting.

Chelsea didn’t have time to think about Lucas Lee or the way he’d made her feel when he looked at her with those dark eyes for another minute, because it took all of her focus to get in the shower, wash her hair quickly and get ready for a day of cleaning the bar with Samantha.

She was grateful there was no one home when she finally emerged from her room to find the bottle of Tylenol. She poured a strong cup of coffee to go from the full pot someone, likely Gwen, had considerately left and headed into town.

Despite the fact that cleaning was definitely not on her list of favorite things to do, Chelsea was looking forward to spending the day doing something productive. Besides, she liked her boss Samantha, and even wiping down tables and scrubbing floors was better than spending another day alone in her room with her computer. It would give her a chance to actually think about her future and what exactly she wanted to do with herself. She’d always planned to get out of Cedar Springs as soon as the summer was over. She could go back to school or travel or…well, do anything. But the longer she’d spent in the town, the more she actually liked it.

She just needed to decide whether she liked it enough to stay.

Chelsea pulled her car into a parking spot on Main Street, directly in front of the Grizzly Paw. As she got out of the car, she glanced down the street in the direction of Scott’s Stop and smiled. He’d flirted with her all summer, so she hadn’t really been surprised when Scott had finally asked her out. Mostly just that it had taken him so long to do it. He was a great guy. Down-to-earth, solid, funny, sweet and—

The exact opposite of Lucas.

The thought hit her out of the blue and froze her to the sidewalk. She wasn’t comparing the two men. Not on purpose anyway. They were exact opposites in so many ways, and as far as Chelsea was concerned, they had nothing in common.

Except they’re both interested in you.

That was true.

Not that it mattered. She hadn’t been lying when she told Lucas she wasn’t interested in being serious with anyone. Or was she? At least she didn’t think she’d been lying. At the time, it felt right. But only a few days earlier, she’d been flirting with Scott and randomly thinking about what it would be like to have his baby. It was ridiculous.

She was being ridiculous.

There was part of her that, after watching her brothers fall in love, couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy at their happiness. But maybe it was more than a twinge. Maybe she really did want to date someone and settle down and get serious?

After all, it had been awhile since her disaster of a relationship with Jake had ended and it wasn’t as if every relationship was going to be like that. She was mature enough to know it didn’t have to be like that again.

She took another look down the street in Scott’s direction. She had agreed to go out with him, and that was like a date. No, it was a date. And that date was happening in just a few hours.

The thought of spending time with Scott made her happy. It also made her feel guilty because of her flirting the night before.

But it was just that—flirting.

She wasn’t committed to either of them, so it’s not as though she was doing anything wrong.

But she couldn’t help feel that maybe she had done something wrong.

She took a breath and closed her eyes. She could not let herself get all twisted up and turned around because of a man. And definitely not because of two men. Nothing but trouble could come from that.

Which was why she was going to go on her date with Scott and forget about Lucas.

The idea crystallized in her mind and it made perfect sense. Yes. That’s exactly what she was going to do. Scott had asked her out first. Hell, he’d been the only one to ask her out at all.

And if she knew Lucas’s type the way she thought she did, she didn’t expect Lucas to ask her out at all. He wasn’t the dating type.

He was the nothing but trouble, get into your heart, love you and leave you feeling wrung out and completely destroyed type. She knew it well. And there was no way she was going back to that type of guy.

Been there. Done that. Never again.

Chelsea shook her head and laughed at herself. It was just like her to go from a place of not wanting to date at all, to being faced with two very different choices. Nothing could ever be simple with her, that was for sure.

Except she would make this choice simple. Lucas was out and it was all about Scott.

The thought warmed her and she ignored the niggle of a question that tried to sneak in. There was no room for uncertainty in decisions of the heart. Even in the early stages. Especially in the early stages.

“Hey, Chelsea!” Samantha called to her from the front door of the pub, thankfully interrupting her internal discussion. “I thought I saw you pull up. Are you ready to get to work today?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good, because we need to get cleaned up so we can turn around in a few weeks and get ready for the Halloween bash.”

Halloween? It was October. Time did move quickly when you had no clue what to do.

Chelsea laughed at herself, wiped her hands together, and with only the lingering of a headache left, ran up the steps to join her boss and new friend for a day of work that with any luck would keep her mind off the increasing list of life questions she was going to need to answer sooner rather than later.

---

---

Stillwater, situated in the prestigious and exclusive Springs resort, just up the mountain from town, was the nicest restaurant in town. More than that, it was on par with the highest rated restaurants in Vancouver, with the head chef Jax Carver being a much sought-after commodity. Lucky for the people of Cedar Springs, Jax was happy to stay in town at the Stillwater, creating mouthwatering meals instead of taking any of the lucrative offers.

And especially lucky for Scott, who already felt like the luckiest man in the world sitting across from Chelsea who, if it was even possible, looked even more beautiful than she usually did. He’d been trying very hard not to stare at her, but judging by the shy smile on her face, he was pretty sure he wasn’t being very successful in his efforts.

“Sorry,” he said with a laugh. “You just look absolutely beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you.” Her smile grew wider, which only added to her beauty. “And thank you for tonight. I never get a chance to get up here. I’ve been looking forward to it. It’s such a special treat.”

“Looking forward to seeing me, too, I hope.” He grinned at her and she laughed.

“Of course.”

“This is my first time here myself,” he told her. “I keep hearing about it, but things have been so busy with the café, I haven’t had a chance.”

“I bet. The summer season was so crazy in this town, I can’t imagine how insane it must have been to open your own business in the middle of it all.”

She wasn’t wrong. It had been a lot more intense than Scott had expected it to be, but he wouldn’t have changed it for anything. “You know what? It was great. I mean, if I’d opened a little earlier I might have had time to ease in before the crowds came. But I think the fact that the day I opened my doors I was slammed was a good thing. Kind of a confidence booster. Not that there are a lot of options in town for lunch, but still.” He laughed at himself, trying to downplay the success he’d had but Chelsea wouldn’t let him.

“I’m sure it had a lot more to do with your amazing sandwiches than simple luck,” she said. “I have a feeling you’re going to be very successful in this town.”

“I sure hope so.” He raised his glass of wine. “And I’ll absolutely drink to that.” They clinked glasses and fell into easy conversation as their main courses arrived about their respective busy summers, which also happened to be their first summers in Cedar Springs.

Chelsea laughed at him when he confessed that he’d only been to the beach once, and didn’t even have a chance to go swimming or get out on the water.

“You’ll have to change that next summer,” she said. “The lake is the best part of Cedar Springs.”

“The best?”

“Well…” She hesitated. “There’s actually a lot of things that are pretty great about this place. But I do think the lake is my favorite. But maybe I’m partial since my brother gave me free rein of his boats at the Dockside in exchange for a little help on the docks.”

“I’d say that makes you pretty partial,” Scott agreed. “But tell me, what else do you like about it here? I mean, aside from the obvious, of course.”

She laughed again. It was a sound he’d be happy to hear all night.

“You are definitely one of the highlights,” she said. “But to be honest, I haven’t had much of a chance to explore as much as I’d like to. In fact, I was only planning on staying for the summer.”

Scott’s heart fell. “The summer?” He didn’t want to jinx anything, but he couldn’t help but ask, “But it’s not summer anymore. Did you change your mind?”

She shrugged casually and Scott worked hard not to show the effect it had on him. “I haven’t really decided yet,” she said after a moment. “I mean, I came here to kind of get away from everything that was going on with my life in the city. I was…well, it’s not important.” She waved away whatever she was going to say.

“No.” He reached across the table and took her hand in his. “It is important. What were you getting away from?”

“Age-old story.” Her smile was a little sad. “A dead end future and a bad boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Leaving was the best thing I could have done, although I definitely didn’t see it at the time.” She laughed again. The sadness that had touched on her was gone as quickly as it had come. “My brother Declan insisted I come stay with Ian for the summer even though I didn’t really know him. And we kind of didn’t like each other.”

Just like everyone else in town, Scott had heard the story about the McCormick patriarch and how he’d had a secret family and two daughters, Chelsea and her sister Amber. As well as the summer it had all come to a head and the boys’ mother had taken them away from the lake. They’d all stayed away until just that past summer, and now they were all back in a very big way, all the siblings making a mark on the town they’d loved as children.

“But you like each other now?”

“No.” She pressed her lips together quite seriously. “I love him.” She winked at him. “I actually can’t imagine my life now without all of my brothers. And their wives and girlfriends or fiancées or whatever they are. It’s one big happy family and I absolutely love all of it.” Her smile dimmed again. “Which is why I can’t decide whether I should stay or not.”

“It’s a big decision. After all, I hear there’s a pretty cute guy who runs a sandwich shop and is pretty interested in you, too.”

She squeezed his hand. “There is that.”

They finished up their wine, begged off dessert and opted instead for a walk around the beautiful hotel and pool area. Scott had never seen the hot spring pools of the famous Springs hotel, but he was instantly impressed with the expansive space. He took Chelsea’s hand and together they walked through the stone path that wound its way through the humid space. There were smaller paths that branched off and led to private pools of varying temperatures. They didn’t actually see any of those pools, as the foliage planted throughout the room did a good job creating very private spaces. But the bigger pools were open and Scott led her to one of them.

“Have you ever been in one of these?”

She shook her head. “Not here.”

“The water is supposed to be therapeutic and healing.”

“That’s what I hear,” she said. “Do you want to try it?”

“Now? We don’t have suits and something tells me that as much as I’d be okay with it, the hotel would not be okay with us skinny-dipping.”

Chelsea laughed. “No, silly. Let’s just put our feet in.” She pointed at his pants. “Can you roll those up?”

He nodded and grabbed a towel from the rack. “Let’s do it.” He laid the towel down on the edge of the pool, slipped his shoes and socks off and rolled up his pant legs. Chelsea was already sitting, dangling her feet into the water, her legs bare under her skirt, when he sat down next to her.

“How is it?”

“Stick your toes in and find out.” She splashed her feet a little. “It’s absolutely wonderful.”

The water was hot. Hotter than he’d expected, but as he sank his feet into the bubbles, he could feel the instant relaxation. “It’s amazing. I wish we had our bathing suits and could really enjoy it.”

“Maybe another time.” She smiled sweetly at him and he once again slipped his hand in hers. Their first real date had been more than he could have expected and nothing sounded better to him at that moment than a second date.

Except maybe for one thing. He moved his free hand to cup her cheek. His thumb stroked the soft skin there and he leaned in, closing the distance between them until finally his mouth pressed to her soft lips that yielded under him. He went slow, savoring their first kiss. It was soft and sweet, just like her, and when he pulled away, he was already thinking about the next one.