At First Blush Read online

  “Okay, so don’t leave Maine. Take some time for yourself, though. You need time to rejuvenate. Everyone does. Go to Portland. Take in a show. Hike Katahdin. Ski Sugarloaf.”

  “Now you sound like a Maine tour guide.”

  “I’m just looking out for you.”

  “Why? You don’t even know me.” And that was the crux of it all. This man whom she met one day ago looked at her like he cared, treated her like a lady, made her feel more alive than any man she’d dated.

  There had to be a catch. Of course there was. This man with movie star looks and the adorable boy dimple didn’t care about her. He was after one thing.

  “Why are you here?”

  “Because I wanted to take a beautiful woman out to dinner.”

  “Don’t feed me your bullshit lines.” Alexis ripped her hand from his. “Why are you working for free for my family? What’s your real plan? To set us up for failure so you can buy us out?” Alexis scooted back in her chair and tossed her napkin on the table. “You’re a sly one, Benito Martelli. Your plan won’t work. I’m not agreeing to any of it.” She stormed off to the ladies room and fumed in the privacy of a stall.

  There were no tears. Alexis wasn’t a crier. Crying would mean she cared. And she didn’t. Well, she didn’t want to. Ben Martelli meant nothing to her. As soon as he convinced her parents to veto Alexis’s vote and move forward with the construction and defamation of their winery, he’d be jetting back across the country, leaving Alexis to pick up the mess.

  Maybe she should hook him up with Grace. They’d be a perfect match.

  Finishing her business in the stall, she dabbed her face with a wet paper towel and went back out to the dining area. The waitress handed Ben his credit card when Alexis arrived at the table.

  “I figured you were ready to go.”

  “Yyyyuuuup.” Alexis yanked on her coat, zipped it up, tugged on her hat, and marched out in front of him. She would not let him get to her. Not even with the promise of sweet kisses.

  But heck, she loved those sweet kisses.

  Nothing that had happened in the past twenty-four hours had been on Ben’s agenda or anywhere close to his game plan. The plan he’d shared with the Le Blancs hadn’t gone over so well with their feisty daughter, and now he had to rethink his strategy.

  Shane was on board with the new technology and incorporating local produce into their wines. He was a smart businessman and knew expanding their production to wine made from fruit grown in Maine was a wise move. Those who cared about having their Maine-grown grape wine could still have their pricey reds and whites, and then no one else would be the wiser.

  Ben glanced at the clock on his dash. Only eight and he was already heading home after dropping off Alexis. Definitely not how he’d pictured the night ending.

  Not in the mood to socialize with the Millers, he snuck up the front steps to the inn and up to his room without being noticed. Ben unbuttoned his shirt and opened his laptop, preparing to tweak and modify the plans he’d shared earlier.

  The screen lit up and shone brightly in his eyes, blinding him momentarily from seeing anything but the image of Alexis as she slammed her apartment door in his face not long ago.

  Something set her off at dinner. He had played back their conversation in his head while they drove back in angry silence. The only sound being the occasional annoyed sigh coming from Alexis. All he’d done was suggest she get out more. Visit some of the infamous landmarks and touristy places in her home state. If an out-of-towner had suggested the same about California, or even Italy, he would have been impressed at the research, not annoyed as hell for some sort of boundary crossing.

  For the life of him, Ben couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong. And he also couldn’t figure out why he cared so much. He had three days left before returning to California. Three days to tour the grounds of Coastal Vines and revise his designs for the function hall and parking lot.

  There wasn’t time to figure out Alexis Le Blanc’s mood swings or try to make things right with her. In the long run, Shane and Claudia were the land and business owners. It would be their final decision to move forward. Or not.

  He just had to convince them to trust him, and to not listen to their daughter and her ridiculous accusations of him trying to industrialize the small town.

  Being a pro bono case, it didn’t matter if the clients signed on or not. It was about pride, and not letting his parents down. They’d done nothing but rave about the kindhearted couple from Maine who needed support.

  And support he’d give them.

  Four hours later, Ben rubbed his eyes and glanced at the corner of his laptop screen. After a quick calculation of time zones, he figured his parents would be rising with the sun about now in Italy. They divided their time between Napa and Italy, thoroughly enjoying their semi-retirement. He picked up his cell and dialed.

  “Bueno, mi son.” Sarah Martelli may have been born of Irish decent, but she was adopted and raised near Tuscany, picking up on the language, mannerisms, and recipes before she’d turned double-digits. Or so his mother had told him. Over and over again.

  “Bueno, mama.”

  “You are up late tonight, Benito. It must be past midnight in Maine.” All his life he’d been an early riser, up before dawn to check the fields and the wine barrels. It wasn’t until he left for college that he’d stayed up past ten and slept in until eight. While at times he missed the physical part of working in agriculture, tilling the land, tending to the crops, he did enjoy crunching numbers and sketching out plans on his laptop.

  Designing and marketing for agricultural businesses kept him in the loop of both.

  “I’m shutting down now but thought I’d check in with you and Dad first. How’s the crop faring?”

  Twice a year his parents traveled to Martelli Vineyards in Italy to inspect the grapes, the land, the workers. They were fortunate that his grandparents had built a reputable family name and product. Loyalty was their best asset in Italy, and had been the same in California as well.

  “Angelo and Dominique run a tight ship. Your father and I come for formality, and to spend time with our extended family. They ask about you. You work too hard. You should come to Italy and spend time with your relatives.”

  He’d been on the receiving end of the same lecture before. “I visited two years ago. I can’t pack up and leave whenever I want, Madre. I have a business to run.”

  “Si, I know. You work to hard on your computer. You’re good with your hands, Benito. The grapes miss you.”

  “I still get my hands dirty.”

  “Speaking of, you like the Le Blancs? Shane and Claudia are nice people, yes?”

  “They’re good people. They have a respectable family-run operation here.”

  “And you can help them?”

  “I may have gone overboard with my initial planning. We’ll figure it out though.”

  “And their daughter? The one who lives with them? Claudia had concerns about her commitment to change.”

  Ben laughed. There was nothing close to a commitment. Change wasn’t anywhere on her radar. “Let’s just say…I have my work cut out for me.”

  “You’re very good at what you do, Benito. I’m sure you two can figure out a plan that is beneficial to all involved.”

  “Thanks, Mama.”

  “I need to make breakfast for the family. Go get some sleep. I’ll tell your father you called.”

  “Love you.”

  “Mmm. My boy. Mama loves you, too.”

  Talking to his mom always made Ben smile. And feel like he was twelve again. She had confidence in his work. Now if Alexis could feel the same.

  “I appreciate you taking the time to show me around.” Ben rubbed his chilled hands together and followed Lily Novak inside the Sea Salt Spa. It was the kind of place his sisters and mother would go to. The entrance was light and airy, music playing softly, the flicker of candles, and incense in the air.

  “I’ve only been open f
or a year and still have a list as long as my arm of projects I need to do around here.”

  “It’s very…nice.”

  Lily laughed and poured two glasses of water, topping each with a slice of lemon before handing him one. “No offense, but you look out of your element here.”

  “I can’t say I frequent spas all that often.”

  “Which is why I was so intrigued with your request to meet before I opened for the day. Rumor has it you’re working up at Coastal Vines.”

  “Depending on what else the rumors say, your information could be correct.”

  “It’s no secret that Alexis is somewhat of a hermit. She lives and breathes that land, only coming off it for the occasional meal or supplies. She seems nice, though.”

  “I take it she’s not a regular here?”

  Lily laughed again, not in a pretentious way though. “I’ve met her once or twice, which is unusual for such a small town. I guess the same could be said for me. I’m fairly new to town, and I don’t leave the Sea Salt Spa very often. Come on. I’ll show you around.”

  Ben followed her through the main floor of the old building, the wood floor creaking under their weight. The sage walls added a softness he’d expect to feel in a spa.

  “The hair salon is set up here.” Lily pointed out three cozy workstations. The dark walnut cabinetry held baskets of hair products, and folk art on the wall gave the space a home-like atmosphere instead of the typical sterile salon feel.

  “Although there’s just me and Annie right now. I’m working on getting my masseuse license so I’ll need to hire another stylist in the summer. In the back is where we do manicures and pedicures. Annie specializes in nails. I hired Mia Tucker to help out in summer. Her mother owns the bookstore, Books by the Ocean, and her father and brother own Parker Construction.”

  “I’ve met Ty and Wade,” he said, not wanting to divulge too much of the plan, in case the Le Blancs couldn’t be sold on it.

  He followed her down the hall where four leather recliners were situated on top of a platform, a bucket type thing at the foot of each chair. He supposed that’s where women washed their feet. He couldn’t imagine washing and scrubbing someone else’s feet. Unless they were Alexis’s. He pictured them as firm and strong, just like the rest of her.

  The two tables under the window were small, each with a lamp, a tray of utensils, and nail polish. It didn’t take a genius to see that’s where the fingernails would get painted. Alexis didn’t have painted nails. Probably never had them done before, unlike Lily’s whose were long and painted a bright pink. It was the short, unpolished, naked nails he envisioned clutching at his back.

  “Up these stairs,” Lily continued, oblivious to where Ben’s train of thought had been, “is where we will give massages. I’m hoping to have this fully functioning and licensed by the summer.”

  He climbed the steep, carpeted stairs to the second floor. Lily had done well for herself, turning small bedrooms into massage rooms. Each of the four rooms had a narrow bed in the middle, and a unique piece of furniture in the corner, holding lotions and a set of speakers. The windows were dressed in dark drapes, the pale blue walls bare, the floor carpeted in a thick, brown rug.

  “I live on the third floor. It’s all very convenient.”

  “I’m sure you will do really well here, especially in the summer.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “You’re multi-talented, doing it all.”

  “I couldn’t decide if I wanted to open a hair salon, a nail salon, or a massage studio, so I incorporated all three.”

  “You must be running ragged.”

  “It’s good when I’m busy. When I’m not…” Lily’s bright eyes darkened for a millisecond before lighting up again. “Our mani/pedi stations get the most action. The hair salon is visited more so by locals.”

  The men and women of Crystal Cove were hard workers, and Ben liked and respected them more and more.

  “So, not to be rude, but I have a nine o’clock mani who will be here in ten minutes…was there a reason you wanted a tour of the place? You were a bit evasive on the phone. I wouldn’t have let you in had your references not checked out.”

  There were times when Lily appeared comfortable in her spa, only subtle ticks in her neck and eyes revealed a cover of distrust. Volunteering in the shelters and food pantries, he’d seen that look before. He didn’t mean to frighten the woman by being ambiguous with his interest in her spa.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Novak. I didn’t mean to be.” They made their way back to the entry area and Ben set his water glass on the white wicker coffee table before waiting for Lily to sit in a matching chair.

  “Please, call me Lily.”

  “Lily.” He sat across from her and ran with his pitch, hoping he hadn’t given her a reason not to trust him. “I’m here working on marketing strategies for the Le Blancs. I’ve been stopping by some of the local businesses to see how you could all work together to better cross promote in Crystal Cove.”

  “I think they do that. I’ve seen Coastal Vines wine at The Happy Clam, and even at Boon’s General Store.”

  “Sure, it’s easy to promote a bottle of wine at places that sell it, but what about you?”

  “Sell wine at the Sea Salt Spa?”

  “No.” Ben leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “You could offer a complimentary glass of wine with spa services.”

  “Ouch. That would eat at my profits.”

  “Maybe for those who spend X amount on services then. You could market that. And in return, Coastal Vines could sell you wine at cost, and promote your spa to their clients.”

  “Like have my business cards in their tasting room? I’ve been there before. It’s cute.”

  “They’re contemplating building a function hall for weddings, anniversaries, events and such. It would mean more business for the local inns. Brides who would need hair and nails done.”

  “Oh. Wow.”

  “If enough businesses got together, you could put together packages for out of town guests. Discount for services at the Sea Salt Spa when they stay for three nights at Sunrise on the Water. I talked with the Millers. They’re willing to offer discount packages as well.”

  “You’re a genius.” Lily jumped out of her seat and clapped her hands together.

  If only Alexis showed as much excitement in his plan.

  “Not really. A lot of towns are already doing something like this. I can’t take credit for the idea, only for bringing it to your attention.”

  “This is so cool. I bet Hope, she’s the owner of The Happy Clam, would be all for it as well.”

  “She’s my next stop. I wanted to catch you before you opened, and am heading to see her before she opens for lunch.”

  “The Le Blancs must be so excited. When will their function room be opened? Can I start advertising now?”

  Ben wished. “Nothing has been finalized. It’s all in discussion mode right now. However, even if the function hall doesn’t go through, you business owners can still work together to promote each other. It’s smart practice. You could chip in and design one ad showcasing all your businesses. Offer ten percent off, or whatever you decide upon, when they bring in the newspaper clipping.”

  “It’s just what our sleepy town needs. Thank you, Ben.” Lily reached for his hand and squeezed it as her client walked through the door.

  “Hi, Priscilla. Go on back and pick out your color. I’ll be right there.”

  Ben recognized the waitress from the diner, and her mischievous grin said she remembered him as well.

  “Gets around, does he?” She shook her head in amusement. Priscilla placed a hand on his forearm and whistled. “A solid red. He’s not for you, Lily. You’re haloed in yellow and violet,” she said, as if they should understand the logic behind the colors and sauntered off to the back room.

  “She’s a hoot. Claims to be part psychic, and is always looking to play matchmaker.”

  “We’ve
met.”

  “I’m sure I’ll hear all about you while I do her nails.”

  “Great,” Ben muttered under his breath.

  “No worries. I’m the last person on earth who will ever succumb to rumors.”

  Like every small town, there was a story there. But Ben wasn’t interested in Lily Novak’s. He wanted to know more about the spunky brunette who’d given him the cold shoulder.

  The early morning rays of light peeked through her blinds signaling the start of another day. Normally Alexis’s internal clock woke her up, not the sun, but after a restless night—that she blamed entirely on Ben Martelli—she sighed heavily and swung her legs out of bed.

  She wasn’t one to lie in bed and wallow about the past. She never did the high school drama bit, never mourned over the lack of girlfriends, never cared about not going to her prom. In the grand scheme of life, none of that mattered. She knew that then and she knew it now.

  It’s not like she was numb to the testosterone around her when she was a teenager. She’d been surrounded by it, much to her sister’s jealousy. The boys, her teammates, didn’t see her as a girl, and she didn’t see them as boys. They were friends, peers, classmates, teammates. That is until a game of flag football the summer after high school graduation when she got tackled by a shirtless Brandon Miller.

  She’d seen him without his shirt countless times and it had never fazed her before. But since she left the football team, he’d filled out more, the muscles in his arms were more defined, his chest thick instead of lean and fit like it had been during their sophomore year.

  Ogling boys wasn’t one of her past times. Never crossed her mind until she’d looked up into Brandon’s dark eyes and sweaty smile. There had been a tingling between her legs and a tightening in her chest she’d never felt before. Brandon hadn’t noticed and had hopped to his feet apologizing with a grin on his face.

  “Didn’t crush ya, did I, Al?”