Woodbeach Romance Collection: A Woodbeach Romance

By Tilly Muir

The Woodbeach Romance Collection consists of 3 Novellas set in the picturesque town of Woodbeach

Three's a Crowd

Natalie and Ben meet when Ben's brother Don breaks into Natalie's house. When Ben arrives to collect Don it is definitely not love at first sight. . .

The Art of Love

Megan and Alex lives become intertwined by Megan's search for her father and Alex's quest to discover himself and his purpose in life. They are both very distracted by their personal searches but cannot fail to feel an attraction to each other. Is the universe trying to send them a message?

For The Love of Tarquin

Alison and Calvin meet when Calvin's dog, Tarquin, decides that he would rather live with Alison. Alison takes an instant dislike to Calvin, but perhaps hiding under that cold exterior is a person worth getting to know. . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tilly Muir
• Release date: May 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533711083

Tilly Muir

Tilly Muir is a romance writer and avid reader of all types of books, fiction and non-fiction. Her books are short romance stories and always end with a happy ever after… Eventually! When she is not writing you will find her running around after her husband or cocker spaniels.

Book preview

Chapter 1

NATALIE MATTHEWS RUBBED at her eyes with the back of her hand and blinked her eyes twice.  She had thought that somehow if she did this the person sleeping on her couch would evaporate into the ether or return to the land of dreams, which is surely where he had come from.  She stood there in the doorway for a little bit longer, unsure of whether or not to approach the sleeping form. 

Nat walked over to the back door and checked it to make sure that it was still locked.  Although she’d been out with Jake earlier in the night, she had come home at a reasonable time and she had definitely not been drinking.  After all, if she’d been drinking she might have had another lapse in judgment and spent the night with Jake instead of telling him that the time they’d been spending together was a useless waste.  She sighed at the memory of the fight between them that had officially sealed the off status of their relationship. 

Running her hands through her short, bobbed hair so that she could sweep it back out of her face and tuck it behind her ears, she tried opening and closing her eyes one last time in hopes that she could wish the whole mess that was her life away.  But when she opened them, she saw that she was still standing at the backdoor and there was still a stranger sleeping in her sunroom.  It was when she turned to walk back to where he was that she saw the fake rock where she kept her key hidden in was now open and sitting on the floor next to the door.

Going back over to the couch, she took a closer look at the intruder.

It was a younger man, probably in his mid-twenties with dark brown hair.  He was clothed in torn and frayed jeans as well as a threadbare black t-shirt.  She studied him as she circled the couch a couple of times.  Finally, she decided to shout at him to try and wake him from his slumber. 

Hey! she yelled.  When she couldn’t get a response, she increased her volume to the level her mother used to refer to as her volcanic voice and leaned over until she was even with his ear, but still about two to three feet away.  Hey!!

Nothing.  He didn’t even flinch.  Now, she began to get a little worried.  She knew from experience that she had a voice that could rouse people three houses down from a deep slumber.  If this guy didn’t even move, that could mean bad things.

Leaving the stranger for a few minutes, she went into the kitchen.  The brightly-painted yellow and white walls mocked her current mood.  When she’d painted the room six months ago, she had done so with the idea that having something so cheery around her would help to elevate her mood and make her more receptive to positive outcomes.

At least, that’s what she’d read in some new-age article about decorating.  Now, however, every time she walked into the room she was assaulted with its happiness as if it were reminding her of the life she couldn’t have. 

Stalking across the room, she grabbed a large stainless steel pot from the hanger and the metal knife sharpener.  Going back into the other room she turned the pot upside down and used the thick metal rod as a drumstick, beating on the pot while continuing to yell at the individual to try and get a reaction. 

Nothing. 

Setting down the pot, Nat took the metal sharpener and began to poke at the man’s arms and back; trying anything to rouse him.  She continued to do this odd poke-and-step-back dance a few more times.  Eventually, she became worried that she was dealing with a dead man.  In all of her passes she had seen a bulge in his back pocket where his wallet was. 

For a moment she paused, standing just to the side of the figure, and considered calling the police.  The problem was, her ex-something or other, Jake, worked with the department.  She really, truly, did not want to see him again unless it was absolutely necessary. 

Biting her lip, she leaned forward until her fingertips were touching his back pocket, and using her manicured nails as tweezers, she managed to slide it halfway out of its denim casing before the leather slipped from her grasp, pulling off the tip of her nail and taking it along with it as it came crashing to the floor.

The first thing that fell out of the wallet was a laminated white card with bright red letters that spelled out READ ME.  For a moment Nat found herself thinking about the book version of Alice and the world she had found herself in after she’d passed through the looking glass.  When she was younger it had been one of her favorite stories.  As it was now, however, she was not so pleased that she may have woken up in some strange world. 

Sticking the ragged edge of her nail in the corner of her mouth and chewing on it absentmindedly, she turned the card over and saw that it listed the young man’s name as Don Hawkins and gave a name and number to call if he was found.

As she went to pick up the rest of the wallet the boy shifted his position on the couch and then began softly snoring.  Nat blew out a long-held pent up breath and stood up, the wallet and card in hand.

She’d been carrying her cell phone in her pocket, worried that she may have to call the police at any moment if she found that he had woken up hostile or not woken up at all.  Now, she found the fact that he was carrying around a card with contact information intriguing.  She wondered if he had some kind of behavioral issue or a mental disability. 

Punching in the numbers, she looked up at the boy on the couch one last time as she put the phone to her ear and listened to it ring. 

Just as she was about to disconnect the call because no one was answering, a groggy voice picked up on the other end of the line. 

Hello? she asked.

Hello. There was a quiet pause.  I’m sorry, who is this?

I’m Nat Matthews.  I don’t believe we’ve met, but I just woke up to find a young man asleep on my couch with a card on him telling me to call this number if he was found.

There was another brief pause, and then she could hear him muttering curse words under his breath and the chair as it was pushed away from the table. 

Okay.  I guess he must have gotten out last night when I was studying.

Gotten out?  Studying?  What in the world do you have going on over there? she asked, unable to contain her curiosity and wondering if this was some kind of weird college hazing prank.

Don’t worry about it.  I’ll be over there in a few minutes to get him out of your hair.  What’s your address?

Nat paused, not sure if she wanted to give this strange man her address.  But then she looked over at the sleeping kid on the couch and realized that she either let him come pick this young man up or she was going to have to call the police to get him out of here, and that likely meant she would have to deal with Jake. 

So, she told him the address and then disconnected the call and retreating back to the chair at the edge of the sunroom to watch the young man as he continued to sleep.

Chapter 2

BEN HAWKINS RAN INTO the bedroom and rushed to try and pull on a clean pair of jeans and an old t-shirt with a band slogan on it before running out to the car and driving as fast as he could across town.  Even though Woodbridge wasn’t that big, it was a coastal town and during the summer months the residency swelled considerably.  During that time, the streets didn’t magically get any wider to accommodate the extra traffic and so that meant that he found himself continually jumping between cars full of tourists and beachgoers in order to get over to the area where Nat’s house was located.

On the drive over, he looked down and saw that the shirt he’d picked out had a small hole in the front of it.

Great. He muttered out loud to the empty car.  This woman already thought he was a little off, when she realized that he was in his thirties, but still lived like someone in their twenties she was really going to wonder what was wrong with him.  Oh well, it was too late for that.  Besides, if Don ever gave him a break he’d have been better prepared to deal with the bar exam.  Instead, he had to work two different jobs just to make the bills. 

When he’d first climbed into the car, he’d just been in a rush to get over to her house, but the longer he thought about it the more upset he became.  He knew that he shouldn’t have tried to stay up and cram last night.  However, the coffee shop and the law firm had been extra busy lately, and between working all of those hours and caring for Don he had been too exhausted to even crack a book in more than a week. In fact, in a little more than two hours he was going to have to return to the coffee shop where he worked as a barista to pull another ten-hour shift. 

This weekend was not working out well.  He could feel his blood pressure rising and he tried to calm himself down as he turned on the street where the house was and started looking at the different house numbers. 

Pulling into the address, he saw that the house was a small two-story cottage that sat just back off the road.  There was a nicely-maintained flower bed out front and he parked in the driveway behind a small, blue compact car. 

When he heard her voice on the phone he’d pictured a woman in her late forties or early fifties.  Raising his hand to knock, he was surprised when the door swung open he found himself face to face with someone who was probably closer to his age.  She had a perfectly coifed blonde bob. Even though it was Saturday morning she was dressed in an off-white blouse and black slacks.  He wondered if she looked that professional all of the time or if his brother’s stunt was making her late to work.

Hi.  We spoke on the phone. He said, holding out his hand as he introduced himself.  I’m Ben Hawkins and I believe you found my brother, Don.

As he spoke, she slowly raised her eyebrow and studied him.  Found is an interesting term. She said, cracking a small smile as she took his hand and shook it briefly.  He noticed that her hands were very soft, but her grip was firm.  This was definitely a woman who took her business serious. 

When her cold, green eyes looked him up and down he immediately felt self-conscious again, and automatically resented this woman whom he thought clearly considered herself to be better than him. 

He thought that she might move out of the doorway, or at least take him to the area where his brother was apparently sleeping.  After a moment or two, however, he realized that this was not going to happen.  Shifting his weight so that his feet were spread evenly apart, he took a defensive posture and squared up against her, immediately aware that she was doing the same with him.  At first, he considered it to be a cat and mouse game in which she was obviously watching him to measure him up and he didn’t want to say anything out of fear that doing so would cause her to consider him weaker. 

Then he caught a glimpse of the clock in the hall and realized it was already later than he thought.  He didn’t have much time to collect Don and get him back home before he had to go to work at the Pony Café for his weekend job. 

Are you going to take me to him or are we just going to stand here? he asked, the growl in his voice enough to cause her to jump away from him a little and lose some of her stoicism.

Okay.  He’s in the back sunroom.  Last I checked he was still asleep on the couch.  She turned away from him then and led him down the narrow hall, past the staircase, and into a small area at the back of the house that faced the water. 

The room was full of windows and he could see why she’d chosen to refer to it as the sunroom.  The light from the sunlight was already blinding enough, but add in the reflection bouncing back off the surface of the water and it was truly a sight to behold.  Ben found himself looking around the immaculate room and wondering what kind of job she must have had to be able to afford such nice things.

He tried not to let the bitterness of resentment get to him as he walked past her and approached his sleeping brother.  After all, it was not her fault that she was obviously doing so well when he couldn’t even pass the bar.  It wasn’t her fault that he was trapped with Don and all of the problems that came along with being his caretaker. 

Even so, he couldn’t help himself from despising her just a little more when he leaned down to wake up his brother and realized that the fool had fallen asleep and was drooling on a leather couch that was probably worth more than most everything in their apartment.

Don! he yelled, grabbing his brother by the leg and pulling it until it was half-off the couch.  He knew from experience that he was likely sleeping off a bender from the night before and would not respond unless severely prodded. 

He yelled out his name again while at the same time leveraging his arm up so that it was above his head.  Don’s body slid off the edge of the couch and he woke up before his body hit the floor.  His eyes popped open and his jaw opened up in surprise just as his body crumpled against the wood floor.

Ben stood over his brother, trying to make sure that when Don looked up his angry face would be the first thing he saw.  Over the years, he had put up with a lot from his brother, but this was just too much.

The fact that Don had wondered off in the middle of the night while he was studying between jobs to go and drink was not something that Ben had missed.  He was sacrificing everything for his brother and this was the thanks he got? 

What the...? Don started to ask, but when he turned his head to look up at Ben he must have seen the anger that was clearly stretched across his face because he stopped talked and rubbed his hand against his face as he sat up.

I don’t know myself, Don.  Why don’t you explain to this nice woman what the hell you thought you were doing letting yourself into her house and sleeping on her couch.  I’m sure she appreciated waking up to an intruder.  I’m just grateful that she didn’t call the police.  I don’t have the money to get you out of jail.

Don looked over at Nat for the first time and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.  When he saw her, his eyes widened and a smile lit up his face.  Ben couldn’t believe his eyes.  Don was clearly trying to flirt with this woman whose house he’d broken into.  I did?  Well I don’t remember doing that at all.

His brother was nothing if not unbelievably self-centered. 

Now apologize to this nice woman and get in the car. Ben commanded, pointing his finger back down the hallway from where they had originally come from. 

Don followed his finger, paused, and then looked back up at Nat as if searching for someone to support him or save him from his brother’s wrath. 

I’m not going. He finally said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

What do you mean?  You’re not going? Ben asked, desperately trying as hard as he could to not yank Don up by his shoulder length scruffy brown hair and drag him out the door. 

I mean, I’m not going.  I want to stay here with her. Don pointed over at Nat, who immediately looked at him as if he were some kind of leper. 

What?! Ben asked, unable to suppress the anger and outrage in his voice as it boomed out over the room. You don’t even know her.  I’m sure that she’s not dying to have you ride her couch the same way you do mine.  So, get up and get in the car right now. 

His voice had grown more and more agitated as he spoke until, by the end, he was trying to command his brother through gritted teeth.  The result was that the two of them were now resorting to their normal bickering states where he tried to pretend that he actually had some amount of control over his brother.

But, then as in now, he could see that this was deteriorating extensively at this point.  There was little he was going to be able to do to get Don out of the house that didn’t involve pulling the twenty-six-year old out of the house kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs like a toddler.

Ben sighed and looked over at Nat while he considered his options.

Chapter 3

WHEN BEN COULD NOT make his brother agree to leave her condo, even with all of his puffed up fake bravado, Natalie could not keep the smile from spreading out over her face as she tried to hide it behind her hand.  She did not have any siblings, so seeing the interplay between these two was something different and unique that she hadn’t experienced before. 

Ben caught the edge of her amusement when he looked up at her after trying to demand that his brother leave with him immediately.  Instead of moving, Don had crossed his arms in front of his chest and declared that he was not going anywhere with Ben.  It was an odd sight as the two of them did have a lot of similarities.  Ben was obviously more well-kempt, but he had the same brown hair and blue eyes of his brother, as well as the same nicely chiseled features.  If they had met under regular circumstances, she might have been tempted to try to flirt with him.

As it was, Nat had actually needed to bite down on the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the scene.  Although, she knew that the behavior of the younger brother would not be something that she could tolerate. 

Turning her head to try and hide her smile from Ben, Natalie found that she was actually relieved when the telephone began ringing.  This way, at least, she had a reason for leaving the room as the two brothers once again started going back and forth about what was going to happen. 

Hello? she asked, finally letting go of a small chuckle as she answered the phone.

Natalie? the voice on the other end questioned.  It was a stern voice, one she had never really heard break for a laugh.  It was also one that she hated having to hear on the weekend.  In all of the confusion going on in the sunroom, she had neglected to check the caller ID first before picking up. 

That meant that the person on the other end of the line was her boss, and she was most likely being called in to work for something ridiculous.

This is she. Nat answered, her professional voice clicking into place and replacing the carefree one she had used just moments before.  Shutting her eyes tightly, she uttered a small prayer that Jameson was calling to give her some good news and not to demand that she come into the office on a Saturday morning when she’d planned to go downtown to do a little shopping.

Yesterday, she’d even decided that she might go by The Opal Tree to look at the new art that was up at the art gallery.  The walls in her bedroom were still bare, and she desperately wanted to get something in there that would not only cover up the vacant space, but that might help to soothe her frayed nerves.

Good.  I’m glad to have reached you.  We have an employee here who wants to get his check today.  Could you please come in and get that taken care of for him?

Sir, that would be a lot more difficult than it sounds and could take me a few hours. She tried to explain, still hoping that he would decide it wasn’t worth it and cut her free.  Technically time went in yesterday when everyone left work, but since it was the end of the day I haven’t had time to even go through and do a breakdown of the hours for each individual person, let alone cut checks.

No, no, Natalie.  That isn’t going to work. Jamesons’ stern voice shot down any hope she had of getting out of going into the office today.  I’m afraid that it’s an emergency and he needs to have his check in his hand today.

Sir, I really don’t think... she started, but was immediately cut off by his voice.

So, you said it could be done in a few hours?  Then I shall let him know that he can expect to have it in hand by four-o’clock today so that he can take it to the bank post-haste.

Natalie looked down at her watch and realized that if she were going to try and meet the madman’s deadline, she was going to have to leave immediately. 

I’ll head over there as soon as I can. She responded, trying not to sigh between her teeth as she spoke.  Which employee will I be looking up time records on? she asked even though she knew the answer.

The only employee that Jameson would personally call her on and insist that she make a special trip to the office for was his son-in-law.  It didn’t help that in the three months the fool had worked there that he had apparently needed