At Last: Barefoot Bay World

By June Bowen

Thanks to some friendly shenanigans, Carol Simmons leaves a charity bachelor auction with a weekend at Casa Blanca Resort & Spa with the man she virtually left at the alter five years earlier.  He also happens to be her boss.  Ben Wheeler plans to use the weekend prove to Carol that she can trust him with her heart despite his earlier mistake. But when Carol arrives with a new wardrobe and attitude to match, the Florida sun won't be the only thing heating up Barefoot Bay.

• Language: English
• Publisher: June Bowen
• Release date: Sep 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781540172839

Book preview

At Last

Barefoot Bay World

June Bowen

Table of Contents

Welcome to Barefoot Bay World

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Barefoot Bay World, a place for authors to write their own stories set in the tropical paradise that I created! For these books, I have only provided the setting of Mimosa Key and a cast of characters from my popular Barefoot Bay series. That’s it! I haven’t contributed to the plotting, writing, or editing of At Last. This book is entirely the work of June Bowen, a dear friend and a wonderful author I’m thrilled to welcome back to Barefoot Bay!

In her second story set on my favorite sun-dappled sand, June gives us a second chance at love with a fantastic twist on the crush on the boss trope we love so much. This time, the boss has the crush and he’s determined to win the woman he loves...at last. As hot as the Florida sun and written with a fresh and delightful voice, this Barefoot Bay romance is sure to please fans. Kick off your shoes and fall in love!

Roxanne St. Claire

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Barefoot Bay Series

www.roxannestclaire.com

This story is set in a world created by Roxanne St. Claire as the Barefoot Bay series, and this work has been published with her permission. Information and links to Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay books can be found at http://www.roxannestclaire.com/barefoot-bay-series/.

Chapter One

Tampa, Florida

Carol Simmons was in hell. Instead of fire and brimstone, this one was full of estrogen. A lot of it. All packed in the Bayshore Ballroom.

I can’t believe I let you two talk me into this. She gave a pointed look to her two friends and coworkers—a very pregnant Kelly Martinez, and Betty Howard, a middle-aged matron with a twinkle in her eye.

What’s not to love? Girlfriends and hot men. Betty waggled her eyebrows. I have a wad of dollar bills to blow.

Betty, you do realize this is a bachelor auction, not a male revue, don’t you? There will be no stuffing of dollars in any waistband, pocket, shirts or trousers. Carol wanted to lay the ground rules out now.

Hrmph. Spoilsport. We should have left you at home.

Yes, you should have. That’s what I tried to tell you two. A bachelor auction is the last place I want to be. I’m not in the market, thank you very much. I have a full life. I’m a career woman. I love my job. I have—

Your friends and your charity work. You are complete.

Since her friends were able to finish her sentence in unison, maybe she had said it one too many times. But she was complete. Mostly. She did love her job as the director of information technology of Martinez Consulting, a growing firm in the male-dominated tech industry. She held her own, even if her boss Ben Wheeler was always challenging her to do more and better. But every now and then, she felt that she was missing out.

Well, you can blame it on Rafe and me. Kelly patted her pregnant belly. If we hadn’t gotten married, he’d be on the auction block instead of Ben. He was so sure he’d stay single that he committed to this some time ago. Ben only agreed to replace him if one of us would be the winning bid.

Another reason to not want to be here. She didn’t want to see women fawning all over her boss. That I’ll leave to you and Betty. I have to work for Ben. His ego is big enough. I refuse to get in a bidding war over him.

Betty snorted. "Oh, please. You two put off enough heat when you’re