Resorting to Romance Read online

  Resorting to Romance

  Serenity Shores Resort Series

  Franky A. Brown

  Copyright © 2020 by Franky A. Brown

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  ISBN 9798628371336

  Pink Palmetto Press

  frankybrown.com

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  Cover art by Burdcat Publishing

  burdcatpublishing.com

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  Edited by Kelsey Bryant

  Contents

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Books By Franky A. Brown

  About the Author

  Franky A. Brown has always called the South home and loves to write about it. She holds a BA in English from the University of South Carolina and has never stopped reading. She writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy as sweet as the chocolate that fuels her writing.

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  Chapter One

  Serenity. That was certainly what Joselyn Bell needed in her life more than anything. So even though the name Serenity, Florida, sounded somewhat cheesy to her, she was happy the Southern Homes Real Estate Conference would be held at a resort there.

  The drive by the blue-green coast was spectacular with white sand and palm trees lining the highway. Joselyn hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time, preferring instead to throw herself into her work rather than deal with the unpleasantness in her personal life. Though the trip to Serenity involved a work conference, it would have plenty of opportunities for the downtime she desperately needed.

  She pulled her car into the parking garage of the Serenity Shores Beach Resort and wound upward through the decks, higher and higher until she finally found an open space. Joselyn sighed and checked her makeup in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were still puffy from the night before when she finally cried all her feelings out after refusing to deal with them for too long. Her sister, Samantha, had a way of getting anyone to talk to her. Why wasn’t Sam a therapist instead of a chef? Joselyn hadn’t realized exactly how upset she was until she began talking it out.

  So here Joselyn was, arriving a day early for the conference to give herself a little time to relax before having to jump back into work again. She likely wouldn’t see any of her fellow agents till the next day.

  She gathered her bags and rolled her suitcase to the elevator. Down to the first floor, a path led out of the garage, and she followed a long row of colorful tropical flowers and plants to the lobby entrance. Inside, the resort décor featured more of the yellow and pink flowers. The walls were a soft blue, and the furniture matched the colors of the flowers. Bright green plants were scattered everywhere.

  She inhaled the fresh scents, imagining herself for a moment on a secluded island filled with only those wonderfully fragrant flowers. No one but her, no broker complaining about her slumping sales numbers.

  No Luke Callaway.

  “Hey, Josie. How’s it going?”

  Joselyn snapped her eyes open, and her fingers clenched around her suitcase handle. Of course, it would be him. He had a talent for ruining a good thing. Like her much-needed vacation. “Luke. Hi.”

  “You ready for this?” Luke stood in front of her, light-brown hair combed to the side, blue eyes popping with his turquoise button-down shirt.

  “Yeah, should be a good conference.” Joselyn’s grip on her suitcase loosened. He was one good-looking guy, there was no denying it.

  Luke adjusted the duffle bag on his broad shoulder. “I was able to close on the Hafferty Street house yesterday and thought, why not get a head start on the fun?”

  “Great.” Joselyn forced a smile.

  “I’ll let you get checked in.” He stepped back and gave her a half smile and a little wave. “See you around, Josie.”

  No one else called her Josie, and she wasn’t sure when that began. It was annoying he started without asking, but she didn’t hate it. Josie sounded like a more relaxed, easygoing version of Joselyn. That was what she really wanted.

  “Okay.” Joselyn watched him walk across the lobby toward the elevators. He looked amazing in shorts. She mostly saw him in business casual wear. What was she doing staring?

  Snap out of it, girl.

  She needed to shake off whatever it was in her that found him at all attractive. Must be the resort where reality seemed so far away. But being in an idyllic place absolutely could not mean losing her perspective. Her fingers tapped on her purse in the rhythm of the song playing over the ceiling speakers as she waited in line at the front desk.

  Not so long ago, Joselyn had been the top-selling agent and flirting with the idea of becoming associate broker. Luke was number one now, and it stung. Dating the broker’s daughter had a lot to do with that. Their broker was Victoria Verratti; her office held the best reputation in town for high-end sales and outmatched client satisfaction. Being in good with her meant you were going places in the real estate world.

  Joselyn had passed by Victoria’s office one day, after he’d been dating Victoria’s daughter, Gina, for about a month. She had overheard Victoria speaking with Luke about training to become her associate broker. Joselyn hovered near the door long enough to learn Victoria was giving Luke the lucrative client that had been promised to Joselyn. She’d thought her blood would boil over. After that, Victoria had the gall to suggest Joselyn could get her numbers back up if she shadowed Luke for a while. Shadow him? Seriously? Joselyn wasn’t a newbie. She’d been in the real estate game for seven years and had worked hard to get where she was on Victoria’s team. How could Victoria even suggest it was Joselyn’s fault Luke was suddenly out-selling her? Victoria knew full well what she was doing handing Luke special favors. It was beyond insulting. Despite Joselyn’s dedication and persistence, she couldn’t seem to catch up to Luke’s numbers.

  To add insults to all of it, he’d sabotaged two of her listings.

  But why dwell on Luke? This week she would work on furthering her career with these real estate classes and take some time to relax on the beach. She began to hum along to the tune playing overhead. It was time to rejuvenate.

  Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the lobby wall to her left, looking out on the pool area. Beyond the pool were the white sand and the foamy blue waves rolling back and forth.

  An archway decorated with tulle and white flowers was set up on the sand, and a group of people surrounded a woman in a white dress and a man in a black suit. Joselyn’s stomach churned and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  She remembered her gorgeous bouquet of pink roses dropping to the floor.

  They’d been so perfect. Everything about the church that day had been exactly the way it was su
pposed to be. Except one very important detail.

  Why a wedding? Why here and now? Why did Samantha make me talk about it all?

  “May I help you, ma’am?”

  Joselyn snapped her eyes open and stepped up to the front desk and pulled out her ID. “Yes, I’m checking in. Joselyn Bell.”

  The woman behind the desk tapped around on her keyboard with her well-tanned hands.

  Joselyn watched her type and decided she needed a tan…and a manicure.

  “You are in room 305. Here are your key cards.” She handed Joselyn two cards.

  “Thank you.” She didn’t need two. She’d come alone. But she took them and spared the woman any needless information about how she was hopelessly single and probably forever so. Good grief, she’d been perfectly fine burying her feelings in working long hours over the past seven months. Dredging it all up last night wasn’t good when she had a whole day with no work to distract her.

  Can I really relax and rejuvenate?

  Her eyes drifted to the concierge at a desk nearby. She needed to take her mind off things.

  Joselyn rolled her suitcase toward the man in the black suit.

  “Hello, madam. How may I assist you?”

  “What activities do you recommend today? I haven’t been to the beach in years, and I want to do something active.”

  The man flipped through some pamphlets. “We have many options available at Serenity Shores. Snorkeling, parasailing, jet skis.” He placed the different brochures on the table facing Joselyn. “I don’t have any more fliers for it, but we also have kayaks.”

  “Kayaks…” She twisted her lip. “I’ve never tried that. Sounds fun. Sign me up.”

  “We can schedule one for this afternoon.”

  “Could I go with someone experienced? I don’t know anything about kayaking. I haven’t ever even rowed a boat, but this sounds perfect.”

  Cruising around on the beautiful, calm waters outside sounded like a dream. She’d have paddling to focus on, not her conversation with her sister or office woes. Perhaps on the open sea, she could find her real self again. Underneath the stress and the personal life drama, Joselyn was there somewhere.

  “All right. If you would like, I can schedule a reservation and see if they can put you with another person going alone.”

  “Okay, thank you.” That didn’t at all sound pathetic, right? She pictured walking up to the keeper of the kayaks and introducing herself. Yes, I’m the woman you were told about who is going alone and wanting a partner who is also going kayaking alone…

  So pathetic.

  She gave the concierge her contact information. “Oh, can you make the reservation for at least a few hours from now?” She bit her lip before she added what she really meant. Anytime after the wedding on the beach clears out.

  Luke looked out over the balcony of his room, gazing at the coastline stretched out for as far as he could see on either side of him.

  With his phone to his ear, he listened as his sweet grandmother told him all about her morning playing bridge with her new friends. “How is your wrist?”

  “Doing so much better, sweetie. Only a little sore today. They say I need to use it. The nurses here are taking such good care of me. I can’t believe I deserve a place this nice. It’s much nicer than the one I picked out, Luke. This one must be so much more expensive.”

  “Don’t worry about the money, Grandma. With the money from your house, you are paid for the rest of the year.”

  “I’m always one for paying in advance when I can, but now I wonder. At my age, how do I even know I’ll be around that long?”

  “Grandma, you’ve got some wonderful years left, and you deserve to have the best help around.”

  “You are too sweet. You’ve always been my favorite grandchild.”

  “Because I’m the only one.”

  She giggled. “Still my favorite. Do you know yet if you got your broker’s license?”

  “Not yet; I should know sometime this week.”

  He’d just taken the exam a few weeks ago and he needed good news now more than ever.

  “Well, you better go have fun at the beach,” Grandma said. “The doctor is coming to check on me in a little while.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you again later today.”

  “Oh, don’t fuss over me, boy. Go have fun. I’m right as rain. Find a nice girl.”

  Luke withheld the ready response on his tongue. After his breakup with Gina, being single was simply amazing. He wanted to shout out, “But I’m free!” Instead, he said, “I love you, Grandma.”

  “Love you too.”

  Luke ended the call and groaned at the sight of more messages from Gina. This woman could end his career in a heartbeat. What had he been thinking getting involved with her? He regretted every bit of it.

  He wasn’t entirely honest with his grandmother about how much money they’d made on the house. She couldn’t live on her own anymore, and though Luke initially wanted to take care of her himself, he had to acknowledge that she needed more help than he was able to provide. She’d insisted he drop the price down to sell it quickly. He shouldn’t have agreed to the price drop, but when his grandmother made up her mind, she couldn’t be talked out of it. She was convinced the house would still bring enough funds to pay for assisted living for a long time. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize how many large repair needs surfaced in the home inspection, cutting even further into the sale price.

  The profit, including his commission and a good chunk of his savings, all went to paying in advance for the place Luke chose for her. It was one of the more expensive ones in the area, but his career was going well, and he didn’t mind throwing his own money in along with hers to make sure she had the best care around. She was paid up for six months; then he’d need to come up with more money.

  He had been working on getting his broker license, needing to break away from Victoria and her company and get out on his own. He officially broke up with Victoria’s daughter, Gina, a few days ago, after months of trying. That said a lot about their four-month relationship. Victoria didn’t know yet. Gina begrudgingly agreed not to tell her mother and in return, Gina asked him to promise he would also tell no one at the office about the breakup. She’d always been jealous of any woman Luke ever spoke to. Who knew how long that agreement would last? Victoria could be vindictive and not only fire him but also make sure no other broker in town would want him.

  The whole thing was a mess. He had to go out on his own if he wanted to stay in Atlanta and near Grandma. If he passed the exam and got his broker license, he’d be set to start his own company. Leaving Southern Homes would mean losing his current listings, but one of them was scheduled to close the day he went back to Atlanta and he needed the money. He hoped to stay with Southern Homes RE a little longer. The results from the broker exam were expected any day now.

  Things needed to work out if he hoped to fund Grandma’s care again in six months. Too many ifs. But how long could he realistically hope Victoria would not find out about the breakup? He had only Gina’s reluctant agreement to delay telling her mother.

  There were at least thirty text messages from her today, and he was seriously tempted to block her number. She wanted to talk more, convinced she could change his mind about ending things. He cringed thinking about it. This breakup was not going well, and he had only a limited amount of time before Gina tossed their deal aside and told her mother they were over. Mixing love and business was a terrible idea. Dating the broker’s daughter was not a mistake he’d make again. To be honest with himself, it had been a mistake from the beginning, and he knew it full well when Victoria passed him the special favor of the client everyone wanted. He had the top sales, yes, but only being there a few months shouldn’t have meant he got such preferential treatment. It was all about Gina and everyone knew it. It was so wrong and it only created animosity with his colleagues. Especially Josie. How could anyone take him seriously as a professional that way? He hated it.
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  But what could he have done differently? He’d tried refusing the favor, only to face Victoria’s offended glare. After that, he went along with Victoria’s plans to make him an associate broker. But Luke kept quiet the fact that he was working on becoming a broker to go out on his own instead of becoming her associate. He would not stay in that situation longer than he had to.

  He sighed as he walked back into the room and decided to go downstairs to see what there was to do here. Serenity Shores had one indoor and two outdoor pools with a lazy river connecting them. Then there was the beach, of course, and plenty of opportunities for water sports. Something would take his mind off his problems.

  He wondered if anyone at the company would be sorry to see him go. Josie certainly wouldn’t. She couldn’t stand him. Sure, dating Gina strained relationships with the other agents, but they put on a pleasant fa cade. Josie wasn’t good at hiding her feelings. Not at all. Luke knew she’d been the top-selling agent before him and wondered if she’d been the favorite Victoria had tossed aside when he came along.

  Downstairs he walked toward the concierge desk. “What do you recommend today for fun, sir?” Luke asked.

  The concierge studied him for a moment. “Are you on your own today?”

  “Yep.” Luke nodded, perfectly happy about that fact.

  “Do you enjoy kayaking?”