Too Enchanting Read online

  Too Enchanting

  The Lewis Cousins, book 4

  Bethany Lopez

  Contents

  Also by the Bethany Lopez

  1. Serena

  2. Jed

  3. Serena

  4. Jed

  5. Serena

  6. Jed

  7. Serena

  8. Jed

  9. Serena

  10. Jed

  11. Serena

  12. Jed

  13. Serena

  14. Jed

  15. Serena

  16. Jed

  17. Serena

  18. Jed

  19. Serena

  20. Jed

  21. Serena

  22. Jed

  23. Serena

  24. Jed

  25. Serena

  26. Jed

  27. Serena

  28. Jed

  29. Serena

  30. Jed

  31. Serena

  32. Jed

  33. Serena

  34. Jed

  35. Serena

  36. Jed

  37. Jed

  38. Serena

  39. Jed

  40. Serena

  Epilogue - Serena

  What’s next

  41. Chapter 1 - Gabe

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Too Enchanting

  Copyright 2018 Bethany Lopez

  Published March 2018

  ISBN - 978-1986212236

  Cover Design by Makeready Designs

  Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli

  Proofreading by KMS Freelance Editing

  Formatting by Bethany Lopez

  Print Formatting by Type A Formatting

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This ebook is also available in print at most online retailers.

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  Created with Vellum

  Also by the Bethany Lopez

  Young Adult:

  Stories about Melissa – series

  Ta Ta for Now!

  xoxoxo

  Ciao

  TTYL

  With Love

  Adios

  Nissa: a contemporary fairy tale

  New Adult:

  Friends & Lovers Trilogy

  Make it Last

  I Choose You

  Trust in Me

  Indelible

  Contemporary Romance:

  A Time for Love Series

  Prequel - 1 Night

  8 Weeks

  21 Days

  42 Hours

  15 Minutes

  10 Years

  3 Seconds

  7 Months

  For Eternity - Novella

  The Lewis Cousins Series

  Too Tempting

  Too Complicated

  Too Distracting

  Too Enchanting

  Too Dangerous - Coming Soon

  Three Sisters Catering Trilogy

  A Pinch of Salt

  A Touch of Cinnamon

  A Splash of Vanilla - Coming Soon

  Romantic Comedy/Suspense:

  Cupcakes Series

  Always Room for Cupcakes

  Cupcake Overload

  Lei’d with Cupcakes

  Cupcake Explosion - Coming 5/14/2018

  Women’s Fiction:

  More than Exist

  Short Stories:

  Contemporary:

  Christmas Come Early

  Harem Night

  Fantasy:

  Leap of Faith

  Beau and the Beastess

  Cookbook:

  Love & Recipes

  Love & Cupcakes

  Children’s:

  Katie and the North Star

  To my friends on Guam. Thanks for making this tour so far away from home bearable. My fellow culinary students, military spouses, and Scentsy sisters… you have all made this a wonderful experience. Thank you!

  Chapter One

  Serena

  That’s the last of it, Mrs. Lewis.”

  “It’s Miss,” I haughtily told the man in charge of the moving company.

  “Sorry, Miss,” he replied with a grimace that conveyed where he wanted me to stick that apology.

  Shoot. I came across as bitchy again.

  I tried to give the man a genuine smile, but it was too late, he was already walking down my sidewalk to his truck.

  I sighed and waved until the truck drove away.

  I’d promised myself I’d work on reforming my personality now that I was back home in Cherry Springs. My family expected me to be sweet, quiet, together Rena, the only cousin who’d left our hometown during our formative years and was now back to stay.

  What they didn’t expect was snooty, loud, city Rena, who’d worn disdain as a shield throughout high school and college.

  Letting go of that side of me was proving more difficult than I thought.

  “A little rough on the guy, weren’t you?”

  My eyes widened and I turned my head in shock.

  Had someone been spying on me?

  Standing on the grass, just on the other side of my property line, in what I could only assume was his yard … unless he’s the gardener, I thought snottily, was a tan, sweaty man who looked vaguely familiar.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, my tone relaying what I thought of his observation.

  I think one side of his mouth cocked up, although it was hard to tell underneath all that stubble.

  “I couldn’t help but overhear while I was out here doing my lawn … You didn’t cut that guy any slack. You know he’s just trying to do his job, right?”

  My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t help it. No one ever talked to me that way.

  “Because I told the moving guy where to put my stuff, how I wanted it, and when he could take a break, I’m not cutting him any slack?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and practically huffing. “As you said, it’s his job … and, I’m paying him to do it, so…”

  “That doesn’t mean you can’t speak to him with some respect, that’s all I’m saying.”

  “Who even are you?” I asked, totally annoyed that this asshole was my new neighbor.

  Seriously, I had no luck.

  The dark-haired stranger shook his head with a wry grin that practically screamed his derision.

  “We’ve met,” he replied, and although I knew he looked familiar, I couldn’t place him. Then he added, “I’m Jed Monroe. I’ve been doing construction at your cousin Gabe’s for over six months. I’ve met you at the bar, at countless parties, and at Gabe and Zoey’s wedding.”

  “Oh, right,” I said, smiling
a bit now that I could place him. Then I frowned, because although he’d always seemed like a nice guy, he wasn’t my favorite right then.

  “Yeah, I’m sure since I’m just the hired help, I wasn’t important enough for you to remember.”

  “That’s not fair,” I argued. Great, I would have to move in next to a man who was not only friends with my cousins, but who now thought I was an uppity jerk.

  He was sure to tell Gabe, Reardon, and/or Dillon. They wouldn’t believe him, of course, and would feel the need to defend my honor, and then Jed would tell them how awful I was to the moving guy, and to him.

  This was not how I wanted my new start in Cherry Springs to go. I needed to fix it.

  I walked down the steps and across my grass, pausing when I was a few feet away. When I stopped, I noticed his perusal. I was used to it. Men always looked me over. When I entered the room, when I walked past them, or when I stopped to speak to them. I wasn’t conceited, I was a woman who’d been told her whole life she was beautiful. And, those words had been proven correct by the reaction of others when they saw me.

  They’d look me over from head to toe, noticing my petite stature, my well-proportioned body, long, silky dark hair, and my face. They usually got stuck on my face.

  It wasn’t a ritual I enjoyed; it was one that I put up with.

  I waited until his eyes paused on my face, then turned on my best smile and said, “Look, Jed. We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. Not only are you friends with my cousins, but, we’re neighbors. What do you say we start over?”

  I stuck out my hand and kept a pleasing look on my face as I waited.

  And, waited.

  Finally, Jed reached out and shook my hand.

  He had a firm, but sweaty, grasp, and it took all of my willpower not to wipe my hand on my jeans once he let it go.

  With narrowed eyes, Jed said, “All right. I’ll agree to a reboot … but, only because your cousins are great guys, and I know how excited they are to have you back in town.”

  I bit back a nasty remark and gave a smooth nod.

  “Thank you,” I replied, then turned to go.

  “That being said,” Jed added before I could walk away. “If you have an issue with your plumbing or electricity, or just need something heavy moved…” I smiled, patiently waiting for him to offer his assistance. “It’s probably better if you call one of them, rather than knocking on my door.”

  Then, without so much as a farewell, he picked up his weed whacker and turned around, leaving me standing there catching flies.

  What an asshole, I fumed as I stomped back to my new house.

  I thought momentarily about walking over to Reardon and Chloe’s house. They lived in the Copper Woods subdivision too, and was part of the reason why I’d chosen to buy a house there. I knew Chloe would listen with a sympathetic ear about my super jerky neighbor.

  I sighed. No, I couldn’t do that. Not only did I know they liked Jed, but I didn’t want them to find out about my snarky behavior. I needed to be Serena, the sensible cousin and put-together art gallery manager.

  Plus, Chloe was about to give birth and was currently on bed rest.

  Instead, I walked into my house, opened a bottle of wine, and decided to start unpacking.

  “Welcome back to Cherry Springs,” I said to the empty house, my glass raised. “Here’s to starting over and becoming the woman my family has always expected me to be.”

  Chapter Two

  Jed

  I was muttering to myself as I put my yard tools back in my shed. I knew I was doing it, yet I couldn’t seem to stop.

  Serena Lewis had gotten on my last nerve.

  “Freaking rude-ass, don’t know how to talk to people, pint-sized beauty,” I said under my breath as I hung up my weed-eater, then shut the door to the shed and locked it.

  I’d been surprised when I realized that my new neighbor was Gabe’s cousin. I’d recognized her immediately, but then again, she was pretty easy to notice. She’d cut her hair, but it still hung well past her shoulders. It didn’t really matter what she did to her hair, she could shave it all off if she wanted, it was her face that was unforgettable. Not that her silky chestnut hair wasn’t beautiful, her body wasn’t amazing, and her voice wasn’t sexy and smoky, all that was true, too.

  It was ridiculous really, and I guess I should have expected a woman who looked like her to treat others like garbage, but I hadn’t.

  The times I’d met her she’d been kind, funny, and obviously adored by her cousins.

  The woman I’d seen today was like a movie villain version of that woman. The Serena I’d seen today had been a stuck-up harpy who was downright ugly.

  I glanced over at the back of her house and shook my head.

  I couldn’t imagine Gabe, Rear, or Dillon had ever seen Serena like I had today. Shoot, they put her on a pedestal, thought she was the best of them. It probably had something to do with the fact that she’d moved away, so they hadn’t gotten to grow up with her the way they had with each other.

  They saw her through rose-colored glasses, tinged with love and excitement over the fact that she was moving back and they’d finally all live in Cherry Springs together again.

  I hated that they were bound to be sorely disappointed when they found out the truth.

  With a huff, I turned my back to Serena’s house and pushed her from my mind. I’d spent too much time thinking about her as it was … People like that were toxic, and I didn’t need that in my life.

  Needing to cool down, I walked back through my yard to the building settled at the end of my property. My happy place. My workshop.

  I opened the doors, breathed in the smell of wood and sawdust, and grinned for the first time that day.

  I worked construction to pay the bills and put a roof over my head, but this, this was where my passion lie. Woodworking, crafting, building … whatever you wanted to call it, I loved doing it.

  Creating something out of nothing. Turning something plain into something extraordinary. That’s what turned me on and got my juices flowing.

  I looked around my studio at the unfinished pieces, trying to see which piece called for me and begged to be completed. The wagon wheel table, the antique dresser that I was turning into a bookshelf, or the river wood table. I also glanced at the new shipment of boat wood that I’d gotten in to reclaim, but my heart was telling me it was time to finish the river wood.

  Mind made up, I crossed to my workbench to turn on my Bluetooth speaker, set my phone to stream, and got to work.

  About two hours later, I was in the zone. My mind was clear, I was singing along to the music, and the table was almost finished. I stood up and stretched, one hand on my lower back as I wiped the sweat from my brow.

  Whew, I thought as my scent wafted up and punched me in the nose. Between the yardwork and the woodworking, I was ripe.

  Thinking a shower was in order, I was about to throw down my sander and go into the house, but as I was about to start cleaning up, I heard a knock and then a voice behind me.

  “Hey,” Reardon said, shouting louder than was necessary. “Jed, it’s Reardon … Don’t want to startle you and have you accidentally saw something off.”

  I chuckled and turned my music off on my phone as I turned.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  I’d met Reardon and Dillon through Gabe almost two years ago, and now they were my crew, along with Shane, our buddy who worked tending bar in town at Gabe’s parents’ place. Reardon also lived in the neighborhood with his soon-to-be wife Chloe, and her son Chris.

  “A little crazy, what with Chloe on bedrest and starting to order me around like she’s Supreme Leader Snoke,” Reardon said, then grimaced and muttered, “Sorry, that was mean. She’s not as bad as all that, really, I just needed to take a walk. Catch some air … I told her I was going to check on Serena.”

  I chuckled at his Star Wars reference and tried not to compare his cousin to Darth Vader when I asked,
“Have you been to see her yet?”

  “No, I thought I’d stop in here first, see if maybe you’d want to come grab a drink with me,” he said hopefully. “Did you see her? Did anyone remember to tell you she was moving in right next door?”

  “Nope, it came as a surprise this morning,” I stated, leaving it at that. I could think of no reason to mention what I’d seen and heard today. It would only make him defensive, and cause concern.

  He had enough on his plate with his bedridden wife and impending fatherhood.

  “Sorry, man, it actually all happened rather quickly, and although I knew she was moving into the subdivision, I didn’t realize she’d be your neighbor until a few days ago.”

  “No worries on my end, man,” I assured him. “As long as she’s not throwing ragers and keeping me up all night, we’ll get along fine.”

  I was hoping we wouldn’t have much interaction at all, if I was honest.

  “Nah, you don’t have to worry about that. Our Rena is quiet as a church mouse and sweet as a button. She’s managing the art gallery in town, so she’ll be busy getting it ready for the grand opening.”