Chapter 1
Definitely Not a Kiss
It wasn’t a real kiss.
That’s what Prudence Sutton told herself as her best friend, Hayes McGuire, pulled away and studied her.
It wasn’t a real kiss.
It was a hello after months of not seeing each other kiss. Never mind that it landed dangerously close to her lips. Or that the smell of his aftershave lingered in the air. Or that she’d considered turning toward him at the last moment just for the chance to taste the lips of this beautiful man.
Pull it together, Pru.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” She smiled as he squeezed both of her arms, looking at her with that trademark lopsided grin, the one that had been melting women all across the globe since he first took his job as a travel writer. She fancied herself immune to it, and played the part of an eye-rolling, straight-talking best friend with an authentic flair no one could question.
But she’d been preparing for this face-to-face with Hayes for two weeks—ever since the day he texted to let her know he was coming.
“Are you kidding?” He smiled at her now. Had he had his teeth whitened? They practically gleamed. “I wasn’t going to miss seeing your work honored.” He slung a slouchy leather duffel over his shoulder and pushed a hand through the light brown hair that swooped sideways over his right eyebrow. He looked every bit the part of a world traveler, and that fact did nothing to calm her racing pulse.
“It’s not that big of a deal.” Prudence pulled her winter coat tighter around her, thankful she’d added the scarf—it was colder than she realized.
He waved her off, then draped his free arm over her shoulder and started walking away from the ferry dock.
“Nonsense,” he said. “It’s such a big deal the entire McGuire clan is coming in for the Festival of Trees.”
“Hayes.” She stopped. “You can’t be serious.”
He waggled his brows, and his hazel eyes sparkled with amusement. Her best friend façade was quickly crumbling.
“You know how they are,” he said. “They heard about the tree, and they couldn’t be stopped.” He nudged her. “I don’t think you understand what an honor this is, Pru.”
She groaned. “Not enough of an honor that the entire family has to up and change their holiday plans to be here.”
She felt, rather than saw, his shrug as they were now back to walking away from the ferry that had brought him to Nantucket after months and months away.
Finally, Hayes was home. And all it took was a Christmas tree.
And yeah, she supposed it was a little bit of a big deal. After all, the Festival of Trees was a big deal, and she’d been chosen to decorate the 20-foot tree at the top of Main Street. A tree with magical Christmas powers—it talked.
Everyone knew the secret of the illusion—a man with a microphone hiding up in the window of City Hall, right behind the tree. But nobody talked about that. It would spoil the magic. And around here, magic was precious.
Pru had never fancied herself an artist, but she had to admit, she was pretty jazzed having her work recognized by the town she’d adopted as her home.
“I’m not sure what I’ve come up with is going to go over very well,” she said. “Surfing and Christmas don’t exactly go together.”
A small dinghy carrying a tiny, decorated Christmas tree bobbed in the harbor. A light dusting of snow blanketed Nantucket’s cobblestone streets, which in a few days would be lined and lit with decorated Christmas trees.
Nantucket customarily was not known as a Christmas destination, but to Prudence, there was no better time to be on the island. The festivities kicked off the day after Thanksgiving with the tree lighting, and then a week later, the Christmas Stroll and the Festival of Trees. Because Pru was the artist who designed the talking tree this year, she would also have to attend a preview party a week from today, and she was thankful Hayes had agreed to be her plus-one. Attending fancy events alone had always made her feel like a loser.
As the owner of a small surf shop, her custom-made surfboards had garnered national attention last year when not one, but two pro surfers commissioned their own unique designs from Sutton Surf. An accomplished surfer in her own right, Pru had a great love for the Nantucket summer—but this time of year, when the island went still, that’s when the world turned to magic.
“Want me to take a look?” Hayes asked as they reached her SUV. “Give me a private unveiling?”
“Why does it sound inappropriate when you say it?” She grinned at him, ignoring the patter of her heartbeat, considerably quicker than was probably healthy.
He smiled back. “I assure you I have nothing but honorable intentions toward you, m’lady.”
Drat.
She got in the car and turned on the engine, rubbing her hands together and wondering if that would take the chill away.
“Thanks for picking me up,” he said. “My family gets in tomorrow morning, so I had no way to get their island car down here.”
She glanced over at him, still in a bit of shock he’d actually returned. Hayes didn’t typically get the chance to come to Nantucket often, and almost never off-season. Hayes had visited the island for a few weeks the previous summer, but she’d been traveling, so it had been months since she’d seen him face-to-face.
The fact that he’d been so insistent on coming for the Christmas Stroll had both surprised and worried her.
“You’re okay, right?” she asked.
He frowned. “’Course.”
“I was surprised you wanted to come to the island for the holidays—that’s not typical for you.”
“Well, it’s not typical for my best friend to be the artist selected to design the talking tree.”
She studied him. What wasn’t he telling her?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” She put the car in reverse and slowly backed out of the parking lot and onto the street.
“Like you think there’s more to the story.” He shifted in the seat.
“Is there more to the story?” She steadied her gaze on the road in front of her as the sun faded and the moonlight began to shine.
“Nah,” he said. “This trip is all about you, as it should be.”
She liked the way that sounded. If she dwelled on it for too long, she might actually believe that his being here, like that hello kiss, was about a whole lot more than being a good friend.
But no, she’d set the tone for this relationship the day she and Hayes met ten years prior. She thought of that day often. Would things be different if she hadn’t responded the way she did?
Hayes was a typical, cocky rich kid who thought too highly of himself. At least that’s what she thought at the time. His group of guys came stocked with an entourage of bikini-clad, toned, blond girls, and Pru knew the type all too well.
So when he caught the same wave she did, the only thing she could think was I’ll show you how it’s done, pretty boy.
And she did. He wiped out almost instantly, but Pru rode the wave all the way in with such precision, such finesse, it garnered the attention of not only Hayes, but his entire posse.