Tame the Beast : Small Beach Town, Single Mom Romance

Page 29



CookieJ: I see you and Sam started that book we gave you last week. *Wink face*

Willoflove: I will go light a protection candle for Kevin.

Toughtolove: Go light a need-sainthood one for Nina and Jenny with their book choices.

Toughtolove: You have been warned.

9

Matteo

“Sometimes. Life gives you great things. So here I am.” – Unknown

Six Months Later

Hello, Loverly Cave, I hope you are ready for what I have in store for you.

After spending five years majoring in Chemistry with a minor in business, I am more than ready to put my new knowledge to the test.

I always knew I wanted to come home no matter what. I always knew that LPs would be mine eventually, just as I knew I wanted to bring it to a new level—hence my chem degree. Over the years, I’ve created and perfected many drinks, most of which are new, modern twists on good old classics as well as a few completely new creations by me.

Just imagine your beloved dirty martini now in a purple ombre look, with slight undertones of blackberry and mint. Or an old fashioned that doesn’t just have the smoke around it for a few seconds for looks, but one you can actually taste, along with bergamot notes throughout every sip, all the way to the bottom.

And don’t get me started on the holiday or summer themed drinks I have lined up.

I’m seriously getting hard just thinking about how sexy those will be.

Yeah, you can say I’m passionate and excited about this new chapter of my life and I’m eager to start right away. Only, as soon as I step through the front door of Love and Peace bar, my whole body freezes.

How the fuck is this possible?

The space is the same as always with the same mismatched furniture, karaoke station on one side and the long bar on the other. The same pictures that’ve been here for ages, cling to the walls like second skin. The board above still has the same cocktail names on them as the day my mom and dad wrote them out years ago. Yet at the same time, nothing is the same.

Not the laughter I still hear echoing through these walls despite the empty seats.

Not the tentative smiles reflecting from the clean glasses.

Not the scent.

How the fuck can I still smell her in the air here when it has been over six months. Her scent shouldn’t be here. Neither are the echoes of her smiles nor laughs. They cannot be here. Yet I swear to God, I can not only smell her sweetness but taste it on my tongue and down in my core.

To say that Zoe messed with my head is not to say anything.

What started as a physical desire for her, became my every waking thought since the morning I woke up to find her gone, leaving just one stray blonde hair on my pillow and that sweet scent in every inch of my space. Or maybe my lungs.

She nestled her pretty, sassy self deep inside my head and refuses to vacate the premises to this day.

In fact, she is responsible for all of the new cocktails I’ve created recently. It was simply enough for me to think of those deep brown eyes for an idea to pop into my head or remember her sweetness and looking through every ingredient until I found the one that reminded me of it.

Hint: Way too many cocktails include lychee and mint combo.

Because that taste is so uniquely her, I had to recreate it.

I often wonder where is she now? Is she still sad like she was that day at the bar or has she found someone to make her days bright and shiny, allowing him to see that secret beast inside her.

Fuck, why does the thought of some other man around her sweetness makes my insides churn.

I am not that guy. Never was and never will be.


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