she’d lost. He’d moved in, bought up property and immediately started ruining the only place she’d ever called home.
An only child, Bella had lost her parents at seven, gone into a series of nice, if impersonal foster homes and when she turned eighteen, she was out on her own. She didn’t mind it so much, though the pangs for family never quite left her.
She’d put herself through college by making clothes for the girls who didn’t have to worry about saving every cent. She’d sewn and knitted and crocheted her way to an education. Then she’d taken her first vacation ever, stumbled across Morgan Beach and never left.
She’d been here five years and she loved it. The tiny coastal town was everything she’d always dreamed of in a hometown. Small, friendly and close enough to big retail she could always indulge in a fun shopping trip when she felt the need. Even better, the close-knit feeling of the community fed that lack of family she’d always felt. People here cared about each other.
Now, with Jesse here, her beloved small town felt almost claustrophobic.
“Sell it to somebody else, Bella,” Kevin said laughing. “Every time you say the guy’s name, your eyes go all soft and shiny.”
“They do not.” Did they? Well, that was embarrassing as all get-out.
“Oh, yeah, they do, and I’ll prove it. Look out the window.”
She turned her head to glance out the window onto Main Street and was just in time to see Jesse King walking by. His dark blond, sun-streaked hair was too long. His blue jeans were faded and molded to his long legs and the white long-sleeved shirt he wore only accentuated his tan.
She sighed.
“Gotcha,” Kevin said.
“You’re so evil,” Bella told him, but couldn’t tear her gaze away from the man who was still occupying far too much of her thoughts.
Chapter Three
By the next morning, Bella had convinced herself that Kevin was right. She’d just have to suck it up and talk to Jesse. Tell him just what she thought of a man who could make love to a woman one night and forget her existence the following morning. She’d get everything off her chest and then she’d be fine.
She’d be over him.
Bella paused in front of her shop for a moment, and smiled to herself. Even Jesse King couldn’t quash the thrill she experienced every time she walked into the world she’d built with her own talent.
But even as she enjoyed the sight of her place, once Jesse’s “rehab” was finished, it would lose all its character. The creak in the front door would be “fixed.” The pockmarked walls would be smoothed. The floor would be carpeted, all the gleaming floorboards covered up. Bella’s Beachwear would survive, but it wouldn’t be the same. The man had no more vision when it came to business than he had when it came to women.
It was all about the bottom line to men like Jesse.
A crowd was gathering across the street on the beach and she turned her head to look. As a few dozen people milled around, Bella caught glimpses of what was going on. She noticed the RVs parked on the sand, a bank of cameras, huge lights and electric fans. And in the middle of it all, Jesse King.
In spite of herself, she was curious. Bella hurried across Pacific Coast Highway and stepped up onto the sidewalk. She kept to the fringes of the interested crowd of onlookers and let her gaze slide over the goings-on.
Gorgeous male models, each of them wearing King Beachwear, were positioned around several surfboards, all planted nose down in the sand. Bella had to admit that the guys looked great, but her gaze kept straying to the female models they were using in the background. “Honestly, you’d think he could take a little interest in what the women were wearing.”
“Why am I not surprised you’ve got a comment?”
She whipped her head around and looked up into Jesse’s amused blue eyes. He’d managed to sneak up on her. Darn it.
“Let’s hear it,” he said, one corner of his mouth tipping up as he folded his arms across his chest. He glanced at the photo shoot, saw the photographer bustling around, arranging everything to his satisfaction. “What don’t you like about all this?”
Bella bit down on her bottom lip. It wasn’t any of her business, of course and she really shouldn’t care at all, but then…her gaze went back to the very pretty, very thin women wearing generic swimsuits and she just couldn’t stand it. “If you’re going to all this trouble to shoot a big ad campaign, why not have all of the models look good?”
He frowned at her. “They do.”
“Why do I bother?” she muttered, shaking her head. “Look at the blond girl in the back.”
He did and smiled at the view.
Bella ignored that. “Her suit doesn’t fit right. It’s too tight across her hips—what there are of them—and too big at the bust.”
“She looks fine to me,” Jesse said with a shrug.
Bella pushed a strand of windblown hair out of her eyes, then pointed at a brunette talking to one of the male models. “What about her? That bikini is cut all wrong and the fabric is shiny, for heaven’s sake. What did you do? Go down to the department store and snatch a bunch of suits off the clearance rack?”
Jesse frowned. “The girls look okay to me. Besides, this shoot isn’t about women’s suits. It’s about King Beach. We’re selling guys’ clothes. The girls are just background.”
“Do they have to be poorly fitted background?” she asked.
He sighed a little. “We’ve got a contract. We’re giving the department store—”
“Hah!” she crowed, because she’d been so right about where they’d purchased the women’s suits.
He scowled at her. “The store gets credit in the photo tagline.”
“Fine,” she said, wondering why she even cared about any of this. “Use one or two of them. But if you want this ad to look good, then all the models should be eye-catching.”
One eyebrow lifted. “Meaning…”
She shouldn’t have walked over here, she told herself. Shouldn’t have gotten involved. What did it matter to her, after all, if his magazine ad didn’t look as good as it could? Yet…
Bella’s gaze slid back to the swimsuits the women were wearing and every one of her designer instincts stood up and growled. She simply couldn’t stand it. Besides, Jesse King was so darn sure of himself. So arrogant, she really wanted to…“Meaning, women are the real shoppers of the world, Mr. King. If you had any sense, you’d know that. Those suits your models are wearing are so generic they should be marked one size fits all as long as they’re size 0s. My suits are made to flatter a woman’s figure. All women.”
He grinned, looked her up and down, then stared into her eyes with a direct challenge. “Even you?”
Insulted, Bella lifted her chin and glared at him. She knew she was being manipulated, but at the moment, Bella didn’t even care. He was so convinced that his way was the right way, she wanted to prove him completely wrong. One sure way to do that was to show him exactly what she meant.
“I’ll be right back,” she announced, then left him to walk over to the female models. She spoke to them briefly, got their sizes, then hurried across the street to her shop. It only took a few minutes for Bella to scurry back to the photo shoot, her arms filled with some of her designer suits.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jesse asked as she herded the women toward one of the RV trailers.
“You’re about to find out,” was all she said as she stepped into the trailer behind the models and